Citizen-Powered Media, a nonprofit that has been producing The Indy and Colorado Springs Business Journal for the past year, has ceased operations, the organization’s board President Ahriana Platten said on Feb. 9.

The organization has liquidated or donated all physical assets and will collect outstanding revenues until March 1, when it will issue its final debt payments, she said.

Platten declined to say how much debt the organization has.

In addition, the weeklies’ publisher, Fran Zankowski, has acquired the company’s intellectual-property rights, including its names, websites and social media platforms, Platten said.

“Citizen-Powered Media views this agreement positively, believing Zankowski to be the individual most capable of reviving the publications and intent on exploring future opportunities,” Platten said in a statement.

The 30-year-old Colorado Springs Independent has been in turmoil since co-founder and longtime publisher John Weiss unexpectedly announced in October 2022 that he was retiring and closing his privately owned Colorado Publishing House.

Weiss’ company published not only The Independent, a weekly alternative newspaper, but also other publications that included the Colorado Springs Business Journal, the Southeast Express, the Pikes Peak Bulletin in Manitou Springs, The Transcript legal journal and two military newspapers.

He donated the assets in November 2022 to the renamed Sixty35 Media, which consolidated and reformatted the publications.

However, a rebranding campaign launched in January 2023 was not successful.

The publisher of Sixty35 Media quit in February 2023 and, by March of that year, “it became evident that the debt-to-income ratio was insurmountable,” Platten said, which led to layoffs of more than half the staff.

“The remaining staff took every step possible to mitigate the financial deficit by securing overdue revenues and implementing cost reductions across departments,” Platten said.

That also did not work. The organization announced in December that it had let go of nearly all of the rest of its staff and would not publish in January but take a pause to reassess the situation to determine the company’s future.

Attempts to find a purchaser or investor to acquire the funds needed to settle outstanding debt failed, Platten said, leading to the decision to fold.

During the most difficult time of operation, Zankowski had provided money for the organization to make payroll, Platten said, and went several months without compensation.

Following legal consultation, the board and Zankowski reached an agreement allowing Zankowski to obtain the intellectual-property rights. Zankowski did not receive any cash or physical assets in the settlement agreement, according to Platten.

Zankowski concurrently has been working as publisher of Boulder Weekly in Boulder.

Weiss owns The Independent’s office building, which was in an old church on South Nevada Avenue, and had leased the property to the publishing company. The building was on the market for sale but is no longer. It is now undergoing renovations, Platten said.

The Independent’s offices were in an old church on South Nevada Avenue owned by John Weiss. The building was on the market for sale but is no longer.

Debbie Kelley, the tribune