As we reported last month, a Phoenix suburb is in the process of deciding whether to remove the Phoenix New Times from its public library. The Chandler Library Board met on Sept. 20 to hear complaints from a lone resident against the paper, and will make its decision Nov. 15. The Phoenix-based ACLU chapter has sent a letter to the board urging it not to remove the paper and the other materials under consideration from the library, according to the Arizona Republic. "It's premature to say, 'We'll sue you,' but we wanted to add our strong feelings on the issue," says legal director Daniel Pochoda. "The neighborhood public library is the one institution -- the historical bastion of free speech -- that should always stand firm against pressure to censor newspapers or books."

Continue ReadingACLU Weighs In on Library’s Possible Banishment of Alt-Weekly

Last month, the Independent announced that it had partnered with 12 local media outlets in the region to create SoCoAds.com, a classified web portal designed to compete with Craigslist with local ads gleaned from more than 500 national websites. ColoradoBiz thinks that SoCoAds.com may already have a leg up on Craigslist, since the site can buy advertising. The media companies have collectively invested $50,000 in premium ad and broadcast space to support SoCoAds.com in a big one-month starting push. In addition, ColoradoBiz reports the site won't allow prostitution services and other questionable listings, "because Colorado Springs is not that kind of market."

Continue ReadingMore Details on Colorado Springs Independent’s Classified Web Portal

"Every high school has its nerdy soft kid who brings his cello to class, and that would have been me," the L.A. Weekly food critic tells This American Life's Ira Glass. He talks about one particular bully who picked on him quite a bit: "In my most notable instance, I was walking down the hall to history class, and he hip-checked me ... I went sailing down the stairs with my cello," Gold says. "He was laughing about it with his friends. I suspect he forgot about it five minutes later. I didn't." Years later, Gold says he felt vindicated when that same bully -- Jack Abramoff -- became a criminal felon, his corruption case splashed on front pages across the country. "It's just beautiful; it's more than I could have wished for," he says. "Who wouldn't feel satisfied that he was getting his comeuppance?" An Abramoff spokesman denies the incident: "Mr. Abramhoff does not know Mr. Gold and he has no idea why Mr. Gold would fabricate such a story."

Continue ReadingJonathan Gold: Pulitzer-Winner … and High-School Bully Victim