Just hours after union Teamsters agreed to layoffs and five-figure salary cuts comes word that the Star Tribune paid Paul A. Ridder $123,032.50 between mid-January 2008 and 2009.

The payment was detailed in a bankruptcy filing obtained Wednesday. It's a stunner because Paul Anthony "Par" Ridder was removed as Strib publisher in September 2007, after a judge found he had illicitly taken documents from his former employer, the Pioneer Press.

However, Ridder resigned in December 2007, and the payment may represent a delayed settlement. Previous bankruptcy filings revealed the Strib spent $11.5 million in legal expenses in 2007; most of the money went for Ridder's court case and subsequent payment to PiPress owner MediaNews Group.

It is possible but unlikely that the payment went to Ridder's father, former Knight-Ridder executive Paul Anthony "Tony" Ridder. However, the only payments listed were for Strib corporate officers, and the elder Ridder did not hold such a post.

Star Tribune spokesman Ben Taylor has not returned a call for comment and neither Ridder could be reached.

The "Statement of Financial Affairs" lists Star Tribune expenses from Jan. 16, 2008 to Jan. 15, 2009, when the paper filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Included is compensation including salary, business and living expense reimbursements, and "for a limited number of persons, one-time payments to join the Star Tribune." Here are the people named:

♦ Publisher and Chairman Chris Harte, $64,855.

♦ Chief Financial Officer David Montgomery, $529,798

♦ Senior Vice President for Advertising David J. Walsh, $404,977

♦ President of Digital Media Dan Shorter, $355,918

♦ Senior Circulation Vice President Steven H. Alexander, $246,753

♦ Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications Benjamin Taylor, $234,528

♦ Senior Vice President, Operations Kevin Desmond, $220,000

♦ Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Labor Relations Helen Wainwright, $215,039

♦ Senior Vice President and General Counsel Randy Lebedoff, $201,030

♦ Vice President, Controller and Treasurer Chuck Brown, $148,500

♦ Ridder, $123,032