Fifteen years ago, a strange-looking child suffering from severe physical maladies and acute retardation was brought into the office of Dr. Theodore Tarby. The pediatric neurologist regularly deals with a wide range of serious childhood diseases as a doctor with the state-funded Children’s Rehabilitative Services in Phoenix. Tarby says he…
Growing up on the Navajo reservation in northeastern Arizona, little boys play basketball, torture their younger sisters, and try to emulate their fathers. Everson played with dolls and wore his mother’s makeup. Not much has changed for Everson since elementary school. Two years ago, at 15, Everson got his own…
The Bird’s been keeping a beady eye on the competition of late — and not because it wants to learn how to bore its readers to death. No, this faux falcon has been flying over Cancer Corner, that downtown spot formerly known as Second Street and Van Buren, just outside…
State of Emergency Better late than never: Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your recent “Ambulance Chasers” article (Sarah Fenske, October 27). Ms. Fenske’s story appears, in large part, to be based on innuendoes, half-truths and distortions coming from Southwest Ambulance’s management and union. Until now, Rural-Metro/Southwest has…
There’s an open bottle of Veuve Clicquot next to us as we sip champs to the tune of the Shakira and Alejandro Sanz duet “La Tortura,” deep in the bowels of Phase 54 (www.phase54.com), this dope spot out near I-10 and Elliot Road that’s blowin’ up like George Clooney’s waistline…
It may have looked like a group project to some of the kids in eighth-grade science class. But the chemical compound one 13-year-old girl was pouring from her hand into the small bottle her friend was holding wasn’t listed on the classroom’s Table of Elements. “What is it?” a Phoenix…
One scorching afternoon in June, a cadre of Phoenix New Times writers and editors gathered at a small, dark bar in downtown Phoenix. What better way for journalists to plan a drug series than over cocktails? We knew crystal methamphetamine was a tremendous problem in our community, overwhelming law enforcement…
Crystal Not-So-Clear The Bird wouldn’t be surprised if readers who’ve been following New Times’ series “The Perfect Drug,” on crystal meth in Arizona (the final installment of which is in this issue), are left with a certain distrust of the so-called “facts” presented by our fearless civic leaders. After all,…
The Thandie Newton of P-town and I plan to stay fly ’til we die just like the Dirty South’s Three 6 Mafia, but we also wanna keep it trill, y’all. That’s the combo of “true” and “real.” And I can’t think of a spot truer or realer at the moment…
Judge Not Jurist prudence: In reading about Judge Warren Granville’s attitude on the bench and the issues with the County Attorney’s Office, I say one thing: “Bravo! You go, Judge” (“Judicial Blacklash,” Paul Rubin, December 1)! It isn’t often that one gets to see a truly competent jurist like Granville…
If you’re super bored, or really desperate, you can make crystal meth from Tylenol Cold/Severe Congestion cool-burst caplets. You need denatured ethanol, or acetone, or anhydrous ammonia. You need iodine crystals and red phosphorous. And then you need 16,560 Tylenol caplets — a purchase that alone will set you back…
Pretty, blond, and poised, Jamie doesn’t look like a meth addict. But she’s been using for four years, since she was 19. She smoked some this morning. She smokes some every day. She has to. “I need it every morning to get started, and then on my lunch hour,” she…
As the December 3 Colorado City Unified School District board of governors meeting draws to a close, Alvin Barlow, Arizona’s longest tenured public school superintendent, instinctively opens his pocket calendar to set the date for the next meeting. Barlow flips through the calendar for a few seconds and fumbles with…
Attention, fight fans: The Bird would like to direct your attention to Scottsdale, where anxious strippers are gearing up for a battle that may prove epic. In this corner, the City of Scottsdale, armed with the best legal advice money can buy and a burning desire to save its citizens…
The Meth Plague How to deal: My hat goes off to Maggie Voss and her accomplishments. What she’s done for herself and her family is no easy feat (“Ice, Ice, Baby,” Robert Nelson and Joe Watson, November 24). I know this because my story is very much like hers: hard-core…
Warren Granville is about the last judge anybody expected to become the target of attack dogs from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Granville was a prosecutor for two decades before he became a judge in 2000. He takes the city bus to the downtown Phoenix courthouse every day, walks to…
Monsignor Dale Fushek, once second-in-command of the Phoenix Diocese and founder of the nation’s top church-based program for Catholic teenagers, has been arrested on 10 misdemeanor counts involving sexual misconduct with teenage boys and young men. The charges stem from the accounts of six men who all say they were…
I first met former Hopi tribal chairman Vernon Masayesva in December 1992, when my then-wife and I were publishing a weekly newspaper in Flagstaff. Masayesva called one afternoon and said he wanted to tell me a story of great importance to his tribe. A few days later, we met at…
Dead Man Driving In one way, the ticket James Hamburg got for running a red light on Country Club Drive in October wasn’t so unusual. He was heading south when the light at University Drive turned red, and he kept going. Woo hoo! The camera snapped his picture, and the…
“Ready to wrap your lips around a hookah, Kreme?” asks the J-Unit as we worm our way through the party people toward the bar at Mythos, this fly Mediterranean joint in Scottsdale that looks like it’s right out of Jabba the Hutt’s throne room in Return of the Jedi, with…
Music Scene Stealers In his Element: Great article! Element is the man! But I didn’t realize I was shopping or “primping myself” for a major-label record deal until I read your story (“Quiet Riot,” Jimmy Magahern, November 17). I agree about people not paying attention to the locals in the…
Maggie Voss cried as her 7-year-old son, Ryan, received a Student of the Month award from his school’s principal recently. The weeping was a little weird, but the other parents didn’t seem to notice. Some suburban moms tend to overreact to their babies’ accomplishments. That’s a given. It’s better than…
