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One of the little perks Frank Sennett was looking forward to in his new job as editor of Time Out Chicago was reconnecting with some of the old gang from New City. Sennett was that paper’s managing editor in the mid-90s, James Porter was a staff writer specializing in blues and soul, Craig Keller a freelance writer, and Nicole Radja a freelance photographer. But last Friday Sennett got a call. Elizabeth Barr, Time Out‘s New York-based editorial director who’s been running the Chicago edition pending Sennett’s arrival, was on the line telling him that she’d just laid off five staffers. Three of them were his old colleagues Porter, Keller, and Radja. Also axed were Chill Out editor Danielle Braff and sales rep Bob Matter.

“It’s obviously not the greatest thing to do,” says Time Out publisher David Garland, “but a lot of people can relate these days.” True that. Garland sounds a lot more sanguine about the subject than the people I’ve talked to recently at the Sun-Times, Pioneer Press, and Daily Southtown — not to mention the Reader. According to Garland, TOC, launched in 2005, is still losing money but ad revenues last year climbed 25 percent from the year before and circulation rose by 11 percent.