Tribune case is back in motion

A contentious dispute over ownership of the Salt Lake Tribune appears to be gearing back up, nearly four months after a federal appeals court overturned a Utah judge's decision and sent the matter back to federal court here.

Three separate cases are now pending over various issues surrounding the January 2001 sale of the daily newspaper. On Monday, attorneys in all three cases filled U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart's courtroom to decide how to best move forward.

Stewart ordered that two cases — the original lawsuit challenging the January 2001 sale to MediaNews Group Inc. and another filed by MediaNews against the individual members of the family asserting rights to the Tribune — remain stayed pending the resolution of a third case.

That case, in which the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last December, involves the newspaper's appraised value. The appeals court overturned a decision upholding a $355.5 million price tag on the paper. Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co. seeks to exercise a 1997 option agreement allowing it to purchase the newspaper from Denver-based MediaNews but disputes the validity of the appraisal process that set the price.

No new hearings were scheduled Monday, but Stewart did set a March 31 deadline for MediaNews and Management Planning Inc., the New Jersey-based firm that performed the challenged appraisal, to respond to Tribune Publishing's motion to lift a discovery stay in the case.

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