Email Author Michael Kiefer

1996 Stories by Michael Kiefer

• Teacher Dearest

  published December 19, 1996

  Gail Battistella is a diminutive woman, 50-something, with crisp gray bangs and a tiny, high-pitched voice. But she holds within her an explosive... More >>

• A Charter School Progress Report

  published December 19, 1996

  In charter schools' second year of existence, Arizona already has more of them than any other state. About 17,000 Arizona students are enrolled in... More >>

• Garage Gratis

  published November 21, 1996

  If you build it, they will come. That is, build a stadium, and entrepreneurs will cater to the resultant demands of the marketplace with shops,... More >>

• Parking Breaks

  published November 7, 1996

  "I don't happen to like baseball and I don't understand it," says Margaret Mullen, executive director of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership. ... More >>

• A Hostile Environment

  published October 31, 1996

  U.S. Justice Department lawyer assaulted an attorney representing several environmental groups earlier this month during closed-door talks in... More >>

• Athletes' Inaction

  published October 10, 1996

  Marchelo Bresciani found himself running, literally and figuratively. Last year, when he was 13, he joined the track team at Shea Middle... More >>

• A Quiet Voice Against the Death Penalty

  published October 3, 1996

  Arizona is a hang-'em-high state, and its political leaders are death-penalty poster boys. Governor Fife Symington publicly blasted the... More >>

• Carlota Complaints

  published September 12, 1996

  As if the Forest Service weren't already beleaguered over the Carlota Mine--a 300-acre hole and an equal-size mountain of toxic rock that a... More >>

• Life With a Dying Liver

  published August 29, 1996

  One day, Don Dietz was a healthy 52-year-old on an eight-mile bike ride, and the next day, he was bleeding to death from an illness he'd never... More >>

• Shadowlands

  published August 22, 1996

  "When the Unabomber's in his cabin, he's thinking about blowing people up, not about making the bomb," says Al Price. Four of Price's... More >>

• Owl See You in Court

  published August 1, 1996

  Like two boys at the swimming hole, Kieran Suckling and Peter Galvin pulled off their shorts and tee shirts and jumped feet-first and butt-naked... More >>

• Silver Versus Shadegg. Rad.

  published July 11, 1996

  Dr. Robin Silver, emergency room physician, wildlife photographer, environmental activist and, he insists, fiscal conservative, has filed... More >>

• EPICured

  published July 4, 1996

  On the morning that Todd Hall realized his life was falling apart, he was lying on the couch watching cartoons with his two younger children, Todd... More >>

• Tempest in a Toilet Bowl

  published June 6, 1996

  Kate Millett hadn't heard much about the uproar her artwork "The American Dream Goes to Pot" had caused in Phoenix. The piece shows an American... More >>

• Time to Burn

  published May 30, 1996

  Like the calm in the eye of a storm, like a tornado that rips the roof and walls off a house without disturbing a breakfront full of fine china,... More >>

• Labrador Retreater

  published May 16, 1996

  Jackson Hound has his nose to the ground, sniffing the desert floor. He's a 70-pound, blond Labrador retriever used to running in the desert, but... More >>

• She Ball

  published May 9, 1996

  At bat for the Angels, number 44, Chrissy Sears, the 22-year-old youngster out of New Jersey. Pitching for the Firebirds, number 10, Lexee... More >>

• Crime Me a River

  published April 18, 1996

  One of Arizona's largest commercial-rafting operations is up the Salt River without a paddle--or any other equipment for that matter. Salt... More >>

• Formal Complaint

  published April 4, 1996

  In the rarefied world of women's high fashion, the little black dress can cost as much as $1,000, and an evening gown can run as high as... More >>

• Legionnaire's Disease

  published April 4, 1996

  Last Friday at the Phoenix Art Museum, a group of ladies on a tour stood around the infamous U.S. flag on the floor, peering over the edges, their... More >>

• Killing Time at Shadow Mountain High

  published March 14, 1996

  Ryan Winn, in an uncharacteristic state of agitation, exploded across the backyard of a north Phoenix house where a teenage beer party was rocking... More >>

• They Put the Suc in Success

  published March 14, 1996

  Who epitomizes success in 1996? Captain Scott Grady, who succeeded at covering his tail for six days until someone else saved it after his... More >>

• Age of Consent

  published February 15, 1996

  Lisa had an abortion yesterday, and her parents don't know. Lisa's only 15. She's the cute young girl next door with long brown hair, a... More >>

• Tale of the Crypto

  published January 25, 1996

  The Salt River Project is mired in sludge, and, at the moment, so is Paul Cherrington, SRP's engineer in charge of water distribution. He's... More >>