AAN News
Alt-Weekly Alum on His Mayoral Campaign: 'I Assume We're Done'new
After being removed from the ballot for not having enough valid signatures, former Dallas Observer music editor Zac Crain filed a reinstatement appeal, but it was denied yesterday, the Dallas Morning News reports. Crain, who was hoping to replace former Observer columnist Laura Miller as mayor of Dallas, ultimately came up 19 signatures short of the 473 required to make it on the ballot. He tells the Morning News that he'll review the ruling today, but won't likely pursue legal action against the city. "I'm not a fan of lawsuits in general, and in this case, to what end? We really wouldn't have time to campaign," Crain says. "There doesn't seem to be a point of continuing on."
Dallas Morning News |
03-30-2007 11:19 am |
Industry News
Former Dallas Observer Writer Booted off Ballot in Mayoral Racenew
Zac Crain's quixotic quest to become Mayor of Dallas looks like it may be over. The former Observer music editor came up about 50 valid signatures short of the 473 required and will be removed from the May 12 ballot, the Dallas Morning News reports. Many of Crain's signatures came from people ineligible to vote in Dallas or declared "inactive" by officials because they hadn't voted in years, according to Assistant City Secretary Rosa Rios. "We should have done a better job at securing signatures -- it's really disappointing," says Crain, who promises to fight the ruling. "We haven't figured out what we're going to do, but I'm not going to quit just yet." Crain had hoped to replace current Dallas mayor and former Observer columnist Laura Miller.
Dallas Morning News |
03-23-2007 3:04 pm |
Industry News
Dallas Observer Stories Play Key Role in Nabbing 'Religious Charlatan'new
Sandra Camille Powers was arrested in South Carolina last week with an assist from the Dallas alt-weekly, the Brunswick Beacon reports. Powers, a two-time Observer cover subject, faces five felony fraud charges for swindling an elderly woman. Powers' con unraveled when a suspicious local realtor did a Google search and discovered the articles written by the Observer's Glenna Whitley. The crucial information on Powers' past motivated the realtor to report her, and led to her eventual arrest.
The Brunswick Beacon |
03-14-2007 2:05 pm |
Industry News
Dallas Observer Reports Pentecostal Minister Abused Womennew
In a blistering investigation, Editor Julie Lyons, aka "Bible Girl," dives into Fort Worth Pastor Sherman Allen's decades-long history of alleged sexual abuse. She reports that since late January, when local TV station KXAS broke the story of a lawsuit against Allen by former church member and employee Davina Kelly, seven other women have come forward with tales of paddling and degradation at the hands of the Pentecostal pastor. The victims have also told her that Allen "is involved in the occult, employing such tactics as hypnosis, magic or illusions and the use of healing potions." GetReligion, a blog covering religion in journalism, says: "Lyons is an articulate, opinionated evangelical Christian who is doing some of the most freewheeling, confessional first-person religion writing I have ever seen."
Dallas Observer |
02-28-2007 11:03 am |
Industry News
Musicians Lend Support to Alt-Weekly Alum's Mayoral Campaignnew
Zac Crain, formerly the Dallas Observer's music editor, recently recruited some prominent Dallas musicians to contribute to a 32-track double-disc benefit album for his mayoral campaign, Pitchfork reports. The album includes contributions from the Polyphonic Spree's Tim DeLaughter, Ben Kweller, Rhett Miller, the Deathray Davies' John Dufilho with the Apples in Stereo's Robert Schneider, and Centro-matic. Crain hopes to replace current Dallas mayor
and former Observer columnist Laura Miller, who announced last year she
doesn't plan to seek re-election.
Pitchfork |
02-15-2007 11:55 am |
Industry News
True 'Borat' Stories Include Dallas Observer Blog Encounter (8th item)new
USA Today |
11-07-2006 11:32 am |
Industry News
Dallas Observer City Columnists, Past and Present, Face Off
The Dallas Observer blog "Unfair Park" has hosted a feisty debate between Jim Schutze and Laura Miller over the past few days. Schutze, the weekly's city columnist, wrote a cover story for the Aug. 31 issue criticizing Dallas' plan to build new bridges. Mayor Laura Miller, who wrote the city column for the Observer in her days before holding office, sent a letter to the weekly disputing Schutze's economic analysis, which the paper then posted on its blog. "The Dallas City Council took a mediocre project and made it great -- all in the bright light of day -- and I resent, as a former reporter for this newspaper, Schutze's gross distortion of the facts," Miller wrote. Schutze's response, posted a few hours later, briefly covers Miller's assertions before saying that he hopes to publish a better analysis in the Observer: "Blogs are O.K., but blogs have their limitations too; they are not the place for a comprehensive review of this very complex story," he says. "I look forward to working with the mayor and her staff on a search for these very important answers. Notice that I did not accuse the mayor of 'gross distortion.'"
