Wendy McCaw Brought into ‘Santa Barbara News-Press’ Bankruptcy Complaint Personally
Transfers of Two Newspaper Buildings to McCaw’s Limited Liability Companies at Issue
If it wasn’t before, the bankruptcy of the Santa Barbara News-Press got personal for Wendy McCaw on Wednesday. Bankruptcy Court Judge Ronald A. Clifford III ruled that McCaw, who bought the newspaper in 2000, is added to the complaint that seeks to gain possession of both the historic building in De la Guerra Plaza and the printing press building in Goleta.
The two buildings now carry an assessed value of $28 million, which would go a long way to cover the debts owed to creditors left in the cold when McCaw’s wholly owned company Ampersand Publishing LLC filed for Chapter 7 in July 2023.
Among those creditors are more than 40 employees who had formed a union under the Teamsters umbrella back in 2006. Federal district and appeals court rulings penalized the News-Press for depriving employees of pay raises, failing to bargain in good faith, and charging employees more for health care than it was allowed, penalties that now total $3.6 million with interest that continues to mount. (A second similar ruling for employer actions after 2017 earned a contempt ruling from a federal magistrate two weeks ago, with the amount yet to be determined.)
