A notable addition to the digital sphere is Patch, the personal investment offshoot of Google advertising executive Tim Armstrong, the latest hyperlocal news site.
It's available at the moment in three New Jersey towns (the link to South Orange is here), employs 20 people overall and has one journalist per town largely covering philanthropic issues.
Its mission:
Keep up with news and events
Look at photos and videos from around town
Learn about local businesses
Participate in discussions
Submit your own announcements, photos, and reviews
Its editorial advisory board is pretty upscale Philip Meyer and Jeff Jarvis. And its team includes a former Time Out New York editor and a former executive at AskJeeves.
Now, at this scale it's unlikely to rock the world immediately. But the template is attractive and there will clearly be much learning inside the operation to generate further franchises.