Back when there were newspaper wars between the L.A. Times and the Daily News (over the Valley), the Times and Register (over Orange County), and other suburban papers, this never would have happened. But that era is over. Now that the Times has surrendered OC, publisher David Hiller apparently has no hesitation presenting a tribute to Register CEO Chris Anderson at the OC Business Council later this month. A former Times executive deeply involved in the fight for Orange County says: "No way!" Invitation after the jump below.

Also in OC: The OC Post experiment has quietly ended in Irvine. The dumbed-down version of the Register for commuters will merge with a local throwaway. Register, John Seiler