Richard Meeker, publisher of Willamette Week, says the alt-weekly made pre-tax profits of $365,000 on revenues of $6 million in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2002, and expects to do equally well in the current fiscal year. In his "annual report" to readers, Meeker says the economy "stinks" but his paper has been able to hold its own because newsprint prices have dropped and " local papers like ours have been hurt less than big dailies by the economy's downturn." Meeker also estimates the profits and revenues of The Oregonian, the Portland Tribune, and his alt-weekly rival, The Portland Mercury. "Journalism isn't the Merc's focus; its real appeal is attitude and bargain-basement ad rates," Meeker says.
At 79, Gaynor Bracewell stands to make $100,000 a year from selling his rights to water from the Apalachee River in North Georgia, Michael Wall writes in Creative Loafing Atlanta. Bracewell's boon could usher in an era, "where water becomes subject to the same rules of commerce as peaches, DVD players and automobiles," Wall writes. In an example of a struggle that's playing out around the globe, "access to water would be not so much an inalienable right as it would be a commodity, delivered to the highest bidder."
Joe Loya ripped off dozens of banks in the late '80s, netting about $250,000. Now Loya, dubbed the "Beirut Bandit" because of his dark complexion, has a book deal and a starring role in his own show, Justin Berton writes in East Bay Express. "Loya is a well-read sophisticate, but he's also an ex-con who can walk up to a stranger on the street and call him 'homeboy' without sounding like a guidance counselor," Berton says.
Renatta Frazier, a rookie Springfield police officer, left the force under a cloud because of her alleged failure to prevent the rape of the daughter of a fellow officer. Dusty Rhodes looks into the resignation and finds more questions than answers. Only the third black female ever to join the Springfield, Ill., police force, Frazier admits she never tried to "be invisible," as she was advised. Instead, Rhodes describes her as alternately "frank, funny and tenderhearted," or, if you were inclined against her, "abrasive, irreverent and lacking in military bearing." Associate Publisher Sharon Whalen tells AAN News the story "made the city shake" and revealed that the alleged rape had happened before the call to police was even made.
