Inside the News in Colorado: Less than six months after Wet Mountain Tribune Publisher Jordan Hedberg filed a federal First Amendment lawsuit against the Custer County board of commissioners, both sides have reached an initial agreement to settle.
On Wednesday, the Tribune’s team and its legal counsel met in Colorado Springs for a day-long settlement conference with county politicians and their own legal representation, along with a federal magistrate judge.
In a phone interview the following day, Hedberg said while the ink still must dry on the paperwork, he expects his newspaper will get $50,000 and the local public officials will give the Tribune back its status as Custer County’s “paper of record” for the next four years. He said he would wait to report the news in his own weekly newspaper until the check clears.
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