The owner of the Warfield Theater in San Francisco filed suit against Bill Graham Presents on Oct. 13, according to the Bay Guardian. The suit alleges that BGP -- a Clear Channel subsidiary which operates the Warfield under a lease that expires in 2008 -- damaged the value of the theater's name by changing it to the SF Weekly Warfield. The naming rights were sold by BGP in June to SF Weekly-parent New Times.
The non-profit Inter American Press Association will host its 61st General Assembly Oct. 7-11 in Indianapolis. "This is a great group, doing extraordinary work in the Americas (from Canada down to Argentina) and of particular interest to the alternative press for a lot of good editorial and business reasons," writes San Francisco Bay Guardian editor and publisher Bruce Brugmann. "Among them: a snapshot of the action in the Americas, lots of good news and editorial ideas, entree into the latest in technology and business developments, and most important a direct way to really lend a hand to supporting a free press in these critical countries." Registration information is available through the organization's Web site; the association has more than 1,300 members from newspapers and magazines throughout the Americas.
AAN announced today that it had established a multi-pronged effort to provide immediate relief to employees of its New Orleans-based member paper who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The centerpiece of the effort is a special fund that the association has established in its Alternative Newsweekly Foundation to accept charitable contributions from members who want to provide immediate assistance to Gambit Weekly employees. Several AAN-member companies have already announced significant contributions to the fund.
