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.

Continue ReadingClear Channel Firm Sued for Deal with SF Weekly

The first Best of Eugene Awards show was held last Saturday, says Director of Sales and Marketing Bill Shreve. Local celebrities presented glass plaques to the winners, and musical entertainment was provided. The money raised was donated to Food for Lane County, which won the Favorite Nonprofit award.

Continue ReadingEugene Weekly Awards Raise $6000 for Charity

Even though Hurricane Katrina left its office (pictured) submerged under more than two feet of water, co-owners Margo and Clancy DuBos always knew the paper would make a comeback. "We're about to celebrate our 25th anniversary [at Gambit]," says Margo. "How could I work that hard and get the company where it is and walk away from that?" The paper will initially operate from a temporary office space in Metairie, La., but it will have to do so without editor Michael Tisserand, who has made the difficult decision to relocate with his family to the Chicago area.

Continue ReadingGambit Weekly to Return Nov. 1

The association has collected over $106,000 in charitable contributions since the effort to raise money for Gambit Weekly employees was announced on Sept. 2. A second payment of $1,000 was wired yesterday to each of those employees, who were evacuated from their homes and left without jobs or income after Hurricane Katrina struck. Most of the money raised has come from AAN-member papers and their employees, although contributions began to trickle in last week from readers as well.

Continue ReadingAAN Makes Second Relief Payment as Gambit Fund Passes Six Figures

In an entry in his MSNBC blog on Monday, network newsman Brian Williams called Part 4 of Michael Tisserand's AAN-commissioned series on the evacuee experience, "a fine piece of journalism" and a "sobering and instructive piece of writing." Speaking of the displaced Gambit Weekly editor, in addition to producing fine journalism, he and some of his former neighbors recently started a new school for their children in New Iberia, La. In case you missed it yesterday on CBS' The Early Show, you can read about the Sugar Cane Academy here.

Continue Reading“Submerged” Gets Props From NBC News Anchor

Alternative Weekly Network executive director Mark Hanzlik reports that audited returns from a group of 96 Verified Audit Circulation clients, who are also members of AWN or Ruxton, have declined from 6.9 percent in 2001 to a current level of 5.7 percent. Hanzlik bases his findings on a spreadsheet analysis of recent VAC data, which he compares to a previous VAC report encompassing 76 alt-weeklies. "We sometimes use this return figure in conjunction with the circulation audit information and readership reports to reinforce the value of alternative newspapers on the street!" says Hanzlik. The spreadsheet can be downloaded by AAN members from this page in the AAN Resource Library.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weekly Returns Decline, According to AWN