A Little More on Tim Newcombe's Encounter With Killington

From the Rutland Herald, December 09,2008;

Newcomb, the Times Argus and the Rutland Herald landed in hot water 23 years ago after the papers published one of his cartoons depicting Killington ski area employees, armed with plungers, ready to unclog the mountain's snow-making machines.

The owners of the Killington ski area sued Newcomb and the two newspapers. The ski area was the center of controversy at the time as it tried to convince lawmakers to allow them to circumvent Act 250 laws by releasing treated sewage waste through its snow-making machines.

The move would have allowed for the company to build more condos in the area.

"I was shocked that they got upset over a dumb little cartoon," Newcomb said. "I just thought it was a funny gag."

Killington's owners weren't laughing, however. Although they dropped their suit against Newcomb after the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union took up his case, the ski company fought the Argus and the Herald all the way to the state Supreme Court. The court ruled in favor of the newspapers.

Newcomb got national attention over the cartoon, lifting the number of people who read it from thousands to millions. He proudly states that it was the only cartoon to ever appear in the pages of the Wall Street Journal (it accompanied an article about the lawsuit).

"It was my 15 minutes of fame," he said with a laugh.

From Seven Days, December 10, 2008;

There’s a story behind every picture. Newcomb inks in a few of his faves. 

1: 1985, Killington

There was a bill going through the legislature to allow the ski areas to spray treated sewage through their snow-making machines, which was a way around an Act 250 clause. When Killington saw this cartoon, they just totally hit the roof. They sued the Times Argus for running it. I had an art show at the time, a cartoon exhibit with Ed Koren and Jeff Danziger, that was traveling around the state. As it turned out, the next stop was the Moon Brook Art Gallery in Rutland, and they called and specifically asked that I hang the cartoon in the show. I got it framed up and put it in the show. So Killington turned around and sued me personally. There was no way I could afford a lawsuit against anybody at the time, much less a big corporation. So I went to the ACLU, and they jumped all over it. They just did a fabulous job. It became this big news story that was picked up all over the country. It was the first cartoon ever to appear in The Wall Street Journal. That was kind of cool. 

Meanwhile, Will Hunter, a legislator from down south, realized the implications of the lawsuit: Even if Killington lost, the cost to a small publication would be devastating. He wrote what was called the “Times ArgusBill,” saying if a corporation brought a lawsuit that was deemed frivolous and without merit, that the person bringing the suit was to not only pay their own legal bills, but those of the defendant as well. It was a pretty important bill for Vermont journalism. 

In the end, it all worked out: Killington dropped my personal lawsuit and they lost the one against the Times Argus. And the bill passed. That was my 15 minutes of fame. I felt like, This is great. This is what it’s all about.