AltWeeklies Wire
Afterburn: Coatesville Struggles to Emerge From the Ashesnew
For most people, seeing the house in which they'd lived for the past 28 years burned to the ground would be an unimaginable nightmare. For Karen Engle, it was a blessing in disguise. By the time arson reduced her home to rubble, her neighborhood had become a hotbed of violence.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Rebecca VanderMeulen |
01-19-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Former Prostitutes Visit the Local Women's Prison With Message of Hopenew
Katrina Robertson and several others from Nashville's Magdalene program, a nonprofit residential treatment program to help prostitutes turn their lives around, visited the women's prison this week as part of the "Find Your Way Home" national prison tour.
The Memphis Flyer |
Bianca Phillips |
01-15-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Earthquake in Haiti: Made in USA
As grim accounts of the earthquake in Haiti came in, the accounts in U.S.-controlled state media all carried the same descriptive sentence: "Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere..."
Gee, I wonder how that happened?
Oregon's Jails Are its Biggest Providers of Mental Health Servicesnew
The jail spends half of its annual $600,000 drug budget on psychiatric medications for the inmates who will consent to taking them. But jails can't force the inmates. Far from solving our state's mental health problems, the current situation is probably making them worse.
The Portland Mercury |
Matt Davis |
01-14-2010 |
Crime & Justice
The Buck Stops Here: Chapel Hill Mulling the Culling of Deernew
Heeding calls from concerned residents, the Town Council on Monday directed the parks and recreation department to investigate curbing Chapel Hill's deer problem. Councilmembers said the department's proposal to cure the problem by distributing a pamphlet on deer-resistant plants and fences wouldn't solve anything.
INDY Week |
Joe Schwartz |
01-14-2010 |
Environment
Sweat Lodges Are Usually Sacred Places of Purification, Not Profiteeringnew
Google the words "sweat lodge," and the third result is a CNN report about the Sedona sweat-lodge deaths at James Arthur Ray's $9,695 Spiritual Warrior retreat in October.
Tucson Weekly |
Irene Messina |
01-13-2010 |
Religion
The Town of Arivaca Attempts to Recover After a Grisly Double Murdernew
A double-murder in the small border-area town of Arivaca, Arizona, has the nation's anti-immigrant movement reeling. We have mementos from the night that armed intruders entered the modest home of Raul and Gina Flores, the 911 recording of Gina among them.
Tucson Weekly |
Tim Vanderpool |
01-13-2010 |
Immigration
Does the Flu Vaccination Policy at Children’s Hospital Violate Employees' Rights?new
Gillian Kirkpatrick thinks the hospital’s new flu vaccination policy goes too far. The policy requires that all staff either get a shot for H1N1 and seasonal flu or don the badge and mask. It violates her privacy, she says. And parents have been giving her uneasy looks.
San Diego CityBeat |
Peter Holslin |
01-13-2010 |
Science
Alamo Colleges Set to Resume Debate With Chancellor Bruce Leslienew
After an overwhelming vote of no confidence in Chancellor Bruce Leslie in September, whose unpopularity stems in large part from his attempts to unify the colleges, and a recent meeting on the issue of accreditation, the fight is ready to spill over into the new semester.
San Antonio Current |
Robert J. Pohl |
01-13-2010 |
Education
Atlanta Airport Bond Deal Raises Questions, Sparks Investigationnew
C.T. Martin says he’s fighting to get Grigsby & Associates and Rice Financial Products, two out-of-state and minority-owned bond underwriters, a bigger chunk of the airport bond deal because minority companies have historically been shut out of Wall Street paydays.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Scott Henry, Thomas Wheatley |
01-12-2010 |
Business & Labor
Cash-Strapped Atlanta Mulls Later Bar Hoursnew
On Nov. 16, Councilman Kwanza Hall shook party-loving Atlantans out of a six-year slumber announcing at a City Council meeting that he wanted the city's next mayor to study whether extending bar hours from 2:30 to 4 a.m. would increase revenue and spark the city's moribund – and once booming – nightlife scene.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Thomas Wheatley |
01-12-2010 |
Business & Labor
Atlanta's LGBT Community Will Likely Have a Strong Voice in the Mayoral Runoffnew
In a mayoral race between a black man and a white woman, it seems obvious that race is bound to be a factor. Much less obvious is the sizable role that sexual orientation and gender identity is likely to play in the Dec. 1 runoff between Kasim Reed and Mary Norwood.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Patrick Saunders |
01-12-2010 |
LGBT
Colorado Springs Utilities Spends Millions to Reach an Already Captive Audiencenew
Today, trying to get attention that way is like whispering in Times Square. So what do you do? Blog? Tweet? Issue press releases? Go on radio? TV? YouTube? Colorado Springs Utilities does all of that and then some, at a cost to ratepayers of $3.25 million this year.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Pam Zubeck |
01-12-2010 |
Media
Attorney Aaron Tarin Fights For Undocumented Immigrantsnew
Aaron Tarin believes Hispanics coming to Utah are following God’s plan. In The Book of Mormon it is prophesied that close to the second coming of Jesus Christ, the people of Lamanite descent, whom Tarin interprets as being primarily Hispanics, would experience a spiritual and physical gathering in the Americas.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Stephen Dark |
01-12-2010 |
Immigration
Strip Searches at Maricopa County Jails Are Under Firenew
The United States Supreme Court has never officially weighed in on whether it's permissible to strip-search arrestees charged with minor crimes, like Michelle Miguel. But plenty of lower courts have — and they agree that the practice is unconstitutional.
Phoenix New Times |
Sarah Fenske |
01-12-2010 |
Crime & Justice
