The 35-year-old alt-weekly based in Victoria, British Columbia says its redesign debuting this week will "shak[e] off the dust to deliver a crisp, new design and updated content that better reflects its role as Victoria's alternative voice."
Monday Magazine editor John Threlfall is stepping down after eleven years with the Victoria, B.C. alt-weekly.
Peter Ladner defeated Sam Sullivan on Sunday for the mayoral nomination of the Non-Partisan Association (NPA), a civic-level political party in Vancouver. "He dresses well, runs a weekly business publication and is pleased to describe himself as a 'fiscally conservative' member of the generally right-wing NPA," reports the Globe and Mail. But the Canadian daily also notes that Ladner is an "ex-hippie" who was a back-to-the-land farmer raising goats and chickens in the 1960s. He later worked for "the respected alternative weekly, Monday Magazine," and had plans in the 1980s to launch a new weekly to compete with AAN member The Georgia Straight. Those plans fizzled out, and Ladner instead launched Business in Vancouver, a weekly business publication. The general election is scheduled for November.
Bob Bierman, whose "Bierman's Corner" was a "staple feature" in Monday Magazine, died in the hospital on April 17, four days after suffering a massive stroke, the Globe and Mail reports. He was 86 years old. Bierman was best known for being sued for libel by a British Columbia cabinet minister in the late 1970s. He leaves his wife Angelina, two sons, and two grandchildren.
Former arts editor John Threlfall says he has been named the editor-in-chief of the Victoria, British Columbia, alt-weekly. After a lengthy stint as acting editor -- "a charming period of time I like to think of as 11 months of chaotic madness," he says -- Threlfall becomes the tenth editor in the paper's history. Amanda Farrell will replace him as Monday's new arts editor.
Briony Penn, who was an AltWeekly Award finalist in 2002 for her columns in the Victoria alt-weekly, will seek to represent the Saanich Gulf-Islands riding in Canada's next federal election, according to the Globe and Mail. If she wins the Liberal nomination at a March 31 meeting, she will run against incumbent Gary Lunn in an election expected to be this spring. The longtime Green Party activist's decision to run with the Liberals was unexpected, but Penn says getting elected and changing policy is her first priority. "We can't wait around for proportional representation," she says.
In an intra-company switcheroo, Jim Parker takes over this week as publisher of a collection of publications in Victoria, British Columbia, including Monday Magazine. Meanwhile, the alt-weekly's former publisher, Bill Macadam, will fill Parker's old position at the News Leader & Pictorial, based 40 minutes north of Victoria in the Cowichan Valley. Both papers are owned by Black Press Group, Ltd.
Last week we reported that Vancouver alt-weekly Georgia Straight broke the story that British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and his wife own shares of stock in mining giant Alcan Inc., which does business with the state-owned water utility. In fact, the article also appeared in Monday Magazine, an AAN-member paper that is published in Victoria, the seat of the provincial government. Russ Francis, who wrote the story, contributes to both papers. Blame Canada? No, blame Canada.com, the Web site of the National Post, which is where we found the partially erroneous story.
