AltWeeklies Wire
Thinking and Acting Smartly Everywhere but the Rust Beltnew
At a Brookings Institution forum last week, policy wonks and local government officials from places like Sacramento and Salt Lake City discussed how they used regional planning to cope with rapid growth. What can shrinking Rust Belt cities learn from the places that are stealing their populations?
Artvoice |
Bruce Fisher |
10-23-2009 |
Policy Issues
Hilary Swank Talks About Mastering Amelia Earhart's Walk and Talknew
"You may think you know how it ends," Swank says about Amelia, "but you have to see it to see if it ends the way you think it does, because there are a lot of theories about it."
Artvoice |
M. Faust |
10-23-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Sebastian Silva Takes a Searing Look Inside the World of 'The Maid'new
Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but for the title character of the pitch-black Chilean comedy The Maid, it's closer to infernal torment.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
10-23-2009 |
Reviews
The Manipulations and Media Machine Behind the Assault on Progressive Ideasnew
The right-wing commentators' success lies partly in their ability to harness core human emotions such as paranoia or envy, says Bryant Welch, a clinical psychologist, author, and expert on political manipulation.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Rebecca Bowe and Sarah Phelan |
10-22-2009 |
Commentary
'Coco Before Chanel' is an Inspiring Portrait of a Rebel Feministnew
Though its subject is arguably the most recognizable in fashion, Coco Before Chanel is more concerned with individuality than clothing. As Coco Chanel herself once famously put it, "Fashion passes, style remains."
The Portland Mercury |
Marjorie Skinner |
10-22-2009 |
Reviews
Silicon Valley's Nascent Auto Industry is on a Rollnew
In the past 12 months, green technology, in general, and automotive tech, in particular, have become the fastest-growing sectors of the American economy. The prospect of a new, sustainable automotive industry has already sparked a gold rush in the private sector.
Metro Silicon Valley |
Eric Johnson |
10-22-2009 |
Business & Labor
A Different Kind of Reality TV is Keeping Health Care Reform Alivenew
I'm optimistic -- uncharacteristically -- that something good might come of the great debate on health care legislation. If it does, it will because the people -- and their real stories -- will rule.
Arkansas Times |
Max Brantley |
10-22-2009 |
Commentary
Drag the River's Chad Price Finally Takes the Solo Plungenew
Between All and Drag the River, Price had more than a dozen records under his belt, but had yet to make one of his own. Now he's celebrating his solo debut with a one day, four city, 10 tavern tour.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
10-22-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
DMX Gets Unplugged at Colorado Springs Benefit Shownew
What began as a DMX benefit concert on Friday night, Oct. 16, at the Phil Long Expo Center in Colorado Springs turned into a bizarre scene in which security wrestled to keep the nationally known hip-hop artist offstage.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
10-22-2009 |
Music
Army Employee: Noose was Part of Effort to Make Me Quitnew
No one denies that Anthony Jackson saw a noose on an office desk while he was working at Fort Carson last winter. But his former co-workers say it was meaningless, a fun knot to tie that was never meant as a threat to anybody.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Anthony Lane |
10-22-2009 |
Race & Class
Surging Demand for Low-Income Health Services Lengthens Waiting Listsnew
Over its 38-year history, Peak Vista Community Health Centers often has had up to 400 people waiting to register for medical and dental care. But in May, the waiting list shot up to about 2,000, where it's stayed.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Anthony Lane |
10-22-2009 |
Economy
A Peek Inside Boston's So-Called Monkey Collegenew
At Helping Hands, a one-of-a-kind nonprofit school celebrating its 30th anniversary, monkeys train for two to four years before being matched with people nationwide who've experienced spinal-cord injuries or suffer from muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.
Boston Phoenix |
Mike Miliard |
10-22-2009 |
Culture
Macbeth Like You've Never Seen it Beforenew
Sleep No More a new, strange take on Macbeth, is a site-specific series of episodes in various pockets of a four-floored school building. Spectators are asked to wear masks as they explore the school's 44 rooms, many of them elaborately decorated and some of them boasting dramatic scenes staged by actors who wander about the building.
Boston Phoenix |
Steve Vineberg |
10-22-2009 |
Theater
Smack Time: Is There Really a New Heroin Epidemic?new
A spate of recent media reports have claimed that America -- and especially the New York metro area -- is suffering from a terrifying new heroin epidemic. Curious, I decided to revisit a world that had once held me in its clutches for so long. This time around, I brought along a notebook and a clear head.
New York Press |
Matt Harvey |
10-22-2009 |
Drugs
Meet Theresa Sparks, San Fran's Transgender Trailblazernew
In 2004, she became the city's first transgender police commissioner, and is now among the country's first openly transgender department heads. But Sparks is pondering a move that would be the biggest of all: becoming San Francisco's first openly transgender city supervisor.
