The Maine Switch takes a break

For those of you Portlanders who read this blog (all 2 of you...) you should know that The Maine Switch is going on hiatus. Some of you might know that I worked for MaineToday/Portland Press Herald for all of 12 weeks last summer, being laid off twice in the process. The Maine Switch is their alternative weekly. Well, it was a weekly until my first lay-off, then it was a bi-weekly. Now, a year later, it's taking a siesta.


Here's what editor Karen Beaudoin has to say on the subject:

Let me stress that — hiatus. Your favorite bi-weekly publication has been put on hold with the goal of studying it, changing it and eventually re-introducing it as a product that’s more in line with the needs of Greater Portland and more competitive with the alternative weeklies currently in this market.

We’re aiming to produce an even more engaging, vibrant, useful and entertaining publication. You may look forward to it even more than you have each new issue of Switch.

For the time being, look for selected Switch columnists and some of the regular Switch content to appear in Go, the entertainment guide in the Thursday edition of the Portland Press Herald.

I wonder if they have a planned date of return. Karen and Avery Yale-Kamilla will move to the features department of the PPH -- which is great.

Here's what I liked about Switch:
1. The covers were always great.
2. The columnists really knew what they were talking about.
3. The paper was shiny.
4. They catered to young people like me!

Here's what I didn't like about Switch:
1. The printing wasn't always great -- sometimes the photos looked really bad.
2. There was an overwhelming amount of "healthy" and "vegan" eating in it. I like fat foods and meat.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I hope for the best but in this economy and with the sale of the paper, I'm not gonna hold my breath...

Jeannine Guttman Gone

Twenty-two nonunion employees at Blethen Maine (Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, and Morning Sentinel) are out of work -- most of them are senior editorial staff. ONE of them is Jeannine Guttman, who laid me off twice.

I was let go twice at the same job? Yes. Here's the short of the long of it....I was hired last May to head up MaineBusiness.com. I moved 2 hours south. Six weeks later I get laid off. Then I was offered a job that -- had I refused would have meant no unemployment benefits -- at the Press Herald doing a job a glorified monkey could do. Six weeks later I got laid off. Again.

When the sale of a newspaper happens it's not uncommon for top editorial staff to lose their jobs. Guttman has been on the chopping block for quite a while. When I got laid off for the second time I sent her an email. I never got a response. Karma? That might be a bit much to hope for but that company treated me so shoddily that the demise of the head honchos tickles me a little bit....not gonna lie.

Click here for the story and comments on Media Mutt.

The dumbest people in New England

Young people continue to amaze me with their stupidity. Police in Waterville, Maine, have arrested a bunch of teen and 20-somethings in connection with a fire at the Waterville Boys & Girls Club on March 16th.

How did they apprehend these individuals? The morons -- nine all together -- broke into the building, threw Molotov cocktails, and made a video of the whole thing with music and the names of the people involved, AND POSTED IT ON YOUTUBE!

They threw the bottles against the inside walls of an empty swimming pool, smashing the bottles, causing an explosion and sending flames 20 feet in the air, Massey said.

They videotaped the incident, set it to heavy metal music, added a list of credits, naming those involved, and put it on YouTube, Massey said.

The parent of one of the suspects saw the video, got alarmed and took her son to the police station to report the incident, Massey said. - from the Portland Press Herald

WHY ARE TEENAGERS SO STUPID!? They added a list of credits? Why on earth would you do that? You'd think with all this new innovative technology that the youth of our country would be getting smarter -- but in fact they are getting dumber and dumber by the year. I'm afraid to have children...