Local News in Brief : New Owners Sue Newspaper Founder
The owners of the Newhall Signal newspaper have filed suit against its founder, Scott Newhall, accusing him and his son, Tony, of breach of contract by starting a competing newspaper in the Santa Clarita Valley.
The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of Newhall Newspapers and Morris Newspaper Corp. of Savannah, Ga., does not name Ruth Newhall, the Signal’s former editor, who will edit the new newspaper, the Santa Clarita Valley Citizen, which is scheduled to debut Sunday.
Tony Newhall and his parents quit the Signal’s top posts Aug. 9 in a stock dispute and announced a few days later their plans to launch a twice-weekly publication to serve the Santa Clarita Valley.
The suit says Tony Newhall, the Signal’s former publisher, signed a contract in 1983 pledging not to start a second Santa Clarita Valley paper when he sold his remaining shares of Signal stock to Morris for $779,186.
The suit also asks the Newhalls to stop soliciting Signal employees and advertisers and not to make disparaging remarks about the Signal or its parent company.
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