BANGOR ? The former editor of the defunct Maine Times has settled his lawsuit against the magazine and its owner, Christopher Hutchins of Bangor, for an undisclosed amount.

Bradford W. Ketchum of Orono sued Hutchins, Maine Times Publishing Co. and Alternative Energy Inc. in September in Penobscot County Superior Court, seeking one year’s salary of $120,000 in severance pay. Hutchins denied that Ketchum was entitled to severance pay, according to court documents. He asked the court to dismiss Ketchum’s lawsuit or issue a judgment in Hutchins’ favor and award him costs and attorney’s fees.

Hutchins’ attorney, Jeffrey Bennett of Portland, said Tuesday that both sides were pleased with the confidential settlement reached last month.

Efforts to reach Ketchum’s attorney, Warren Silver of Bangor, were unsuccessful.

Because he would be uprooting his family from Cohasset, Mass., where he had lived for 25 years, Ketchum asked for and received a letter from Hutchins that stated he would receive one year’s severance pay if his employment were terminated, the lawsuit alleged.

The settlement, filed April 15 in Bangor, appears to bring to an end the long, slow demise of the Maine Times, which was founded in 1968 as an alternative weekly newspaper by journalist Peter Cox and the late John N. Cole.

Hutchins purchased the assets of the Maine Times in 1999 and continued to publish it as a weekly newspaper for three years.

In mid-2002, Hutchins closed the newspaper, but announced that he would revamp the publication as a monthly magazine. In September 2002, according to Ketchum’s lawsuit, Hutchins hired him as editor at a yearly salary of $120,000.

Ketchum, a Maine native, is a founding editor of Inc. and Walking magazines and also worked for McGraw-Hill and Yankee Publishing. By 2002, he had 40 years of editorial experience at national magazines, according to court documents.

The magazine appeared on newsstands in April 2003. On Jan. 19, 2004, Hutchins abruptly told Ketchum and the 14 other Maine Times employees that publication would cease immediately and terminated their employment, according to Ketchum’s complaint.

Bennett said last year that the assets of the Maine Times were liquidated but weren’t sufficient to pay all the outstanding bills.

The half dozen or so claims that were filed by other ex-staffers, freelance writers and photographers also have been settled, Bennett said on Tuesday.