The Loan Stranger Staffers at the Arizona Corporation Commission were shocked by what they considered unethical behavior by newly elected Republican commissioner Jim Irvin, who assigns commission projects and analytical work normally given to commission staffers to an outsider–political adviser Jack Rose. Because Rose isn’t on the commission payroll, allowing…
In a reversal, the U.S. State Department has issued a one-year visa to a Mexican businessman with close ties to the family of Governor J. Fife Symington III. The businessman, Alejandro Canelos Rodriguez, has been suspected by the U.S. Customs Service of being involved in drug trafficking. State Department spokeswoman…
Come on, kids, that’s it, gather ’round while I tell you all about the good old days. What’s that? You want to hear about what peep shows were like way back when? Well, when I was a younger man, after a rough day on the loading dock, I’d go downtown…
Flashes in the Frying Pan I was wondering why I was receiving such hateful phone calls concerning my sponsorship of HB 2028. Then someone pointed out the charming piece in New Times’ Flashes column of March 27. I understand why no one was willing to sign the article. Tough public…
Richard Lloyd Carr wants the state to allow his company, Interwest Management, Inc., to build one of Arizona’s first toll roads. As unlikely as tollways sound in Arizona, the South Mountain Toll Road would go one better: It wouldn’t be state-owned. A special district would be formed to acquire the…
One night in March 1987, Mary and Manny Carbajal and several members of their family gathered around a kitchen table at their home in downtown Phoenix. It would be more than a year before their 19-year-old son Michael would become world famous, and his inspirational story had yet to be…
Phoenix City Councilwoman Frances Emma Barwood says her first instinct was to call a press conference in Mayor Skip Rimsza’s office and, in front of the Valley’s media, slug him. She only changed her mind, she says, because it wouldn’t be smart to commit an assault on camera. Barwood says…
Howl He Explain All This? Last week was a busy time for former KTVK-TV Channel 3 weather forecaster Jim Howl. On Friday, news of his gubernatorial aspirations leaked. Then on Saturday, it was reported that Howl had admitted the reason he was fired from Channel 3 after 24 years: alleged…
With jury selection for Governor J. Fife Symington III’s criminal trial only weeks away, Symington’s bankruptcy attorney last week manufactured a bombshell that the Arizona Republic obligingly splashed on its front page. The story contained numerous inaccuracies. After New Times brought the errors to the Republic’s attention on Monday, the…
How Sweet It Was Thanks a ton for the column partially about Brian Connolly (Coda, March 27)! I’m a big Sweet fan from way back. I was maybe 8 or 10 when I first admired them on television with my older cousin, something that has definitely shaped my musical taste…
For all intents and purposes, Chimpy is a normal feline. Some of you may remember him from my 1995 personal “Best of Phoenix” column, in which I selected him as “Best Cat.” You may recall the photograph that accompanied the story; he was a furry, gray kitten with large eyes,…
I was kneeling over a stack of 10-cent records in the Salvation Army thrift store on South Central Avenue a few months ago, thumbing through the usual dog-eared copies of Herb Alpert albums that every American seems to have owned at one point and then given away–the scratched Christmas LPs,…
KNXV Channel 15 station manager Michael Kronley wrote this “Competitive Profile” of the television news market for his general manager, Brad Nilsen, in October. New Times obtained the memo, which is excerpted here. KTVK Channel 3: This station is backing off its marketing line of “Arizona’s Family Station,” but continues…
The parking lot at KNXV-TV Channel 15 contains a vestige of the station’s earlier, quirkier incarnation. The rusting “Al’s World” convertible, which once carried reporter Al Feinberg around the state for a series of offbeat stories, now rests under a tarp. One tire is flat. Like many trademark elements of…
Contaminated soil and groundwater beneath the site of a proposed seven-story parking garage are driving up costs of a project already over budget and embroiled in controversy. The structure would cover nearly five acres across Jefferson Street from the $351 million Bank One Ballpark. The stadium is scheduled to be…
Two New Times writers are finalists for the state’s top journalism prize Two New Times staff writers–John Dougherty and Tony Ortega–are among three nominees for Arizona’s top journalism prize, Arizona Press Club officials announced Monday. Arizona Republic reporter Bill Muller joins Dougherty and Ortega as a finalist for the title…
New Times staff writer Paul Rubin has won a national Unity Media Award from Lincoln University of Missouri. Rubin won the contest’s Investigative Reporting category for his series “A System Gone Mad,” about a mentally ill Vietnam veteran who died of heat prostration after he was released onto the streets…
Logan’s Run? On the morning of Wednesday, March 26–just as the first copies of the March 27 issue of New Times were hitting the streets–Kim Boyden received a voice mail message from a representative with the City of Scottsdale’s Victim Assistance Program. Boyden, whose photo was on the cover of…
Logan struck up a conversation with Kim Boyden, over her Stoli on the rocks and his Black Russian. The two had a lot in common. They’d both grown up in Michigan. They’d both had a rotten morning. And, that day, August 12, 1996, both had stopped at Eli’s Bar and…
A year ago this week, on March 26, 1996, Dave Wegner and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt were standing at the base of Glen Canyon Dam, giving simultaneous interviews with competing national morning TV news shows, shouting over the roar of the torrent that rocketed 100 yards out of…
Open Yer Mouse and Shay Aah If you are an alcohol- or drug-addicted doctor, Sue Gerard is your salvation. State Representative Gerard wants to ensure that derelict doctors and other health-care professionals are protected from public scrutiny. That’s why she sponsored House Bill 2028, the “Drunk Doctor Bill.” Gerard’s pet…
Whenever someone tells Joe Aylward he’s got holes in his head, he doesn’t argue the point. “Many people look at me and the first thing they say is ‘stupid kid!'” concedes Aylward, a 33-year-old apprentice body-piercer in Tempe. “It’s always like, ‘This guy has got to be the biggest moron…
