Gregory Flannery says it took about 30 seconds for him to be arrested in a March 20 peace march in Cincinnati. "That's how long my feet were embedded on a Fifth Street crosswalk before a police officer ordered me to move. I declined, and he charged me with obstructing official business," he writes. Flannery says his five hours in the slammer were worth it, even though, "Handcuffs hurt the wrists and the shoulders. Jail is boring."
Akron Beacon Journal Columnist David Giffel declines the title of "worst columnist" because he claims an archenemy, Dave "Coondog" O'Karma, stuffed the ballot box. "When I asked Scene editor Pete Kotz how many votes I'd received, he admitted, `We never counted the votes.''' Giffel writes. The winner was selected on the basis of the staff's favorite nominating letter, which termed Giffel's writing "unoriginal, unimaginative and shallow."
Chris Lydgate of Willamette Week, Laura Laughlin of Phoenix New Times and David Martin of Cleveland Scene win national Unity Awards in Media, competing against media powerhouses like TIME Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. Unity Awards in Media, administered by Lincoln University in Missouri, recognize "accurate exposure of issues affecting minorities and disabled persons."
Even in blue-collar Cleveland, the sport commonly known as "ultimate fighting" takes place on society's fringes. It's not uncommon for competitors to break their hands on their opponent's skull. To avoid oversight by the state's athletic commission, promoters don't even pay the men who step into the ring -- or cage -- to beat the living hell out of each other. Yet the carnage continues -- and the sport's popularity grows. As Cleveland Scene staff writer Kevin Hoffman reports, the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization is slowly attempting a rebirth across the nation, hoping to woo a whole new generation of bloodthirsty fans.
Former Village Voice Media President Art Howe is now CEO of a holding company formed by the Mead family of Erie, Pa., which owns the daily Erie Times-News, to pursue purchases of alternative newsweeklies. Cleveland Free Times is the first investment the company has made in an alt-weekly. The management team headed by former Free Times Publisher Matt Fabyan "has been made significant partners," Howe said.
