Narco News published a "white paper" today on what it calls ethics problems at AlterNet. "Today I explain for our readers why Narco News and I will no longer allow Alternet to republish our work," writes Al Giordano, who charges the alternative-news syndicate and its director, Don Hazen, with a variety of conflicts and misrepresentations.
A ruling on whether Boston can ban news-boxes in the Back Bay may be handed down as early as Monday, the Boston Phoenix, a plaintiff in the case, reports. "As far as the Back Bay is concerned, aesthetics are far more important than the exchange of ideas," Seth Gitell writes in the Phoenix.
In "Swimming with Sharks," the Colorado Springs Independent looks into how predatory lenders are eating credit-hungry debtors alive in this faltering economy. Terje Langeland writes that, "Julio Bonilla just wanted to borrow $4,000 to pay for some improvements to his split-level home ... By the time he walked out of the loan office, the 47-year-old Bonilla -- who speaks limited English -- had been talked into refinancing both of his mortgages, consolidating various credit-card debts and purchasing thousands of dollars worth of insurance, all rolled into one new loan totaling $164,000." Now his wife has lost her job, and they can't make the payments on the high-interest loan. Worse yet, the practice is perfectly legal.
At least 350 friends and relatives of Darrell Oldham gathered for a memorial service Monday in Seattle to mark the passing of one of the most beloved members of the alternative newsweekly tribe. Oldham died Feb. 16 of lung cancer. He was co-founder of Seattle Weekly and one of the original organizers of the National Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, now known as AAN.
It first appeared to be a simple stickup gone bad, but police investigating the killing of pet-shop owner Sarkis Antonyan found much more than that. Christine Pelisek and Charles Rappleye writing for LA Weekly, discovered that for more than a decade, Antonyan had run scams and opened new enterprises for a burgeoning Armenian crime scene, including massive rip-offs from the $450 million state recycling program. Antonyan's rise and fall provide a rare window on the life behind the suburban facade of one of L.A.'s most anonymous immigrant communities.
