COLORADO SPRINGS – A local group led by the owner of the Colorado Springs Independent and the Colorado Springs Business Journal is attempting to raise money to buy the beleaguered Denver Post, with investors pledging $10 million so far.

John Weiss, the chairman of Together for Colorado Springs, confirmed his interest in putting together a group to purchase the newspaper during a panel discussion at the annual conference of the Colorado Press Association.

While not confirming names, Weiss said he’s met with Colorado Springs’ versions of Jeff Bezos.

“We don’t have a vision. … We just said, ‘We’re not going to sit by,'” he said.

Weiss said he is meeting with investment bankers next week.

“The Denver Post is profitable. They’re just sending the money to New York and Connecticut,” he said, referencing Alden Global Capital, the New York hedge fund that owns The Denver Post.

It’s unknown if Alden Global Capital plans to put the paper up for sale, or how much the newspaper is worth.

The Denver Post was ordered last month to slash another 30 jobs from its newsroom in the latest cutbacks that have seen it shed more than half of its news-gathering staff since Alden bought the chain that owns the Post in 2010.

The Post’s Editorial Board responded Sunday to the hedge fund’s constant layoffs despite the newspaper being highly profitable with a plea to its owners to sell to someone who cares about journalism, rather than continue to degrade its ability to cover Denver and state news.

“Denver deserves a newspaper owner who supports its newsroom. If Alden isn’t willing to do good journalism here, it should sell The Post to owners who will,” the board wrote.

The Resurrect the Denver Post Exploratory Committee includes environmental attorney Perry Sanders and Florida attorney John Goede, who co-own the Antlers and Mining Exchange hotels in Colorado Springs, The Denver Post reported.

The Gazette’s Jerry Herman contributed to this report.