AltWeeklies Wire
Happytown: RIP Billy Maysnew
Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Billy freaking Mays; all these people we've grown up with taking the dirt nap, all within days (or hours) of each other. In the wake of all of this bad news we almost overlooked the most recent economic forecast released by UCF prognosticator Sean Snaith. But we didn't.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman and Billy Manes |
07-02-2009 |
Commentary
Happytownnew
Regular commentary on Orlando government and community events/news.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman and Billy Manes |
06-25-2009 |
Commentary
Tags: Orlando
Florida Hometown Democracy Aims to Get Constitutional Amendment on 2010 Ballotnew
That amendment would require referenda on changes to counties' comprehensive land use plans; in essence, whenever some developer wants to replace wetlands with a surfeit of McMansions, you get to vote no. Democracy, geddit?
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman and Billy Manes |
06-19-2009 |
Commentary
The Orlando Police Beatnew
Nov. 4, 3:38 a.m.: Three hours after this incident, people were going to start voting for the next president of the United States, which means that you were still up tossing and turning and hoping that rednecks in Pennsylvania wouldn't screw this up for the rest of us.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman |
11-14-2008 |
Commentary
Happytown: Craigslist, Foreclosures, and Animal Servicesnew
Thank God the MBI has cleaned up this town.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes, Deanna Morey and Bob Whitby |
11-14-2008 |
Commentary
Election '08: Point: All Is Won. Counterpoint: No It Isn'tnew
Four years ago in this space, Weekly editor Bob Whitby and I penned columns on the meaning of the 2004 election, in which progressives and Democrats took a drubbing from George W. Bush and his minions. I foresaw a dystopian future of Republican rule. Whitby prognosticated a different vision, one in which the chickens of GOP excess and incompetence would come home to roost.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman and Bob Whitby |
11-14-2008 |
Commentary
Happytown: U.S. Rep. Ric Keller Totally Ripped Us Offnew
The thing about publishing a weekly newspaper is that, when it comes to elections, you’re inevitably behind the curve.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes and Deanna Morey |
11-06-2008 |
Commentary
Happytown's Endorsementsnew
You may not have heard, but there's an election coming up Nov. 4. Suddenly you're asking yourself, "Who and what would my dear friends at Happytown vote for?" Wonder no longer. It's endorsement time.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes, Deanna Morey and Bob Whitby |
10-30-2008 |
Commentary
Ewwww, Scary!new
Our annual wearable tribute to the truly horrifying, just in time for Halloween. Instructions: Cut along the dotted lines, open eye and mouth holes, immediately suspend all trick-or-treating and return to Washington.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes, Deanna Morey and Bob Whitby |
10-30-2008 |
Commentary
Happytown: The Throngs Adore Sen. Hopey in Floridanew
Presidents Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were in fine form, rattling off candy-coated bits of rhetoric effortlessly while standing next to each other in pure Dream Ticket formation.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes and Adriana Ruiz |
10-23-2008 |
Commentary
The Orlando Police Beatnew
Oct. 3, 7:10 a.m.: Orlando criminals have evolved since our last edition, wherein I chronicled the bungled efforts of some dunderhead who couldn't figure out how to smash a glass window.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman |
10-17-2008 |
Commentary
Happytown: The Come Out With Pride 2008 Packetnew
As much as we love broad strokes and low-hanging fruit around here -- along with expletives in lieu of real words -- even we weren't sure what to make of the thick packet we were issued by Come Out With Pride 2008 in advance of this past weekend's queer festivities.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes and Bob Whitby |
10-17-2008 |
Commentary
Tags: gay pride parade, Young Democrats
Happytown: Mayor Buddy Dyer and Same-Sex Partnersnew
Last week, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced that the city will henceforth offer same-sex partners the benefits it awards to married couples (though not to straight unmarried couples, because they're living in sin). And it only took our "progressive" mayor and his Democrat-dominated city council five years to do it.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes, Deanna Morey and Adriana Ruiz |
10-17-2008 |
Commentary
The Orlando Police Beatnew
Sept. 26, 8:16 a.m.: Some jackass snatched a woman's purse while she was at a bus stop.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman |
10-17-2008 |
Commentary
Happytown: Judge Smacks Down Orlando's Ban on Feeding People in Parksnew
On Sept. 26, Judge Gregory Presnell struck down the city's ban on feedings in public parks. He ruled that the feedings, organized by Orlando Food Not Bombs, were political speech protected by the First Amendment.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes and Deanna Morey |
10-07-2008 |
Commentary
