After publishing more than 750 consecutive issues, the Flyer was forced to skip an edition when a July 22 storm shut the city down. The blend of heavy rains and powerful winds forced three employees from their homes, including Publisher Ken Neill, who had an 100 foot oak tree fall on his house, rendering it uninhabitable until Christmas. The national press, focused on Uday and Qusay, barely noticed the storm. "We have a joke," Neill says. "If a tree falls in Memphis, does it make a sound?"
Six AAN member papers in the Southeast picked up 61 percent of the awards in SPJ's Green Eyeshade Awards' print (weekly/monthly) division. SPJ has announced the finalists for the awards, and the order of finish will be announced at the Green Eyeshade Banquet April 5. Creative Loafing Atlanta and New Times Broward-Palm Beach picked up six each, while Miami New Times snagged four. Memphis Flyer has two nominations, and Mountain Xpress and Creative Loafing Charlotte came in with one each.
Dennis Freeland, the sports writer — and former editor — of the Memphis Flyer has been diagnosed with brain cancer, but this grim news has not robbed him of his wit or his friends, just his future, writes Geoff Calkins, a sports columnist for The Commercial Appeal.
