The Seattle Post-Intelligencer owner is floating seemingly contradictory arguments about newspaper business decisions in a lawsuit here against the Seattle Times Co. and in another, unrelated action in San Francisco.
Financial figures disclosed by old and new minority owners show a big gap in the market valuation of the Seattle Times Co. That could be a factor when arbitration starts over the future of the Times and the Hearst-owned Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
When the closed-door showdown between Seattle's dailies begins, P-I owner Hearst has a legal bombshell: a sworn deposition by a former Times circulation vice president who says the paper violated the joint operating agreement with the P-I and used a "ruse" to trick its way into the morning market.
While big farms are slipping in number, Washington is seeing a rise in small farms, the main supplies of farmers markets. Developers are now treating a small farm as an attractive amenity, attracting those hooked on the FarmVille fantasy game.
Estimates put the sale price at $30-40 million, about a $200 million loss from the 1998 purchase price. And the Seattle company apparently has to carry unfunded pension liabilities as part of the deal.
