Off the record and into another paper's pages

I have previously written about off-the-record conversations and background material and how we interpret and use such material.
Essentially, off-the-record is just that — off the record, meaning we cannot use what we have been told.
Sometimes, we can source the information from another person and report on it, without attributing the original source from whom we received the information. But that depends on the agreement made (if there was one) with the original source.
This week offers a tangible example of the off-the-record dynamic.
On Wednesday, April 8 (two days from now as I type this), Doug Wittal, owner of DW Builders, a Kamloops construction company, plans to hold a press conference at Thompson Rivers University to announce a major development project. Beyond that, Wittal won't say a word.
However, we know much of what it entails — but we cannot report anything because it was told to us off-the-record completely.
If we were to confirm this information with a second party involved in the project, we might very well ruin our relationship with the original source.
And we agreed to wait until the press conference before reporting on it as the information was relayed to one of our reporters during a conversation last month at an unrelated event.
Needless to say, a month is a long time for rumours to spread and they have.
On Saturday, our competition, the Kamloops Daily News, had brief about Wednesday's announcement, essentially reporting it was being held and that it may involved a number of scenarios included in the whispered rumours about town.
The Daily News mentioned Wittal had sent a press release out last Thursday, but I haven't seen it, which is why I was a bit perturbed to see any mention of the project in the media, considering we agreed to hold off on such reporting.
I called Wittal today but, as of 4 p.m., hadn't heard back.
It is situations such as these that can make a reporter or editor think twice about off-the-record conversations.
When you know you have plenty of good information, yet you hold onto it because you have given your word, then you see nuggets of that information in another paper, it can create a bit of a stir, to be sure.