Orange County Register: Freedom Communications, owner of the Orange County Register, has filed for bankruptcy protection as part of a management-led plan to acquire the struggling newspaper company. Rich Mirman, Freedom’s CEO and publisher, along with other local investors, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Central District of California to reorganize the Santa Ana, Calif.-based company’s finances and assume ownership. Mirman, already a Freedom investor, took over day-to-day control of the company a year ago.