Vassiliy Jirov is on his own. Jirov, the International Boxing Federation cruiserweight champion of the world, is working without a trainer and without a sparring partner, shadowboxing in a makeshift boxing ring hidden in the back of the AZ Fitness gym in Mesa. For the past two years, Jirov’s been…
In mid-October, the big story in the Phoenix Latino community was Ernie Fernandez. Fernandez, 25, had been arrested in 1997 on one count of first-degree murder and one count of child abuse, both in connection with the death of his girlfriend’s two-year-old son, Ricky Robles. From the start, Fernandez insisted…
The moral behind the Sunday, November 12, Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary church was self-sacrifice.The Reverend Saúl Madrid, pastor at both Immaculate Heart and St. Anthony parishes, told his congregation the parable of a destitute woman who gave of her time and won greater favor with Jesus Christ than…
Jon Entine likes to think of himself as an archetypal white liberal baby boomer.Entine, 48, dropped out of college in 1972 to work for George McGovern, and says he’s voted for only one Republican political candidate in his life. When Entine, a former producer for NBC and ABC News, began…
Every major recording artist has his “moment.” It’s that fleeting instant when the planets align in such a way that even an eccentric cult figure can bask in the pop-culture sunshine; when the fickle masses temporarily decide that you’re the essence of hipness.Elvis Costello had it with Armed Forces, and…
Esteban is stressed out and exhausted. The immensely popular Tempe-based flamenco guitarist usually spends about three months recording an album, but, for reasons that have more to do with marketing than art, he’s given himself only a week to cut an ambitious double CD, called At Home With Esteban. It’s…
For years, Bishop Thomas O’Brien has stood solidly behind the Reverend Saúl Madrid in the face of escalating complaints from parishioners. Last week, the bishop took the rare step of publicly criticizing Madrid, but he only succeeded in further angering and frustrating Madrid’s detractors, who considered the bishop’s statement nothing…
The power of Steely Dan always sprang from the clash between the sonority of their musical craftsmanship and the cynical, corrosive spirit that fueled their lyrics. So it’s appropriate that the defining moment in this 60-minute look at the making of the group’s 1977 masterwork Aja comes during a catty…
For Frank Baranowski, the trouble started when he was 8 years old. Until then, Baranowski, the 57-year-old host of KTAR’s weekend paranormal showcase “Mysteries Around Us,” was just another blue-collar Polish kid growing up in the hayseed town of Michigan City, Indiana. But Baranowski says at the age of 8…
For months, disgruntled parishioners of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church had been trying to get someone from the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix to respond to their concerns. On Friday, August 11, about 20 minutes into an impassioned protest outside the diocese office in downtown Phoenix, the diocese finally spoke –…
Three months ago, Zia Record Exchange celebrated its 20th anniversary with a festive blowout at the Tempe club Boston’s. There was much cause for celebration. In an era dominated by corporate megaliths, Zia stood as a rare example of a family-owned enterprise that had survived the unpredictable barometric shifts of…
The Reverend Saúl Madrid was agitated. Two weeks had passed since a fire charred the interior of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in downtown Phoenix. Ever since the blaze, Madrid, the church’s pastor, had heard questions and innuendoes swirl like buzzards around his head. “They say I’ve been stealing from…
A few weeks ago, Willie Nelson was the featured artist on the weekly PBS live-music show, Sessions at West 54th. Over the course of his hourlong performance, it slowly began to sink in that the petite blond vocalist to Nelson’s left was not your run-of-the-mill backup singer. It was Shelby…
Last February, 500 fired-up Valley Latinos tried to squeeze into a legislative hearing room that typically holds no more than 200. By the time the state Senate transportation committee began debating, the crowd had spilled out of the room to the hallway, past the lobby, and outside the doors of…
In May 1997, singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley put on his best thrift-store suit and got a friend to drive him to the Memphis Zoo. Buckley, an ascendant alternative-rock icon and reluctant heartthrob, had decided to apply for a job as a zookeeper.The 30-year-old Buckley had temporarily relocated from New York to…
Click Here for the Photo Gallery In June 1999 as I began my first week at New Times, my predecessor as music editor brought a large box into my office. “What’s this?” I asked. “Pictures.” “Pictures of what?” “Local music pictures. It’s an archive of our old stuff.” Nearly 25…
At long last, Ralph Brekan felt like he’d entered the world of professional film production. Granted, it was just a cheesy commercial for an oil company, but after years of making home movies in his backyard, this gig was the real deal. Brekan, then an 18-year-old film student at Scottsdale…
A few years ago, when Steve Brittle suspected improper activity in the local office of the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, he wrote an impassioned letter to the FBI. He says he got an apathetic response from the feds suggesting that he take it up with the bureau’s supervisor…
The hockey fans at Tucson Convention Center are getting what they’ve come to expect. The University of Arizona Icecats look like they’re about to administer their umpteenth butt-kicking to the Arizona State Ice Devils. On this February night, Arizona quickly jumps to a 2-0 lead in the first period, and…
During a recess in the final week of his monthlong murder trial, David Brackney turned to his friends and family members in the gallery and softly said, “It looks like I’ll be bringing cookies to church soon.” Brackney, 47, and his attorneys were convinced they had cause for such optimism…
Mark Hites felt like he didn’t have a moment to spare last summer. Hites, a 35-year-old double-duty employee of the adult nightclub Dream Palace, was bombarded with more daily stress than he could handle. His wife, Jennifer, was pregnant, and he fretted about his ability to put food on the…
Lambert Ormsby is graduating with the Mesa High School class of 2000. He’ll be only one of about 800 students donning the cap and gown next spring, and, at 21, he’ll be at least three years older than most of the other graduates. But if it’s taken him longer than…
