AltWeeklies Wire
Life in Prison...For Punching a Man in the Facenew

Nearly 17 years ago, Joe Donovan initiated a tragic chain of events with a brutish act of machismo. But should he be in jail for life?
Boston Phoenix |
Chris Faraone |
08-06-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Otep Loves Younew
A few weeks ago, Otep Shamaya logged into her Facebook account and sent a message to a fan’s sister, a stranger, wishing her a happy birthday.
San Antonio Current |
Jeremy Handerson |
08-06-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
John Forte: From Jailhouse to Jazzhousenew
Ex-Fugees producer Forte keeps a low profile these days. Since his release from prison last December, after serving seven years of a fourteen-year drug sentence, Forte has started treating home as his sanctuary.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
08-05-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Putting the Zing Back into Ringlingnew
Richmond-born Alex Ramon is the second-youngest person to helm Ringling Bros. Circus — and the first "zingmaster."
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
08-05-2009 |
Performance
Tags: circus, Ringling Bros.
Cleaning the Air Around the Portsnew

The shipping industry hopes to undo California's newest clean-air rule.
East Bay Express |
Eric Klein |
08-05-2009 |
Environment
'Paper Heart': The World's First-ever Notumentarynew

Charlyne Yi and director Nick Jasenovec to make a road-trip documentary, interviewing people across the country about love. the nshe met Michael Cera.
San Diego CityBeat |
Anders Wright |
08-05-2009 |
Reviews
Former Wild Weekender Maren Parusel Shows Off Her Softer Sidenew
If going from punk to piano was a strange transition, Parusel isn’t saying so.
San Diego CityBeat |
Jim Ruland |
08-05-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Funding Blocks to Expedient Supportive Housingnew
The idea of turning older hotels into supportive housing isn’t a new idea: It’s how nonprofits like L.A.’s Skid Row Housing Trust and SRO Housing Corp.—both of which have converted hundreds of units into supportive housing—got their start.
San Diego CityBeat |
Kelly Davis |
08-05-2009 |
Housing & Development
California Budget Cuts Squeeze Inmates Out of Prisonsnew
The budget upon which the governor and the Legislature recently agreed included a $1.2-billion cut in prison funding, and in order to save that much money, thousands of inmates would likely have to be released early.
San Diego CityBeat |
David Rolland |
08-05-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Jules of the Food Worldnew
Nora Ephron’s new film, Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams as her modern-day acolyte Julie Powell, follows the parallel stories of these two real-life cooks. It’s a big, gorgeously decorated, bittersweet confection of a film, one that makes up for much of the lumpy, sugary dreck that Ephron’s been concocting for the past decade or so.
Willamette Week |
Kelly Clarke |
08-05-2009 |
Reviews
Find Those Hoary Old Cult Movie Chestnuts Onlinenew
The San Francisco collective Cosmic Hex is committed to finding, archiving, and digitally preserving just those forgotten treasures of underground exploitation film.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Michael Krimper |
08-05-2009 |
Movies
The Algae Solutionnew
The San Francisco Bay may soon host a dramatic new environmental project that backers say could solve three problems at once: clean wastewater, remove carbon from the atmosphere, and produce biodiesel fuel.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Gabrielle Poccia |
08-05-2009 |
Environment
Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s Reliability Costs Businesses Millionsnew

A Guardian review of available data shows that customers of PG&E lose power much more frequently than customers of municipally owned and operated utilities.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Megan Rawlins |
08-05-2009 |
Economy
CouchSurfing International Offers Sofa Safe Havensnew

CouchSurfing.org is a networking forum that helps cushion the experience of finding places to stay for next to nothing. And Portland is one of the most active U.S. cities on the site, as members are drawn from all over the world to experience the friendly City of Roses.
Willamette Week |
Caitlin McCarthy |
08-05-2009 |
Travel
San Francisco Bay Guardian's Photography Issuenew
Changing faces, surprising places, and wild paces -- the Guardian's third annual salute to Bay Area photography.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
San Francisco Bay Guardian Staff |
08-05-2009 |
Art
Tags: San Francisco, photography