newspaper_web.jpgSPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) _ The Lawrence County Journal weekly newspaper launched in western South Dakota in 2004 has closed.

The Spearfish newspaper was part of the Black Hills Weekly Group, which is owned by the Rapid City Journal.

That paper's publisher, Brad Slater, attributes the Lawrence County Journal's closure to the "economic climate.''

Slater says offices in Spearfish, Deadwood and Newell have been closed and one customer service worker at each site lost a job.

He says journalists and sales staff at the Lawrence County Journal will continue working for other weeklies in the Black Hills Weekly Group.