AltWeeklies Wire
A Portland Street Changes its Name to César E. Chávez Blvd., After a Fightnew
The city's effort to rename a major street after the activist and farm worker crumbled in 2007 after a push to rename Interstate Avenue spurred allegations of racism against opponents. The rename process kicked off for a second time last winter, this time with a professional consultant and a new street.
The Portland Mercury |
Sarah Mirk |
02-04-2010 |
Transportation
Tags: César E. Chávez, Portland
Celebrate George's Lighter Side with President Washington's Porternew
The first president was partial to a style of ale called porter, which makes him something of a follower of fashion. Porter was the first mass-marketed, must-have beer. In early 18th-century London, pub-goers enjoyed a mixed beer cocktail that blended brown ale, pale ale and stale (meaning aged) beer.
INDY Week |
Julie Johnson |
02-04-2010 |
Food+Drink
Gil Scott-Heron's Remarkable New Record, 'I'm New Here'new

Gil Scott-Heron is the gruff-voiced griot and spoken-word poet who laid a good chunk of the foundation for what we know today as rapping. I'm New Here is his unremitting self-portrait of a man who's had years to catalogue and now capture his paranoia, thrills and agitations.
Dining Alone In Public Doesn't Have to be Miserable... Does It?new

A few centuries after Benjamin Franklin first strolled down a Philadelphia street chewing on a loaf of bread, dining alone in public is still uncommon enough to carry a certain social stigma. So much so, in fact, that the resulting anxieties have become something of a cultural meme.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
02-04-2010 |
Food+Drink
Gassed Up: Large Institutions Get a Price Break For Virtually Nothingnew
Seventeen institutions, including The Broadmoor and Colorado College, get a generous price break by signing up for interruptible utilities rates. Yet, they're rarely interrupted, so guess who pays for their price break? Everybody else offsets what could amount to millions of dollars annually.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Pam Zubeck |
02-04-2010 |
Housing & Development
Chief Justice John Roberts Should Be Impeachednew

It is time for an enterprising and courageous member of the US House of Representatives to file articles of impeachment against the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Roberts. The charge: lying under oath. The case in question: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
Boston Phoenix |
Peter Kadzis |
02-04-2010 |
Commentary
In Memorium of the Anti-War Warrior: Howard Zinn, 1922-2010new

Howard Zinn was like a daddy to Boston University students of the Vietnam War era. The author of A People's History of the United States has been revered by generations of students, reviled by more conventional academics, and, mostly, re-read.
Boston Phoenix |
Raymond Mungo |
02-04-2010 |
Politics
Just When You Thought it was OK to be African American, it Looks Like Negro is Backnew
The word negro — which ungraciously left the American linguistic stage sometime in the 1970s — has recently rejoined the mainstream discourse. And it looks like it’s not poised for an exit anytime soon.
New York Press |
Jamaal Young |
02-04-2010 |
Race & Class
UC Santa Cruz Researcher Finds Albatross Tragedynew

Myra Finkelstein has discovered that lead paint chips from an abandoned U.S. Navy base on the Midway Atoll are poisoning thousands of albatross chicks each year. Her latest study shows that the disease droopwing is causing a substantive drop in the Laysan albatross population worldwide.
Good Times Santa Cruz |
Curtis Cartier |
02-03-2010 |
Animal Issues
Garrett Hartley on his Kick that Sent Us to the Super Bowlnew

Garrett Hartley's name is now indelibly etched in Saints lore. And the most endearing thing about Hartley is he doesn't seem to fully grasp the gravity of his game-winning kick that secured the Saints' first-ever Super Bowl appearance.
Eight Relentless Watchdogs Who Hound Public Officials in Pursuit of Answersnew

On good days they’re known as citizen watchdogs. On bad days, they’re civic-minded pains in the neck. If you’ve been to a public meeting in process-happy Portland, you know the type. They’re the activists who testify time after time at City Council - and elsewhere.
Willamette Week |
Beth Slovic |
02-03-2010 |
Civil Liberties
Dan Buettner's Blue Zones Teach Nine Secrets of a Longer Lifenew
Dan Buettner says he's found the secret. He visited the ragged cliffs of Sardinia and the fertile gardens of Okinawa — global hotspots of longevity, dubbed Blue Zones — where people live to be 100 at astonishing rates. He identified what they have in common and distilled their secrets into a recipe he says could add a decade to your life.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Erin Carlyle |
02-03-2010 |
Media
Man Sparks 'Louisiana Watergate' After Allegedly Gaining Access to Senator's Phonenew
A man arrested for his involvement in a bungled Watergate-style phone-tapping of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office was once the editor of a monthly conservative publication at the University of Minnesota-Morris. Joseph Basel, 24, was arrested in connection with the bizarre incident.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Kevin Hoffman |
02-03-2010 |
Politics
How Are Schools Handling Truancy? Ask the Kids Smoking Pot Near Campusnew

In the late morning of the first day of the new semester at John O'Connell High School of Technology, two boys stage their finely choreographed escape. While the security guard's back is turned, they scamper out the front door onto the sidewalk.
Surfers Think City's Exposed Sewage Tunnel Warning is a Bunch of Crapnew
Though less famous than its San Diego–area namesake, San Francisco's Ocean Beach is anything but unknown to surfers: Its three miles of coastline provide "a world-class surf spot," says surfer Josh Berry. However, the recent spate of storms means surfing there could soon get shitty.
SF Weekly |
Chris Roberts |
02-03-2010 |
Environment