Judge again rejects motion in Trib suit

The federal judge overseeing the Salt Lake Tribune ownership dispute has once again refused to remove himself from the case.

U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart on Friday denied Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co.'s third recusal motion without explanation. Stewart's brief order notes that he has stated the standard for a judge to remove himself from a case on two prior occasions and again finds that SLTPC's arguments fail to meet that standard.

Former Tribune managers based their latest recusal motion on comments made in Stewart's March 17 order denying their second motion. SLTPC argued that the statements, which were centered around a story published in the Tribune about SLTPC's first attempt at removal, showed Stewart harbors "actual bias" against the former Tribune managers.

SLTPC seeks to enforce a 1997 option agreement it believes gives managers the right to purchase the Tribune from MediaNews Group Inc., which purchased the Tribune from AT&T in January 2001. SLTPC managed the newspaper under a five-year management agreement until its expiration on July 31.

The case is scheduled for trial in November.