Cincinnati CityBeat News Editor Greg Flannery was one of seven people arrested for criminal trespassing on Sept. 27 when they protested the Iraq War by conducting a sit-in in U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot's Cincinnati office. Now he's asking the former Secretary of Defense to take the stand in his case. "I think testimony about the war that Rumsfeld can offer is essential to our defense, which is that we were breaking the law to stop a much more serious crime," Flannery tells the Cincinnati Post. The trial is set for Jan. 22.
During the height of the Cold War, UCLA and the U.S. Veteran's Administration dumped radioactive waste underneath a field where kids now play and Brentwood residents walk their dogs, reporter Michael Collins revealed in articles published May 18 and May 25 in CityBeat. Relenting to community concerns that were rekindled by the CityBeat articles, the federal government announced this week that it will test both sites, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Hearing that the Vice President was dropping by the chamber of commerce just across the street from their offices last week, CityBeat warmed up the welcome wagon: "We hope to spruce up the exterior of the building so he knows just how welcome he is," News Editor Gregory Flannery wrote on the alt-weekly's blog. Although police clamped down on protestors during Cheney's Oct. 25 speech, an anti-war banner was unfurled from CityBeat windows. A photo of the sign was included in coverage of the speech in the Cincinnati Post and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Of course, it didn't take much detective work to figure out who was behind the banner: Who else would use a semi-colon in a protest sign?
Three AAN members in the Buckeye State recently collaborated on election coverage so each could benefit from the others' insight into their "hometown" candidates. In profiles that were published in successive months in all three papers, Cincinnati CityBeat wrote about Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell (pictured); Cleveland Free Times examined Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown; and The Athens NEWS took a close look at Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland. CityBeat editor John Fox talks about how and why he and his fellow editors pooled their resources.
During the height of the Cold War, UCLA and the U.S. Veteran's Administration dumped radioactive waste underneath a field where kids now play and Brentwood residents walk their dogs, CityBeat revealed in articles published May 18 and May 25. Over two dozen citizens met to discuss the issue on June 13, CityBeat reports, and the neighborhood's City Councilman wrote a letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs expressing support for a clean-up. In addition, Rep. Henry Waxman tells CityBeat that he is "concerned about the possible environmental hazards" at the site. The V.A. continues to insist the area is safe, but has committed to additional study since the CityBeat articles appeared.
David Butow has photographed some of the most dangerous places on Earth, including war-torn Iraq, where he documented violence and destruction in his award-winning shots for Los Angeles Citybeat. Yet he says it doesn't take him long to readjust to the L.A. mindset. This is the 31st in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
