The City of Tempe is about to serve notice on the “crusties,” or homeless youths, who flock to Mill Avenue for the winter: “Watch your butts. Literally.” The Tempe City Council, in conjunction with the business district’s management company, Downtown Tempe Community Inc., is preparing to pass a municipal “sidewalk…
“Live by the mascara wand, die by the mascara wand.” If that’s not the official motto of a new Valley business catering to the cosmetology needs of the dead, it’s probably because the founders haven’t thought of it already. “Whether you’re alive or whether you’re gone, you have to wear…
Fowl Play As the No. 1 ranked Scrabble player in Arizona, I feel forced to respond to Jamie Massey’s flip comments dismissing Scrabble as a genteel alternative to cockfighting (“Out, Out, Damn Sport!” David Holthouse, October 8). At least on this end, there is no vicarious avian schadenfreude. The emotional…
They’re not in the motel room anymore. When I knock on the door no one answers, and later I find out they’re both gone. I already knew she had left but I thought he’d still be around. He isn’t, and I’m relieved. I didn’t enjoy the company of Jose the…
The luncheon appears to be nothing special, just another stop on the rubber-chicken circuit for some of the state’s true power brokers–the heads of Arizona’s utility companies. But for Paul Newman, it’s like entering the lion’s den. At the annual gathering of the Arizona Utility Investors Association, Newman, a Democrat,…
Get Dave Kleespies talking about his job and you’re listening to a driven man. On second thought, make that a “pedaled” man. A What’s My Line? panel-stumper just waiting to happen, the Ahwatukee kiddie-car craftsman operates a high-end restoration service, catering to collectors of juvenile pedal-powered jalopies dating back long…
The longtime attorney for the Arizona Veterans Service Commission is calling it quits, saying serious mismanagement and shoddy leadership have destroyed the agency’s credibility and its ability to serve veterans. Harold Merkow is attaching a scathing letter of resignation to court papers involving dozens of veterans to support his claims…
The Arizona Boys Ranch is back in business despite concerns over the death of a 16-year-old in March at the campus near Oracle. The state Department of Economic Security pulled the license of the controversial juvenile boot camp in August. But state officials and ranch operators reached a settlement last…
Quayle to the Rescue With the race for attorney general a dead heat, Democrat Janet Napolitano and Republican Tom McGovern are looking for cash–and cachet–wherever they can find it. McGovern sort of scored on both fronts when he snagged former veep and current Paradise Valleyite Dan Quayle as the main…
Chicken Chronicle I must say I am shocked by the laughable one-sidedness and aggressive tone of the cockfighting cover story (“Out, Out, Damn Sport!” October 8). And shame on David Holthouse for going to such great lengths to portray this as a question of socioeconomic class rather than one of…
Big Red is back. Governor Jane Hull shed her Granny Hull get-up and came out swinging last week after her Democratic challenger, Paul Johnson, accused her of taking campaign cash from Nevada developers thirsty for Arizona’s water. Hull has a 30-point lead in the polls. She could have scoffed at…
The referee takes half a fresh lime, pushes it between his fingers to bring out the juice, then runs the pulp along each blade to make them shine. They’re called Mexican short knives. One and a half inches of finely honed steel, curved like a scimitar and leather-strapped to the…
A pungent, ardent yearning permeated the big theater at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch one balmy evening in July. It felt like artistic homesickness. Walter Murch–the renowned film editor and sound designer–was making an audacious presentation to a few dozen filmmakers, journalists, broadcasters and trusted friends. George Lucas himself took time…
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley stood at a podium Monday afternoon and assumed his most determined prosecutor’s face. The television cameras caught the moment for the 5 p.m. newscast, as Romley announced the arrest of Elizabeth “Shannon” Whittle, 24-year-old mother of the battered Avondale quadruplets. On a hot local news…
In 1986, residents of the Kingdom of God–better known as Colorado City, Arizona, the headquarters of a fundamentalist Mormon religious cult that practices polygamy–received disturbing news in the mail. In a nutshell, a massive mailing from Rulan Jeffs, a cult leader, said that dissident cult members could get evicted–without compensation–from…
At first glance, Proposition 202–the IRS Elimination Pledge Initiative–looks like the worst kind of amateur, copycat Contract With America drivel. If passed, the ballot measure would force candidates for federal office to choose between pledging or not pledging to support the elimination of the federal income tax and Internal Revenue…
The Hull Shebang Hooray! I’d like to celebrate New Times and Amy Silverman for the expose on Granny Hull and her evil child, Mike Hull. In “Silent Running” (Wonk, September 24), Silverman squarely hits an issue that has been bothering me for some time–Mrs. Hull’s refusal or inability to speak…
On Art Hamilton’s first day in the Arizona House of Representatives, as he tells the story, the speaker of the House, Stan Akers, looked straight at him, leaned to his microphone, and started whistling “Dixie” over the House sound system. Hamilton was watching from the gallery, not from the floor…
“I’m here every day,” the guy says. “Well, every day except Sunday. Sunday is for family and God.” The guy is Mexican, handsome, in his 30s, with a mustache and a smile like sunlight. He has a taco stand on Van Buren near 17th Avenue. The stand has been there…
An Imperfect 10 The mo-rons at Channel 10 are at it again. In the wake of last week’s New Times story about the Avondale quadruplets, Channel 10 rushed onto the air with breathless reports of a criminal case in jeopardy. New Times’ story was based on the Avondale police department’s…
Michael Poland is in the rare situation of asking to be sent back to federal prison. But almost anything would be an improvement over where he is now. Poland is on death row, set to be executed by the State of Arizona in less than a month. But his lawyers…
Commercial Brake As a several-times judge of the Associated Press news competition for members in California, I believe your Fife Symington coverage was worthy of first place statewide, and am equally impressed with your September 17 takeout on Arizona State University’s “commercialism” (“The Selling of ASU Football,” John Dougherty, September…
