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Where does Morro Bay’s George Leage live?

November 22, 2013

George LeageBy KAREN VELIE and JOSH FRIEDMAN

Morro Bay Councilman George Leage does not have a legal residence in Morro Bay; instead he sleeps in an apartment in his family’s sushi restaurant, Off the Hook.

Off the Hook is located in Morro Bay tidelands, an area of which the city acquired ownership through a state grant. The tidelands grant prohibits residential use of the area and requires businesses to support public access or public trust uses.

“Residential use of these public lands is specifically prohibited,” the Morro Bay Harbor Department Lease Management Policy states.

The city leases tidelands to individuals and businesses, like Leage and Off the Hook. Several years ago, Leage put the restaurant lease in his sister’s name, though he continues to manage the business. About a year ago, Leage says he began living in a caretaker unit in the restaurant.IMG_1840

“There have been caretaker units at different places around here.” Leage said. “I thought it was grandfathered in or permitted as a caretaker’s unit.”

The California State Lands Commission monitors compliance with state land grants. State Lands spokesperson Sheri Pemberton said living on state-granted tidelands is not a proper use of the land.

“It is and has been the commission position for decades that residential use of the tidelands is inconsistent with the public trust,” Pemberton said. “Residential use is a private use and inconsistent with the public nature of these lands.”

In March, Leage attended a city study session on the harbor tideland lease site rules and regulations. During the meeting, former city attorney Rob Shultz told the audience that residential use is not permitted on Public Trust lands.

Leage said he did not remember that portion of the presentation and that Schultz did not know where he was residing. Leage also said he would move if state or city officials ask him to.

“If they state to me it is not residential, I will get out of there,” Leage said.


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When did the Board decide about the Temporary denial of living space on the Embarcadero? We deserve to know what is really going on! 40 years of “OK to be there, now all of a sudden its illegal?


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It was always illegal, just because it may not have been on top of the list of things to address doesn’t mean it was okay. We all know how CA seems overloaded with regulations, but instead of just ignoring a regulation Mr. Leage should have tried to change it first instead of just doing it even though it was illegal


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Not So, There is now a “Temporary” order. That apartment has been occupied for 40 years. You are not being properly informed.


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“It is and has been the commission position for decades that residential use of the tidelands is inconsistent with the public trust,” it seems I understand it as quoted, it is “inconsistent”, to me that means not allowed, period.


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“Inconsistent” does not rule out pre-existing, non-conforming. Leage’s unit is legal.


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So, worse case scenario dude rents an apartment, is that worth 250 comments and all the hand wringing? Morro Bay has a bad case of Los Osositis.


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Some personal attacks, thread capping, outing attempts and off topic broad brushes deleted.

Further personal attacks, off topic and other childish bad behavior will be deleted and participants risk the loss of accounts.


! or ? moderator@calcoastnews.com


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Karen Velie will be on News/Talk 920 KVEC today (Monday) at 5 p.m.


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This is absolutely ridiculous! The family that used to own the “Fish Bowl” on the embarcadero lived above the restaurant for YEARS!! It was only a few years back that they sold the place. So the rule for DECADES” is a joke or a lie, or really NO one cared! George has been an upstanding member of this community for so many years, I can only figure this is all about that Irons guy again, stirring the CRP-Pot. Time to sign that recall.

I mean give me a break why after all these years of residential living on the Embarcadero are they giving League a hard time? What about all the other “residence” down there?


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So it sounds like what you want is “Other people break the law so I should be allowed to”, I surprised you don’t know it doesn’t work that way. Someone else speeding and doesn’t get caught so you speed and get a ticket and don’t think that’s right??????? Sorry it doesn’t work that way


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I don’t see it as the same Kayaknut, Iheartmb admitted he/she did this as retaliation.

I see it as a direct attack. Not just a coincidence of wrong doing and he was the one getting caught. There are several people who have been living on the Embarcadero for many years. Now all of a sudden its an issue?

ITs was done as a vicious attack. Very Very sad that a MB employee feels they have to do something like this.


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Sorry you got it wrong, at least what I read was Iheartmb did not do for retaliation but hid their identity over concern of retaliation, a different issue.


And no you are also wrong on the issue where people have been doing for years…. using my speeding analogy, people have been speeding for years and that doesn’t mean if you speed now it is okay and that it all of a sudden it is a problem. Speeding has been illegal for years and still is.


Not sure how or where you got that this was done as a “vicious” attack, haven’t seen any proof of that, but I agree it is sad a employee feels this was but also I am glad they can tell their story and let the system work without retaliation.


