Block Communications, owner of The Blade, sued Lucas County Auditor Katie Moline and the county commissioners on Tuesday, Nov. 10, after commissioners voted 2-0 to award the annual delinquent tax-list printing contract to the Toledo Legal News instead of The Blade. The Legal News bid about $55,000; The Blade bid $230,982.57 — more than four times as much. Block says the Legal News doesn’t meet Ohio’s test for a newspaper of general circulation because less than a quarter of what it prints is editorial content, and warns the choice could hand delinquent owners a defense against foreclosure. The suit asks for mediation under R.C. 7.12 and was assigned to Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gary Cook. This year’s draft tax list names 11,888 parcels and 414 manufactured homes, and the county faces a Nov. 23 publication deadline. Commissioners Lisa Sobecki and Anita Lopez voted yes; Pete Gerken was absent.

Source: Lake Erie Inquiry

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