Tele-Publishing International issues a news release explaining legal issues regarding MCI, the only national 900 number carrier, and how WorldCom's bankruptcy might affect the short-term and long-term future of voice personals. "MCI has assured Tele-Publishing that the 900 business is a high profit margin division for MCI and it is highly unlikely that it would be terminated during any reorganization," the TPI release states. Nevertheless, the company is exploring non-900 number options for voice personals.

The Tennessean reports that Joe Sullivan, publisher of Knoxville, Tenn.'s, Metro Pulse, wrote a withering profile of GOP gubernatorial candidate Van Hilleary without disclosing that he had made a $2,500 contribution to Hilleary's primary opponent's campaign. The profile was also published in the Nashville Scene. Sullivan tells the Nashville daily he is a political activist and sees nothing inherently wrong with the two roles -- journalist and contributor. Nashville Scene Editor Bruce Dobie, however, says he wouldn't have run the article had he known about the contribution.

"Raffish," "lurid," "biting," "anti-establishment" -- these are some of the adjectives used in conservative Salt Lake City to describe its scrappy alt-weekly, according to Deseret News. Salt Lake City Weekly Publisher John Saltas takes understandable pride in this description as the paper celebrates its 10th anniversary. "It's unprecedented," Saltas tells the daily. "It merely validates just how important it is to continue telling those stories" that touch sensitive nerves. "We ought to be fair," Managing Editor Christopher Smart says, "but we certainly don't profess to be objective."

Alt-weekly designers discussed the value of new software upgrades during a recent design and production listserv exchange on aan.org. The conclusion? "To put it bluntly -- InDesign just spanks Quark's little bottom," says Mike Spain, advertising art director of Arkansas Times.