Tribune: Chet Coppock on the CSWebio dealio

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: Fate up in the air for Web site that fired Mike North : Chet Coppock says he'll show up for his show Monday despite bounced check : June 15, 2009 : Chet Coppock, the longtime Chicago sportscaster, said he plans to show up for his scheduled 3 p.m. program Monday at the Morton Grove studios of Internet-based Chicago Sports Webio. That's despite the fact that he said one of his latest paychecks bounced and the other hasn't arrived. : What else happens at Chicago Sports Webio, the sports-talk Web site created by host Mike North, is up in the air. : On Friday, investor David Hernandez fired North and others as executives from their Internet start-up. The same day, the FBI executed search warrants on the Chicago office of NextStep Medical Staffing and NextStep Financial, two ventures with ties to Hernandez. : The FBI confirmed the search, which was in connection with an ongoing investigation. No arrests were made. : Hernandez's Spectrum Entertainment is parent of Chicago Sports Webio, which North established last year while sitting out the remainder of his contract with CBS Radio's WSCR-AM 670. : NextStep Medical Staffing, which Hernandez owns, is the title sponsor of "Monsters in the Morning," the show hosted by North and Dan Jiggetts that made its debut in January on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, with an audio simulcast on the Web site. : Hernandez said Sunday that the FBI action was connected to the actions of a "disgruntled ex-employee who I caught misappropriating funds" and fired several weeks ago. He said that he was cooperating with the U.S. attorney's office, and that if checks bounced, it was because the investigation led to accounts being frozen. He added: "None of our companies are having any troubles." : North said that when he learned checks were bouncing, he tried unsuccessfully to reach Hernandez for an explanation. He said Sunday he was unfamiliar with the scope of the FBI investigation. : Chicago Sports Webio debuted with media fanfare and what appeared to be a sizable financial commitment by Hernandez, whom Coppock remembers handing out $500 checks at a launch party. : "His reason was, 'I know for some of you this is going to mean a longer drive, so let me help you out with your gas money,' " Coppock said Sunday. "I thought, 'This guy really gets it.' " : Then came Friday, with reports of numerous bounced checks and the firings. : "This whole thing more and more is becoming like a Stephen King novel," Coppock said.

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