Chuck Thurman died last weekend, the Weekly reports. He was 53 years old. Over 14 years, Thurman held a variety of roles at the Weekly: arts writer, contributing editor, arts & entertainment editor, and associate editor. He left the paper in 2002. "Chuck had a deep connection to this community and a great love for it, and more zest for life than most," writes Weekly founder and CEO Bradley Zeve. "He also was committed to this newspaper and instrumental in helping the Weekly carve out its mission and its place in Monterey County". A celebration of Thurman's life will be held Saturday, May 17, at 2pm, at the Wharf Theater in Monterey.
On the heels of the presidential candidate's "testy exchange" with a New York Times reporter last week, Politico talks to some Arizona journalists who describe "a sometimes pugnacious politician whose media strategy is a far cry from joking asides and backslaps around the barbecue pit." Former Arizona Republic national editor Tina May, who now edits the Monterey County Weekly, recalls a Republic story on McCain's temper in 2006 that led to her reporter being kicked "off the bus." She tells Politico it's "a perfect example of how McCain people treated the Republic differently than the national media," which has, in exchange, often flattered the Republican senator. Politico says that Phoenix New Times' Amy Silverman -- "one of McCain's most persistent critics" -- documented the romance between McCain and the national press in 1997's "prescient" story, "The Pampered Politican."
"Certainly, the Weekly has accomplished the showy side of going green," says the magazine, referring to the paper's installation of 162 solar panels on its roof earlier this year, "but the Weekly also strives to be green below its roof." Among the small-scale green programs E&P highlights: having a staffer repair bicycles for employees to use in commuting, buying organic produce from the "Vegetable Fairy," and using soy ink. Early last year, the Weekly began calculating its entire carbon footprint, including energy consumption from employee commutes and work routes, with a "Green Team" convening monthly to review the efforts. When the paper repeated its calculation this April, the footprint was 16 percent smaller. "For us this has been a several-pronged initiative," Weekly owner and CEO Bradley Zeve says. "One is around energy, one is around supplies and material, and a third is around our consciousness."
"The focus of daily journalism, where I have spent my entire career, has changed dramatically, especially in the past few years," writes May, who comes to the Weekly from the Arizona Republic. "Many daily newspapers have become increasingly corporate and less focused on printing stories that right wrongs, question the establishment and tell readers what they really need to know. Newspapers like the Weekly fill that void and prove that readers do have an appetite for a good story." She replaces Eric Johnson, who left the paper earlier this year.
The alt-weekly was being sued by Suterra for referencing one of its product's "inert" ingredients in print, but on Friday afternoon lawyers from the company notified the paper that the suit was being dismissed "without prejudice," the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports. Then over the weekend, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the ingredients be made public, and also ordered that the state immediately resume spraying the product, known as Checkmate LBAM-F. It is being used to eradicate the light brown apple moth.
Monterey County Weekly is being sued by the chemical company Suterra for referencing one of its product's "inert" ingredients, which the company claims are protected as trade secrets under federal law. The Weekly reported on health and environmental concerns related to two of the ingredients (first disclosed by the Santa Cruz Sentinel) in a story last week. On Tuesday, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge rejected the pesticide company's request for a temporary restraining order on the paper. The Weekly has counter-sued the company, asserting its First Amendment right to disseminate information in the public interest.
Eric Johnson says he'll be leaving next month. "I feel sad to have to leave this newspaper," he says. "For the past six years, I've been proud to work with a team that tries every week to create something that can make a difference in people's lives. ... I'll miss almost everything about it, but it's time to go."
The AAN member paper now has the first solar powered business in its home base of Seaside, Monterey Peninsula's largest city. The new 33,700-watt rooftop power plant will meet "virtually all the electrical needs" of the paper's 6,500-square-foot, 35-person office. Owner and CEO Bradley Zeve says he made the decision to install the 162 solar panels after years of waiting for better technology or lower prices. But Zeve tells Weekly reporter Kera Abraham that after a screening of An Inconvenient Truth last June, "I said, 'If not now, when? And if not me, who?'" The photovoltaic power plant cost about $250,000, but the paper will receive a $79,000 rebate from the state of California; the system should pay for itself in 12-15 years. "Concern for the environment has proven to be a good business decision," publisher Erik Cushman says.
Two Bridgeport, Ct. police officers have been suspended following a complaint made by Fairfield County Weekly's Tom Gogola that they were drinking at a bar while on duty, according to the Connecticut Post. Gogola recalls the evening's events in a story that describes one cop joking, "I can't drink and drive ... I'm on duty," then later taking a bag of marijuana out of his pocket and telling the bartender: "We confiscated some weed ... I'll roll you a special cigarette. It'll make you feel better."
