Entertainment magazine aims to fill void

Veer's here.

The free arts-and-entertainment monthly debuted last week. It's the latest brainchild of a former Port Folio Weekly editor. The Virginian-Pilot closed Port Folio, its

26-year-old free weekly, in February.

"We're filling the niche that Port Folio had," said Jeff Maisey, Veer's editor and publisher. "People still have a hunger for a publication that covers offbeat news, arts, culture, entertainment and dining."

About 20,000 copies of Veer were printed, said Maisey, who was Port Folio's last editor in chief. Maisey said the first issue of Veer made a profit. He would not say how much.

The 32-page tabloid newspaper has restaurant and entertainment listings and articles on such topics as the local "Art of Glass 2" exhibition and Birdland Music's new location in Virginia Beach.

It will come out in the middle of the month, Maisey said, part of an attempt "to veer away from the mainstream." Veer's Web site, www.veermag.com, will be up today, Maisey said.

Maisey wrote entertainment articles for The Pilot and edited publications affiliated with The Pilot for 15 years.

At least two other online or print publications have been launched in the past year by former Port Folio editors: TReehouse, by Tom Robotham, and SevenCities, by Hannah Serrano and Allison Hurwitz.