The Westerly, R.I., town council has agreed to support local citizens in their bid to have the "adult" section of the Phoenix moved behind the reference desk at the Westerly Public Library, where it would be available only to adults who request it, the Westerly Sun reports. The Phoenix has been the subject of past complaints that resulted in its being relocated to a higher shelf behind the checkout desk. At the council meeting last week, "one councilor indicated that should the library refuse to cooperate, councilors could weigh withholding its funding," according to the Sun, but library officials indicated that they would not "act in the place of parents."

Continue ReadingLibrary Is Asked to Restrict Access to Providence Phoenix’s Adult Section

Inland Empire Weekly, based in Corona, Calif., released its first issue Friday, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports. Publisher Jeremy Zachary and Managing Editor Rich Kane are both former employees of OC Weekly. (The Daily Bulletin erroneously states that the weekly was launched by "the publishers of the free alternative newspapers LA Weekly and OC Weekly.") Inland Empire Weekly is available online at ieweekly.com.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weekly Veterans Launch New California Paper

Bill Hobbs, a popular conservative blogger and a former reporter for the Tennessean, posted a crude cartoon of Muhammad holding a bomb in late February, during the height of the Danish cartoon controversy. Reporter John Spragens targeted the post in an April 13 Nashville Scene article, calling it "sophomoric," "misguided" and "better suited for the Duke lacrosse team than the modern Republican Party." The local blogosphere quickly lit up with attacks and counterattacks, most notably former Scene contributor Roger Abramson calling Spragens' article "a singularly nasty piece of writing" that is "more suited to a blog than a respectable newspaper." On Friday, Hobbs announced he was resigning from his day job at Belmont University's marketing and communications department in "an amicable and mutual parting of the ways," the AP reports.

Continue ReadingBlogger Criticized by Nashville Scene Resigns From Day Job