Bankruptcy Court Judge Kevin R. Huennekens on Friday approved motions that will enable Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. in Fredericksburg to continue operating its newspaper, radio and printing businesses while seeking to sell itself under chapter 11 protection, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on Saturday. Also on Friday, Lynn Tavenner, a Richmond lawyer who is representing Free Lance-Star Publishing, said that the company filed documents to set in motion a court-monitored auction of the company. Friday’s hearing largely focused on whether Free Lance-Star Publishing could use cash collateral for its ongoing operations without providing additional liens on some of its property — such as its radio transmission towers — to Sandton Capital Partners, the New York-based investment firm to which Free Lance-Star Publishing owes about $38 million. That $38 million is the remaining debt on a $50.8 million loan the company took out from BB&T Corp. in 2007 to build a new printing plant.
