MILFORD, PA-Straus Newspapers, owner of this newspaper, expanded its reach to Pennsylvania this week. The company acquired The Pike County Courier, a monthly newspaper in Milford, PA, from Miriam and Art Siegel earlier this month. Art Siegel recently passed away. In the 16 years since the Siegels founded the Courier, it developed a reputation for strong local news coverage and an independent view of the community. The Courier begins weekly publication under the new owners week. David Hulse, formerly news editor at The River Reporter newspaper, has joined Straus Newspapers to become the managing editor of the The Pike County Courier. "Art and Miriam Siegel understood the critical importance of local news and information," Straus Newspaper President Jeanne Straus said. "We look forward to serving Pike County, and to continuing this tradition of quality community journalism. We are confident that Dave Hulse's strong leadership, editorial talent and sense of fairness will help the paper better serve both readers and advertisers." "The Straus Family has a long and distinguished history in the communications business," Miriam Siegel said. "We are pleased to be able to entrust the paper we built to them and we wish them good luck with the Pike County Courier." The Straus Newspaper Group is now comprised of nine newspapers in three states. They are: The Chronicle [Goshen, NY], The Photo News [Monroe, NY], The Warwick Advertiser, The Advertiser-News (North Edition) [Vernon, NJ], The Advertiser-News (South Edition) [Franklin, NJ], The Sparta Independent, The Township Journal [Byram, NJ], The West Milford Messenger and the Pike County Courier. The total combined circulation of the group is 85,000.