When Isthmus News Editor Bill Lueders first wrote about "Patty," a visually impaired woman charged with falsely reporting a rape, he hoped his 4,400-word piece would influence the prosecution to change direction. That was in 1998, and Lueders was so confident Patty was telling the truth that he told the mayor he would quit his job if he was proved wrong. His article didn't have the effect he had hoped, but prosecutors did eventually drop the charges against Patty, and in 2001 a suspect was charged with sexually assaulting her. Lueders expanded his investigation into a book, Cry Rape, newly published by the University of Wisconsin Press. The Capital Times in Madison, Wis., says Lueders' "achievement is large -- the book is not a polemic, the tone is not angry, but the systemic fallibility Cry Rape reveals is frightening."

Continue ReadingIsthmus News Editor Writes Book About ‘Heart-Breaking’ Case

Fefer previously worked at the Weekly from 1995 to 2004: He was a staff writer until he was promoted to arts and culture editor in 2002. He has spent the last two years in New York City, most recently working as an editor for Bloomberg News. His first day will be Oct. 3, Village Voice Media announced in a press release Monday.

Continue ReadingMark Fefer Named Editor in Chief of Seattle Weekly