Earlier this week, CP web editor Neal Santos ran into President-elect Barack Obama while he was working out and filed a quick blog post about the encounter, noting offhand that Obama was listening to a Zune, the Microsoft device launched to compete against Apple's iPod. That small detail set off a wave of coverage worldwide, from tech blogs to mainstream outlets like the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. "Zunegate" was born, City Paper was flooded with traffic, the site had to come down for 20 minutes or so, and Santos felt the need to post a clarification the next day. "I want to correct what I said yesterday about Obama using a Zune," he wrote. "I claimed that it was his Zune. I don't know for sure that it was his. It could belong to one of the many Secret Service dudes that were at the gym, Michelle, or even one of his daughters."

Continue ReadingPhiladelphia City Paper Sets the ‘Net Ablaze with Obama/Zune Report

Brian Hickey was seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident Friday in Collingswood, N.J. According to his wife, he was struck around 10:15 pm and left for dead, and is currently in stable condition at the Trauma-ICU of Cooper University Hospital after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. "The last CAT scan showed the pressure was very good," Hickey's father tells the Philadelphia Daily News. "He's in critical but stable condition." During a 4.5 year stint at City Paper, Hickey rose to become the managing editor. He left the paper in February. More from Metro.

Continue ReadingEx-Philadelphia City Paper Editor Seriously Injured in Hit-and-Run

While more than 70 papers are asking their readers to pledge to spend $100 of their holiday shopping locally this year, in Philadelphia, one alt-weekly has taken it a step further. The City Paper is hosting a Trunk Show on the most overhyped of mall shopping days, the day after Thanksgiving, aka Black Friday. The show will feature clothing, jewelry, bags, stationery, housewares and more from local designers, craftspeople and boutiques. AAN News recently caught up with City Paper associate publisher Roxanne Cooper via email to find out more about the initiative.

Continue ReadingPhiladelphia City Paper Makes Shopping Locally Easy with Trunk Show

As chatter increases about a potential federal bailout of the foundering American automotive industry, Michigan's alt-weeklies are addressing the crisis. Lansing's City Pulse is "having some serious doubts about this bailout," adding: "Like giving spare change to an alcoholic outside a liquor store, it would be a waste to hand these companies $25 billion and expect everything to be OK." In Detroit's Metro Times, longtime columnist Jack Lessenberry takes a different tack, arguing that it would be "extremely foolish" to let the auto makers fail, and that it would lead to "something very like the Great Depression."

Continue ReadingMichigan’s Alt-Weeklies Weigh In on Auto Industry Bailout

Salt Lake Tribune columnist Sean P. Means says he doesn't "like that Savage and others have singled out Utah for their wrath" with a proposed boycott over the Mormon Church's support of California's ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage. But Means says he'd "rather engage Savage in this discussion," so he has invited him to come to Utah. Means says he'd even buy drinks for Savage and Salt Lake City Weekly founder John Saltas, who publicly dropped the "Savage Love" column last week, "to let the healing begin."

Continue ReadingColumnist Invites Dan Savage ‘To See the Real Utah’

Last week, Creative Loafing asked a bankruptcy judge to authorize CEO Ben Eason to hire the investment banking firm that brokered the Reader/City Paper purchase to evaluate the company's business plan, seek new financing, and prepare the company to be sold if necessary, Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy reports. Meanwhile, Eason's largest creditor, Atalaya Capital Management, asked the judge to lift the automatic stay that prevented CL from defaulting on its loan, arguing that the value of the company is falling with each passing day due to the bankruptcy filing and to "downward trends in the advertising industry." Eason tells Fennessy he stands by his decision to expand. "I think it's one of the smartest things we've done," he says. "I'd rather be navigating [the economic downturn] with Washington City Paper and Chicago Reader and [syndicated column] Straight Dope than without them." MORE: The Reader's Michael Miner weighs in, and City Paper consolidates its office into one floor.

Continue ReadingTwo New Motions Filed in Creative Loafing Bankruptcy Case

In the wake of the passage of a same-sex marriage ban in California last week, an effort that was heavily funded by the Mormon church, Dan Savage and others have called for boycotting the state. "Trouble is, all Utahns aren't to blame, nor are all Mormons," writes Salt Lake City Weekly founder John Saltas. "A nonspecific call to boycott is never effective and is fraught with misdirected fire." He concludes that "since Savage hates Utah so much, there's no point in us playing in his sandbox by sending him a regular check." MORE:The Village Voice weighs in on the Weekly's decision. STILL EVEN MORE: Savage has been making the media rounds talking about Prop. 8 this week. Check out his New York Times op-ed, his appearance on The Colbert Report and his takedown of Tony Perkins on Anderson Cooper 360.

Continue ReadingSalt Lake City Weekly Drops ‘Savage Love’ After Talk of Utah Boycott

City Paper political columnist Brian Morton's first book, Political Animal: I'd Rather Have a Better Country, was published in October. It's a collection of columns he's written during his eight-year stint at the paper, in addition to a few unpublished pieces. In a Q&A with City Paper, Morton talks about politics, magic (he's a practicing magician), and the current state of political writing. "At the national level it has turned into theater criticism. It drives me crazy," he says. "Don't sit there talking about, 'This person seems like this or looks like that.' No, talk about their policies. It's funny every now and then to take a little cheap shot in a joke, but don't use that as the basis of a column."

Continue ReadingBaltimore City Paper Columnist Releases Debut Book

Adam Ebbin directed donations from "a clandestine group of wealthy, gay political donors" to defeat anti-gay politicians in Virginia in 2005, TIME reports in a story examining the group, known as "the Cabinet." AAN's former marketing director is the only openly gay member of Virginia's general assembly. Ebbin is also a former employee of the Washington City Paper, where he worked during the 90's with John Cloud, the author of TIME's story.

Continue ReadingFormer AAN Employee Wields Political Power via a ‘Gay Mafia’