As the cruise missiles fell in her Belgrade neighborhood, one woman’s writing floated her spirit with the buoyancy of hope. Maritza Yosimlevic longed that her short stories might give pleasure, a desire that exceeded her fear of death. “I must leave now. The air-raid sirens are going off. The bombers…
Using heat and pressure, more heat and pressure than one can imagine, a 3,150-ton factory press turns solid cylinders of pure aluminum into long, thin rails. The shiny rails exit the enormous machine looking wet and molten, like they might be gooey to the touch. Alexco Tooling Manager Greg Fraley,…
Vicente Gurrola’s shattered body lay by the roadside on 35th Avenue as a white Toyota pickup sped away shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday, May 16. His back broken, the 33-year-old landscaper died on the street before rescue workers arrived. His body was sent to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s…
The troubled Arizona Board of Medical Examiners has again shut the public out of information about the state’s MDs, this time blaming a change in the law meant to provide more disclosure. BOMEX staff has stopped telling the public about the allegations faced by a doctor under investigation. The board…
Soldiers of Fortune Public Campaign, the D.C. interest group that brought Arizona last fall’s successful “Clean Elections” initiative, has released a list of the biggest gun lovers in Congress–elected representatives who sock away the most cash from the gun lobby. Why is the Flash not surprised to see J.D. Hayworth…
Most Arizonans have never heard of Doug Norton, but we all owe him our thanks. For more than two decades, Norton has served us as state auditor general, watching over many facets of government in Arizona: state agencies, counties, universities and community colleges. This is a tremendous task. Norton had…
River Dance Regarding John Dougherty’s “A Fortune Runs Through It” of May 20–am I just idealistic and naive? Am I naive enough to be confused by why we continue to build lakes in the desert? Am I so idealistic that I don’t understand why we can’t reduce our use of…
The September 3, 1998, issue of the Spanish-language newspaper Prensa Hispana made Phoenix residents Ivan Reyna and Greg McCain look like the luckiest people on the planet. An article chronicled how Reyna and McCain had been selected as the winners of a contest sponsored by Telemundo 64, Compass Travel, Coors…
Mary C.’s husband bought her a computer for Mother’s Day. She’s interested in the Internet, but for now she’ll get her feet wet by playing solitaire. Mary would like to show her 8-year-old daughter, Hope, how to use the machine someday, if Arizona child-welfare authorities would only let her. Mary…
Father Dennis Riccitelli, who’s twice been transferred by Catholic Church officials after parishioner complaints, has another churchgoer revolt on his hands. But this time he’s playing hardball. Riccitelli has hired an attorney and is threatening church members who are petitioning to have him removed from their east Mesa church. Riccitelli…
Maricopa County sheriff’s director David Hendershott ordered detention officer David Cool to produce a false memo suggesting former sheriff’s employee Tom Bearup was plotting to “attack” the sheriff’s office with explosives, Cool alleges in a letter to County Attorney Rick Romley. Cool’s letter, which contains other allegations of improper conduct…
Alien Nation Gee, David Holthouse, I just finished reading your column “Border Censors” (House, May 13), and I was wondering: Has Scott Stanley, the illegal-alien advocate you wrote about, requested any photographs of Phoenix police officer Marc Atkinson’s body, after he was shot numerous times in the head by a…
Spur Cross Ranch has long been a jewel in Maricopa County’s environmental crown, but it’s fast becoming a political hot potato. U.S. Senator John McCain first fondled the gem. He was followed by Governor Jane Dee Hull and Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley. All three tried desperately to find a…
Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean. –2 Corinthians 6:17 I am alone on a stage in the back of a vast, lavish ballroom, overlooking a panorama of modern Christian soldiers, seated in groups of 10 around white-clothed…
We walk through the concrete and steel structure that splays across 1.5 million square feet of desert called Arizona Mills. In its beige-toned, wood-floored, 65,000-bulbed, restaurant-themed, air-conditioned glory, we can’t tell whether it’s the Kenny Rogers Roasters, Burger King or the aptly named Steak Escape that is exuding the aroma…
Christopher was 10 years old when teachers at Longview Elementary School singled him out as a troublemaker. During that long 1993-94 academic year, Christopher regularly baited and insulted his teachers. His theatrics distracted his classmates to such an extent that he was often banished from class and sent to a…
Tom Sands is poised to open the floodgates. On June 2, the Salt River Project engineer will begin diverting water from a canal in Papago Park into Tempe’s Town Lake, the centerpiece of the city’s Rio Salado project. About 100 million gallons of water a day will cascade into the…
Good morning, kids, and welcome back to class. You may have noticed that a new student has joined us. Or, actually, quite a few new students. About 60 million, to take a quick guess. Say hi, everybody. Now, they might look familiar, they might look a little like the teenagers…
It’s a fast-paced world out there, and The Flash can no longer afford to sit back and snipe just once a week. Hence, “The Daily Flash: A Reader’s Guide to the Arizona Republic” debuted May 6 on New Times’ Web site, www.phoenixnewtimes.com Yes, dear readers, you now may commune daily…
It was a shiny, black 1992 Corvette ZR-1. Only 20,000 miles on the clock, a glass top, leather interior, fully loaded. A rare find for a ‘Vette enthusiast, and quite intoxicating to Phoenix resident Jeff Nickels. “I immediately fell in love with it,” Nickels says. “It was the ultimate purchase.”…
He comes flying around the corner at Second Avenue and Fillmore, going at a good clip. He is red-faced and shirtless with flyaway Jesus hair. Across his back is an elaborate tattoo of a bird or bat or something. Beneath him, making a blunt grinding noise, is a battered Huffy…
The official word is that Governor Jane Dee Hull was hospitalized for a week in March with a kidney infection, but I think I’ve learned the truth. The doctors were really implanting a backbone. How else to explain the governor’s personality change? She went into the hospital as Granny Hull,…
