Dan Savage, editor of Seattle's The Stranger and writer of the syndicated column Savage Love, continues to moonlight as a political activist, according to the Chicago Reader. (See second item.) His current efforts are focused on unseating arch-nemesis Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn. But in an interview with Stephen Morse, a reporter for the Daily Pennsylvanian, a University of Pennsylvania student newspaper, Savage reserves much of his invective for Green Party candidate Carl Romanelli, a potential spoiler who could siphon off votes from Democratic candidate Bob Casey Jr. In a video clip of the session, Savage says, among other things, "Carl Romanelli should be dragged behind a pickup truck until there's nothing left but the rope." Savage later apologized for the remark on the Stranger's blog.

Continue ReadingSavage Shreds Green Candidate on Campaign Trail

Following revelations that the alt-weekly's coordinator for club advertising secretly contributed to the Stranger's music blog and newspaper under the pseudonym "Keenan Bowen," both she and the editor who solicited the articles resigned. In an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Editor Dan Savage calls Music Editor David Segal's arrangement with staffer Bailee Martin "a lapse in editorial judgment, and a serious one." But Savage also said the potential for conflict appears to have been untapped, and the weekly will repost all of Martin's stories upon review.

Continue ReadingStranger Editor Rues ‘Lapsed Judgment’ of Double-Dipping Staffer

Ever since Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., publicly equated homosexuality and bestiality, Dan Savage has been turning up the heat on his homophobic nemesis. First, he organized a contest to name a sex act after the Republican senator. Now Savage, the editor of Seattle's The Stranger and one of altdom's most popular columnists, is taking the fight to Santorum's home turf. He recently followed the warpath to Philadelphia, where he talked to Philadelphia Weekly about efforts to defeat Santorum's midterm re-election bid. When questioned about his take-no-prisoners crusade, Savage says, "I really feel that it's an all-hands-on-deck sort of fucking moment."

Continue ReadingDan Savage: No Love for Santorum

To make a point about proposed club regulations, The Stranger's editor, Dan Savage, walked into Seattle's City Hall carrying pot cookies and a fake gun. Seattle Weekly Staff Writer Philip Dawdy argues that Savage went too far because he used his press credentials to take the illicit materials into restricted areas of the building. In a post on The Daily Weekly, SW's blog, Dawdy notes that the Seattle press, including The Stranger, has fought to maintain access to offices in City Hall in the past; now, Savage's actions could "make the security folks at City Hall rethink who gets to go where and under what circumstances," he writes.

Continue ReadingSeattle Weekly Writer Objects to Dan Savage’s Gun ‘Experiment’

Dan Savage, editor of The Stranger, disagrees with proposed Seattle regulations that would require club owners to prevent patrons from entering the premises while carrying drugs. Naturally, he chose to demonstrate the difficulty of enforcing such a ban by tucking a fake gun into his waistband, packing his bag full of pot cookies, and heading to City Hall. As he describes in the Aug. 31 issue of The Stranger, he not only got in the door and consumed the cookies while on city property, he also offered pot cookies to several mayoral staffers without repurcussions. Photos of the cookies, the gun and Savage can be found on Slog, The Stranger's blog.

Continue ReadingDan Savage Takes Pot Cookies, Gun to City Hall

Dan Nassif (pictured) earned his place at the World Series of Poker earlier this month by beating out 80 other players on an Internet gambling site. The site then paid for his hotel room at the Las Vegas event, and, once Nassif qualified for the No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em Championship's final table, gave him $100,000. He lost on a bluff but left with $1,556,858. Nassif, now a millionaire, has no plans to leave his job at the alt-weekly, nor has he made any big purchases. "I just paid off my house," he tells AAN News. "I have a car, I have a house, I don't know what else is out there to get."

Continue ReadingRiverfront Times Ad Rep Wins $1.5 Million at World Series of Poker

Earlier this year, Dan Savage (pictured), editor of The Stranger, threw his support behind Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Casey Jr.'s run for the Senate. Savage sent Casey's campaign a $2,100 check, and encouraged the Seattle alt-weekly's readers to donate also -- not because he agrees with all of Casey's views, but because of his dislike for Casey's opponent, the incumbent Rick Santorum. In fact, after Santorum compared gay sex to incest and bestiality in 2003, Savage asked readers of his syndicated advice column to create a new sex-related definition for "santorum," with a memorable result. Casey's campaign learned of Savage's Santorum-related activities and returned his check, the editor announced Tuesday on Slog, The Stranger's blog. Savage is donating the money to the group Philadelphians Against Santorum instead.

Continue ReadingDan Savage ‘Miffed’ That Pa. Candidate Returned His Check