East Oregonian Publishing Co. has purchased the North Coast Citizen, a newspaper serving Manzanita and other oceanfront communities in Tillamook and Clatsop counties with 26 issues a year. The purchase was completed July 26.

EOPC, which has been under the same family ownership since 1908, operates six newspapers and 10 Web sites in Oregon and Washington, including the East Oregonian.

The company acquired the North Coast Citizen from Dave and Jan Fisher, who have owned the paper since 2004. The Fishers, who previously worked for EOPC in news and advertising at Capital Press in Salem, will remain in their positions at the Citizen.

Dave Fisher is editor and publisher and Jan Fisher is associate publisher in charge of advertising.

“Our newspaper group is pleased and proud to bring it into our publishing family, and we are especially grateful to gain the talent of two very smart newspaper people, Dave and Jan Fisher,” said Steve Forrester, president and CEO of East Oregonian Publishing Co..

“We look forward to partnering with the newspapers of the East Oregonian Publishing Co. in continuing to improve and grow the North Coast Citizen,” Dave Fisher said.

“The North Coast Citizen has become an exceptional community newspaper under the stewardship of Jan and Dave Fisher,” said John S. Perry, chief operating officer for EOPC.

The Citizen, which has a paid circulation of more than 1,700, was founded in 1996 by a group of citizens in Manzanita. The Daily Astorian assisted in the production of the fledgling newspaper and continued to print the Citizen on its press in Astoria.

In 2003, Tom and Cat Mauldin, who owned the Cannon Beach Gazette at the time, purchased the Citizen. The Fishers purchased the newspaper a year later.

The North Coast Citizen joins other EOPC coastal papers and Web sites: The Daily Astorian, CoastWeekend.com and Seaside-Sun.com in Oregon and the Chinook Observer weekly newspaper on the Long Beach (Wash.) Peninsula.

Other East Oregonian Publishing Co. newspaper and Web properties are the East Oregonian in Pendleton, Wallowa County Chieftain in Enterprise, Blue Mountain Eagle in John Day, and Capital Press, a four-state agricultural weekly based in Salem.

The EOPC media properties on the coast provide nearly 70 jobs in the region, plus newspaper carriers under contract.