Friday, November 5, 2010

“Conan O'Brien's wife, Liza Powel: 'Tonight Show' lost 'cultural relevancy' before CoCo took over - New York Daily News” plus 2 more

“Conan O'Brien's wife, Liza Powel: 'Tonight Show' lost 'cultural relevancy' before CoCo took over - New York Daily News” plus 2 more

Conan O'Brien's wife, Liza Powel: 'Tonight Show' lost 'cultural relevancy' before CoCo took over - New York Daily News

Posted: 27 Oct 2010 11:23 AM PDT

Conan O'Brien's wife, Elizabeth Ann Powell, says 'The Tonight Show' lost its relevance before her husband took over.

BECK/Getty

Conan O'Brien's wife, Elizabeth Ann Powell, says 'The Tonight Show' lost its relevance before her husband took over.

CoCo may have felt like he was in a car accident after losing "The Tonight Show" earlier this year, but his wife said a seatbelt wouldn't have helped.

In the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine, which hits newsstands Friday, Elizabeth Ann Powel opened up about the sad state of the NBC show that ousted her husband.

"The truth is, 'The Tonight Show' was the definition of cultural relevancy for decades. And all of a sudden, it's not," she told rollingstone.com. "That's not Conan's fault. It's not anybody's fault. It just happened."

Though Powel admitted it was "very painful for him to let go of this hallowed ground," she said O'Brien needed a new goal.

"It's no longer a show he should be pinning his life's hopes on hosting," Powel said of the NBC show.

Her thoughts were echoed by the talk show host's new fans, who painted him as an indie rock icon after he was done in by The Man.

Team CoCo reared its red head and welcomed famous backers like The White Stripes.

"Conan's was the only late-night show I ever wanted to play," front man Jack White told rollingstone.com. "Letterman is so cold to people, and Leno is for senior citizens. I played a live guitar solo on Conan's desk once. If I did that on Letterman, he'd probably have had a coronary."

O'Brien's new show, "Conan," premieres Nov. 8 on TBS.

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Chris Rickert: After Halloween and elections, another cultural event: Holiday shopping - madison

Posted: 05 Nov 2010 06:07 PM PDT

Chris Rickert | crickert@madison.com | 608-252-6198 madison.com | | Posted: Friday, November 5, 2010 8:05 pm

With the two scariest days of the year — Halloween and Election Day — behind us, it's time to turn our attention to more important matters.

Elections are like comfort food for newspapers. No matter what else is going on, we can always be sure that every few months there will be a fresh crop of candidates to probe, a spate of races to dissect.

I admit to being as addicted to politics as anyone else in the business. But by the time the polls open, I've begun to feel like the dad who pilfered one too many Baby Ruths from his kids' trick-or-treat bags: bloated, guilty and generally disgusted with myself.

So it was off to the malls this week in the hopes of bearing witness to the start of a new season, a lighter season, a season of hope and credit card swipes and gift receipts — the Holiday Shopping Season.

I don't call it the Christmas season anymore because Christ was known to have some pretty serious anti-consumerist tendencies. Plus, holiday shopping is best enjoyed free of religion, much like illuminated lawn reindeers and plastic inflatable snowmen.

I was not disappointed. At the Target off Mineral Point Road, managers Angie Lind and Erin Koskovich told me workers began consolidating the remaining Halloween items overnight Sunday. The giant ceiling-hung bows appeared soon after.

But Nov. 1 apparently wasn't soon enough for some holiday shoppers.

"I probably got asked a month ago where your Christmas stuff is," Koskovich said.

At West Towne Mall, garland speckled with red and green bulbs hung from the ceiling and mall general manager Paul Matyas said workers were about halfway through a monthlong decorating effort. (Secret message to kids: Santa arrives Nov. 13.)

Holiday shopping has "definitely started," Matyas said, although some winter-like weather would go a long way toward putting more people in a spending mood.

Among the mall's kiosks was one selling Christmas ornaments shaped like soccer balls and pool tables and bearing phrases like "Best Dog," and "Baby's First Christmas." Taylor Matel, ornament seller, said the kiosk only opened on Saturday but has already been fairly busy.

"I was surprised we got as many customers as we did," she said.

I asked Matel if working full time at the kiosk means she's sick of Christmas by the time the actual holiday rolls around.

"No, I still love Christmas," she said. "It's supposed to be the happiest time of the year."

Does she have any favorite ornaments?

She grabbed one of a stocking filled with coal, adorned with a note saying "Santa, I can explain... "

"It's funny," she said.

I had to admit it was. Although the note did not appear to have saved its writer from getting a stocking full of coal.

Oh, well. No one ever said Santa was forgiving. That's more Jesus' thing.

Happy shopping.

Contact Chris Rickert at 608-252-6198 or crickert@madison.com, as well as on Facebook and Twitter (@ChrisRickertWSJ). His column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

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Mesa wins court fight over impact fees that support cultural sites - AZCentral.com

Posted: 05 Nov 2010 07:59 AM PDT

by Gary Nelson - Nov. 5, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Court of Appeals said Thursday that Mesa has the right to impose impact fees on new developments to help pay for cultural facilities, potentially paving the way for other cities to make developers pay for a wider range of public amenities.

But almost before the judges' ink dried, the Goldwater Institute said it probably would take the case to the state Supreme Court.

The issue centers on the $218 fee that Mesa charges on every new single-family house to expand the city's cultural program. Within the past year the fee has funded projects at the Arizona Museum for Youth and the Mesa Arts Center, and there has been some discussion of using it to convert an old downtown federal building into a historical museum.

It's among numerous other impact fees the city charges for infrastructure related to growth; Mesa's fees on a single-family home total $8,532.

Impact fees are common in Arizona and have been consistently opposed by developers, who feel they increase the cost of homes for consumers.

While many cities use the fees to pay for infrastructure such as roads or sewers, Mesa is one of only three municipalities in the state to levy them for culture. The others are Yuma and Guadalupe. Mesa has levied the fee since 1998.

Arizona law allows cities to impose fees for "necessary" public services, and the definition of that word was a major issue as lawyers representing Mesa argued before the appeals court in June.

The court said Thursday that because the term "necessary public services" was not defined in state law, "we must determine its meaning."

And, "in the absence of specific direction from the Legislature, we construe the term 'necessary public services' broadly," the court said. " 'Necessary' is an elastic term that can be applied on a case-by-case basis to the needs of the individual communities."

The court concluded, "Because Mesa's cultural facilities are rationally related to the powers granted to it by the Legislature, and because the city has traditionally provided such services to its residents, we hold that they are necessary public services within the meaning" of Arizona law.

Goldwater Institute lawyer Clint Bolick, however, said the court's ruling was "a serious case of judicial abdication."

"The court is refusing to apply clear limits that exist within the impact-fees statute on government authority. And of course it adds to the already overburdened homebuilding industry and adds costs to new homebuyers," he said, adding that "We think this is a dangerous opinion in terms of expanding local government power beyond its limits."

Bolick argued the case on behalf of the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, which filed the original lawsuit against the fees, and lost, in Maricopa County Superior Court. A spokesman for the homebuilders was not available for comment Thursday afternoon.

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said the city had been confident of victory.

"We felt comfortable as a city all along that these fees were imposed in accordance with the law, and the court has agreed with that," Smith said.

The opinion was signed by judges Peter Swann, Margaret Downie and Donn Kessler.

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