One of the hippest magazines in Britain is The Big Issue. It mixes news features with coverage of sport and the arts, and reviews of local events. It has different editions in the capital cities of England and Scotland. But you can’t buy it in any store or newsstand. If…

Getting shot is a great career move for a politician. Especially if the shooting isn’t fatal. As Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox lay in her hospital bed after being shot last Wednesday, her pain must have been eased by the massive political gains. The Arizona Republic, which in the…

Bow-wow-wow, yipee-o, yipee-ay, Doggy Dogg’s in the motherfuckin’ house. –Dr. Dre, The Chronic The problem with Desert Sky Pavilion is that it’s not close to anywhere. In particular, it’s a long way from Long Beach. And, at least for today, so is Snoop Doggy Dogg. This is Lollapalooza, the traveling…

When you talk about Phoenix to people from other states, they mention the heat, the mistreatment of prisoners in Joe Arpaio’s gulag, and, maybe, the Suns. But it’s rare to hear anyone mention that Phoenix has produced one of the greatest fighters in the history of boxing. Michael Carbajal’s impact…

It’s not hard to see why basketball has caught on the way it has. Unlike baseball, it’s fast-paced and easy to follow, even if you don’t understand all the rules. Unlike football, it’s as much about personal charisma as athletic prowess–the personalities of Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman are allowed…

Imagine it, the worst possible scenario: You’re having a heart attack, your breath stopping, the life trying to escape from your body. Or you’re a broken mess on the highway, wreckage jammed around you, blood choking you. It can’t get worse. And then it does. The ambulance takes a long…

Round three, and Tyson bites off a chunk of the guy’s ear. Nobody can say for sure why he does it. In boxing, nobody can be sure of anything other than the concussive impact of punches. The referee deducts two points from Tyson, but lets the fight go on. Holyfield…

I am a person with an attitude problem. I don’t like authority. I don’t respect uniforms of any kind. In particular, I don’t like people who think their uniforms give them the right to tell me what to do. On a scale of admirability, I place law enforcement somewhere between…

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed round. –U.S. Postal Service motto You receive a letter telling you to come for an interview at seven in the morning. It says you should wear sturdy shoes, because you…

There are people who’d tell you that pollution in Phoenix is getting as bad as it is in L.A. These people obviously haven’t been to L.A. It’s nearly 5 p.m. as I drive in on I-10, and my throat soon feels like I’ve spent hours in a room full of…

Arizona is supposedly booming, a happening place. But for some seriously ill people, all that’s happening is the abuse and neglect they’re suffering from the people charged with taking care of them. Beci Johnson is 21 years old. She’s been having anxiety attacks since she was 16. Symptoms include agoraphobia,…

I expected to find standing room only, but there are plenty of empty seats. It’s the day after the trials officially start, but in reality nothing much will happen for a few days. The jury is still being selected. But when the man in the chair is the governor, it’s…