Managing editor Brian Johnson is due in court this morning for pre-trial motions in the criminal case against Jackson Mayor Frank Melton, according to the JFP. Johnson was issued the subpoena (PDF file) by Melton's attorneys, as was a reporter for the daily Clarion-Ledger. This is not the first time the JFP has been called to court by the embattled mayor they've relentlessly covered: Editor Donna Ladd was subpoenaed in a previous trial last year.
Brian Conley, and his wife, Patricia Conley, spent an evening in a Knox County jail after being arrested Saturday night on charges relating to public intoxication, reports the local daily. After leaving a Christmas party, the Conley's vehicle was stopped by Knoxville Police. When the police arrested Mr. Conley for public drunkenness, his wife "became combative and interfered with the arrest," according to court records. She was subsequently arrested for disorderly conduct. "The Conleys do dispute the events as they are stated in the incident report," says their attorney, who adds that Brian Conley "did the responsible thing by having his wife drive after the party."
While publicly traded media companies are laying off employees and warning Wall Street of sharply diminished returns, Chicago's free circulation papers are holding their own, Kathy Bergen of the Chicago Tribune reports. "There isn't the voracious need to satisfy shareholders and start making layoffs," Richard Karpel, executive director of AAN, tells the Trib. Chicago Reader Publisher Jane Levine tells Bergen: "Our total revenue in 2001 will be about even with 2000, and I feel blessed for that."
