NEWS After years of promoting reckless alcoholism among its readers and rewarding it among its staffers, The Stranger may finally be able to declare victory—at least, if ERICA C. BARNETT's news lead proves to be both soberly written and true (neither of which is ever a safe bet). As she reports on proposed changes from the state's liquor control board—changes that include later closing times for some bars or no closing times altogether—one can almost hear the paper's staff members lifting the grubby cocktail glasses off their work desks and clinking them across the cubicles with irresponsible glee (no doubt to be followed by public humiliation, lengthy retching, and next-morning sickness and/or vows to never, ever get that blotto again). ALSO: JOSH FEIT on the state's new GOP chair. PLUS: In the Hall, OlyIntel.

FEATURE The Gloves Come OffIn my day, piffle such as this week's feature story—about two boxing gyms in a spat, penned by one ANGELAVALDEZ—would have been relegated to the "human interest" slums of whatever mommy-pandering rag stooped so low as to run it. But not now, and not in The Stranger, which has elevated said crockery to its most high-end real estate. Never mind the fact that the story isn't a complete travesty—say what you want about Ms. Valdez as a reporter (and you can definitely say a lot, no doubt beginning with the word "featherweight"); what you can't deny is that the gal can turn a phrase—but inflating this non-story into a feature reeks of either desperation or laziness. As often is the case with The Stranger, the true answer appears to be both.