AltWeeklies Wire
Focus on the Family's New Point Man Softens Rhetoric, Somewhatnew
Jim Daly's vision seems to be one of a kinder, gentler Focus on the Family — albeit one that is still hell-bent on barring abortion and blocking gay marriage.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Anthony Lane |
09-03-2009 |
Religion
Mistaken Identity in Chapel Hill Hits Race Nervenew
Charles Brown was just walking home, being black on Rosemary Street on a Monday night in June when Chapel Hill police mistook him for the wrong man, handcuffed him and detained him for an hour.
INDY Week |
Joe Schwartz |
09-03-2009 |
Race & Class
Confessions of a Teenage Prostitutenew
Portland has been named the No. 2 city for teenage prostitution. This is the story of how one victim escaped.
The Portland Mercury |
Rachael Marcus |
09-03-2009 |
Sex
The Water Wars: San Francisco Bay and the Delta Are Dying and It Might Get Worsenew
Years of massive water diversions are putting the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary at risk. Massive projects that take freshwater from the delta appear linked to declines in bay and delta fisheries, threatening not just endangered species but California's salmon fishing industry, which lost more than $250 million last year as a result of declining salmon runs.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Rebecca Bowe |
09-02-2009 |
Environment
As Virginia Jail Inmates Prepare for Release, Challenges Aboundnew
Of the roughly 4,800 men who are inmates each year at the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail, 72 go through the eight-week Re-entry program. Who gets tapped is mainly a matter of scheduling, but once on the list, they're given a choice: Take the eight-week course, or lose as much as six months time off they've earned for good behavior.
C-Ville Weekly |
Erika Howsare |
09-02-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Still at War, the Army Opens a New Front: Against Soldier Suicidenew
In 2008, 140 active-duty soldiers committed suicide. That's 75 percent more than the number in 2003 and the highest rate since the Army started keeping track three decades ago. Jim Haus was almost one of the casualties.
He Escaped His Blazing Home Using Scuba Gear; Now He’s Charged with Arsonnew
Shortly before Phoenix Fire Department investigators arrested Michael Marin for allegedly torching his plush Biltmore Estates mansion, he spoke about the fire he says almost stole his life.
Phoenix New Times |
Paul Rubin |
09-01-2009 |
Crime & Justice
We Have Met the Nazis, and They Are Us
Godwin's Law be damned -- it's impossible to read the newly-released CIA report on the torture of Muslim prisoners without thinking of the Third Reich.
Dallas' Homeless Turn To The Bridge for Food, Shelter and a New Startnew
Dallas' homeless shelter is a city-subsidized success story. From its troubled beginning, The Bridge faced fierce opposition, criticism and nagging doubts. Yet in its first year of operation, it placed more than 400 people into housing and assisted nearly 800 with finding jobs.
Dallas Observer |
Sam Merten |
08-31-2009 |
Housing & Development
Education Generation's Microfinancing Funds Students Around the Globenew
While Facebook and other social-networking sites have taken off as a mostly recreational way for people to connect with each other, a Vancouver-based charity is using the technology to change people's lives.
The Georgia Straight |
Karen Pinchin |
08-31-2009 |
Education
Are Gays Too Late to Destroy Marriage?new
Could it be that traditional marriage, like communism, is an outmoded social contract straining under the weight of its own inflexibility? In the final analysis, it may not be same-sex marriage, but a simple insistence to self-determine, that's causing brittle institutions of church and state to crack.
Seattle Weekly |
Kevin Phinney |
08-31-2009 |
LGBT
Colorado's Budget Shortfall Forces Prison and Parole Reformsnew
The state's $318 million budget shortfall may succeed in accomplishing something that activists have been working to achieve for a decade -- reform in the state's criminal justice system.
Boulder Weekly |
Pamela White |
08-31-2009 |
Crime & Justice
One Arizona Sheriff Deals With the Challenges and Realities of Today's Bordernew
When Tony Estrada was a child in Santa Cruz County, there was no wall. Estrada misses those days. But when one is sheriff of a border county, there's not much chance for wistful melancholy.
Tucson Weekly |
Tim Vanderpool |
08-28-2009 |
Immigration
Feminists vs. PETA: 'Sexist' Ads Draw Portland Protestnew
The loosely knit Portland Feminist Action League organized the "flash protest" via the internet, criticizing PETA for its "sexist and offensive" animal rights campaigns. PETA's protests have featured nude women in cages, and most recently, the organization produced a billboard that pictured a fat woman in a bikini that read, "Save the whales! Lose the blubber. Go vegetarian."
The Portland Mercury |
Sarah Mirk |
08-28-2009 |
The War on Women
The New GI Bill Lands Scores of Combat Vets on Vermont's College Campusesnew
The Veterans Administration estimates that by 2011 more than a quarter-million U.S. service members will have enrolled in college under the new GI Bill, the most generous educational assistance program for vets since FDR signed the first one in 1944.
Seven Days |
Ken Picard |
08-28-2009 |
Education
