A one-year subscription that first year cost $1.50. Charles and Josiah Rowe inherited the paper from their father in 1949, and in 1997, upon Charles’ retirement, the family of Josiah P. Rowe III purchased total ownership of the business. The Free Lance–Star was owned and operated by members of the Rowe family from 1926 until 2014, when The Free Lance–Star Publishing Co. filed for bankruptcy.