By JANIE MCCAULEY

Associated Press

SEATTLE — Talks continued Sunday in an effort to end the nearly monthlong strike by the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild against the city’s two daily newspapers.

Seattle Times President H. Mason Sizemore said the goal was to have a settlement before the weekend was over.

"That’s the goal, but there’s still a lot of work to be done," he said Sunday morning from his office. "If most of the issues are taken care of, you’d be talking about Monday before this thing is finalized."

On Sunday, The Times began charging for newspapers for the first time since the strike began Nov. 21.

Negotiations went on most of the day Saturday, recessing after dinner, Sizemore said.

In Sunday editions of The News Tribune of Tacoma, Executive Editor Dave Zeeck wrote that the best thing for the Puget Sound area and journalism in Western Washington would be for the strike to end soon.

"Right now, this region supports many newspapers and editorial voices," Zeeck said in his column. "Competition comes from every direction; it forces all of us to serve readers better if we want to grow. A long strike could ruin that."

Zeeck said the Tacoma paper could become "a larger, richer paper" if the strike goes on but that no one is wishing for that.

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