San Diego Gay Newspaper Publisher Dies

Michael Portantino, the longtime publisher of San Diego's Gay & Lesbian Times, was found dead Wednesday night from an apparent suicide. He was 52 years old.

The Los Angeles Times said that Portantino appeared to have jumped from a seven-story hotel near Balboa Park. A colleague said he had been depressed since his newspaper closed two months ago because of financial problems.

"He was tenacious, a fighter, but it just got to be too much for him," said Nicole Murray-Ramirez, a longtime columnist for the newspaper, according to the Times.

He is survived by a daughter.