News-Press ordered to pay former editor

An arbitrator has dismissed a wacky $25 million claim made by Wendy McCaw, owner of the Santa Barbara News-Press, against the paper's former editor, Jerry Roberts. In the same opinion, the arbitrator ordered McCaw's Ampersand Publishing to pay about $750,000 in legal fees to Roberts, who is now co-editor of the California political site CalBuzz. A judge will still have to confirm the opinion.

From AP:

Roberts said he felt vindicated by the arbitrator's decision and said he was grateful to those who supported him through the lengthy legal battle.

"The award is a decisive victory for ethical journalism," Roberts said in a statement. "Ethics, not money, was always the issue for me."

(found via Romenesko)

Lowe home spared

In the aftermath of the Montecito fire, I couldn't help but wonder if anything had happened to Rob Lowe's home on Picacho Lane - the home that helped spark a firestorm between Santa Barbara News-Press owner Wendy McCaw and her newsroom.

According to a Nov. 14 story, Lowe's home was surrounded by flames but ultimately spared. A list of damaged and destroyed homes provided by Santa Barbara County includes no Picacho addresses.

Kevin Roderick at LA Observed lists a few of the well-known people who did lose homes, including News-Press co-publisher Arthur von Wiesenberger.

Wendy swings her ax

Santa Barbara News-Press owner Wendy McCaw wants to control the content of her paper so badly that she just canned 16 people from the newsroom. (via LA Observed)