Howard C. Toole was the winning Auction No. 70 bidder for a new FM CP in Plainview GA, in the vicinity of Rome GA, but Coosa Valley News asked the FCC to deny the CP. The charge was that Toole was an employee of Paul C. Stone’s Southern Broadcasting and, despite listing himself as "sole proprietor" of the Plainville permit, was actually acting as a front man for Stone. The problem with the request for denial was that it was all based on hearsay evidence, or "hearsay-on-hearsay," which the FCC noted in some detail. One example: "[CVN] has been told by a media source that during a conversation between a McDougald family member and a media source…" The FCC said it wasn’t obligated to try to track this type of evidence down, but in instances where the allegations were subject to possible verification, their attempt came up empty. In view of the lack of any reliable evidence, the CVN petition was denied and Toole is free to move ahead with building his CP.
