AltWeeklies Wire
Will Medical Marijuana Regulations Turn the Wild West into the Mild West?new
Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown is getting ready to give medical marijuana speculators a good, swift kick with his cowboy boot, to get them to toe whatever line the city decides to draw. Better that, he says, than kick them out of Denver altogether -- as towns across the metro area have started to do.
Denver's Intiative 300 is Out to Put the Brakes on Illegal Immigrationnew
Although enforcing federal immigration laws is not the jurisdiction of municipal police, enforcing traffic laws is. That's what inspired Dan Hayes to come up with a way to get immigrant drivers without licenses off the road — if not out of the country altogether.
Westword |
Jared Jacang Maher |
11-02-2009 |
Immigration
Santa Cruz Elder Abuse Case Goes Nationalnew
Last week, Congress heard James "Pops" Lee's story in a short documentary film prepared by the Elder Justice Now campaign, a partnership of the National Council on Aging and WITNESS, a human rights video documentary group, in an effort to push the passage of the so-called Elder Abuse Justice Act
Good Times Santa Cruz |
Jessica Lussenhop |
11-02-2009 |
Crime & Justice
University of Vermont Faces a Decline in Body Donationsnew
The declining number of donors may be related to the cost associated with giving one's body to medical science. Although UVM absorbs nearly all the expenses, transportation costs are still incurred by the next of kin. In tough economic times, that expense may be too much for some Vermonters to shoulder.
Seven Days |
Ken Picard |
10-30-2009 |
Science
Dead Sexy: 'Girls and Corpses,' a Magazinenew
Girls and Corpses began online before also going to print, parodying Maxim, Cosmopolitan and other sexed-up lifestyle magazines. Instead of a pretty girl posing suggestively with a bottle of shampoo, you'll see her nuzzling a remarkably authentic fake corpse. It's transfixing. You don't know what to look at first, or whether to laugh or cry or vomit.
L.A. Weekly |
Gendy Alimurung |
10-30-2009 |
Media
Tears of a Clown: On the Glenn Beck Phenomenonnew
The ex-Top 40 disc jockey, recovering drug addict and alcoholic, convert to Mormonism and the National Rifle Association, is American popular culture at its most incomprehensibly weird and offensive. He's also a huge success, a hit, a phenomenon -- a star.
Colorado Springs Authors Imagine World War IIInew
If you want to get the government's attention, don't write a well-documented, thoroughly researched news article. Instead, write a well-documented, thoroughly researched novel.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Pam Zubeck |
10-29-2009 |
War
A Troubled Rape Case in California's Contra Costa Countynew
The high-profile rape charges against Deputy District Attorney Michael Gressett are tainted by questionable facts, unorthodox prosecutorial conduct, and the unmistakable whiff of politics.
East Bay Express |
John Geluardi |
10-29-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Oregon's Filthy Secret: It is Fueled by 40 Percent Dirty Coalnew
While Portland's high-profile green innovations are helping the city's image become synonymous with sustainability (see: condo developers topping their downtown towers with wind turbines) the city runs on a dirty secret. Forty percent of Portland's energy comes from a very un-green source.
The Portland Mercury |
Sarah Mirk |
10-29-2009 |
Environment
New Mexico's Environmental Horrors Could Lead to a Scary Sci-Fi Futurenew
In New Mexico, environmental horrors abound. Corporations influence the government's ability to regulate environmental emergencies, people who might otherwise be allies have faced off against one another in battle, and climate change is already punching its tentacles into the Southwestern landscape.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
10-29-2009 |
Environment
San Diego Pot-Raid Search-Warrant Affidavits Reveal Dubious Undercover Opsnew
California's medical-pot organizations operate in a largely untested gray area of law. Yet, the only clear crime throughout a four-month sting in San Diego was perpetrated by the police.
San Diego CityBeat |
Dave Maass |
10-29-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Natural Seletion: A Field Guide to Portland's Legal Pharmacopeianew
While DIY mushroom hunters are pulling on rain gear and heading outdoors in search of forbidden fruit, others are staying high and dry by sampling a crop of legal psychoactive plants found right here in the city limits.
Willamette Week |
James Pitkin |
10-29-2009 |
Drugs
San Fran's Mayor Forces a Legal Stalemate While Hundreds of Kids Face Deportationnew
City Hall echoed with delighted whoops of Si se puede! last week, as a veto-proof majority of the Board of Supervisors voted to give juvenile immigrants their day in court before referring them to federal immigration authorities. But the battle over the civil rights of immigrant kids is far from over.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Sarah Phelan |
10-28-2009 |
Immigration
Are Hate Crimes on the Rise in Mass.? Who Can Tell with These Numbers?new
Community leaders, victim advocates -- and even government officials -- says underreporting by both victims and police means the stats released by the State Police Crime Reporting Unit are essentially guesswork, and the victims who are least likely to report crimes against them actually bear the brunt of the attacks.
Dig Boston |
Jeremy Fox |
10-28-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Hey Obama, Where's the Justice in the Current Economic Crisis?new
Despite the president's promises of change, corporate crooks are still going unpunished for their roles in the financial collapse.
