Raised in a broken home by a drug-abusing mother, Edwin Debrow Jr. quickly fell into a life of crime. He was finally arrested for killing a San Antonio cab driver during a botched robbery that won him a 27-year prison sentence. Debrow was 12 when he was shipped off to prison; he'll be middle-aged before he ever leaves. In the latest installment of Dallas Observer's series on juvenile justice, Editor Julie Lyons takes a bleak, chilling look at the violence and despair facing violent children convicted under Texas' new get-tough juvenile justice system.
Scott Hassenflu moves from the San Francisco Bay Guardian to take over the News & Review's flagship Sacramento paper. He replaces Dave Schmall, who returned to Minneapolis as associate publisher of Tom Bartel and Kris Henning's new monthly, the Rake. Meanwhile, Terry Garrett, former publisher of the Weekly Planet in Tampa, is moving to Marin County after being named sales director at Pacific Sun.
Los Angeles Magazine reporter R.J. Smith says the city's dominant alternative "has improved" since "smart and low-key" Laurie Ochoa took over as editor a year ago. Smith calls the paper Ochoa inherited "lucrative but dull, a cash cow in need of a prod" and says Village Voice Media CEO David Schneiderman -- who argues that "anxiety is healthy" -- is doing the prodding. "The pressure I'm putting on them is not because of investors," Schneiderman says. "It's so we don't become dinosaurs."
In the world of political punk, Anti-Flag is almost alone in raising the banner of dissent these days. After the terrorist attacks last September galvanized a new patriotism in America, many rock musicians and fans alike have taken a closer look at their rebelliousness. Justin Hopper of Pittsburgh City Paper goes on the road with Anti-Flag, looking at left-wing rhetoric from the last unapologetic punk dissidents left standing.
