John Strand sued North Dakota's Cass County in February 2003, hoping to save an old jail from demolition. According to In-Forum, his legal expenses now stand at more than $60,000. The county is also seeking $39,000 in what Strand says is a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or SLAPP suit. His attorney, John Goff, claims that such actions have "a significant chilling effect on people's First Amendment rights." High Plains Reader applied for membership to the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies last year and in 2002.

Continue ReadingHigh Plains Reader Publisher Faces Legal Fight

Ian Blackburn, who in 1991 began the Knoxville, Tenn., alt-weekly with Ashley Capps, Rand Pearson and Margaret Weston, is leaving the paper. In an article titled "Farewell, Ian," associate editor Jack Neely calls Blackburn, who's held the title of systems manager in recent years, a "computer nerd with a wild bohemian heart." According to the article, Blackburn's departure is due, at least in part, to the discontinuation of MetroBlab, the paper's online chat room. Neely calls MetroBlab "a subject of contention" and explains that associate publisher John Wright "pulled the plug on it last month."

Continue ReadingMetro Pulse Co-Founder Steps Down