(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) The City Weekly owner and publisher John Saltas stands in an empty newsroom, April 1, 2020. Saltas instituted furloughs on his staff on March 27, and estimates the editorial staff is about half of what it was at its peak. The COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on many small news-gathering organizations, such as alt-weeklies and free community newspapers.