A court has ordered Mindich to release his private emails concerning a rape case in which his wife Maria Lopez was judge. Friends and family of the victim say the sentence Lopez gave the defendant was too lenient and claim Mindich’s emails are part of a “whisper campaign” to discredit the victim. Mindich says the content of the emails is irrelevant and that he’s ready to go to the Supreme Court if necessary to prove his private correspondence is private.

Continue ReadingPhoenix Publisher Stephen Mindich to Fight Subpoenas

Peter Noel says he was kicked out of the Hip-Hop Summit, an event Def Jam founder Russell Simmons helped organize at the New York Hilton. Noel tells the Daily News' Mitchell Fink that he was barred from the meeting because Simmons didn't want him there. "When Russell found out I was a part of (a media panel on mainstream press hip-hop coverage) he went off." Simmons says nothing could be further from the truth.

Continue ReadingVoice Scribe Barred from Hip-Hop Summit

Brooklyn and Queens are about to get their own alternative weekly, say James Morrow, Erin Franzman and Mike Vago. The three are preparing an August launch of New York Metropolis, which, according to the New York Post, "will run on a basic alternative weekly model of a small editorial and design team complimented by freelancers and supported by local advertisers." Morrow is executive editor of the Webzine Ironminds, where Franzman is a writer.

Continue ReadingAn Alt-Weekly for the Outer Boroughs