Lawsuit filed over baseball posters
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

An Illinois based publishing company that allegedly collected revenue for an unauthorized Gulf Breeze High School Baseball poster is already in legal hot water.

The Illinois Attorney General's Office brought a civil suit against Liberty Publishing, Inc. owner and President Michael Efting in May of this year. Court documents allege that Liberty Publishing employees had solicited businesses in at least 20 other states since 2004.

The state prosecutor's office main- tains that Efting, acting knowingly as president of Kelly Publishing and its subsidiary companies, violated various Illinois laws including: the Consumer Fraud Act, the Deceptive Practices Act and the Solicitation act.

The suit also alleges that Liberty, doing business as Booster Club Productions, and U.S. County Map Service, solicited businesses across the country and produced unofficial sports schedules.

Gulf Breeze High School Varsity Baseball Coach Randy Renfroe saw a poster produced by Liberty on the wall of Aegean Breeze and asked the owner to remove it. Renfroe said the school did not authorize Liberty to produce the poster, as it would compete with their official schedule. Renfroe added that the school had not received any portion of the proceeds from the Liberty poster.

According to the suit documents, Liberty Publishing allegedly inconsistently donated between $100 to $50 to the schools it was said to be raising money for. The bill for Aegean Breeze's small ad was $109, and was one of several on the poster. Aegean Breeze co- owner Tina Varvouris has refused to pay her invoice, claiming the company contacted her under false pretenses.

Efting did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Renfroe warned local businesses that his booster club always uses local contacts to produce its official poster. Anyone calling from outside the area is probably not legitimate, Renfroe said.