Shawn Dirks says he couldn’t wait to report for duty. After months of training, February 17, 2001, would mark the first time that Dirks would be patrolling alone as a rookie officer with the Phoenix Police Department. That night, a Saturday, 42-year-old Lori Levinson was out on a date that…
As Governor Janet Napolitano and Department of Corrections officials portrayed it, the end of the 15-day standoff at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis was a triumphant love fest. The remaining hostage was released unharmed into the arms of the governor, the result of state officials’ brilliant strategy of subtle negotiation…
Investigative Lead The rest of the story: Kudos to John Dougherty for “Blasphemous Backlash” (January 29)! The article was very informative and well-balanced. Mr. Dougherty, while presenting Ross Chatwin as a brave soul willing to stand up to Warren Jeffs, also gave the readers the “rest of the story” when…
COLORADO CITY — With his wife and six children clustered behind him on the front porch of his modest home, Ross Chatwin did what no resident of this isolated, fundamentalist Mormon town has ever done. Chatwin, 35, publicly denounced the religious leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of…
Fundamentalist Mormon cult leader Warren Jeffs has convinced thousands of polygamist followers that he receives direct revelations from God, visions that reveal the most intimate details of their personal lives. But Jeffs’ insights may be based far more on modern technology than any supranatural spiritual powers. Warren Jeffs, the Prophet…
For years, state officials from the governor down have virtually ignored allegations that children are being mistreated at Arizona’s juvenile corrections facilities. Finally, the federal government is forcing Arizona to pay attention. In a letter to Governor Janet Napolitano dated January 23 detailing a 28-month investigation, Assistant Attorney General R…
President Bush was just in town, which meant a city of three million got its bowels put in a security vise so the incumbent could look interested in education. On Wednesday, he was at Mesa Community College to congratulate college officials on their job-training efforts. It was basically just another…
Developing Story Guilt by association: Thank you to Robert Nelson for his January 22 story “Big Bad Developer.” George Johnson should go to jail for what appears to be a long history of criminal activities associated with his big bad developments. Pinal County officials should be ashamed of themselves. If…
MARANA — George Johnson watches stonefaced as two Black Hawk helicopters rise from the tarmac and tilt toward Ragged Top Mountain, the heart of Ironwood Forest National Monument southeast of Phoenix and home to one of Arizona’s last remaining native herds of desert bighorn sheep. The Army helicopters are loaded…
Convicted murderer Jasper McMurtrey III says he feels “like Rip van Winkle winning the PowerBall.” McMurtrey was released from Arizona’s death row just before Christmas, the result of an unusual legal snafu that has the state and a federal judge pointing fingers at each other. Now, state prosecutors contend U.S…
Brain Dread Adult education: I suppose sensationalism sells. I won’t even argue that behind most fallacies lie some truths. However, it is simply unfathomable that the January 15 article “Brainiacs” (Jimmy Magahern) could ever achieve any credibility. In what appears as a David and Goliath account of the obnoxiously elitist…
It’s just after school on a Tuesday, and Jacob, Chris, Sam and Mike are doing what they’ve done for the past 12 years: lying around in Jacob Verburg’s living room playing video games and drinking Coke. “It’s been this way every day pretty much since kindergarten,” says Verburg, a 17-year-old…
Jennifer Morse puts the ingredients for pizza dough into the KitchenAid and turns it on, then she gets out the “Getting Better Book.” “We call it the Getting Better Book’ because we’re getting better,” she says, standing at the kitchen counter and flipping the cover of the scrapbook to the…
. . . Alexis’ hair was a mat of dark, dried blood with beads of glass slowly spilling from it when the nurses moved her. Little pieces of blonde hair stuck out of the mat, reminding us of what had been. In the hospital, there was a lot of talk…
Bawdy Language How dry I am: Susy Buchanan wrote an excellent story on the present and future condition of Van Buren Street, I must say, since I find myself extensively quoted in her article (“Tough Row to Ho,” January 8). Her description of the sex trade on the street carried…
Art Casillas trolls East Van Buren Street for hookers four nights a week. Dressed in an untucked tee shirt and jeans, Casillas looks like he might be a Little League coach. Maybe that’s why there’s something initially unnerving about the ease with which he can rattle off a menu of…
During the first hours of what turned out to be a grueling 44-day trial, Brian Finkel said to no one in particular, “I’ll be glad when this clown show is over.” That was vintage Finkel — always the wise guy, cocksure, always in control. Until last week, when the former…
In 2000, Brian Finkel on average performed four to 15 abortions daily, six days a week, roughly 20 percent of the abortions performed annually in Arizona. New Times profiled Finkel in 1999 (“The Terminator,” June 17) but was not privy at that time to the performance of an abortion. The…
Polygamy Is Fundamental Financial planning: Far as I can tell, John Dougherty has done it again; provided clear information regarding the situation in Colorado City/Hildale (“Double Exposure,” December 25). As a resident of Lake Havasu City/Mohave County, we have strong feelings regarding the lawless activities of the fundamentalists. Most of…
As a reader, it can be easy to assume that all the critics at a particular publication are more or less of the same mind, but here at New Times, that isn’t the case. We’re just too damn opinionated to take our colleagues’ views into consideration, which is why, when…
Back in January of 2003, New Line Cinema released Final Destination 2, a horror movie in which the antagonist was the unseen hand of death itself. All of the main characters knew their time was up, but they didn’t know how, or when, so they existed in a constant state…
Bill Gallo — Even dedicated art-house regulars missed Pavel Lounguine’s Tycoon: A New Russian when it was released this fall, but this intrigue-spiced tale of a ruthless yet surprisingly sympathetic Russian oligarch worked equally well as a crime thriller and a course in Russian fiscal policy (or the lack of…
