The unwritten law in Orange County DA Tony Rackauckas's office is not to talk to OC Weekly. R. Scott Moxley says that's because the Weekly writes the ugly truth about the DA's incompetence and wasteful spending of taxpayer money. On the other hand, "Newspapers that routinely marble their DA stories with ham-fisted flatteries or merely ignore embarrassing facts about Rackauckas are rewarded with insider scoops and exclusives on major breaking crime stories," Moxley says.
In its second issue since reopening after a seven-month closure, Cleveland Free Times writes a snarling cover story on the finances of its rival Cleveland Scene and its parent, New Times. The story by Editor David Eden charges that the Scene "is living on life support and is awaiting its day of reckoning."
The gritty new HBO series "The Wire" draws its inspiration from the mean streets of Baltimore, and residents of those streets have decidedly mixed emotions about the portrayal. Baltimore City Paper's Bret McCabe talks to creator David Simon about Baltimore, the new season of the series, his critics in city government, his former bosses at The Sun, and the decline of the working stiff.
The Texas Legislature, always an entertaining spectacle, has made national headlines this year, sending the legendary Texas Rangers after fugitive Democratic lawmakers. Behind the bombastic redistricting battle, however, another war was being raged -- this one against the environment. Amber Novak looks at the anti-environmental record in the president's home state and to the future of environmental activism for Texas and the nation.
