Last week, the Committee to Stop Juvenile Crime--created to tout Proposition 102, Governor J. Fife Symington III's pet diversion--was dealt a serious blow.
Opponents of Proposition 102 filed a Supreme Court challenge to the language of the proposition, claiming it's unconstitutional. Proposition 102 would take jurisdiction over juvenile criminals away from the courts and require juveniles accused of violent crimes to automatically be tried as adults.
The opposition to Proposition 102 is formidable, and includes such heavyweights as Attorney General Grant Woods, Maricopa County Attorney Richard Romley and virtually all sitting judges.
The Flash wonders how the court challenge struck donors who have ponied up plenty for the Committee to Stop Juvenile Crime.
Since it was organized last year, the committee has raised $203,100, records filed with the secretary of state indicate. Between January 1 and May 31, the latest reporting period, Proposition 102 raised $68,100 from a group that reads like a Who's Who of Arizona business muckamucks. A breakdown:
America West Airlines: $10,000
Atlantic Richfield Company: $3,000
Southwest Ambulance: $5,000
Phelps Dodge Corporation: $20,000
(PD had donated $20,000 during the prior reporting period.)
Del Webb Corporation: $10,000
(Del Webb had previously donated $20,000.)
But the most generous of all was Dial Corporation. Under former CEO John Teets' tutelage, Dial offered up $20,000 during the most recent reporting period, plus a previous donation of $20,000 and a $20,000 loan.
And where will all that money go if the court boots Proposition 102 off the ballot? In all likelihood, it won't be returned to the donors--or their shareholders.
The Committee to Stop Juvenile Crime has already spent $180,708; of that total, $136,000 went to pay for the 186,385 signatures the committee gathered to get the initiative on the ballot.
Perhaps donations to the Fifester's legal defense fund would have been more utile.
View to a Kill
When state Representative Ned King, Republican of Litchfield Park, speaks, the West Valley View jumps. King called the newspaper's top brass on July 22 and succeeded in suppressing a story that told of his battle with lung cancer.
John Conway, editor of the formerly feisty weekly, bought King's argument that his health was a private matter--even though King is seeking reelection and, apparently because of his illness, has an abysmal attendance record.
According to the banished article--The Flash got a copy from a former WVV employee--King missed 20 days in the Legislature's last regular session. King could not be reached for comment.
Conway denied killing the story, saying, "We are going to run the story, but it's going to run as part of a package of all the candidates in that district."
But sources tell The Flash the story was unspiked only after New Times made inquiries.
Dewey Love Our Cyberpal? Let Us Count the Votes
Webb Page Confidential, an Internet home page hatched by New Times' own Dewey Webb, has been nominated for Cool Web Site of the Year by People Magazine Online and InfiNet's Cool Web Site of the Day home page.
Webb Page Confidential can be reached by dialing up New Times' online rag (http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com).
Last week, People Online featured Webb's site as its pick of the day, and remarked that Webb is "quite generous in sharing his decades of camp fascination, the artifacts of which are stockpiled in his 'pop culture Dumpster' of an office. Objet of the Week spotlights some choice selections, including such priceless tidbits as an audio clip of Bette Davis' theme to her Grand Guignol classic, 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?' (According to Davis' rap, it had something to do with her daddy.) Much scarier than the movie. Or take a gander at an old Flintstones ashtray, coupled with a must-be-seen-to-be-believed commercial for Winston cigarettes featuring our favorite modern Stone Age family. Now that's educational children's programming."
If you're plugged in, check it out.
Then respond to our campaign of shameless self-promotion by e-mailing a Dewey for Cool Web Site vote to the judges. Point your Web browser to http://cool.infi.net/vote.html and click on "Place Your Vote."
Those of you who aren't online are advised to simulate the futuristic net-surfing experience on Etch A Sketches.
Feed The Flash: voice, 229-8486; fax, 340-8806; online, [email protected]
