The New York Times Co. said last night that it is notifying federal authorities of its plans to shut down the Boston Globe, raising the possibility that New England’s most storied newspaper could cease to exist within weeks. After down-to-the-wire negotiations did not produce millions of dollars in union concessions, the Times Co. said that it will file today a required 60-day notice of the planned shutdown under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification law. – from Washington Post

Unions representing Boston Globe employees continued to negotiate with the newspaper’s management well past midnight Sunday, the deadline to agree to concessions to cut the paper’s losses and avoid its closure. Less than three hours before the deadline, the Boston Globe’s largest union said it had presented a proposal to management that cuts costs by more than what is necessary to avoid closing the newspaper. The Globe, which is owned by New York Times Co., said it had told its unions it is prepared to file notice on Monday under the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires 60 days’ advance notice before closure of a business. Management’s statement, issued shortly after the union’s, suggests the two sides might not be as close to an agreement as union leaders had indicated. – from WSJ

An hour after the midnight deadline passed, negotiations had broken down, but likely will resume sometime during the night, a source familiar with the matter, but not authorized to discuss it, told Reuters. That source and another source familiar with the matter indicated that the bargaining process likely will continue throughout the night, and that word on a decision about what will happen to the Globe will wait until after daybreak in the United States. – from Reuters

The Boston Globe received an eleventh-hour reprieve early this morning when its owner, the New York Times Co., agreed to extend the deadline for unions to agree to $20 million in concessions until tomorrow. – from Boston Globe

Gregory L. Thornton, a Globe senior vice president for human resources and management’s chief negotiator, said this morning that “substantial progress” had been made after a marathon bargaining session.

The New York Times Co. issued an ultimatum last night, saying it was prepared to begin the process of shuttering the 137-year-old newspaper if its unions do not agree to major financial and contract concessions, including the abolition of lifetime job guarantees for some workers. The closing process would be triggered by a filing, notifying the state of its intention to shut the Globe within 60 days. – from The Globe

A flight from Germany to Washington has been diverted to Boston because a passenger complained of flu-like symptoms. Airport spokesman Phil Orlandella says United Airlines Flight 903 was being diverted Friday afternoon after a 53-year-old female passenger told flight attendants about her symptoms.

He says the flight from Munich had 245 passengers and six crew members. The flight had been scheduled to land at Washington Dulles International Airport later Friday.

It isn’t yet clear what caused the woman’s symptoms or whether she might be suffering from swine flu.

It’s another Boston Tea Party (of the TV kind)… NBC Boston affiliate WHDH announced tonight that, come September, it will air a full hour of local news at 10 PM. That means it won’t air Jay Leno’s new 10 PM show. Not only is this a huge slap in the face to Jay by his hometown station, but also to NBC. And the network is fighting back and even threatening reprisals. Tonight, I received several strongly worded statements from NBC execs declaring war on the affiliate, including this one from John Eck, President of the NBC TV Network: “WHDH’s move is a flagrant violation of the terms of their contract with NBC. If they persist, we will strip WHDH of its NBC Affiliation. We have a number of other strong options in the Boston market, including using our existing broadcast license to launch an NBC owned and operated station.” Also playing hardball is Rick Cotton, General Counsel: “It is clear that WHDH is contractually required to air NBC programming as scheduled by the network.” – From Nikki Finke

Seeking to fortify its core assets, New York Times Co. is actively shopping its stake in the holding company of the Boston Red Sox baseball club, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Times Co., which faces a cash shortage accelerated by steep industrywide revenue declines, has been rumored for months to be open to selling noncore assets. Besides its flagship newspaper, Times Co. owns the Boston Globe, About.com and a 17.5% stake in New England Sports Ventures, which owns the Red Sox, their fabled ballpark Fenway Park and most of the cable network that airs the team’s games. – from WSJ

The Times got the Red Sox stake in 2002 as part of a group led by hedge fund manager John Henry that bought the team, Fenway Park and an 80 percent stake in the New England Sports Network. The price for the deal was $700 million, including debt. The network also includes a NASCAR auto-racing team. – from Reuters

The New York Times Company is trying to sell its stake in the Boston Red Sox baseball team, seeking to raise cash and shield its newspaper franchise from rapidly falling revenue, a person briefed on the plans said on Wednesday. Under pressure from investors to sell noncore assets in recent years, executives of the Times Company have said repeatedly that they were open to selling the stake, but only on the right terms. – from NYTimes