AltWeeklies Wire
What We've Learned From the Fatal Police Shooting of Aaron Campbellnew

The Jan. 29 shooting of an unarmed African-American man was the reason Jackson came to Maranatha Church of God. And it’s why hundreds of angry Portlanders had already rallied downtown to protest years of alleged police abuses and failed leadership.
Willamette Week |
James Pitkin |
02-24-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Know Your Dealer: Cause and Effect in Partyvillenew
Like a sommelier’s list of rare vintages, the underground, illegal pharmaceutical buffet beckons users into the local facet of the “Drug War.” But could a dangerous conflict really derive its fuel from a service this enticing and available, and treated with such exclusivity?
San Antonio Current |
Baldemar Villarreal |
02-24-2010 |
Drugs
Sex-Worker Advocates Strive For Safety and Human Rightsnew
Marsha Powell, an inmate at Perryville prison, spent the last hours of her life not in an indoor cell, but in an outdoor wire cage. Powell waited four hours in the 107-degree heat to be transferred between wards. She collapsed from heat exposure and died the next day. Powell was serving time for prostitution.
Tucson Weekly |
Irene Messina |
02-24-2010 |
Sex
Longtime Target Employees Say They Were Forced Out Because of Their Salariesnew

According to Manny Lovio, after 26 years with Target — without any discipline problems — he was asked to quit. When he refused, he was fired. He was escorted to his desk to clean out his belongings and then guided out of the store in front of co-workers and customers.
Tucson Weekly |
Mari Herreras |
02-24-2010 |
Business & Labor
Berkeley Has Abandoned its Once-Touted Home-Solar Financing Programnew

The City of Berkeley's home-solar financing program was going to be revolutionary. The highly publicized plan was supposed to help thousands of city residents install solar panels on their roofs without any up-front money. That was two years ago.
East Bay Express |
Judith Scherr |
02-24-2010 |
Environment
An Unpublished Study Shows the Lethal Effects of the Cosco Busan Oil Spillnew

Federal and state scientists hid from the public the groundbreaking results of a government report on the extreme danger posed to fish by the 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill. Even as they shared them with the companies that control the Cosco Busan.
SF Weekly |
Peter Jamison |
02-24-2010 |
Environment
Paul Koenig, the One-Man Housing Crisisnew
On the 1500 block of Hillside Avenue in north Minneapolis, a brown and white handrail leads to a vinyl-sided beige duplex. Inside, a bowing chimney has split a crack in the drywall beginning at the floor and disappearing into the upper unit. An occasional mouse scurries through.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Andy Mannix |
02-24-2010 |
Housing & Development
Man Says Epilepsy Caused Him to Grab Woman on Trainnew
A police report states that Lenny Fitzgerald Sorenson scared a female TRAX passenger with creepy glances, followed her when she moved, and finally grabbed her wrist and wouldn’t let go until other riders intervened, leaving the woman with a bruise. Sorenson’s wrists ended up in police handcuffs.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Jesse Fruhwirth |
02-23-2010 |
Crime & Justice
In Philly, the Cops Will Arrest You for Taking Pictures of Them Arresting Peoplenew
The photographer's only crime, as best can be ferreted from police reports, is that he was taking pictures of South Street cops arresting revelers outside of the Theater of the Living Arts the night of Nov. 19, 2009, and the cops didn't like it.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Andrew Thompson |
02-23-2010 |
Civil Liberties
A Detroit Neighborhood Fights for its Life, and an Ex-Cop Leads the Waynew

Earlier that day, James "Jack Rabbit" Jackson — a retired cop — parked his car in front of a dealer's house and pointed a video camera at him in a blatant effort to disrupt his business. It drove the guy away. Now he was coming back for Jackson and Jackson was waiting for him.
Metro Times |
Detroitblogger John |
02-23-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio's Court Tower "Cover-Up" is Pure Fictionnew
Andrew Thomas would surely tell you that he and his closest ally, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, had become convinced that a project had fallen prey to misspending, graft, even outright corruption. Grand jury time!
Phoenix New Times |
Sarah Fenske |
02-23-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Andrew Thomas, Joe Arpaio
The Oldest Person on Death Row in the U.S. Dies of Natural Causesnew
For the phrase "natural causes" to have been in the same headline as the name Viva Leroy Nash is purely ironic. Nash, who died Feb. 12, at age 94 — he was the oldest person on death row in the United States — escaped legal execution by the state of Arizona for more than a quarter of a century.
Phoenix New Times |
Paul Rubin |
02-23-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Kansas Lawmakers' Paranoid Rush to Ban Synthetic Marijuananew
One officer says the first thing his department did upon hearing about K2 was search YouTube for clips. Another says he heard about a blog telling of a teen who went into a coma for 12 hours after smoking K2. A woman says she fears for teachers if a student goes into a violent frenzy.
Haitian Charity From Suzie Graf, a Convicted Cheatnew
Suzie Graf explains how she single-handedly orchestrated the collection and delivery of 6 tons of emergency supplies for the people of Haiti less than a week after that country’s devastating Jan. 12 earthquake: “I just decided that we just needed to do a community effort."
Activist Cindy Sheehan Speaks About Her Ongoing War on Warnew

There are still a few emboldened people who will do whatever is necessary — including getting arrested countless times — to stop the seemingly pointless loss of innocent lives. Cindy Sheehan is among those on the front lines — waging war against war.
Pasadena Weekly |
Michael Sullivan |
02-22-2010 |
War