The city of about 50,000 residents near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is proposing an outright ban on news boxes in its historic downtown district, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Councilwoman Darlene Freed says the council, which will hold a public hearing on the issue next month, is divided on the ban. Freed says the boxes "are not particularly attractive, but I think you have to have access to newspapers on Main Street ... it's about the First Amendment." Freed also says she's talking with city officials about regulating the boxes rather than banning them. "I suggest they should at least talk with publishers about resolving these issues," says Fort Worth Weekly publisher Lee Newquist, who has several news boxes along the city's Main Street corridor.

Continue ReadingGrapevine, Texas, Proposes Ban on News Boxes

Wayne Roberts' The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food covers the loss of "real food," the growing dominance of Western agribusiness, and successful alternative practices based on the concept of community food security. Roberts, who writes about food issues for NOW, is also active in the community food security movement, serving on the board of the Community Food Security Coalition and Food Secure Canada, and coordinating the Toronto Food Policy Council. "[The book] clocks in at just under 200 pages and is a great primer for how the global food system really works," writes Jeff Nield in a review on Treehugger.com.

Continue ReadingNOW Magazine Columnist Releases Book on Global Food Issues

City Paper publisher Paul Curci invited graphic design and industrial design students from the University of the Arts to rework the paper's street boxes, and "the results are, by and large, stunning," according to editor Brian Howard. The mock-ups use ideas ranging from the utilitarian (a box that collects rain water and funnels it into a street-level dog bowl) to the futuristic (the "multi-lingual distributional information kiosk" pictured at left which features solar power, USB and headphone ports, and allows individuals to print out personalized issues of the paper). A jury that included arts professionals and Curci chose winners, some of which may be produced in the coming year.

Continue ReadingArt Students Reimagine Philadelphia City Paper News Boxes

Express president Hal Brody tells the Berkeley Daily Planet that the paper's circulation manager saw two men in a white van stealing free circulation newspapers from street racks on Wednesday morning and made a citizen's arrest. After the Berkeley police arrived and processed the arrest, the two suspects were charged with theft of free publications, driving on the wrong side of the road and driving with expired plates.

Continue ReadingEast Bay Express Circ Manager Nabs Newspaper Thieves

Weekly reporter Kera Abraham took home a third-place award in the Outstanding Small Market Reporting (Print) category in the Society of Environmental Journalists' annual awards for reporting on the environment. "Abraham did an excellent job with two divergent environmental issues," the judges write, "the omnipresent plastic in the aquatic environment, and the destructive environmental practices of marijuana farms on federal park land."

Continue ReadingMonterey County Weekly Writer Wins Environmental Reporting Award

According to a case management summary (pdf) filed in Creative Loafing's bankruptcy proceedings on Monday, revenues are off at the six-paper alt-weekly chain. Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy reports that when CL was looking for financing to purchase the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper, it projected the expanded company would see revenues of $43 million in fiscal year 2008. But the court filing says that revenue in FY08, ending June 30, 2008, was $35 million, and predicts that sales in the first quarter of FY09 will be only $3.5 million. In other CL bankruptcy news, Washington City Paper has published a statement from one of the company's lenders, Atalaya, which says the bankruptcy filing was "unfortunate and unnecessary," and assures "all interested parties that Atalaya has no intention of attempting to shut down the business." MORE: City Paper editor Erik Wemple talks to the George Washington University student paper The Hatchet about the changes in store as the paper shifts focus.

Continue ReadingCourt Filings Shed Light on Creative Loafing’s Finances