Patch, the chain of online local news sites funded by AOL, has posted an apology on its Palo Alto site for lifting copy from the VentureBeat technology site. The apology said the plagiarism was committed by a freelancer, who wasn’t identified. The freelancer apparently wasn’t fired, either. The apology stated, “The writer has been told that taking work of other writers or news organizations without attribution is absolutely not acceptable.” Patch said it has also apologized to VentureBeat. No word on what exactly was lifted from Venture Beat.

Last September, West Hollywood Patch lifted an obit from a blogger, according to the LA Weekly. And later that month, Patch acknowledged that it took police mug shots from an independent local news blog in New Rochelle, N.Y.