My biggest complaint about the Daily Press was their misguided support of the King William Reservoir fiasco for about 20 years. They have never admitted they were wrong, despite overwhelming factual evidence. In fact, at last report they still said it was a good idea.

If they had reported the issue factually, the ill-conceived project would have died far more than a decade ago. Peninsula water customers would have saved a minimum of $60,000,000 and I believe the total cost/loss was far in excess of that.

Instead they persisted in spewing an endless stream of false propaganda and scare tactics to keep it alive. I calculate that it has cost Peninsula water customers at least $800 to $1000 each, so far. I also believe that the cost is still growing because all the water rate increases over the years that were specifically to fund the unneeded reservoir have ever been repealed. Someone just recently pointed out to me that Peninsula water customers are still paying water rates to build an imaginary lake that was never needed.

All Peninsulans owe a debt of gratitude to Councilwomen Madeline McMillan and Dr. Patricia Woodbury who stood alone against the project and did not bow to the overwhelming political pressure to endorse it. They have been a profile in courage, standing up for the people's interests against powerful special interests who were trying to soak the taxpayers and water customers.

Thank you Councilwomen McMillan and Woodbury. If your less principled opponents and colleagues had had their way, each and every water bill payer would have paid an additional $7000 to $10,000 each over the course of 20 years or so. It would have made a few land speculators rich, but would have harmed the vast majority of Peninsula citizens, landowners, Indians and others.

I really can't thank Ms McMillan and Dr. Woodbury enough. I should also point out that the Daily Press always tried to bring them down and always endorsed their opponents. In fact, the Daily Press endorsed the apparent criminal Kurt Ebersole over Ms McMillan in 2004. That was shortly before he was caught improperly using the Friends of the Homeless Shelter for his own real estate wheeling and dealing. He lost, he caused the Homeless Shelter to be closed and the Daily Press never apologized for endorsing the criminal over a beloved public servant.

Nothing against the hard workers and principled journalists that may still be toiling at the Daily Press. The leadership of the paper should either apologize for their role in the soaking of the citizens, or they should slink away in shame at the evil they have wrought. Later I'll tell you what I really think, instead of just softpedaling it as I just did in the preceding words.

Long Live McMillan, Woodbury and the James River Journal!!!

@Elizabeth - Let's support the company mouthpieces because they do the work right? Is that why the company's in bankruptcy?

Not sure where all the indignation is coming from over this blog's story. It's either true or it isn't. If it's not,nobody's being hurt by it's allegations, otherwise it's doing a service by alerting the community, in particular the effected employees, of a corporate decision that benefits only shareholders and executives at the expense of everyone else.

Not surprising a bankrupt corporation would do something like this in a nearly bankrupt economy. Not surprising corporate mouthpieces would try to discredit any efforts to warn the public of what's being planned. Not surprising employees with inside information would wish to remain unnamed lest they be tossed onto the scrap heap with the others.

My hat's off to the James River Journal for making this public.

Ah, forgive me, I had missed the italicized note at the top (was that added later?). It still doesn't nearly meet the minimal standards for source disclosure, however. Are these people who work at the paper, AND have some intimate knowledge of management decisions? For all we know, you talked to the people who worked at the coffee shop near the paper, who heard rumors.

Hey, let's get the National Labor Relations Board to order them to get their jobs back. It worked for Boeing in South Carolina.

Oh, never mind.

From the Romanesko bit: "A local blogger (he claims to be a journalist, which might bite him hard in the hind quarters)"

Lulz.

Poor DP. Still a great paper. Carry on, folks!

This would not surprise me. I worked for the DP for a short time and this is about the norm. After working only a year and a half I left. I felt that once the paper was sold to the tribune it would not be fit to read.

RE: Federal law. There must be a loophole. I can say for sure that I have been a party to a layoff larger than 60 that was out-of-the-blue for all parties involved.

As long as the DP continues to deceive its readers it will continue to shrink. Progressives who write for the paper and push a radical and bigoted agenda are slitting their own throats. Good riddance, if the story is true.

Let the free market bring about a better product. That is unless Lauren, Wyatt and Tina Vick et. al. lobby for government intervention.
Then I say, Goooooooo PRAVDA!!!!!!!!

I call BS on this report. Journalists attribute their sources to verifiable parties, but the JRJ has apparently chosen not to -- not even to say the source is anonymous. It sounds plausible, sure, but as it is, this is just gossip.

I'm very curious why there is no attribution in this piece. I see that you appear to have called someone at Tribune Corporate to verify the rumor. But who is your source?

JRJ The story is verified. The Tribune chooses to make no official comment.