If Pee-wee Herman ever participates in a bicycle rodeo on Mars, it’s a cinch his entry won’t hold a candle to the unidentified non-flying object that’s been keeping Valley motorists guessing for the past several years. A souped-up cardboard cabin attached to a bicycle frame, the winged craft is hard…
It’s a balmy night in June 1995. Petty felon Thomas Glen Campbell slouches in the cab of a borrowed pickup truck north of Casa Grande. As he puffs on a cigarette, a helicopter drones low overhead. He gets spooked. He has no driver’s license, there’s a warrant out for his…
Congressman Kolbe’s Query U.S. Representative Jim Kolbe burst out of the closet last week, finally confirming a years-old open secret: He’s gay. Kolbe, a Republican whose district includes part of Tucson and all of southeast Arizona, made the admission after learning that a gay-issues magazine intended to out him. The…
It’s a familiar story: The City of Phoenix prepares to demolish an old building to make way for a new one, and preservationists take the city to court. In the case of the A.L. Moore & Sons Mortuary, however, it’s preservationists of a different sort who have gummed up the…
Two fires at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station earlier this year have once again raised safety concerns at the nation’s largest nuclear power plant, located 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission met with Palo Verde officials last week to discuss the fires, which broke out…
It’s a Friday and the sun is setting on a central Phoenix neighborhood where crack houses are at least as common as Circle Ks. Patrick Walsh, a 67-year-old member of Neighbors on Patrol, decides he wants to exchange philosophies with a street hooker. He grabs his walker–Walsh was born with…
Even before I opened the letter, I knew it. I knew there would be exciting news for me, Peter Gilstrap. After all, right there on the outside of the envelope it said this: “A remarkable new book is about to be published–and you, Peter Gilstrap, are in it!” I’m sure…
Forbidden Plant As someone intimately involved with the opposition to Sumitomo, I was particularly shocked and appalled by the offensive language in the pro-Sumitomo letter published in the August 1 New Times, the one signed “Name withheld.” The author questions why it has not been reported that Sumitomo executives have…
The Phoenix Civil Service Board has reviewed the dismissals of three Phoenix police officers so far in 1996. Officer Fred Santos–whose dismissal was reduced to a 120-hour suspension–is one. Here are the other two, as detailed in the board minutes: Officer Mark LeBlanc “Mr. LeBlanc was dismissed for inappropriately identifying…
Info:Correction Date: August 15, 1996 A Cop on the Beat Assaults on his girlfriend and a litany of other conduct violations got Fred Santos fired from the Phoenix police force. Why he’s back in uniform, responding to domestic violence calls, is a mystery. By Amy Silverman On March 1, the…
Like two boys at the swimming hole, Kieran Suckling and Peter Galvin pulled off their shorts and tee shirts and jumped feet-first and butt-naked into the coffee-with-cream-colored waters of the San Pedro River just east of Sierra Vista. It had been a hot-desert hike down from the main road. And…
The 1992 case of the little boy and the big, bad hospital captivated the community and Arizona legislators. Readers who lived in the Valley at that time may recall the page-one brouhaha: In a series of stories, the Arizona Republic detailed Phoenix Memorial Hospital’s use of a device called a…
Nearly three years after state regulators discovered $8.1 million missing from Charter Title Company escrow accounts, the company’s former owner has been sentenced to eight years in prison. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge sent Dean Mark Brewer, 42, to a Department of Corrections facility in Douglas on June 24…
Symington Recall at the Ready Recall master John Kromko is poised to launch a well-financed, statewide recall of bankrupt and indicted Governor J. Fife Symington III. Kromko, a former Democratic state representative from Tucson, says a recall committee should take form August 7, with a projected August 28 kickoff to…
Steve met a girl. Her name was Ashley. She would come over to his place, they’d hang out and watch TV, talk, make love, hold hands and cuddle. It seemed like a good thing; a certain bond began to develop between them. Twenty-four-year-old Steve had never experienced anything quite like…
Flacks and Figures I read with amusement the article concerning the efforts of Nelson Robb Duval & DeMenna on behalf of its client Sitix of Phoenix (“Public Theatre,” Tony Ortega, July 25). What a hearty recommendation New Times has provided for the firm’s talents and services! These actions are exactly…
Over the past several months, a public drama has been played out in the Valley news media. The drama has familiar themes: the large multinational company versus local activists. A relatively small group of angry citizens assails government officials who insist they are working for the broad public good. Business…
In the drab Cochise County office building that houses his courtroom, Judge Ramon R. Alvarez is having a discussion in chambers. Courtroom decorum is nowhere in evidence. “Bullshit!” Alvarez yells. “No, it’s not bullshit,” deputy Cochise County attorney Edward Rheinheimer replies. “I think it is,” Alvarez insists. Back and forth,…
Kids. Clerks. Priest. As operator of one of the country’s most successful independent movie-theatre chains, Dan Harkins prides himself on showing some of the most sophisticated, controversial and daring films ever to hit local screens. During any given year, the multiplex mogul can be counted on to present dozens of…
When Jose Saavedra signed up for an Internet account through Primenet, the Phoenix-based online provider, he had no clue that he had set in motion a series of events that ultimately would land him in a jail cell on felony charges. But that’s exactly what happened. A college freshman at…
How many Democrats named Stuart does it take to challenge Congressman John Shadegg? Just one. And that makes Stuart Starky mad. Starky–a shoe salesman originally from Long Island–says Arizona Democratic party officials did everything they could to nudge him out of the primary race in Congressional District 4 and clear…
Picture George Leckie in a Teddy Not all of Governor J. Fife Symington III’s $25 million debt stems from construction-loan defaults and massive legal fees. Our bankrupt and indicted governor also appears to have splurged on undergarments–intimate ones at that. The Flash has reason to believe that the Fifester ran…
