The
Lone Star Eagle: Board
of Directors, Signal Publishing LLC:
203
West Austin Street Mr.
Hal Cornish Mr. Jim Davis
Marshall,
Texas 75670 Mr.
T. D. Howell Mr. Vernon B. Lewis,
Jr.
Dr.
Orin Littlejohn Mr. Chad Sims
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Gentlemen: My
letter to you on February 12 warned you about publisher Vernon Lewis' pattern
of making false claims against Caddo Lake Institute, me, Don Henley and other
community participants. These claims included demonstrably false charges:
that CLI was spending money for
political campaigns, or misusing grant funds, or was involved in lawsuits
against utility companies, --and even that CLI was a “front” for a United
Nations “takeover” of Caddo Lake and other Texas waters, or seeking water
rights in order to sell them, etc, etc.
Ten
months ago I notified you about this Lone Star Eagle campaign --of
"bearing false witness" about the Caddo Lake Institute and its
colleagues -- and that it would be the subject of further communications.
This "false witness" reference was a perhaps too subtle reminder of
your publication's oft-stated public claim that it is based on Christian
principles. I was specifically referring to the Ninth Commandment's
injunction: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor." That
letter also reminded each of you of your special responsibilities --for
truthfulness and duties to correct erroneous publications-- because "community newspapers, especially
in small communities, assume a special responsibility of being the ‘witnesses
of record’ to the life of their communities and the reputations of those they
report about. Their holding themselves out as bona fide, professional news organizations
gives them a special credibility, because the public assumes that they
emulate the standards of their peer news organizations." Basic
journalistic rules require checking with me before making claims about
me or my stewardship, and withholding publication of potentially defamatory
claims. In our case, these basic rules have been consistently violated by
your paper. Thus, on December 1, 2005, the Lone Star Eagle published yet another editorial, signed "VBL," which contained numerous false and defamatory statements. These were made either with actual knowledge of their falsity, or in reckless disregard for normal practices that would provide both truth, not to mention journalistic balance. This editorial stated in a variety of ways that CLI has engaged in potentially fraudulent and improper conduct in the use of federal grants, buttressing these falsehoods with the assertion that an IRS "investigation" had now "widened into a full scale IRS audit." These
charges are also false, irresponsible and malicious . THE
CADDO LAKE INSTITUTE IS NOT NOW, AND HAS NEVER BEEN THE SUBJECT OF AN IRS
AUDIT. I am the custodian of the financial records of the Institute. I would
be the first to know. No IRS audit has occurred. Not as to the use of grant
funds. Not as to the use of any other Institute funds. Not for any other
reason. Not in the past. Not today. Lewis's
defamatory false witness campaign started soon after CLI joined other local
residents in refusing demands, by Lewis and the City of Marshall, that we
sign a contract to permit new Marshall water diversions of Caddo Lake water
for sale to a power plant. We refused because the contract did not contain
adequate protections for Caddo Lake.
We urged the City to pursue other options, which we pointed out. The City could have purchased water from
Lake O' the Pines and sold it to Entergy at a substantial profit. The City could have sold its own treated
wastewater, as Longview wound up doing. Current low-water conditions at
Caddo Lake, and throughout the Big Cypress watershed, offer first-hand |
proof that our concerns for the lake's health during dry periods were
well founded. We
also became a target of Lewis’ malicious campaign because CLI supported more
than 200 lake residents who sought a court order to require a state water
agency hearing on the matter. This position has been vindicated by two
courts. On
numerous occasions, Lewis announced, publicly and privately, that he would
"ruin" CLI as an organization and "ruin" me
personally. He has made every effort
to do so - and you, his fellow publishers of the Lone Star Eagle Weekly
continue to permit him to use the paper to knowingly print his false
information. Thus, you share
responsibility for his libelous conduct.
Lewis' most recent claims - anchored to the lie that CLI is undergoing
a full-scale IRS audit - are the most insidious yet. They are intended to impugn and damage
CLI's agency relationships and its programs, and to injure the hard-earned
professional reputations of the individuals involved. CLI’s
reputation and agency relationships are extremely important. Thanks to the
assistance of many local individuals and organizations, CLI has earned an
exemplary national, and international reputation for its locally based
scientific watershed and wetland protection programs. Many appreciate our
successful natural science eco-tourism development programs –as engines of
economic redevelopment for Caddo Lake and its neighboring communities. The
Institute is also well regarded for its success in forging close and
productive working and financial relationships between our local communities
and key state and federal resource management agencies, as well as important
non-governmental organizations. My
personal and professional reputation and integrity are also important to me,
and indirectly to CLI. After almost
15 years of service to Caddo Lake and its communities, I am in the process of
retiring from active leadership of the Institute. If you fail to comprehensively correct this false witness
campaign, I now can and will invest the resources needed to hold accountable
this malicious and irresponsible newspaper and board members who permit its
continued misconduct to go uncorrected.
Not
only must you correct you paper’s published reports, but also those that are
apparently being communicated secretly to agencies. For example, you may be implicated in publishing falsehoods to
agencies. On December 1, Lewis wrote that your paper has "known for some
time that the Internal Revenue Service was investigating the CLI's use of
government grants." Are your
paper’s representatives secretly repeating these falsehoods to the IRS or
others for the purpose of causing unnecessary audits or investigations? Is
Lewis claiming that you have contacts in the IRS who will go after your
perceived enemies? This would be a serious violation of federal law. If so,
secret falsehoods and the identity of those involved can be redressed along
with resulting damages if judicial intervention becomes necessary. It is in
your interest to also correct secret defamation while you still can. Enough
is enough. We will exercise every
legal option to protect our hard-earned reputations and exemplary
governmental relationships -- by holding accountable those who seek to undo
the CLI's good work by printing or even secretly communicating false and
malicious information. We have
retained for this purpose attorney Richard Ellison, of Kerrville, a former
Caddo Lake second homeowner, who will help us take the next steps. |