AltWeeklies Wire
Proposals Target the Gridlock Era in Sacramentonew

A gaggle of good-government activists aims to turn California’s ongoing budget crisis into an opportunity for reform in 2010. Fat-cat corporations, political gadflies, grassroots campaigners and the state’s richest foundations are all in the mix.
Monterey County Weekly |
Robin Urevich |
12-31-2009 |
Politics
You Can’t Always Sing & Dance: Karen Kayenew
My friend, Karen Kaye, executive director of Connections for Children in Santa Monica, a non-profit provider of babysitting and other services for single working mothers, is dead.
Random Lengths News |
Lionel Rolfe |
12-28-2009 |
Commentary
The Joy of Receiving: A Year of Bailouts, Handouts and Hypocrisynew

For the first time since 1995, Democrats in Washington bow to no one — except the emperor of Japan. While they have not stimulated the job market, they thoroughly Christmas-goosed us conservatives.
Isthmus |
David Blaska |
12-28-2009 |
Commentary
Why is Dallas City Hall Trying to Bury the Burgeoning Farmers Market Movement?new

How many people in Dallas know that our downtown farmers market is outclassed and outperformed by the farmers market in Detroit? Or that Dallas is way deeper into government control and regulation of farmers markets than Detroit?
Dallas Observer |
Jim Schutze |
12-28-2009 |
Politics
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon Is Paying His Girlfriend, Elissa Mullany, Big Bucksnew

Since his re-election campaign wrapped up in December 2007, Gordon has paid Mullany's two-person limited liability company a total of $140,000. He's paid her through his campaign finance committee, even though she hasn't raised any money for it since the election.
Phoenix New Times |
Sarah Fenske |
12-22-2009 |
Politics
During an Election It's Just as Interesting to See Who Doesn't Stop Bynew
On Sunday, the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections cosponsored a campaign forum in a banquet hall on West Devon that got contenders for U.S. Senate, county board president, sheriff, judge, and water rec commissioner promising to look out for the rights and interests of Chicago’s Indian and Pakistani communities.
Chicago Reader |
Mick Dumke |
12-22-2009 |
Politics
Will She Run For Congress? Who Cares: It Makes Good Radionew

After she promoted and appeared at local tea-party protests, grassroots conservatives began courting spitfire radio host Darla Jaye to make a run for Kansas Democrat Dennis Moore's Congressional seat.
Bless Our Dronesnew
The drone operator, typically a high school graduate from Marion, Ind., sits safely on the ground in a control module somewhere in Australia; he looks at a screen and flies the drone with a gaming handset similar to what he uses to play Mario Bros.
Weekly Alibi |
Alex Limkin |
12-15-2009 |
Commentary
Sen. Patty Murray, After a 'No' on Iraq, Has the President’s Back on Afghanistannew

One of 23 senators who rolled the political dice and voted nay on the Iraq War, Murray and her colleagues have been cast at the least as prescient and at times heroic. But now, Murray has declared her support for Obama's plan for Afghanistan.
Seattle Weekly |
Laura Onstot |
12-14-2009 |
Politics
Mayor-Council Contracts Tussle Generates Many Lettersnew
The simmering tensions between Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and the D.C. Council broke into a shooting war, with letters flying like artillery salvos across the halls of power!
Washington City Paper |
Mike DeBonis |
12-10-2009 |
Politics
Medical Necessities: What's So Terrible About Rationing Health Care?new
I agree that the rich should pay more to support the health care of those who have less. But taxes won't cover it all. There will be rationing. Indeed, there should be rationing -- also known as rational choosing between interventions that are needed and those that are only wanted; those that justify the risks and costs and those that don't.
Seven Days |
Judith Levine |
12-09-2009 |
Commentary
Ray Nagin Still Factors Into the New Orleans Mayor's Race, as a Reverse Barometernew

New Orleans voters may not know just yet what they want in their next mayor, but they definitely know what they don't want: another Ray Nagin. Polls and campaign strategies bear that out as candidates try to distinguish themselves not only from one another but also from the hugely unpopular, term-limited mayor.
'Conspiracy Theory' Host Jesse Ventura Talks 9/11, JFK, and Vietnamnew

Jesse Ventura wants to talk. He's growling. "You want an exclusive?" The guy hates the press. During his governorship, he famously printed press passes that read "Media Jackal." Why's he calling? "My new show on TV," he says.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Hart Van Denburg |
12-08-2009 |
Politics
Can Alexi Giannoulias Shake Off His Problems to Win Obama's Old Senate Seat?new

Victory in the race for state treasurer transformed Alexi Giannoulias into a promising young progressive with big prospects—until the media began reporting that his family's bank had given a series of loans to figures involved in organized crime or political corruption.
Chicago Reader |
Mick Dumke |
12-07-2009 |
Politics
A Begrudging Admiration of Las Vegasnew
It’s a strange economic model that has fascinated a number of contemporary American writers, from Hunter Thompson to Marc Cooper. Las Vegas is an obvious morality story all about capitalism, exploitation, human nature, and, of course sin and religion. The town was created by Jewish mafioso, then the Mormons took over for a while, and now others are moving in. Mormons may be the most conservative of all religion, certainly socially, yet Vegas is proud of the fact that your secrets are safe in Sin City. Not being a Mormon, I can’t imagine how they reconcile themselves to their adopted city.
Random Lengths News |
Lionel Rolfe |
12-03-2009 |
Commentary