As we've noted recently, the San Francisco Bay Guardian has been going after the assets of SF Weekly as it tries to collect the millions of dollars it was awarded in 2008's predatory-pricing trial against the Weekly and parent company Village Voice Media. This week, the Guardian upped the ante, asking a court for permission to seize all property belonging not just to the Weekly but to all of VVM. An attorney for the Guardian tells the San Francisco Chronicle that it has been tough collecting anything since SF Weekly doesn't actually have much property, which is why they are now going after the rest of the company. But VVM continues to maintain it doesn't owe the Guardian anything until it has fully exhausted its appeals. The ruling on this could come down as early as today. READ MORE from The Stranger.

Continue ReadingBay Guardian Hopes to Expand Collection Efforts to Other VVM Papers

The San Francisco Bay Guardian reports that it was granted its motion to intercept the income of the SF Weekly in a court hearing last week. The Guardian says it will seize the rent that the SF Weekly's subtenant pays to the paper. This comes on the heels of the Guardian's recent seizure and auction of two vehicles owned by the Weekly, and it is all part of the Guardian's attempt to collect the multi-million-dollar judgment it was awarded in the predatory pricing trial against the Weekly and its parent company New Times, now known as Village Voice Media. VVM maintains that it won't owe the Guardian any money until its appeals are completed.

Continue ReadingBay Guardian Continues its Seizure of SF Weekly’s Assets

The San Francisco Bay Guardian last week auctioned off two vehicles owned by the SF Weekly as it tries to collect the multi-million-dollar judgment it was awarded in the predatory pricing trial against the Weekly and its parent company New Times, now known as Village Voice Media. The Guardian, which seized the vehicles in November, says the move "prove[s] wrong the predictions of New Times executives that the Guardian would never collect a cent on its judgment." VVM maintains that it won't owe the Guardian any money until its appeals are completed.

Continue ReadingBay Guardian Seizes and Auctions Off SF Weekly Vehicles

A routine veto message from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may have had a hidden meaning for the bill's sponsor, according to the San Francisco Bay Guardian, which reports that if you add up the first letter of each line of the message, you get "Fuck You." The bill in question, which would have expanded the financing powers of the Port of San Francisco, was sponsored by state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who earlier this month shouted "You lie!" at the governor and told him to "Kiss my gay ass" at a fundraiser. While a Schwarzenegger spokesman maintains that the message is simply "a strange coincidence," the Guardian's findings have the political world buzzing. READ MORE coverage of the incident from ABC News, the New York Times, NPR, and the Wall Street Journal.

Continue ReadingBay Guardian Finds the ‘Fuck You’ Code Inside Gov’s Veto Message

"Somebody broke into the Bay Guardian parking lot last night, rammed through the chain-link fence and drove away with our van," Guardian executive editor Tim Redmond writes. "Kinda crazy -- it's ten years old, it's all beat up -- and it has the Guardian logo all over it and a Best of the Bay mural on the side. Hard to hide."

Continue ReadingSan Francisco Bay Guardian’s Van is Stolen

SF Weekly reports the city of San Francisco is reaching out to a handful of websites to potentially run public notice ads, including the website of the San Francisco Bay Guardian. But Guardian publisher Bruce Brugmann says the paper has no intention of participating. "We don't bid, or go in for these city contracts, and we don't intend to do it now," he tells the Weekly.

Continue ReadingBay Guardian Says it Won’t Run City’s Public Notice Ads on Website

As expected, Village Voice Media and SF Weekly filed an appeal to last year's decision in the Guardian's predatory pricing suit this week in the California Court of Appeal. "With this appeal, judicial error, attorney contrivance, expert witness puffery, juror confusion, and statutory imprecision are now cast in the edifying light of reason and clarity," VVM executive editor Michael Lacey says. The Guardian's Tim Redmond says nothing in VVM's appeal is new to them. "We're confident we'll prevail in the appeal, as we did at the trial court level," he tells AAN News.

Continue ReadingVVM Files Appeal in Bay Guardian Case

In the annual awards given out to "The Best in the West" by the Western Publishing Association, L.A. Weekly won in the overall Tabloids (Consumer) category and in the Best News Story (Consumer) category, while the San Francisco Bay Guardian took first for Best Signed Editorial or Essay (Consumer).

Continue ReadingTwo Alt-Weeklies Win Three Maggie Awards

While last year's verdict in favor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian in its predatory pricing lawsuit against SF Weekly and Village Voice Media is being appealed, the Guardian claims VVM is ducking its debts and hiding its assets in an effort not to pay the $15.6 million it owes in damages. VVM executive editor Michael Lacey says that's not correct. "The case is on appeal. You are not entitled to a penny," he writes in a blog post.

Continue ReadingNew Twist in VVM/Bay Guardian Case