Orange County Register names former casino executive as new publisher

Richard Mirman was named interim publisher and chief executive of the Orange County Register, the publication announced late Monday night.

Mirman is a former casino executive who specialized in marketing at Harrah’s Entertainment in Las Vegas, according to the Register.

Mirman took over duties Monday from Aaron Kushner, who, according to the paper, will remain the principal owner and chief executive of the Register’s parent company, Freedom Communications.

Mirman told the Register in an interview that his goal “is to get the business on a trajectory of growth.”

The announcement comes weeks after layoffs hit the Register and Freedom Communications ceased publication of its Los Angeles daily, the Los Angeles Register, five months after it debuted.

It also comes after the Register switched from using Los Angeles Times carriers to distribute the paper, a practice since 2009, to employing another carrier.

Shortly thereafter, the Register was inundated with emails and phone calls from thousands of angry subscribers who did not receive their copy of the paper.

Register officials said the switch was a customer-service decision.

However, The Times said in a statement that the Register had “been consistently late in paying money” it had owed for more than a year and a half, beginning in April 2013. The Register now owes more than $3.5 million, according to The Times.

The Register had agreed to a payment plan, which it broke after only a single payment was made, according to The Times.

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