Email Author Phyllis Orrick

1997 Stories by Phyllis Orrick

• Unspun

  published October 1, 1997

  Checchi Meets the Press A year ago, the vast majority of California voters had never heard of Al Checchi. The same held true for the... More >>

• Unspun

  published September 24, 1997

  Merger in the Dark San Francisco state Sen. John Burton has just completed an amazingly cynical bait-and-switch performance with the... More >>

• Unspun

  published September 17, 1997

  Half a Century of Chasing the News Election season for California political writers is well under way; last Friday's San Francisco... More >>

• Unspun

  published September 10, 1997

  Fall of the House of Love Reality is catching up with decent but financially hapless Summer of Love promoter Chet Helms so quickly that... More >>

• Dog Bites

  published September 3, 1997

  Tanking the Memories When city crews started preparing to take out the venerable reflecting pool in Civic Center Plaza earlier this summer,... More >>

• The Sky's the Limit

  published September 3, 1997

  In the third week of July, the Pacific Exchange held a commodity auction, both here and in Los Angeles, like no other in the world. Four million... More >>

• Unspun

  published August 27, 1997

  From a public relations standpoint, it's hard to imagine going wrong with either of these two causes: an expose of beagle-beating drug... More >>

• Unspun

  published August 20, 1997

  Union Hits at KGO Recently, Channel 7's newscast has had something worth watching: genuine, unscripted, spontaneous moments. This was not,... More >>

• Unspun

  published August 13, 1997

  The Fettered Web The next battle in the war over free speech on the Internet is going to be fought in our public libraries. That... More >>

• China's Lost Jews

  published August 6, 1997

  In an obscure corner of China, in a city that was once the country's capital but has long since sunk to the level of a backwater, a settlement of... More >>

• Unspun

  published August 6, 1997

  Stand Corrected B ack in June, a billboard near Unspun's office was altered overnight from an ad touting Lucky supermarkets ("Freshness... More >>

• Unspun

  published July 30, 1997

  Mickey Mouse at Channel 7 Channel 7 (KGO-TV) News scored a real coup recently. Evening anchor Terilyn Joe broke into regular... More >>

• Unspun

  published July 23, 1997

  A Peep Behind the Executioner's Shroud Convicted murderer Thomas Thompson's appeals for a stay of his Aug. 5 execution made the front page... More >>

• Unspun

  published July 9, 1997

  Chron to East Bay: Take John King, Please Finally, the San Francisco Chronicle has fired its answering volley in the war over the East Bay... More >>

• Unspun

  published July 2, 1997

  More Howard Stern The San Francisco radio market is the most volatile it's been in years. Stations are changing owners and formats at such... More >>

• Dog Bites

  published June 18, 1997

  Dis-Tress Signal A nasty rumor recently sent a collective shriek pealing through the city's stronghold of haircutting, the Castro. ... More >>

• Unspun

  published June 11, 1997

  Anatomy of a Letter to the Editor Writing letters to editors is an art. The best such letters are often disagreeable, but they are always... More >>

• Unspun

  published June 4, 1997

  Lightning in a Tube Neon signs have been around for 100 years, but they're still a rogue advertising medium. Just ask Gerry O'Birne,... More >>

• Dog Bites

  published May 28, 1997

  Stamp Out Crime Where should an aspiring Perry Mason troll for clients? Where the criminals are, of course. At least that's... More >>

• Unspun

  published May 28, 1997

  Anatomy of a Press Kit Usually, when Mayor Willie Brown attends a public relations event that hawks a product, the selling is subtle; the... More >>

• Dog Bites

  published May 21, 1997

  Shameless Self-Promoting Swagger SF Weekly writers Chuck Finnie and Lisa Davis have won writing awards in the state's largest journalism... More >>

• Dog Bites

  published May 14, 1997

  Silence of the Lambs Out at the S.F. Zoo, the cops are on a stakeout and the sheep are nervous. It all started Jan. 26, when a keeper found... More >>

• Unspun

  published May 14, 1997

  Disappearing Minds Minds Over Matter, the deliberately nonpolitical Sunday night quiz show that Dana Rodriguez hosted on the nearly always... More >>

• Unspun

  published May 7, 1997

  Merc Stages Shootout in Gulch A little more than a year ago, the San Jose Mercury News reported that the San Francisco Examiner was about... More >>

• Under His Skin

  published April 30, 1997

  Edward Miller, a retired San Rafael surgeon in his 70s who cheerfully terms himself an "unpaid free-lancer," churns out unsolicited opinion... More >>