AltWeeklies Wire
Workplace Labor Practices Have Become a Subspecialty for Labor Law Firmsnew

In a previous assignment, working at a wastewater facility in West Oakland, Watson kept a jar near his station so that he could urinate while on duty, rather than walk several blocks to the bathroom.
East Bay Express |
Michelle Quinn |
01-27-2010 |
Business & Labor
City Hounds the Homeless For Dog Licensesnew
According to Chief George Gascón, the Police Department has flooded upper Haight Street with cops assigned to write tickets for so-called "quality of life" violations, such as off-leash or tagless dogs, jaywalking, and other minor offenses.
SF Weekly |
Matt Smith |
01-27-2010 |
Housing & Development
Will the Parole Board See Past Lonnie Morris' Crime?new
At 59, having spent more than three decades in prison, Lonnie Morris could be the model of a rehabilitated inmate. Bespectacled, freckle-faced, and gap-toothed, he looked about as dangerous as a retired history professor.
SF Weekly |
Ashley Harrell |
01-27-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Jeanne Woodford, Lonnie Morris
Will Atlanta’s LGBT Community Still Have a Voice Without 'Southern Voice'?new

When Georgia's first gay, African-American lawmaker, Simone Bell, formally took her seat in the state House of Representatives recently, the occasion marked a rare progressive milestone – for the South, anyway. Too bad no newspapers were paying attention.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Scott Henry and Patrick Saunders |
01-26-2010 |
LGBT
Big Money and College Presidents: Can You Say Overcompensation?new
This is the first installment of "Dispatches from the Ivory Trailer" for 2010, a regular column focusing on issues in higher education and college town life. This column is an overview predicting the trends, continuing and emergent, which will dominate news coverage of higher education in the coming year.
The Athens NEWS |
Matt Zuefle |
01-26-2010 |
Education
A Statewide Sales Tax Hike For the Arts, In This Economy?new
One hundred million dollars. That's how much money the Metro Phoenix Partnership for Arts and Culture hopes to generate from a new tax hike proposal quietly being prepared for voters. One hundred million freakin' dollars, each year.
Phoenix New Times |
Sarah Fenske |
01-26-2010 |
Economy
A Cadre of Karate Instructors Wind Up Dead or Facing Prison Timenew
Twenty gallons of gasoline were poured into a 400-square-foot room. The pungent liquid soaked the floor, desk, and computer inside the small office. It was about 12:30 a.m. on the cool Sunday morning of June 14, and the room was dark.
Phoenix New Times |
Ray Stern |
01-26-2010 |
Crime & Justice
What Happens When an Undocumented Immigrant Teen Needs a New Heart?new

Eduardo Loredo's eyes are ringed with dark shadows. He blinks slowly through a deep fatigue that resists the bright room at Children's Mercy Hospital. The 14-year-old is dying. Slowly.
The Pitch |
Carolyn Szczepanski |
01-26-2010 |
Immigration
Dalia Dippolito May Have Tried to Kill Him, But Michael Dippolito Is No Saintnew
When a relationship ended, "Delilah" headed back to Florida and married a new man. She soon reconnected with her old fling, though, and lately she had been asking for some strange favors. "She asked if I knew someone who can kill her husband for her," the man said.
New Times Broward-Palm Beach |
Lisa Rab |
01-26-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Dalia Dippolito, Michael Dippolito
Is Omega Protein Overfishing the Most Important Fish in the Sea?new

Omega Protein is the largest commercial harvester of an obscure fish called menhaden (men-hay-den), used mostly for fishmeal and fertilizer. The company's more palatable product is refined fish oil.
Houston Press |
Craig Malisow |
01-26-2010 |
Animal Issues
The Haiti Memory Hole
No one could have anticipated the soaring brazenness or the cynical linguistic savagery U.S. state-controlled media would deploy while "covering" the invasion of Haiti.
Encycloweedia is Trying a New Way to Turn Pot into Doughnew
Every two weeks or so, we wander into our publisher's office and flip through copies of our company's sister papers in Denver and California, where medical marijuana is legal. "Wow, they must be raking in the ad dough," we say.
Dallas Observer |
Patrick Williams |
01-25-2010 |
Drugs
How Craig Cunningham Gets Bill Collectors Off His Back: He Sues Themnew

While most Americans with unpaid bills dread the collector's call, Craig Cunningham sees them as opportunities. Many collection and credit card companies violate little-known consumer rights laws, and Cunningham's favorite pastime is catching them doing so and suing them.
Dallas Observer |
Kimberly Thorpe |
01-25-2010 |
Economy
Citizen Action: An Army Vet Goes After the Officers Who Held Him at ICEnew
Imagine that you, as an American citizen, were plucked from normal life and taken to a detention facility for illegal immigrants. Now imagine that it took seven-and-a-half months for officials to figure out that—as you'd said all along—you were not only a citizen, but had honorably served in the U.S. Army.
Seattle Weekly |
Nina Shapiro |
01-25-2010 |
War
Seattle's Program for Handling Injured Workers is in a World of Hurtnew

Employers complain that Washington's workers'-comp system is generous to the point of crippling employers. They believe rates are being raised to support ever-expanding benefits that are too easily obtained, and a bloated bureaucracy.
Seattle Weekly |
Laura Onstot |
01-25-2010 |
Business & Labor