Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 8, 1990 TAG: 9003082080
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ABINGDON LENGTH: Medium
James McCall, now a member of the Washington County Industrial Development Authority, contends in the suit filed Wednesday in Circuit Court that his reputation was permanently damaged by a series of news articles, editorials and editorial cartoons appearing in the weekly newspaper. The suit asks for $250,000 in compensatory damages and another $250,000 in punitive damages.
Martha Weisfeld, the newspaper's editor, and her husband, Charles Weisfeld, the publisher, are named as co-defendants in the suit.
Martha Weisfeld said Wednesday night that she had not yet received official notification of the lawsuit.
While McCall said that he has been the subject of distorted and false coverage by the newspaper since he began serving on the development authority in July 1986, the lawsuit is limited to the attacks the newspaper has allegedly made against him for the past year. Ten separate editions of the newspaper are cited as examples of the allegations in the lawsuit.
"Defendants knew that the contents of these articles and cartoons were false, misleading, defamatory, and insulting, and yet they published them with actual malice, and in utter disregard of whether such words were false or not and with intent to damage plaintiff's reputation for honesty in the community," the lawsuit states.
Most of the articles in question allege that there was a conflict of interest between McCall's position on the authority and his employment as a project engineer for Dewberry & Davis, a Marion engineering firm that often contracted work with Washington County.
One article cited in the lawsuit is a front-page story that appeared in the Sept. 27 edition under the head, "Is There Another Scandal Brewing?" The article states that Washington County had entered a "lifetime contract" with Dewberry & Davis and implies that the county's work had not been bid properly.
Martha Weisfeld's opinion column, "Points and Viewpoints," is also named in the suit. The suit also names several editorial cartoons, including one that appeared on the front page of the Oct. 25 edition and another that depicted former County Administrator Dan Collins and County Attorney Joe Howard standing over a pie labeled "Taxpayer's Money." The cartoon carried a caption that said, "How big a piece you want, Jim?"
The Washington County Board of Supervisors voted Jan. 25 to cancel all contracts with Dewberry & Davis.
by CNB