Hyperlocal news ops dude temporarily restrained

The chap who founded InstantNewsNetwork.com, which bought a Fort Bend County digital news outlet and planned to launch other hyperlocal news sites around Houston, has stubbed his toe, we are told.

Whether it's a mere sprain or a break remains to be seen.

The aforementioned chap is George Boehme. He sold the Examiner News Group, which had weekly papers in West University, Memrorial and River Oaks, to Houston Community Newspapers two years ago.

He stayed on at HCC for about a year in an executive type position.

Part of the sales agreement was a standard no-compete, no solicitation clause, we're told.

Then Mr. Boehme launches InstantNewsNetwork, thereby pissing off HCC, which sued him. A couple days ago HCC won a temporary injunction, telling Boehme he can't fund or direct his new operation til this mess is sorted out at a later trial on March 24.

Score:
HCC 1
Boehme 0

What this means for FortBendNow.com we're not sure, cause they're still publishing (digitally) new stories since the temporary injunction was issued and their reporters in Fort Bend are still crusing around in their brightly colored "MoJo" news gathering vehicles acquired from Allen Samuels Chevrolet ("only 6 miles from Fort Bend")

We guess Mr. Boehme (himself personally) isn't funding or directing the operation for the time being and letting his partners do the funding and directing. We guess.

FortBendNow.com, by the way, hasn't carried a word about this that we can see.