The Shadow
Welcome back, Shadowers! Well, folks, the Virginian Review has been sued. Actually, twice. Now, you and I have traveled together through the Highland’s drama forest for over a year now, and you’ve probably come to know me as a no-bull, fact-based investigative journalist with an odd sense of satirical humor. So, instead of you guessing and letting the rumors inform you what those two lawsuits are about, I’m going to be the first to officially tell you. And I’ll go further than that. I’ll make the complaints available, along with any research and FOIA filings we’ve done over the past year, so you can skip the drama forest and go directly to the facts.
First up is the civil lawsuit from Sara and Jacob Hoke, who sued the Virginian Review for an anonymous post that appeared in the Shadow group “on or around February 27, 2024,” and was promptly removed (in good faith) by the moderators, apparently a couple of hours later.
The Hokes are asking for $1.8M in damages from the Virginian Review because they claim it was The Virginian or the Shadow that created the post. Their lawsuit states, “The Defendants made the preceding statements knowing that they were false or made them so recklessly as to amount to a willful disregard for the truth, that is, with a high degree of awareness that the statements were probably false.”
Now, here’s a very simple fact. The Shadow does not know the Hokes, the family members, what cars they drive, where they live, where they work, or what they do. However, if you read the post found in the exhibit section of the complaint, it is clear that the anonymous poster had detailed insight into the Hoke’s life, their businesses, and their work associates. The Virginian Review has denied writing the post, and The Shadow, without a shadow of a doubt, can confidently second that denial. Perhaps the Virginian Review and the Shadow were simply caught in the crossfire of a nasty neighbor dispute, or a friendship turned sour?
What I find interesting, and how it actually impacts you, is that this is a perfect example of a classic First Amendment Freedom of Speech case. While people have a right to say what they want to say, they also have to face the consequences of saying it. This is a fair process to keep our society from descending into anarchy. And when applied to this situation, The Virginian and the Shadow were NOT the authors. So, a better question is, is the messenger being beheaded for simply delivering a message?
In medieval times, being the Messenger was a very dangerous job, as sometimes the hands or heads of the messenger were delivered back to the sender as a response. But as our society progressed, we developed protocols for messengers. In today’s terms, this protocol is called the Communications Decency Act of 1996, Section 230. Section 230 protects online service providers from lawsuits based on user-generated content, because, they’re just the messenger. For example, if you create and post something defamatory about someone on Facebook, either on your own page or in a group, Facebook or the group owner isn’t liable, only you are.
You can find the Hoke’s legal complaint on the Virginian Review website accompanying this article. Or if you’re reading this on Facebook, you can find it in the group’s “Files” section.
The second civil lawsuit, lodged with the Circuit Court of Alleghany on January 13, 2025, is from Thomas “Gray” Lane and David Bostic of 410 on Main Corporation. Their complaint is “for defamation arising from a series of articles published in the Virginian Review, a local newspaper based in Covington, VA, and occasionally in the WV Daily News.” Their ‘prayer for relief’ amounts to $6,350,000 along with “Permanent injunctive relief requiring the Defendants to remove the Articles and other defamatory material.”
Now, you might think this sounds a bit unorthodox, but The Virginian is oddly encouraged by this lawsuit. Why? If you peel back the “who’s guilty and who’s going to pay” finger pointing and look at it from a “how did we get here in the first place,” you’ll see that The Virginian’s investigative reporting on the 410 Project wasn’t driven by self-interested curiosity, defamation, or malicious intent at all. It was 100% fact-based, supported by official city documents, and driven by taxpayers with serious concerns about what was transpiring within the halls of their government.
The Shadow wasn’t asking self-interested questions for defamatory spite and entertainment; it was asking the questions Covington Citizens wanted clear answers to.
And because the 410 project is a “public/private” partnership, this awarded rightful inspection of the 410 on Main corporation’s activities by the citizens who technically owned and gifted the building and signed the Performance Agreement with the company. The Virginian observed and reported these activities. The citizens believed heavily in the project and gave the company all the opportunity necessary to create something wonderful for our City. Yet, somewhere along the process, a different story started to emerge, and various information became unreachable, withheld, or cloaked within a corporate veil to the point that citizens were denied access.
Until now.
This lawsuit opens the floodgates to all the real, hard-factual information that has been unreachable by the citizens. Through “Discovery,” i.e., obtaining facts through subpoenas and depositions, the Citizens will finally know the real story. It will be the community’s story as told by everyone who supported or has been involved in the project from its humble beginnings. This potentially includes the City of Covington, officials and staff, the city attorney, the city manager, the previous city manager, the building official, the small business coordinator, City of Covington Fire Department, The Alleghany Highlands Public Schools, the Industrial Development Authority of Covington-Alleghany County and its staff and board members, The Alleghany Foundation, 410 on Main Corporation along with every person, employee, contractor, or company who performed work during the renovations, 410 customers and their events, CHA Engineering, Mountain Hospitality Services LLC and their officers, employees, contractors and investors, DNA Holdings LLC, The Advancement Foundation, the Gauntlet and judges from both local and state-wide competitions, Mountain Hospitality LLC, the owners of the brewery building in White Sulphur, Big Draft Brewery, the employees and tenants, the White Sulphur Springs Police, The Greenbrier Hotel, Greenbrier Sporting Club, Good News on Main Church and Recovery Group, various banking institutions, lenders, investors and more. State and Federal bodies that have been involved in the project potentially include the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA), the United States Postal Service, and the Commonwealth Fire Marshal.
You can find the complaint at the end of this article or in our Shadow Facebook group files section.
And there you have it in a nutshell. These lawsuits aren’t just about The Virginian Review—they strike at the heart of our First Amendment rights: Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. They are a litmus test for the values we hold as a community. The press doesn’t just serve as a watchdog for the community—it’s a mirror reflecting the state of our collective conscience. It’s more than just about a newspaper—it’s about our community and the principles that keep us informed, rooted in truth, and maintained by accountability and transparency.
Unfortunately, I’m out of time and out of coffee, as there are a lot of other things going on around the Highlands that we’ll cover in next week’s article. Property taxes, rats, and more! Until then…
Available Files
