The issue was brought to Roberts’ attention when she was given a letter from an Oxnard attorney dated November 2001 questioning if the transfer had ever taken place.According to the Sespe Sun the attorney suggested that it was potentially arguable that the Herald could be valid if it had assumed the name as a new publication using the original title.A statement from Roberts printed in the Sespe Sun noted that the reason for the Herald’s closure is “complex, but as it turns out neither Terry nor I own the paper” due to “documents that have been left undone that keeps the paper in the hands of the person who actually formed the San Cayetano Mountain Investment Corp.,” an issue that Roberts wrote could not be resolved. “You can’t sell or transfer something you don’t own,” leading to the closure.”Roberts wrote that she had invested more than $60,000 in the Herald and acknowledged that several people had informed her that Timmons’ ownership of the Herald was in doubt.Also now in doubt is the validity of hundreds of City of Fillmore legal notices and DBA’s - the Herald used to print page after page of “Doing Business As” announcements - printed in the Herald which might have lost its adjudication when Sentinel Media officially was no longer doing business.Neither Timmons, who had worked for Huff, nor Roberts could not be reached for comment.
Fillmore Herald closes, One of oldest VC papers was on brink of centennial
July 14, 2006
Santa Paula News
On the brink of celebrating 100 years of journalism the Fillmore Herald abruptly closed its doors and ceased publication on Friday amid questions regarding the weekly newspaper’s ownership and the validity of legal notices due to issues of adjudication.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesOn the brink of celebrating 100 years of journalism the Fillmore Herald abruptly closed its doors and ceased publication on Friday amid questions regarding the weekly newspaper’s ownership and the validity of legal notices due to issues of adjudication.Published by Terry Timmons and Linda Roberts - the latter became involved in the paper several years ago - the Fillmore Herald was a brash publication with a history of run-ins with local authorities before owner Doug Huff passed away about a decade ago.Fillmore, with its population of about 15,000 residents, has two weekly newspapers, the other the Fillmore Gazette, which opened in the early 1990s.“No one seems to know what is going on,” although the ownership of the newspaper had been questioned for years, said a Fillmore resident who asked not to be identified. “It’s too bad...the Herald and the Gazette kept things pretty lively,” although a legendary feud between the two newspapers had mellowed in recent years.According to a published report in the online Sespe Sun that quoted Roberts, the newspaper “had been found to be in multiple business errors” that made it “useless to continue” publication.Formerly owned by Sentinel Media, being questioned is if there was ever a legal transfer of the newspaper to San Cayetano Investment Corp. following Huff’s 1996 death.Sentinel Media ceased to exist and after a period of time San Cayetano Investment Corp. was suspended.
