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Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

Bringing you cola for the people, PubliCola is named after Publius Valerius PubliCola, the alias for the authors of the Federalist Papers—the original bloggers.

The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Phoenix Jones Says He’s Training a Replacement Hero, Nightstick.

After dramatically revealing his secret identity to a crowd of reporters following his court hearing at the county jail Thursday morning, Phoenix Jones—legal name: Ben Fodor—tells PubliCola he plans to continue patrolling Seattle’s streets, but also says he’s “training a replacement.”

Fodor says his replacement, known as Nightstick, is the strong silent type.

Fodor says Nightstick—a friend of Fodor’s from the mixed martial arts fighting world—is more interested in going out and thwomping bad guys than calling 911 and waiting for police. Fodor says Nightstick is already meting out street justice in Seattle, breaking up “six or seven crimes,” and recently left a drug dealer handcuffed to a light pole.

Fodor says ultimately he’s hoping Nightstick becomes “a guy that can function the way [he] did before [he] was outed before the Seattle Police Department.” (Though Fodor, aka Phoenix Jones, says he won’t slowing down his own crime fighting.)

Fodor would not provide any details about Nightstick’s true identity, but said he his a “mixed martial artist” who wears “head-to-toe covered gear” and “doesn’t do interviews.”


  • RonK, Seattle

    How long before one of these jokers trades his body armor for a wrongful death suit?

  • Mark B

    “Fodor says Nightstick—a friend of Fodor’s from the mixed martial arts fighting world—is more interested in going out and thwomping bad guys than calling 911 and waiting for police.”

    I heard his signature move is the “wood shampoo”

  • Mark B

    “Fodor says Nightstick—a friend of Fodor’s from the mixed martial arts fighting world—is more interested in going out and thwomping bad guys than calling 911 and waiting for police.”

    I heard his signature move is the “wood shampoo”

  • jimu

    Why do I have a hunch that the “New” Superhero is the same guy as the “Old” superhero?

  • jimu

    Why do I have a hunch that the “New” Superhero is the same guy as the “Old” superhero?

  • Mark B

    So what happens if you handcuff someone to a light pole and then they get killed?

  • Go ‘way, ‘batin’

    Good news for everyone who shares Ben Fodor’s vision of a world where everyone is always paying lots of attention to Ben Fodor.

  • Fan of Phoenix

    the people in the U Dist love phoenix jones.  fuck y’all

  • The Cops Ain’t TCB

    Does anyone know whether it is possible to summon Nightstick or Pheonix when bad things are happening in one’s locale?

  • http://www.twitter.com/joeszi Joe Szilagyi

    You shout PEPPER SPRAY! like you would SHAZAM!

  • jimu

    Or, does being handcuffed to a light pole prove someone is guilty?

  • Jamesmi

    I gotta admit, as our government withdraws from protecting the general public, these people may end up being the only protection we can count on in an emergency.

    I would like to see:

    Some female Super-heros
    Maybe a group, like Charlie’s Angels, only free-wheeling
    Some Super-hero gadgets
    Some Super-hero medics
    A Super-hero website and a crime reporting feature
    An official Super-hero spokesperson who would give dribbles of info to the media, like our govt. does
    A law firm who promises to have the back of any Super-hero hasseled in the line of duty
    Super-hero automobiles with gadgets and cool paint jobs
    Newly invented non-lethel weapons
    Groupies
    Free coffee and doughnuts for Super-heros
    Super-hero preference for Police Department employment slots
    Super-heros in parades with large floats and eye candy
    Super-hero combat competitions
    Open calls for new Super-heros and public vetting
    A non-profit to raise money to reward Super-heros for a job well done

    Lastly for now …… an end to the whiney nanny babies who want to live in a sterile world void of imagination and dissent.
    J.

  • jimu

    You make a good point. How about some hot, female superheros?

  • Kick-Asstastic

    no, isn’t that actually called wrongful imprisonment / false arrest?

  • Kick-Asstastic

    The mayor has a spotlight in the shape of a giant … Nightstick.

  • zachmac

    Re: “Newly invented non-lethel weapons” -

    There’re people within their own community that do research and develop things like this. Heck, look up the one that calls himself “The Eye” – he’s self-developed or self-modified everything he uses in the field. And it’s all non-lethal.

  • Novus Ordo Seclorum

     The mayor has a special light he shines into the sky, it’s in the shape of a giant cock…

  • Kick-Asstastic

    The Eye?   Is his real name Dr. A. Heller, and he’s upgraded a Herkimer Battle Jitney for the ReignCitySuperheroes?

    You know, he’s just here  “for the ladies”…

  • Mike_d71586

    The cops will find him, release him, and send him on his way given there’s no evidence of any wrong doing with exception to the wrongful arrest, at which point this “Nightstick” guy will suddenly be at the top of Seattles most wanted no doubt for infringing on another persons rights. 

    In any citizen arrest scenario one the person is placed under arrest and apprehended by any private citizen they must remain with that person in order to keep them safe and justify to the authorities why they arrested this person and what crime they had witnessed that person committing. At which point you hand the arrested perp over to the police and go on your merry way until the police further contact you about the incident.