President Bush chose Cincinnati for his saber-rattling Oct. 7 speech because, he said, the city represents the "heartland of America." If so, then the thousands of protesters who greeted him show how divided the country is over war with Iraq. For what it's worth, Cincinnati CityBeat's Gregory Flannery estimates four times as many people demonstrated as attended the speech.
Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., has been labeled one of the 10 most obscure members of Congress, despite his chairmanship of the House Ethics Committee, a post most House members loathe. With only a few weeks until Election Day, he’s not campaigning, rarely speaks to the media, especially the Colorado Springs Independent, which he says has bashed him, Terje Langeland writes. Like many incumbents in “safe” seats across America, Hefley doesn’t have to leave Washington to please his constituents. He merely has to tote home the pork and reel in top rankings from the NRA and the Christian Coalition.
Photos and video from the writing workshop
The Village Voice/New Times deal that closed New Times Los Angeles and VVM's Cleveland Free Times, is another sign of an "imploding economy," Cynthia Cotts writes in The Village Voice. She suggests that when VVM's venture capitalist owners start looking to cash out they could find a buyer in a daily newspaper chain or another alternative media company.
The Chicago Sun-Times has plans to launch a new tabloid aimed at younger readers, perhaps by early November, Crain's Chicago Business reports. That's about the same time as its rival, the Chicago Tribune, will debut its own tab for the 18- to 34-year-old reader, which will be called RedEye. The Sun-Times' parent, Hollinger International, has ordered four of its regional newspapers to send three staffers each to Chicago to put together the new tab.
Iconoclastic alternative weeklies are doing business like the big boys, former Washington City Paper Editor David Carr writes in the New York Times. Carr reports that New Times received $8 million from Village Voice Media to close its money-losing New Times Los Angeles. "The willingness of the two ferociously competitive chains to make a deal in their common interest could mean that the next big deal by the companies could leave only one standing," Carr writes.
Next month, voters in Nevada will vote on a measure that would allow adults in the state to legally possess up to three ounces of marijuana. Reno News & Review's D. Brian Burghart takes a skeptical look at both sides of the argument and assesses the chances of passage.
