For the second time in two months, a threatening note was left at the front door of the Covington home of a reporter for The Covington News, and once again it appears to be related to the ongoing civil defamation lawsuit involving a high school principal and anonymous online commenters.

At 1:46 a.m. Sunday, the reporter heard a car door close and a car drive away and then found a note on her front porch, according to a Covington police report.

The note read: "Karma a b**** and you are to!!! We are still watching u and I will never stop. Free speech haters will always have to watch there backs hope the payoff it worth it."

The note was left on the same day The News put out a Sunday newspaper with three stories and an editorial about the lawsuit and its affect on the school board.

In a similar set of circumstances, a note was left on the same reporter's door either late Friday, Aug. 10, or early Saturday, Aug. 11.

That note read: "Reporters who hate free speech need to be watched. Hows it feel we know where you sleep."

On The News' Facebook page, some posters occasionally have accused The News of being against freedom of speech; the comments have almost always been made on posts relating to stories or opinion pieces about the civil suit, in which Alcovy High School Principal LaQuanda Carpenter originally sued 11 anonymous bloggers accusing them of defamation for libel per se and libel based on harm sustained as the result of defamatory postings on the Newton Citizen's website.

The suit later was amended to name school board member Jeff Meadors as the sole defendant.

The note found Sunday was turned over to Covington police. No charges have been filed in the case of the first note.