Email Author Philip Martin

1992 Stories by Philip Martin

• THE BIG BANG THEORYWHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO BLOW UP CARL RITTER'S CAR?

  published December 23, 1992

  On January 14, 1990, at about 12:50 a.m., someone bombed Carl Ritter's car in the driveway of his Tempe home. "It sounded like someone had... More >>

• WAS MONCRIEF PLAYING 'D'?COUNTERSUIT CLAIMS EX-NBA STAR WAS DEFENDING HIMSELF WHEN ASSAULT OCCURRED

  published December 16, 1992

  On September 1, former pro basketball star turned car dealer Sidney Moncrief dropped by the Glendale City Court. Moncrief was seeking an... More >>

• LOOK HOMEWARD ANGELCYCLE ICON SONNY BARGER KICK-STARTS LIFE AS A FREE MAN BY VIOLATING PAROLE

  published December 2, 1992

  As the Hell's Angels back their bikes against the curb at Oakland International Airport, the squares do double takes. Their conspiratory smiles... More >>

• PLOYS IN THE ATTIC

  published November 18, 1992

  For decades, as a truck driver and safety engineer, Joseph Onofrio worked hard for his money, and you can't blame him for wanting to hold onto it.... More >>

• TORTS-R-US

  published November 11, 1992

  At the Arizona Bar Center, there are five fat accordion files bursting with complaints about nonlawyers practicing law. Most were filed by real,... More >>

• DODGING A BALLOT THIRD PARTIES RANKLED BY EXCLUSION FROM APS' KIDS VOTING PROGRAM

  published October 28, 1992

  As the co-chair of the Maricopa County Libertarian party, Debbie Norwitz is understandably upset when people talk about "the American two-party... More >>

• CORPORATION MEN

  published October 21, 1992

  Renz Jennings, chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission, can't ignore the telephone behind his desk. "We may be the only ones in the... More >>

• RAMADA'S CRAPSHOOTNEW BOOK CHRONICLES DICK SNELL'S CASINO TAKEOVER IN VEGAS

  published October 7, 1992

  Talking about his role as Don Corleone in The Godfather, Marlon Brando compared the "capo de tutti capo" to the chairman of General Motors.... More >>

• Right Time for Sargent?

  published September 30, 1992

  On the other end of the telephone that Ferd Haverly's holding, there's a photographer who wants some time with Haverly's boss, U.S. Senate hopeful... More >>

• NATIONAL PRESS RECOGNIZES R&G

  published September 16, 1992

  The Arizona Republic is really cashing in these days on its connection to Vice President Dan Quayle, but the newspaper's not exactly tooting its... More >>

• FROM RUSSIA WITH GLOVE

  published September 9, 1992

  Amid the orange groves of Mesa, the boys play catch. A dozen baseballs snap through the bright air. From their matching tee shirts and the... More >>

• KING OF THE MUCK RAKERS

  published September 9, 1992

  Bill Rathje talks trash. He makes offal puns. He's the duke of disposable debris, the garbage guru. Like Indiana Jones, Rathje is an... More >>

• OBJECTION D'ART SAY, BUB, WHAT'S THE EXCHANGE RATE ON A RUSCHA?

  published August 12, 1992

  Hanging in a second-floor gallery of the Phoenix Art Museum is a square canvas with the words "High-Speed Gardening," in upper-case, sans-serif... More >>

• THE GENERAL'S LAST CAMPAIGN

  published August 5, 1992

  He had been standing at the podium, answering a question from the Senate Government Committee chairman, when he tailed off into incoherence. He... More >>

• CRASHING THE PARTIESINDEPENDENT CANDIDATE SUES FOR VOTER DATA

  published July 29, 1992

  Sarah Stannard is a candidate for Congress in the newly created 6th Congressional District. She's running as an independent candidate against a... More >>

• THE COUNCIL'S BROKEN PLAYWHEN THELDA WILLIAMS GOT THE TEAM TO PUNT ON GAY RIGHTS, CITY HALL KICKED OFF A WHOE NEW BALL GAME

  published July 15, 1992

  Most politicians, inclined to remain politicians, prefer to have the future charted in terms of probabilities; before they get behind a... More >>

• THE WAR ON SCOTTSDALE POVERTYAMERICA SENTS VISTA TROOPS TO TOURIST MECCA

  published July 1, 1992

  Scottsdale seems an unlikely place to locate a band of VISTA volunteers. What acts of selflessness might these persistent do-gooders be... More >>

• NEW PALS

  published June 24, 1992

  In the midst of the storm about Phoenix's proposed gay rights amendment, perhaps the most unexpected thunderbolt was hurled by the... More >>

• A CITY SCORNED

  published June 24, 1992

  After the stunning Phoenix City Council vote on June 16 to, in effect, not vote on a controversial gay rights amendment, air horns... More >>

• DISAPPEARING ACTS

  published June 3, 1992

  WITH A THROAT raw from marathon campaigning and a CNN camera crew recording his every self-deprecating head bob,Bill Clinton and his retinue... More >>

• THE KINGDOM AND THE POWERPASTOR LEO GODZICH'S QUIET CAMPAIGN AGAINST GAY RIGHTS

  published May 20, 1992

  AS HE LOOKS OUT over the 2,300 plastic and chrome chairs arranged in Phoenix Civic Plaza, the Reverend Leo Godzich's face betrays only the... More >>

• THE KINGDOM AND THE POWERPASTOR LEO GODZICH'S QUIET CAMPAIGN AGAINST GAY RIGHTS

  published May 20, 1992

  I'm opposed to this ordinance," Godzich admits. He begins to roll, the timbre of his voice rising and ebbing with the elastic, jazzy... More >>

• THE FATAL SOLUTIONAIR FORCE MECHANIC SAYS HIS LEUKEMIA IS LINKED TO SOLVENT CONTAINING DEADLY BENZENE

  published May 20, 1992

  Mike Page joined the Air Force when he was 17 years old. He stayed out of trouble, served his country, made his rank and saved a little... More >>

• The Governor's Leckie

  published April 22, 1992

  Eight floors below the conference room where Governor Fife Symington delivered his diatribe last week against "out of control" state government,... More >>

• PROJECT FAT

  published April 22, 1992

  LAST THURSDAY, Governor Fife Symington toured Arizona to tout Project SLIM. Armed with a couple of easels and a few stiff-smiling aides, he... More >>