After the weekly ran an Oct. 12 cover story about a wheelchair-bound man who filed more than 200 onerous lawsuits against small businesses failing to meet accessibility standards for the disabled, a lawyer for the profile subject has lashed back. Marc E. Angelucci, a Los Angeles attorney who represents David Allen Gunther, calls R. Scott Moxley's investigative article
"one-sided, sensationalistic opinion-disguised-as-news," in a post on the OC Weekly staff blog.
Scott Harrell is the music critic at Weekly Planet (Tampa) and the singer for Nessie, a band with a new CD ("Drunk with a Gun") being shopped to major labels. In a preview of an upcoming show, Wade Tatangelo of The Bradenton Herald describes Nessie's music as having "that Pixies, stop 'n' go, urgency." The 34-year-old Harrell is a veteran of the Tampa music scene; "There's always been a whole lot of talent surrounded by a whole lot of garbage," he says.
Last week's cover story by Worcester's alt-weekly addressed the practical complications of a new state law allowing over-the-counter sales of hypodermic needles to reduce the spread of HIV among intravenous-drug users. Ten AIDS activists who thought the cover "sensationalized" the issue took it upon themselves to change it, applying Photoshopped stickers to 2,000 copies in order to alter the meaning of a subhed. Then they called the local daily to publicize the stunt. Worcester Magazine Editor Michael Warshaw didn't take offense: “This is exactly the kind of ruckus we’re looking for," he told the Boston Phoenix.
"My belief in the importance of impassioned, personal, and informed writing and editing became even more clear after Katrina and Rita unfolded," Editor Scott Jordan writes in the hurricane-anniversary issue of Lafayette, Louisiana's The Independent Weekly. Jordan describes the experiences of local journalists and argues the need for continued coverage of the area by national media (and fellow alt-weeklies). The anniversary issue also includes articles by three former Gambit Weekly writers -- Shala Carlson, Katy Reckdahl and Michael Tisserand.
In 2004, L.A. Weekly Film Editor Scott Foundas was notably unimpressed by the movie Jersey Girl: "The blame for this cosmically self-indulgent disaster lies with Kevin Smith, who directs like a proud father who can't stop showing you pictures of his kids. And here's the thing: The brats are ugly," Foundas wrote. Unfortunately, Smith has a long memory, Foundas reveals in his July 19 review of Smith's latest effort, Clerks II. Foundas says he was asked to leave a press screening because Smith thought he was biased against his work. But all's well that ends well: The critic was invited to a private screening the next day after he and the filmmaker "kissed and made up.
In a Jan. 31 press release, Scott Spear, senior vice president of Village Voice Media, announced that the merger has closed. The merger plans of New Times Media, LLC, and Village Voice Media were first announced on Oct. 23, 2005; in late November, the Department of Justice declared that it would not block the merger.
Nobody seems to have questioned Clay County, Florida, Sheriff Scott Lancaster about his spending until Susan Clark Armstrong started nosing around his records. What were all those extra cars being used for? The airline tickets? The underwear? After Armstrong's story "Booty Call" appeared in Folio Weekly, an investigation ensued, and the sheriff lost in the Republican primary. This is the fifth in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.
Scott Walsey, publisher of Creative Loafing (Atlanta), will leave the paper at the end of the year, reports CL editor-in-chief Ken Edelstein. Walsey has been at the paper for 26 years, and has served as its publisher since the 2000 merger between Weekly Planet and Creative Loafing, Inc. "He's provided employees with leadership, stability and a great sense of humor," writes Edelstein. "[Walsey is] a wise and decent person who did things like remind folks to place family and friends above work." CL's next publisher will be Scott Patterson, an experienced newspaperman who has published dailies, community papers and shoppers.
Scott Hassenflu moves from the San Francisco Bay Guardian to take over the News & Review's flagship Sacramento paper. He replaces Dave Schmall, who returned to Minneapolis as associate publisher of Tom Bartel and Kris Henning's new monthly, the Rake. Meanwhile, Terry Garrett, former publisher of the Weekly Planet in Tampa, is moving to Marin County after being named sales director at Pacific Sun.
