From the Charleston Gazette-Mail late this afternoon:

The owners of the Charleston Gazette-Mail agreed Monday to take the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Wheeling Newspapers is currently the high bidder to assume ownership of the company.

The company, operated by the Nutting family, owns more than 40 daily newspapers across the nation, including the Wheeling, Parkersburg, Martinsburg and Elkins newspapers in West Virginia.

Charleston Newspapers, the company that owns the Gazette-Mail, issued a WARN notice to all employees Monday afternoon.

A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice warns of the potential for layoffs exceeding 50 employees. Charleston Newspapers currently employs 209 people.