AltWeeklies Wire
Taser Deaths Lead to Founding of National Memorial, Regional Coalitionnew
The parents of a young man killed in April by a Taser-wielding Fort Worth police officer are hoping that, finally, something good may have come from his death. North Texas opponents of the controversial weapons have also begun a national memorial, with crosses in a church yard for every one of the 471 people who have died after being tasered.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Peter Gorman |
02-17-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Undocumented Immigrants Barred from Visiting Loved Ones in Prisonnew
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently floated the idea of building prisons in Mexico to house the 18,000 California inmates who are in the country illegally. We have to wonder: Could a jailbird's mom visit him in Tijuana? Because if she's undocumented, she can't do that here.
SF Weekly |
Lauren Smiley |
02-17-2010 |
Immigration
San Francisco's Employment Rate is Relatively Good, but Leaders Can Create More Jobsnew
Last month, Mayor Gavin Newsom held a press conference at the upscale hot-dog restaurant Show Dogs, packed it with press and midlevel bureaucrats, showed up late, and then led an endless platitude-fest about his plans to promote jobs in San Francisco.
Don Cameron Trains Cops in How to Use Force, Then Defends Themnew
Long ago, Don Cameron set upon a path that would make him a Rosetta Stone for understanding what happens when someone gets his ass kicked by a cop. For most of us, that's a brutish prospect. But to hear Cameron tell it, done correctly, it's justified.
SF Weekly |
Matt Smith |
02-17-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Is American Family Legal Plan Duping Minnesota's Elderly?new
An agent told Florence Carlson that her money would be much better off at American Family Legal Plan. In fact, if Carlson didn't buy a living trust with American Family before she died, the costs of estate taxes and probate fees could suck thousands of dollars from her savings.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Erin Carlyle |
02-17-2010 |
Children & Families
Sheriff's Detention Officers Unnecessarily Terrorized a Psychotic Inmatenew
Eric Vogel was a seriously mentally ill Phoenix man who died (of a heart attack, officially) in December 2001, a week after a violent incident with the jailers at the now-closed Madison Street Jail. The civil case was filed by Vogel's survivors.
Phoenix New Times |
Paul Rubin |
02-16-2010 |
Civil Liberties
The Daddy Finders: DNA Testing at a Strip Mall for Peace of Mindnew
Paternity testing makes up 10 to 15 percent of David and Prudence Rexroats' business. They cultivate it. MedExpress Labs, the couple's company, markets a "peace of mind" test to men who suspect that a wife or girlfriend has been unfaithful.
As Haitians Rebuild, a Photographer Captures the Catastrophenew
I never expected to see what I saw in Haiti. The amount of destruction was unimaginable. The whole scene was a sensory overload. There were thousands of people in the streets, some with open head wounds and broken limbs.
New Times Broward-Palm Beach |
Michael McElroy |
02-16-2010 |
Disasters
UNC Stutter-Steps on its Way to Becoming Coal-Freenew
UNC will go carbon neutral, which means it will balance any carbon dioxide emissions with an equal amount of reductions or offsets, officials say. But according to the university's current climate plan, that won't happen until 2050.
INDY Week |
Joe Schwartz |
02-12-2010 |
Environment
Wake Commission Nixes Abortion Coverage for County Employeesnew
The News & Observer is reporting that Wake County Manager David Cooke changed the policy Wednesday and that elective abortions are no longer covered. The county's self-insurance plan, The N&O reported, will pay for abortions in cases of incest, rape or danger to the life of the mother.
INDY Week |
Bob Geary |
02-12-2010 |
Policy Issues
On the Late Molly Ivins and Her Crusade Against Corporatized Americanew
My old Columbia classmate Molly Ivins has been gone for three years now. Things have slipped fast since her funeral. Even Molly, with her keen nose for mendacity, might be amazed by the ethical dry rot that's eating away at the business of news.
One Man's 'Life After Hate': A Former White Supremacist Works for Peacenew
Back in 1988, Arno Michaels even helped to organize Skinfest in Doctors Park, which attracted skinheads from all over the country, featured swastika flags and led to a drunken rampage throughout Milwaukee, during which the racist skinheads beat up anyone in their way.
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
02-12-2010 |
Race & Class
Canwest Global Communications is Accused of Unethical Adsnew
An environmental group is accusing Canwest Global Communications of blurring the lines between journalism and propaganda with its six-week ad feature on climate change.
Fast Forward Weekly |
Trevor Scott Howell |
02-11-2010 |
Media
Human Rights Activist Nontombi Naomi Tutu On How We Can Healnew
Amid all the activities to which Nontombi Naomi Tutu is committed — taking groups to South Africa, facilitating women's retreats through her Sister Sojourner organization, co-writing a book — being mother of three actually speaks loudest to her professional mission.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Kirsten Akens |
02-11-2010 |
Race & Class
Poor and Homeless People May Grow Food in Downtown's Oft-Abused Parknew
Colorado Springs nonprofits hope to grow food that will be tended by homeless people, poor folks and runaway teenagers, with all of it going to feed the hungry.
Colorado Springs Independent |
J. Adrian Stanley |
02-11-2010 |
Environment
