The Arizona Supreme Court now tells us that Evan Mecham is once again free to become our governor. How ridiculous can you get? I always presumed that judges were appointed to the Supreme Court because they were strong and independent enough to make an unpopular decision when called upon. I…
Earlier that evening, J. Fife Symington III went on television. He seemed superbly confident as he quipped that Evan Mecham was like a schoolyard bully who needed a punch in the nose. Leon Woodward, one of Mecham’s staunchest supporters, was startled by Symington’s boast. Woodward picked up his phone a…
Jerry Foster, the former Channel 12 helicopter pilot and weather forecaster, is famous statewide for his flamboyant flying, daring live-at-five rescues, numerous appearances with Valley schoolchildren and an occasional brush with the Federal Aviation Administration. In the Maricopa County process servers’ office, though, he’s famous only for his bad attitude…
A week before Bishop Thomas J. O’Brien admitted that yet another Catholic priest in Phoenix is being investigated for sexually abusing children, the bishop issued the local Diocese’s first policy on how to handle such allegations. In a June 22 cover letter that accompanied the ten-page document, the bishop, who…
If you’ve never boiled over at the incompetence of state and county environmental offices, now’s the time. If you’ve never been frightened that their lazy attitude could endanger your life, now’s the time. Just ask Ed Whitehurst. He’s an ordinary Arizona guy who did the most ordinary thing to seek…
It seemed odd to be talking about paid sex on our honeymoon. But the conversation in this water-drenched Jamaican bar had decidedly taken a turn. Sometime during the continual drumbeat of nine hours of rain, the talk had proceeded from a failed snorkeling trip for newlyweds to the island’s thriving…
Young is an idyllic little village perched in the central Arizona highlands just below the Mogollon Rim. It’s almost too idyllic–just the quiet, cozy sort of place Alfred Hitchcock might have used to make a scary movie about, say, grasshoppers driving the villagers mad. Well, last summer in Young, grasshoppers…
To local historians and preservationists, it’s a valuable piece of Tempe’s past making a last stand. To city officials, it’s a hulking mass of decaying concrete, the cork blocking the city’s plans to pour $440 million worth of sparkling development into the dry Salt River bed. At issue is the…
“It is the policy of the Diocese that the abuse of a minor, including sexual abuse, by persons employed by or volunteering services to the Diocese is contrary to Christian principles and is not tolerated. All personnel must comply with applicable state and local laws regarding incidents of actual or…
Coby Perkins is talking about the days when he could play his bluegrass banjo like a champ. “I loved to play,” the nineteen-year-old says in a sluggish monotone. “I was fast. I was good. I played `Foggy Mountain Breakdown’ and `Cripple Creek,’ all of them. I played with Bill Monroe…
The best thing about Prescott’s 102nd annual Frontier Days parade last Saturday was the cowboy groups like the Bill Williams Mountainmen and the Wild Bunch from Prescott. In the worst category, it was a tossup. First, there were the Shriners in their tiny cars, behaving like spoiled children trying to…
Now it comes down to courage. This is no time for the summer soldier or the sunshine patriot, as Thomas Paine once wrote. It’s all on the line, now that a suit has been filed to throw former Governor Evan Mecham off the primary ballot. Dennis Ingram, who signed the…
Ed Whitehurst still can’t believe it, even when he looks down and sees only bandages marking the spot where his left leg used to be. “Sometimes it seems like a dream,” says the 33-year-old waiter. “I take a day off to go tubing down the Salt River in the sunshine…
Dennis Steinberg left the Pinnacle West Corporation annual meeting a happy man. He knew his campaign was working–the ads, the guest appearances and private meetings, all executed with the precision of a chess game in the weeks leading up to this day. He could see the impact in the faces…
Keith Turley, ex-magnate, is about to receive a tribute befitting his accomplishments, courtesy of Dennis Melgreen. Everybody knows Turley; he’s the guy who led Arizona’s biggest utility, Arizona Public Service Company, to the brink of bankruptcy in two short years of ill-considered diversification. But who in the heck is Dennis…
“Think Indian” and “I’m Indian and Proud of It” shout the bumper stickers on the back of a shocking-pink Ford station wagon. A large animal-hide drum protrudes from the back of the car. As we suspect, two Native Americans sporting long braids occupy the front seat. This may be a…
Porkey has a pretty good explanation for why he drops the tennis balls so much while he is juggling. It does not take very many minutes of watching Porkey to establish the fact that the tennis balls do indeed fall to the ground with some regularity. The tennis balls drop…
I could hear the organ playing from the other side of Seventh Avenue. Kemper Marley’s funeral would start in less than half an hour. Already, the cavernous Church of the Beatitudes on the corner of West Glendale Avenue was nearly packed. It was too hot for jackets and ties but…
Jerome Holtzman of the Chicago Tribune covered his first Arizona spring training season 35 years ago. He has been covering baseball ever since. He has been voted into baseball’s Hall of Fame and will be installed this summer. It is the highest honor that a baseball writer can receive. I…
Terry Goddard is getting a free ride in his campaign for governor. First of all, he is running virtually unopposed, so there is no one to question anything about his campaign. Second, he is the only fully subsidized candidate in the governor’s race. It is an amazing story because it…
Using a long-handled ladle, the chef flicks oil, seasonings, vegetables and meat into the metal pan. Flames leap up around the wok’s sides and lick the stove’s exhaust hood. Seconds later, an order of Kung Pao Chicken is steaming toward the dining room. As the restaurant’s only food preparer, chef…
Like Rottweilers, Pam Swift and Teri Johnson fight with a deep, dark instinct. Sometimes, you wonder why these two west Phoenix environmentalists don’t shut up. Other times, you can’t help but admire them for fighting battles somebody’s got to fight. One of them always seems to be on TV, marching…
