Owning a home is the American dream, but Arizona’s version has turned into a nightmare for hundreds of people who bought shiny new houses, only to discover that the floor is literally coming out from under them. The reason: soil problems. However, as our series “Cracked Houses” revealed, not all…
When the most famous evangelist in Arizona history died last year, his will decreed that his estate be split evenly among his five sons. But there was practically nothing left to split. Neal Frisby — the guy on TV in the ’80s, preaching the Gospel “from Phoenix, Arizona, under the…
A top Valley Metro Rail manager is accused of repeatedly pressuring consultants on the light-rail project to hire a particular engineering firm — even though the consultants complained that the manager had a conflict of interest under federal law. The consultants first notified Valley Metro Rail executives of the alleged…
Most restaurants start with a dream or a corporate scheme. Ajo Al’s started with a horrific car accident. Karen Dains recounts the bare facts of the accident with detachment: Colorado Springs, 1980. Another driver braking too suddenly; her young family’s car skidding off the road; her back broken. Even today,…
At the Thomas J. Pappas School, needy students can get free clothes, shoes, food, and dental work, all without leaving campus. What they can’t get is much of an education. For more than a decade, Maricopa County’s Pappas School has nurtured a national reputation as a place that delivers life’s…
A Tempe engineer is preparing to sue the Arizona Department of Transportation, alleging that the state improperly favored minorities when awarding contracts. This isn’t just any lawsuit, because Paul Braunstein, the engineer, isn’t just any guy. He’s already sued ADOT twice, alleging corruption. The first time, he settled for almost…
A little more than a year ago, the Arizona Department of Transportation paid Paul Braunstein almost a million dollars to go away. Braunstein is the owner of BasePlans, a small engineering firm in Tempe. He once counted ADOT as his biggest client. A native of Hoboken, New Jersey, Braunstein had…
The voice wafting over the airwaves is identified only as Jen, 15. In the flat tone of someone who’s seen it all and hated every minute, Jen describes first using crystal meth as an 11-year-old. Later, while using, Jen got raped, but she didn’t report it, didn’t even seem to…
Joe Baker has been a painter for decades, but the canvas he works on today is bigger than most artists could ever dream of. As a curator at the Heard Museum, a job he’s held for nearly four years, Baker is charged with choosing the subject matter, and the pieces,…
It used to be that when they talked about meth, they talked about cold medicine. Politicians from Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard to State Representative Tom O’Halleran — a Sedona Republican and former cop — were convinced that if this state could only cut the supply of the ingredients used…
Inspectors at the Arizona Registrar of Contractors get stuck dealing with bad homes after they’re built — when it’s too late to fix big problems easily. Homes under construction, however, are supervised by a different group: municipal building departments. And if you thought the state inspectors were busy — they…
In 2003, when J.D. Power and Associates released its annual survey of new home buyers’ “customer satisfaction,” buyers in Phoenix topped the list — a fact the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona was quick to tout whenever anyone questioned the quality of construction in Arizona. But in 2004, Phoenix…
House of cards. Since homebuilding is the state’s main economic engine — and since a home is the biggest investment that most local families will make — you might assume Arizona government officials take great pains to make sure construction here is done right. You’d be wrong. The state Legislature…
Shari Wilson’s house is falling apart at the seams. And her life isn’t so great, either. You’d never know it to look at her. At 32, Wilson has the wholesome good looks of a sitcom mom. Juggling 3-month-old Teagen in her kitchen in suburban Surprise, she might be starring in…
Howard Stern’s departure from free radio was a monthlong advertisement for satellite radio, and so it’s no surprise that subscribers flocked to satellite radio, or that stock in Sirius soared. Nor is it especially surprising that some Best Buys and Circuit Cities locally ran out of Sirius’ S-50, a $300…
I used to think I was a big Howard Stern fan, but that was before I met Alice Rubio. For the past 10 years — the entire time Stern has been on the Phoenix airwaves — Rubio has tuned in to his show, every day, all morning, with rapt attention…
There is no good explanation for the coat that hangs in my closet. Not that it’s ugly. Far from it. Heathery brown tweed, with a nipped waist and shoulders that sit just so, it’s cut beautifully enough to make even Janet Napolitano look lanky. In fact, if I stood up…
Pretty, blond, and poised, Jamie doesn’t look like a meth addict. But she’s been using for four years, since she was 19. She smoked some this morning. She smokes some every day. She has to. “I need it every morning to get started, and then on my lunch hour,” she…
If you’re super bored, or really desperate, you can make crystal meth from Tylenol Cold/Severe Congestion cool-burst caplets. You need denatured ethanol, or acetone, or anhydrous ammonia. You need iodine crystals and red phosphorous. And then you need 16,560 Tylenol caplets — a purchase that alone will set you back…
He’s not your stereotypical firefighter: beefy, deliciously cocky, over-the-top charismatic. Instead, Pat Cantelme is a small man with a soft voice and a certain reserve. In his polo shirt and wire-rimmed glasses, he looks like a guy who’d do your taxes, not lead a firefighters union. But that’s what he…
In retrospect, it wasn’t exactly a brilliant move for an AIDS charity to bring on arch-conservative Congressman J.D. Hayworth as its partner. Hayworth, after all, has repeatedly refused to sponsor legislation that would prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 2001, he voted to bar the District of Columbia…
On its face, the federal law safeguarding religious beliefs in the workplace is a simple one: Employers must make reasonable efforts to accommodate workers’ “sincerely held religious beliefs.” Beyond that, though, there’s really nothing simple about it. What’s a reasonable effort? What does it mean to “accommodate”? And really, what’s…