09-26-2006 8:53 am |
Industry News
Dallas Observer's 'Bible Girl' Responds To Criticsnew
Dallas Observer |
09-26-2006 9:08 am |
Industry News
Dallas Observer Editor Speaks Out on Evangelical Beliefs
Dallas Observer Editor Julie Lyons revealed last week in her new "Bible Girl" blog that she is against gay marriage: "In my profession and in my sphere -- the alternative press -- gay marriage is pretty much a non-issue. Anyone who opposes it -- in other words, someone who holds an alternative view -- is considered a bigot, a hater and a homophobe," Lyons wrote. This week, she divulges in another column-length post that in earlier years she had an "almost overwhelming attraction for other girls" that "had nothing to do with sex," but she has now been happily married to a man for 16 years. "Love her or hate her for it, it's fearless stuff," blogs Dallas Morning News section editor Rod Dreher. "And considering how conformist media circles are, even as they congratulate themselves on their freethinking ways, admirably courageous."
09-22-2006 2:47 pm |
Industry News
Music Editor Sam Machkovech and Dallas Observer Part Waysnew
Dallas Observer |
09-01-2006 4:53 pm |
Industry News
Houston Chron: Laura Miller's Troubles With Race Began at Dallas Observer
Many residents of predominantly black South Dallas are glad that Mayor Laura Miller is not seeking another term, according to an article by Thomas Korosec in today's Houston Chronicle. "The mayor's troubles in South Dallas began with her work as an acid-penned columnist for the Dallas Observer, a weekly tabloid," former Observer staff writer Korosec asserts, citing specific examples where Miller "skewered" local black leaders. "Rightly or wrongly there was a perception that she was racist," Miller appointee Tom Dunning says.
07-18-2006 6:41 am |
Industry News
Dallas Observer Gets Deja Vu From Miller's Retirement Announcementnew
Dallas Observer |
07-13-2006 7:14 am |
Industry News
Village Voice Media Papers Dominate NABJ Finalists
The finalists in the National Association of Black Journalists' 2006 Salute to Excellence Awards were announced Friday, and six of the nine nominations in the "Newspaper - Circulation Under 150,000" division are Village Voice Media newspapers. The other three finalists are not alt-weeklies. Riverfront Times is the leader with three nominations: "Newspaper - Enterprise" for Randall Roberts' "It Was Just Like Beverly Hills"; "Newspaper - Sports" for Mike Seely's "Alley Cat"; and "Newspaper - Features" for Ben Westhoff's "Rap vs. Rapture." Dallas Observer has two contenders in the "Newspaper - Sports" category: Keven McAlester for "Balls Out" and Paul Kix for "Alone No More." Finally, Chuck Strouse of Miami New Times is nominated in the "Newspaper - Commentary" category for "Free this Priest." The awards recognize exemplary coverage of people or issues in the African diaspora. Winners will be announced August 19 at the NABJ convention in Indianapolis.
07-10-2006 8:48 am |
Industry News
Laura Miller Not Seeking Re-Election as Dallas Mayor
Former Dallas Observer columnist Laura Miller has been the city's mayor since 2002. CBS 11 News reports that she has decided not to run again next year because she would like to spend more time with her family. That is good news for other candidates, such as Zac Crain -- also an erstwhile Observer writer.
07-10-2006 7:04 am |
Industry News
Former Dallas Observer Writer Running for Mayornew
Habitual readers of AAN News may experience deja vu upon hearing that erstwhile Observer writer Zac Crain officially announced his candidacy for mayor of Dallas yesterday. Unlike current Dallas mayor -- and former Observer columnist -- Laura Miller, Crain didn't write about politics: He served as the Observer's music editor before joining the staff of American Airlines' American Way magazine. In his announcement speech, Crain said, "We can do this. I know this in my heart and in my head."
'Zac Crain for Mayor' blog |
04-25-2006 1:21 pm |
Industry News