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Hmmm lets see here, All of a sudden after 40 years, League is told he is breaking the rules? This is an absolute political attack. Speeding is and will always be illegal. Living on the Embarcadero has NOT always been illegal and after all is said and done, it won’t be again. For What other reason would you think “IheartMB” would bring up this issue? What possible motive could they have? IF is smells like Fish, its probably Fish! Ever since this new mayor, it has been absolutely horrible for Morro Bay..


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Iron’s camp apparently are getting desperate and pulling some underhanded stunts……one of which I will say is assuming other citizen’s identity. Just wait.


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Dear all, I am the anonymous tipper. I work with the city and reported Mr Leage anonymously because I fear a backlash that would affect my job. I’m watching how some of the citizens of this town (including other city staff) are treating Mayor Irons for making change and I can’t afford to have that same wrath thrown on me. I need my job! I’m writing this today to make it clear the Mayor, Mr Smuckler & Mrs C.Johnson had nothing to do with this tip. I discovered a possible injustice in our system and made inquiries to CalCoast News.


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If that is true I have some questions for you:


1. How was League’s residency negatively affecting you?


2. Are you an Iron’s supporter? (Yes as evidenced in your comment)


So the Mayor and his supporting cast were not directly the ones who brought the tip up,

but your tip was entirely for the purpose of distracting the recall effort from the actually important facts that are affecting residents in Morro Bay.


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Well… I can’t say that I’m surprised you immediately jumped to assuming I’m some kind of manipulating supporter of Mayor Irons. It seems pretty much like your M.O. by reading the comments. I assure you I am not. I am a hardworking, law-abiding member of the Morro Bay community with absolutely NO PARTY AFFILIATION.


In reality… I just discovered this fact about Mr. Leage and didn’t think it was ethically right that he was living in a location deemed illegal by the Morro Bay Harbor Department Lease Management Policy. I am aware of the recall efforts against the mayor (who isn’t) but what does me bringing Mr Leage’s living situation up have to do with that? They are completely different things.


To answer your questions in order:

1. He sits on my City’s Council and is doing so illegally. It affects me because it’s unethical and if we don’t keep our leaders in check who will? Themselves? (obviously not)

2. I do not choose sides with our local government. Working with the city my “boss” is essentially whoever is in those seats. I have people I like more than others, but do not have a “side”. Not every citizen of MB is an embattled pro or anti Jamie soldier!!!


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>>>> “He sits on my City’s Council and is doing so illegally.”


You are flat out 100% wrong. Leage is a legal citizen, resident, and registered elector (voter) of the City of Morro Bay. He has every right to vote and hold elected office.


You are uninformed and confusing a zoning/code issue with legal citizenship status. The two are unrelated. Your deficit of understanding has led you to make a false and gross accusation of a crime and ethics.


You owe Leage an apology.


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so does that mean a guy like me, living in his SUBARU WAGON IN COOKIE CROCK PARKING LOT can run for, and sit on the city council?


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ABSOLUTELY.


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What would I put down for a physical address?


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Where you reside. 490 Quintana Rd parking lot. It’s not complicated.


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And it’s illegal to sleep in your car within the city limits, why don’t you take your pity-me whining somewhere else?


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Good luck with that


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What’s that supposed to mean?


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@Kevin….Your missing a big point here but tomorrow and the next day

and the next……you will see a story unfold. To argue whether George

Leage is a legal resident, citizen, allowed to be on the city council, etc. is a matter of law, what we should be asking is;


DID GEORGE LEAGE KNOW THAT HE WAS NOT LEGALLY

ALLOWED TO LIVE AT THAT LOCATION AND WHEN DID HE KNOW

IT?…..and guess what Kevin?


The answer is going to surprise YOU and a lot of people!


Stay tuned to CalCostNews.com for the upcoming stories, and Kevin, it may be YOU that owes IHartMB an apology before the week is out.


P.S. I’m not against or for Mayor Irons…………PEOPLE, STOP

TAKING SIDES AND START TALKING ISSUES!


Half of you are wrong anyway and the other half of you aren’t right half

the time as well!


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Why would anyone apologize to an anonymous apparition? It’s not possible to damage an anonymous reputation. If Mr./Mrs. Coward put his reputation behind his damaging accusations, then he would have skin in the game. He doesn’t. He should apologize to Leage, who does, and who he negligently damaged with ignorant accusations.


Leage believes he is there LEGALLY, and has good cause to believe that way. Nothing has been proven or determined otherwise.


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Me thinks thou doth protest too much. Curious at best.


