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A statement about a review of ‘Bulldozed’
From staff reports
The Daily News
Published November 8, 2009
Editor’s note: Dolph Tillotson, president and publisher of The Daily News, issued this statement about a book review that was the subject of a lawsuit.
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Mark Lardas, in writing his book review for The Galveston County Daily News on Jan. 27, 2008, depended solely on statements made about the case as reported in the book “Bulldozed.” He did no independent research to supplement or ascertain the truth of any statements in the book.
Neither The Daily News nor Mark Lardas has any evidence that Walker Royall initiated or encouraged the City of Freeport to use eminent domain in the development of the marina project, or that Royall was part of any plan to damage or destroy the business of Western Seafood.
The City of Freeport has recently written to confirm, FreeportSupportsWalker.com, that Royall did not try to influence the city to use its power of eminent domain in furtherance of the project, and that eminent domain was not used. The city also has confirmed that it invited Royall to participate in this project due to his real estate development expertise and appreciates his continued involvement.
It should be noted that after the book review was written, in the course of all litigation on this matter, Western Seafood and the Gores have settled with Royall, and the courts have rejected all attempts to have his claims dismissed.
The purpose of the review was to present a discussion of the issue of eminent domain in a neighboring county. It was never the intention of the newspaper or the reviewer to question Walker Royall’s character nor to harm his reputation. We regret that any reader may have drawn such an inference.
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