It played last July like a typical page-three scientific discovery, the slot where daily newspapers normally run the disease of the week or the story about the gene that causes obesity. The scoop: Phoenix resident and average guy Tom Bopp–truck-parts buyer for a cement company–discovers Comet of the Century. But…

In January, a week after publicly excoriating the tobacco industry, Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza threw his support behind tobacco-sponsored state legislation that would have made it tougher for cities to pass strict antismoking measures. After New Times pointed out the duplicity, Rimsza backed off his support of the bill, and…

Some Mesa residents say they expect to have power lines within five feet of their properties because a Tempe city councilwoman doesn’t like an alternative plan that would put the lines within 100 feet of her condominium complex. Construction of the Price Freeway is forcing Salt River Project to move…

Maricopa County taxpayers have paid for the training of 2,694 badge-carrying men and women who make up Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s posse. They have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to train 800 of those posse members to shoot straight. Yet only 21 warm bodies fill chairs this morning at the…

A dozen people, some giddy from sleep deprivation, gathered at the Tempe home of Tom Polakis on March 30 to compare notes after one of the most remarkable weeks of their lives. Comet Hyakutake, which caused only a minor stir for most Arizonans, had turned life upside down for these…

An Interstate 17 rest stop under cloudy February skies. Tourists get out of cars to stretch their legs and buy snacks from vending machines. Others let their dogs out to squat near a scenic overlook. Nobody pays much attention to the ten militia members conferring at one of the circular…

The same day Richard Romley announced he would seek reelection as Maricopa County attorney, one of his subordinates was looking into a case that may prove to be an election-year headache. After New Times reported that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio had used public funds to hire outside counsel (“Joe…

When Sheriff Joe Arpaio sued the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in 1994, challenging its authority to cut his budget, the action was widely viewed as a publicity stunt. Not so, argued the sheriff, assuring the public that he was entirely serious. Besides, Arpaio pointed out, taxpayers wouldn’t pay for…

Halvor Elvik wants balloons. The Norwegian foreign correspondent has jetted to Phoenix after covering President Clinton’s State of the Union address, and he’s been instructed to submit an article about the building excitement for the city’s first Super Bowl. It will be Elvik’s first Super Bowl, as well. And he…

Antismoking activists were pleasantly surprised when Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza went on the offensive against cigarette manufacturers. In letters made public January 3, the mayor blasted cigarette makers for targeting children in their advertising: “While most of us see kids as our hope for the future, the tobacco industry sees…

The UnMarlboro Cowboy holds up a photograph of what was once the inside of someone’s mouth–a row of badly stained lower teeth, cancerous gums and the swollen base of a tongue. The bloody, disembodied mess is part of a brochure meant to shock teenagers about the dangers of chewing tobacco…

Despite his bankruptcy troubles, Governor J. Fife Symington III still has friends he can rely on. Friends who owe him their jobs, for example, such as the people at the Arizona Department of Real Estate. When Symington applied to renew his real estate broker’s license last month, his application should…

Media access to fires and other breaking stories in the city of Phoenix–the meat and potatoes of the local mainstream press–has been thrown into doubt by a trial that ended November 20. KTVK (Channel 3) van driver Jim Cox was found guilty of disobeying a police officer at the scene…

Rick Ross is describing how Arizona’s cults use mind control to exploit their members. He warns about 70 people gathered at Arizona State University’s Memorial Union that they are prime targets for groups that tend to prey on university students. The Moonies have a house on North Central. Scientology has…

Once a month, health permitting, the 12 aging members of Arizonans for Economic Justice gather to talk strategy at Wayne Wuertz’s place in Casa Grande. There’s passionate talk about taxes, land and politics, but the main topic of conversation is the fortune of the late John C. Lincoln, and what…

Is the meanest sheriff in America going soft? Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is known for locking up as many people as possible and making their stay miserable. He’s gained notoriety for putting inmates in tents, taking away their cigarettes, coffee and girlie magazines, and feeding them baloney sandwiches and…

Lord Mikolaj Alexis Vasilko looks as if he’s going to vomit. He’s fallen to his knees after getting hit in the crotch with a rattan sword, and his face turns several shades of red before he finally collapses in a heap on the grass field. A small crowd gathers to…

Arizona Secular Humanists member Randy Jones wanted someone to take Chuck Sloan’s camera so Sloan could get in the photograph. Since Sloan always takes the pictures, he’s seldom in any of them with his fellow nonbelievers. After an October 8 picnic at a Scottsdale park, Jones spotted U.S. Representative J.D…

Bob Huey looked uncomfortable as he began speaking. He was nervous, and his speech seemed on the verge of falling apart before it could really get going. But then, shifting his weight and taking a deep breath, Huey spoke in a clear, forceful voice the words the small crowd had…

You’re tuned to the most substantial, most intelligent, hippest television broadcasting available today. You’re one of the lucky three million people in the nation who gets the Independent Film Channel, which airs domestic and foreign nonstudio cinema, uncut and commercial-free. You’re watching the works of Fellini, Truffaut, Kubrick, art-house staples,…