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“I’m watching how the citizens of this town are treating mayor Irons for making change,” shows that you don’t agree with the recall effort. You are, “pro-change,” it appears and in support of Irons. Which is the real reason you brought this issues to news attention. Pretty sad if you ask me.


Then you had to go on and lie and say you aren’t an Irons supporter. This is a small trivial thing to shift attention from the real issues in Morro Bay.


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One question that maybe will clear the air….


Do you know of anyone else, ANYONE, be they politicians or not, friends, co-workers, anyone, that is doing the same thing? If so, have you reported them as well?


Ethics is something that all should partake in, not just politicians. And those who claim ethics as a reason to act should be ready to apply those same ethics to friend, foe and those they don’t know alike.


Just sayin’….


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It is understandable that you fear Irons’ wrath and intimidation at city hall. On the other hand, Irons has jumped on this vindictive bandwagon. It’s posted right on the Stop the Recall Facebook page. Irons needs to speak to this. Silence is complicity.


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Again with the assumptions and twisting of words. It’s not Irons I’m afraid of. It’s Leage and his group of ex-coucil buddies. When they set their minds to something they can have a pretty negative affect on it (right or wrong). And I simply can’t afford that.

And I don’t owe Leage an apology… I simply gave what I knew to people that could fact-check and dig better than I ever could. If he hasn’t done anything wrong he’ll come out looking like a superstar… if he is guilty then, well, then he’s guilty.


I don’t know anything about a Stop the Recall facebook page, but if you’re treating them like you’re treating me I can only believe there are more assumptions. I’ll have to check it out.


I’m done justifying my actions to people that seem to thrive on making up connections and conspiracy theories. Shows me I was right in moving forward anonymously… you would have chastised me at my office if you knew who I was. Shameful.


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I hate to say this, but what you did was neither noble nor wrong – you were just the first to say something to a media outlet. There are no secrets on the waterfront and the reaction of just about everyone I know, when this came out, was “duh.” Is it important that city officials follow the law and be held to a higher standard? Yes. Did you do this for the city you “heart”? I doubt it. That being said, I’m glad you did it because 1) it is as funny as hell and 2) it damages the recall effort. Also, remember, that in the process, you have probably forever ruined Noah Smukler’s bike rides and his leash-free time with his dog.


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Noah may forgive you but his dog never will.


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Eleven seconds on that one – it took someone 11 seconds to hit the dislike button. Wonderful.


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Classic Good Ol Righty-Recall thinking: if we don’t talk about it, it never happened. All this person did was tip off a media outlet that decided to report it. Maybe you should be demanding apologies from KSBY and CCN, and calling them names. Maybe they should consult you before deciding whether something is newsworthy or not. Or, maybe you should stick to FOX and Fogcutter where you can get the “news” you like.


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Why are Irons’ supporters all so hateful?


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Most of us are actually very docile and pacifistic. We just choose our battles more wisely.


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Farcical, at best. I’ve read the Facebook page and seen the letters and comments.


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Not Jamie! Not sure how I could possibly prove it other than throwing myself on the mercy of the people in our city and potentially lose my job… which I’m not willing to do. “Everyone in the City” is wrong.


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Baloney, unless you are a Department Head or the City Manager or the City Attorney (all at will) there is no chance you will lose your job as you would know if you were truly a city employee.


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It is encouraging to see a Morro Bay City employee come forward with a concern regarding an illegal situation in City government. Hopefully, we will see more of this.


The climate of fear created by past Councils and some senior staff has been very effective in preventing City most employees from exposing problems, no matter how much they may have wanted to. Now, with Mayor Irons working hard to clean up City government, and with the changes he is implementing, employees should feel much safer raising their concerns.


Good for you, IHeartMB, you did the right thing. Please don’t stop standing up for what is right and speaking out.


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LOL!!! That’s funny. It’s like you’re describing Irons….


Yeah, speak out if Jamie Irons doesn’t FIRE you first!


How can you keep a straight face and talk about a past “climate of fear”? When Irons is running around actually terminating employees? Are you really for real?


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@Kevin….He has not “terminated” enough employees and in my opinion

needs to start looking at a host of other city employees with personal agendas including the Police Dept. (who are captured on video!) and the fire Dept. as well! I know it’s not popular to call out the “Big Dogs” but every citizen of Morro Bay deserves a level playing field!


Again, I don’t like the fact that the Mayor did not take evidence to the DA when he was presented with the chance to do so at a private meeting in San Luis

Obispo but he’s on the right track, lets see if he can “terminate” Brian Cowen,

the Building Inspector for outright endangerment and criminal acts against

citizens of Morro Bay, seems like he’s got Rob (the master manipulator)

Schultz’s “Mad Morro Bay Power Disease complex” (in my opinion, for the

legal statement!) as do other Morro Bay employees!


