By Arizona’s geologic standards, the Salt River gorge in Tempe isn’t much. In fact, few people even notice it is there. Flanked by the red-rock outcrops at Papago Park to the north and the twin buttes embracing Sun Devil Stadium to the south, the shallow gorge marks the narrowest point…
Phoenix bus driver Charles Spencer is a driven man. And for the past four years, in his spare time, that drive has led him to spend hundreds of hours searching for the treasure rumored to be hidden in the fabled Superstition Mountains. But unlike thousands of hapless treasure hunters who…
The Valley’s premier rock-climbing club is scrambling to recover from an internal struggle that had officers and members climbing all over each other. A trickle of charges against Arizona Mountaineering Club’s ex-president, Paul Diefenderfer, has turned into an avalanche of lawsuits and countersuits that have rocked the 30-year-old club and…
:I, for one, am going to miss Fife Symington. When he’s gone, there will be so many priceless and amusing incidents to remember. Take the latest tale, the one about the governor’s surprise birthday party. It was thrown for him by his wife, Ann, and his staff. It was set…
Claudia Webb can’t forget the day her late husband was betrayed by his union. Reed Webb was a new salesman for the U S West Direct Yellow Pages in Phoenix. In 1991, his second year, Webb’s sales were near the top of the highly competitive 30-member staff that sold the…
Delores and Julian Atencio never sat on the board of a failed savings and loan, but they know how it feels to bear the brunt of the powerful Resolution Trust Corporation, which was established to dispose of what was left of the nation’s plundered thrift industry. The Atencios’ problems started…
Late last year, it was an outraged Native American versus Squaw Peak. Earlier this year, it was an African American who claimed that Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport’s Terminal Four contained subliminal endorsement for the Ku Klux Klan. And the unlikely scene of the Valley’s latest p.c. controversy? A grade-school…
But most amazing of all: the expression on people’s faces as they look toward the press box in the middle of the seventh and watch the man sing the song. Remember the look of wonder, then the smile on Richard Dreyfuss’ face when he saw the actual aliens at the…
For almost a dozen years, arguably the finest independent bookstore in town has been Dushoff Books Ltd. in the shopping center at 32nd Street and Camelback. Last week a sign with a dreadful message appeared on the empty magazine rack near the front door. It informed Dushoff’s many faithful customers…
It’s said that Sam Coppersmith surprised even himself the night he snatched Arizona’s First Congressional District from an incumbent Republican who seemed much better suited to the conservative East Valley district. It was called the upset of 1992, a race so close that Coppersmith, a pro-choice Democrat making his first…
Vernon Bauldry has a neighbor problem. The same goes for Alan Goff. When they eye each other from across the street, they see the enemy. The two men have complained to the police about each other, hired lawyers and battled in court. Bauldry, a retired carpenter and heart patient, stands…
When Clyde Kunz, an average citizen, wrote to his state legislator, he may have anticipated a run-of-the-mill response. What he got instead, from Republican Representative Tom Smith, who serves District 26 in northeast Phoenix and Paradise Valley, was a very remarkable letter. Kunz himself had set a respectful, formal tone…
Has Governor Fife Symington, who campaigned for governor on his business prowess but has since watched his financial empire crumble, now stiffed his wife and mother for hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of campaign loans? Apparently so. With his three campaign committees operating in the red, no repayments on…
We proceed along the downhill path to wisdom. Already, the triumphal march upon Philadelphia is behind us. Renowned as the Bad Boy of the NBA, Charles Barkley was supposedly hated in the City of Brotherly Love. Instead, he was treated by his old fans as though he were General Charles…
Felix Solis steps down into the hole with a tiny pink box. Clutching it close to him, he closes his eyes and prays aloud. “Lord, I hope you will accept this baby into Heaven, where things are better than they are here,” Solis says, his voice cracking. “Please watch over…
Fifteen months ago, after the federal government accused Governor Fife Symington of “gross negligence” in his role as a director of the failed Southwest Savings and Loan, Symington denounced the Resolution Trust Corporation’s lawsuit as nothing more than a baseless, political smear campaign. He predicted that the RTC’s suit–which focuses…
Except for the 100 or so people directly involved with Arizona State University’s student government, Associated Students of ASU has not traditionally been a hot topic on campus. Jason Nitschke, a sophomore business major from Albuquerque, answers for most of his fellow undergrads when asked about ASASU. “I know they’re…
1. Who will benefit from the Super Bowl’s coming to Tempe? It will be a fine thing for hotels, airlines, rental-car people and restaurants in Scottsdale. The average man need not expect any dramatic change in lifestyle. All of the available tickets will go to local politicians and business insiders…
Pope Duzy was out of town when her husband caved in. It was 1985, and for months, the Duzys’ broker had been badgering them to put their retirement money into oil and gas. Limited partnerships in energy investments were hot, the Prudential Bache Securities broker said. Double-digit returns were all…
@body:On the day in 1991 when the defendants of AzScam were arraigned, one small, pretty young woman was among them, looking as groomed as a Fifties airline stewardess. She wore a smart, belted black dress, calf-length, and high heels; her thick, blond hair was pulled into a long ponytail and…
Capitol insiders are calling it “the Express.” With Republicans in control of the state Senate, the House and the Governor’s Office, party leaders are pushing to have both chambers wrap up their legislative business this year in 100 days, the length of time sessions are supposed to last, but seldom…
It was 1987 and Manny Carbajal was talking boxing with a guest over a bowl of his wife Mary’s memorable menudo. “If you box, you’re gonna get hit,” he said. “It’s what you do after you get hit. That’s what counts.” A truly friendly man, Manny had been an Arizona…
