The Reader's "Typo Patrol" is a contest of sorts for readers to spot typographical errors in the paper; each person gets $10 for each mistake they point out (capped at $300 a year per person). Publisher Jim Holman tells Copyediting.com that they pay out "between $100 and $200" per week to successful typo-catchers. He says there was a little trepidation when the Reader first rolled out the patrol, since it employs professional copyeditors and proofreaders. But Holman says those staffers haven't taken offense. "All of them see it as a challenge," he says, "to make sure there are no typographical errors."
San Dieguito Printers has filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court alleging that the Reader breached a contract between the two parties when it switched to a new printer at the beginning of this year. The printing company says it signed a 10-year contract to be the Reader's exclusive printer in 2005. The suit names Reader publisher Jim Holman -- both as a person and as a business -- as the defendant, rather than the Reader, as the printing company argues that the paper is being operated as a sole proprietorship.
Proponents of the California ballot initiative to mandate parental notification before teen abortions tell the Oakland Tribune they will likely try a fourth time after this year's attempt, Proposition 4, was narrowly defeated last week. The ballot measures are funded in large part by San Diego Reader publisher Jim Holman. "Talking to Mr. Holman, he was commenting about how close it was, and I think he was feeling a little down as if a little extra effort might have put it over," Proposition 4 spokesman Albin Rhomberg tells the Tribune. "When you see it's that close, it sort of increases that sense of obligation to follow through."
LEO Weekly founder John Yarmuth was re-elected to Congress yesterday, where he'll continue to serve Kentucky's 3rd District. Today's Louisville Courier-Journal reports that with 99 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial vote totals had Yarmuth, a Democrat, with 59 percent of the vote and Republican challenger Anne Northup with 41. In California, San Diego Reader publisher Jim Holman once again bankrolled a ballot measure that would require doctors to notify parents before performing an abortion on a minor, and the Los Angeles Times reports that it remained too close to call Tuesday night. With four-fifths of precincts reporting last night, 52.8 of voters were opposed to the measure while 47.2 favored it, according to the AP, which says the initiative "appear[s] headed for defeat." Holman contributed more than $1.3 million of the reported $2.6 million raised for the measure, the AP reports. UPDATE (4:55 pm EST): A number of news outlets are now reporting that the ballot measure was indeed defeated.
Jim Holman "has loaned nearly $2.2 million since the start of the year to pay for a petition drive on behalf of the so-called 'Parents' Right to Know and Child Protection Measure,'" according to the Sacramento Bee. The initiative would require doctors to notify a parent or guardian before performing an abortion on a minor.
Superior Court Judge Joan M. Lewis issued a temporary order preventing the San Diego Reader from publishing details about Polyheme, a blood substitute still in testing, that were obtained under the California Public Records Act. Northfield Laboratories Inc. had sued the Reader last month to stop publication of the information, which Northfield calls "trade secrets." On July 28, the Reader had published an article saying that Polyheme was being tested in downtown San Diego and in poor minority neighborhoods, on trauma patients who were unable to consent. A Northfield spokesperson said the two sides would meet next week in an attempt to reach an agreement.
