Where do I get in line?

The Northwest Herald is after Crystal Lake blogger Cal Skinner about some comments that Cal made in his June 3 blog. You can find them at www.mchenrycountyblog.com

This morning's Daily Herald reports on the lawsuit filed by the Northwest Herald against Skinner. Will the Daily Herald be sued for repeating the comments? Or was it merely reciting facts from the lawsuit? Will I be sued for referring to the stories?

According to the Daily Herald's story today, Skinner's attorney "...said county documents back Skinner's claims of a loan between the county and newspaper ownership. Those documents indicate that in 1985 the county board approved a resolution supporting the issuance of $2.6 million in tax-exempt bonds to fund the construction of the newspaper's Crystal Lake headquarters."

The paper then added, "Deputy County Administrator John Labaj said the newspaper was allowed to take advantage of the county's status to obtain financing at about 80 percent of what was the prime interest rate at the time."

And the paper further quoted Labaj, "They were allowed to use the county's tax-exempt status to get money at a favorable interest rate, ... But no county money was ever expended."

Where do I get in line to use McHenry County's tax-exempt status to get a loan at a 20% discount from a private bank?

And what about the shot taken by the attorney for the Northwest Herald? "The difference between a newspaper and Mr. Skinner is that Mr. Skinner doesn't care if he's right or not." If I were Cal Skinner, I'd be instructing my attorney to take a look at that statement and determine to my extent my integrity before the public was harmed.