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Fire everyone at Christmas time. You’re all such nice people.


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Ah So its a payback? Well there are several other “residence” living on the Embarcadero too. The city better darn well evict everyone then!! You “Heart” MB??? No, you belittle MB with your vengeful spirit.


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Who are you so afraid of?


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IHeartMB,


Start looking for a new job! You have brought more scrutiny to the impeccable City of Morro Bay, so start looking fast. This tip makes the City leaders look inept.


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A caretaker unit is ancillary or secondary to the main use and the person who lives in the unit must be part of the main primary use. Associated Pacific has one. Marina Square has one. Outrigger has one. Gio has one. Laurie got one too and although not in the tidelands trust area the CCC allowed it when residential units are not allowed in CVS zone. There are also many liveaboards that are considered caretaker units and not residential units.


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The CCC is not the State Lands Commission.


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You again took one of my earlier statements and claimed that I said something that I did not. I did say, at least twice on this thread alone that George should move if it is an unpermitted use. Forgive me if I don’t believe the items that you edit and post excerpts from as having an accuracy as you have a tendency to misstate facts on here anytime that it seems to suit your agenda.


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Not so, probiz. You are twisting facts again to suit your agenda.


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And around and around we go.


So!


Not So!


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Tie goes to the Liberal. Liberals tend to be more educated, intelligent, and careful with their facts. They read more and do better research.


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Derail, Morro Bay politics please.

Broad brush not needed here.


! or ? moderator@calcoastnews.com


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According to?


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People that believe Morro Rock is millions of years old, not thousands – that’s who.


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While it is obviously easy to pick on conservatives like of Michele Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, etc., (and easier yet to disagree with them), it would be erroneous to label all conservatives as less educated, less intelligent, and less careful with their facts (ie: Ayn Rand, William F. Buckley, Jr., Henry Kissinger and Alan Greenspan) . Conservatives just seem to be more willing to let their “unique people” speak out more often. In truth, neither liberals nor conservatives have cornered the market on these traits as evidenced by the comments from both sides of the debate in Morro Bay. The futility of trying to dissuaded someone’s opinion in this forum is so evident I can only conclude people responding here do so, for the most part, for the anonymity which allows them to be vicious, inane, slurry, vindictive, and vilification.


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Oops, meant surly. Not enough coffee yet or maybe too much already!


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Sometimes I am a little slurry when I write these. Is that wrong?


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As I stated there are many caretaker units outside of MB that have been approved by other Cities, Counties and the State Lands Commission. The Attorney General has also issued an opinion that time shares are legal in the Tidelands Trust area. You just don’t want to understand the difference of the prohibition on residential uses and the allowance for a caregiver unit when it is ancillary to the primary public visitor serving use.


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Time shares are not for specific individuals and they provide recreational opportunities to the public. They are not residences.


Beyond that, what you keep trying not to address is the fact that City policy says no residential use on those leases. Beyond that, Leage is NOT a caretaker,nor does a little building like that need one. If, indeed, that office space where he lives was ever permitted as a caretaker unit, it was one more example of how people use trickery to get around the law and how past Councils let their cronies get away with that kind of nonsense.


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PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT mbactivist1 SAYS at 3:06 and then stay tuned to CalCostNews.com for the story you won’t believe on this!


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It is so activist. Read the comments. Your denials don’t make your statements true. You are truly a student of “rules for Radicals” though.


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Why the deceitfulness? Why not disclose your true agenda, which is to get rid of anyone associated with the previous administration, in your feeble attempt to turn Morro Bay into the NIMBY capitol of the coast.

Sign the recall.


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Given the prevalence of crime in our society, I think it is prudent to have people living on the Embarcadero.


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slander!


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I also learned from Fogcutter that if you call a certain phone-number, you can have, as a special Holiday treat, a caroling Kathy Welles come to your door with a clipboard and pen and her own special brand of Yuletide Cheer.


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She is doing a great job collecting signatures!


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loaded.


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I had never seen Fogcutter, until I saw the reference here. Thanks for giving me a head’s up, looks like some good info there.


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Hahaha… that’s a joke right? “good stuff”, more like malicious hate-mongering.


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When you consider the source, it isn’t surprising


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Yes, so long as you enjoy reading pure fiction


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Fogcutter News: Fair. Balanced. And lots of Kool Aid articles.


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More commonly known as the Factcutter News.


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