Ex-Hollywood jungle queen ACQUANETTA remembers those happy days when Scottsdale caterer FRANK CALI once carved a Lincoln out of cream cheese for her. Now their relationship has soured. The Phoenix socialite, once married to car dealer JACK ROSS, is embroiled in a dispute with Cali that may end up in…
Dear Dr. Dad: I have lost all communication with my children. I speak slowly and try to be as simple and precise as possible, but nothing sinks in. When they don’t ignore me altogether, they just stare at me as if I were yammering in Swahili, then run off to…
Even without his state police uniform, Van Jackson makes an impression. He is the physical epitome of a state trooper. At six feet five inches and 200-plus pounds, the former cop carries himself with the composed grace of an athlete. Despite the dignity of his well-cut pin-striped suit, however, he…
This is about the passage of time. Here in Arizona, we live in a dream world created by our own imagination. We are, of necessity, citizens of a different country. The television networks have decreed that the real world consists of New York City and Washington, D.C. Unless they subscribe…
The way Governor Rose Mofford sees it, Arizona credit-card customers are going to get screwed anyway. So she and state lawmakers might just as well help the process along in the name of economic development. Mofford supports legislation drafted by lawyers for Security Pacific Bank to “clarify” state banking laws…
When Tom Webb finishes reading a book in his room at the New Windsor Hotel, he sets it down carefully and precisely so the book’s spine is exactly flush with the edge of the shelf on his wooden night table. His own spine is straight, too. And he makes sure…
Got no place to show off your crucifixes-in-a-jar-of-urine and your photos of nekkid perverts? Bring ’em to Phoenix; we’re into weird art. Our city council, for instance, has such a weird sense of art it’s got the downtown art zone confused with the Dead Zone. Strange but true, the next…
“I knew those kids were trouble the minute they came through that door, the little bastards,” fumes the veteran 7-Eleven clerk we’ll call Midge. “You work in these places long enough, you learn to sense it. Or at least I can.” Never having worked in a junk-food fortress, I lacked…
Christina the lawyer had a great idea. It would turn an uneventful trip to the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado into a small adventure. Instead of flying directly to Telluride, we would go to Durango, rent a car and enjoy a scenic drive. The drive took more than three hours…
With his own words, in newly revealed documents, Department of Public Safety Officer Van Jackson makes it very plain that he was not alone in the reign of terror directed at Leon and Jeanette Woodward. The summary of DPS’ internal investigation was obtained Friday after a formal request by this…
Before my son was born, I was immortal. I had a few dozen different lives behind me, a hundred thousand ahead. Croak? Not me. Too damned busy. Then, KA-BOOM! I was a father. Suddenly I felt as vulnerable as the flame on a birthday candle. In the path of a…
It’s so obvious. The Arizona Board of Regents’ decision to drag out its court battle with the local daily newspapers is irresponsible. It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money. Worse, it only serves to delay and accentuate the inevitable verdict against it. The Board of Regents was wrong to cloak the…
Rose Mofford wants a capitol press corps that will sit up, roll over and play dead. And those who refuse to play good little lap dogs? She has unilaterally decided that she won’t consider them reporters. Right now she’s got two on her version of the “nonperson” list made so…
Bill Frieder, Arizona State University’s new basketball coach, sits in an aisle seat on the flight from Durango, Colorado, to Phoenix. Frieder is wearing an oversized white tee shirt. On the back of the shirt is a message announcing to one and all that he’s “Switched to Channel 3.” One…
Wildlife photographer Robin Silver fell for the Mount Graham squirrel when they first met. “Photographing any species–and it doesn’t have to be an endangered species–you fall in love with what you’re taking pictures of,” he says. “There’s no way you can’t. There’s no way you can’t become part of the…
The newest member of the Phoenix Environmental Quality Commission, cited by a backer for his “expertise” on environmental matters, is an attorney for one of the city’s most conspicuous corporate polluters. Doug Jorden was named to the commission last week upon the recommendation of Councilmember Bill Parks and Mayor Terry…
Phoenix police chief RUBEN ORTEGA probably thought he was America’s chief warlord against dope back on February 17, 1988, when he lectured a federal DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION “user accountability” seminar in Phoenix. Instead, he wound up dragging the DEA into a still-simmering court fight over secrecy that makes him–and the…
Sally Tavilla is 71 and still honors her Boston roots when she says words like farm or park. She is a lady who relishes her family. “I brought up five beautiful children,” Sally says, “and they’re a credit to this country.” She and her daughter Jeanette were talking on the…
Fife Symington wants taxpayers to bail out Keith Turley and MeraBank. This bit of fiscal largesse with federal funds comes as the leading GOP contender for governor is trying hard to position himself as the champion of the little guy. In a speech last week in Glendale, Symington said he…
During my first trip through expectant-fatherhood, I was really hoping for a girl. Seemed like the right sex to me. Being a total sports dolt, I was comforted by the probability that I’d never have to show her how to throw a football, explain the rules of ice hockey or…
These days Marvin Cooley keeps working the black-metal gripper with his left hand. Cooley is trying desperately to strengthen his left hand. A stroke he suffered this summer has affected his entire left side. “I’ve got to get stronger before going back to prison,” Cooley said. “I may have to…
City Councilmember Paul Johnson got his election-year dream. Now he’s hoping it doesn’t rain. Earlier this year–with the upcoming October 3 city election looming–Johnson began pressuring the city staff to immediately tear up and repave Dunlap Avenue rather than do the improvements next year as originally planned. Johnson says accelerating…
