Hidden Agenda Pickin’ problem: Gee, where were the picket signs and holier-than-thou shouts from the members of Tri-City Baptist when Dr. Ralph Stanley played at Nita’s Hideaway recently? (“Deathbed Conversion,” Darren Keast, June 6) I didn’t realize that he was a degenerate, a bad influence on me, not to mention…
Richard Mallery is a master of the art of the deal. A Fullbright Scholar and Stanford Law graduate, Mallery is entranced with the power of words and the allure of drama. “I’m a fuzzy who deals in metaphors,” Mallery says, employing a term used at Stanford to describe liberal arts…
Rebecca Kastl wraps her long fingers around a coffee mug and lifts a latte to her lips. The steaming brew fogs her glasses, for a moment obscuring her sky-blue eyes. Kastl, 34, is articulate and bookish, but she’s no geek. Currently working as a network engineer, she is serenely confident…
The Spike recently stumbled across another good reason (like we need one) to trade in J.D. Hayworth for someone who actually has a lick of sense. Turns out the Republican congressman is hawking “official” J.D. Hayworth schlock on his campaign Web site. Like the Official J.D. Hayworth T-shirt. At $15,…
Church BusinessSex, lies and the Catholic Church: Thank you for your continued excellent reporting on the past and current state of affairs in Bishop O’Brien’s office (“Blame Game,” Robert Nelson, May 30). As a member of the church, I must tell you that the depth of the continued sanctimonius deceit,…
Hangin’ County Attorney Rick Romley has a message to any citizen who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle: If you accidentally injure someone, you’ll do hard time. If you accidentally injure a cop, you’ll do double hard time. If you recklessly injure someone and you are a cop, chill…
Jeff Newton is looking for office space. Nothing fancy, just a table and chairs, a good desk lamp and a caramel double-shot latte waiting when he walks in the door. For the past four years — nearly every night since January, when he quit his waiter job at Olive Garden…
The new message recorded on the information line at Duncan Family Farms is straightforward, but veiled. “Due to operational issues outside of our control, we are temporarily suspending activities in our farm yard. Our farming operation is continuing as usual; this suspension is only for the farm yard activities.” Given…
The Metropolitan Arts Institute, downtown Phoenix’s well-regarded charter arts school, will be moving to new digs in the middle of the school year. The school is being forced out as part of the city and landlord Jim Kaufman’s plans to preserve historic buildings at the former Phoenix Union High School…
As most bishops nationwide begin digging themselves out from the avalanche of priest sex scandals, Bishop Thomas O’Brien seems intent on digging himself deeper. O’Brien’s latest outrage of many stems from a column I wrote three weeks ago about two women’s accusations of sexual misconduct by Father Patrick Colleary, an…
Coaching StrategyThe good guys: I just wanted to thank you for a great column regarding the so-called “abuse” scandal at Mountain View High School (“Ode to Coach Busken,” Robert Nelson, May 23). As a former Toro (Coach Parker era), it was nice to see another viewpoint other than the trash…
Annie Lopez gives as good as she gets. Offend her and you’ll likely find yourself starring in her artwork. An example at hand of her cathartic approach is a piece she created last year featuring the silhouette of a woman and the legend You Are So Judgmental, inspired by a…
Buddy Strong sauntered through the throng during an intermission at the Cricket Pavilion last Sunday night, looking for friends and family there to celebrate his homecoming. The 21-year-old Phoenix native was about to take the stage as the keyboard player for Usher Raymond, one of pop R&B’s biggest young stars…
Phoenix aviation department officials are considering canceling an $800,000-a-year contract for a security services company owned by Phoenix city councilman Michael Johnson because the company has failed to perform its duties. Aviation director David Krietor says a decision will be made in the next week or so whether to seek…
I just slapped my 5-year-old on the head. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. He stumbled a bit from the blow. He squared up again like some tough guy, so I thumped him in the gut. Call Child Protective Services. Call the principal and superintendent. Quit the team, call a parents’…
Sometimes The Spike just wants to bang its pointy little head against a brick wall. The one at Phoenix’s downtown Fire Station 1 will do nicely this time. What’s got The Spike in a lather this week is a recent federal court judgment against the City of Phoenix to settle…
Disappearing ActNeighborhood watchers: I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article about Eva Mae Wilson (“Whatever Happened to Eva Mae?” John W. Allman, May 16). I, too, was relieved to hear that she is alive, and I, too, was disappointed to hear that she does not have good living conditions. I just…
Bored of Supervisors Aloha, Mr. Stapley: The article “Crack Addicts, Political Shenanigans and Indian Relics” (John Dougherty, May 9) goes a long way to explain why Arizona, my old residence, and Hawaii, my new residence, have both dropped near the bottom of the 2002 “Best States.” Louisiana is ranked last…
Eva Mae Wilson might as well have been a ghost. She didn’t speak to strangers. She never opened her front door to company. She guarded her personal life as if it were a precious treasure someone might want to steal. For most of her life, she cultivated anonymity like the…
The toddler in the photograph beams as he rests his arm on the cantaloupe-size growth on his side. The doll-faced boy in the old print seems unaware that his body shouldn’t look this way, that the growth isn’t an armrest, that humans shouldn’t have cauliflower feet. Doctors in Denver chopped…
The Spike nearly dropped the phone this week when Barbara Kingsolver called back. The Tucson writer has become infamous for her J.D. Salinger-esque disappearing acts, and she’s been mum on the topic of One Book AZ, the group grope of a book club in which librarians invited the entire state…
Longtime Tempe resident Babak Dehghanpisheh knew long before he graduated from college in 1993 that he needed to see the world before he sorted out his career path. So he went to work on a boat in Alaska, “slinging the crab,” for months. The experience only aroused Dehghanpisheh’s wanderlust. Eight…
