Purple LizardWe were bummed when The Gap on Mill Avenue went belly up, but it always makes us even sadder to see a small, independent business go under. That’s why we’re so happy to report that after many years in business, Purple Lizard is still going strong, tucked into a small, packed space at the intersection […]
ASU Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers ConferenceEach year, established writers and hopeful scribes descend on the ASU campus for several days of intensive writing instruction, readings, panel discussions, and book signings. Participants can rub elbows with published authors during a variety of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry classes, ranging from screenwriting and political poetry to gender-identity fiction and travel writing. During the […]
Tempe BicycleGood bike shops are a lot like good bars: They have their own smell, their own special mood. They are not too clean, they are not too new, they are staffed with people who might otherwise not be employed. They are not designed off some corporate template for success, but rather off someone’s obsession. Tempe […]
Long Wong'sThere are things about the old Mill Avenue Long Wong’s we still miss (seeing great local bands, drinking cold beer on the patio), and there are things we definitely won’t (um, how to describe that awful smell that only got worse when smoking was banned?). But there’s no need to be nostalgic at the new […]
Three Roots CafeBelieve it or not, there’s more to Mill Avenue than the main drag you just have to know where to look. Half a block south, nestled into the Maple/Ash neighborhood, is one of our favorite Tempe joints, Three Roots Cafe. Hanging out in the tiny java house is like chillin’ in your best friend’s living […]
The lawyers are scurrying inside the Juvenile Court building in Mesa on a recent morning like shoppers on a last-minute run. They move from the appointment counter toward their courtrooms, lugging briefcases and working BlackBerries, faces scrunched up in multitasking concentration. Small groups are milling outside the eight courtrooms, waiting...
It's not hard to figure out why college students and ethnic restaurants go hand in hand. One demands food that's a cheap, quick, and tasty alternative to instant ramen, and the other is happy to accommodate. So the pickings near the ASU campus are predictably diverse: Mexican, Indian, Ethiopian, and...
Tramps & Thieves' first full-length release (with a whopping 16 tracks) is a lot more rockin' than the band's 2004 Mill Avenue Cowboys EP, with fewer acoustic moments and more straight-up shit-kickin' songs that address issues like the Iraq war, outlaw hippies, and hallucinating in the desert. Songs like "Sidewinder"...
Construction snakes up and down pretty much every street in downtown Tempe, making it practically impossible to drive — let alone find a parking spot — anywhere near Mill Avenue or the Arizona State University campus. This has gone on all summer, and will continue into the fall. Blame it...
I wonder if Damon Brasch could do for veganism what American Apparel founder Dov Charney has done for generic clothing: make it sexy as all get-out. Brasch is the owner of Green, New American Vegetarian, a purveyor of vegan comfort food on Scottsdale Road in Tempe, not far from the...
Listen up, P-Town peeps. When it comes to holidays, Halloween is the shizzle. What other day on the calendar allows you to transform yourself into a pimp, priest, or politician without getting glares from onlookers? Back during your juvie delinquent days, you spent most of the year agonizing over which...
The Spanish PlaceTucked behind the Yucca Tap Room on the southwest corner of Mill and Southern avenues in Tempe, this relaxed and friendly community space is the place where Spanish-language champions and students can sharpen their Latin-seasoned tongues. The bright blue, green, red and orange walls shower The Place with a south-of-the-border warmth in two classrooms hosting […]
The Phoenix homicide detective reaches the crime scene just after 8 p.m. on December 12. A woman has been shot to death behind a warehouse at 40th Street and Southern Avenue, about five minutes by foot from the busy intersection. Her body is splayed on the concrete driveway between the...
James Mullins is talking for the first time publicly about why he confessed — falsely — to killing a 19-year-old woman in Tempe a year ago. His case made headlines for days this summer after Phoenix police revealed a link between the so-called Baseline Killer and the September 2005 shooting...
Is this the best the Democrats can do? The question kept rolling through my mind in the days after Tempe political kingpin Harry Mitchell declared his candidacy for Congress. Mitchell is challenging the sharply listing, Jack Abramoff-stained Republican J.D. Hayworth for the 5th Congressional District seat in November. The race...
New Times has been throwing this bash since 1996, and somewhere along the way, a clever employee must've figured out that early evening is a good time for everyone to come hang out -- night owls and early birds included. Need proof? Just get a look at the 12,000 music...
The lowest point in the relationship between federal immigration agents and Arizona state troopers was the changing of locks and the can of tuna fish. The incident began last year after Dan Kelly, a civilian investigator for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, learned that Phoenix resident Carmen Tolle had...
All right, kids, since we haven't had much of a winter here in the 'Nix (not that we ever do), I've got a cold blast of reality for you. Your rock star aspirations, the getting signed to a major label or even a cool indie, the touring with My Chemical...
It's not uncommon to see art galleries doing double duty as live music venues around town, but music and art museums still don't seem to mix. Not unless you count the unsung jazz and chamber music ensembles that give ambiance to events where guests are more into the cheese platter...
Phoenix has scored another national ranking, and The Bird doesn't mean Mr. Blackwell's "Best Dressed" list, either. According to a list compiled by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, Phoenix is number 17 among the 20 "meanest" cities in the nation...
Finding parking in Tempe is hard, driving down Mill Avenue is frustrating, and we’re pretty sure that Arizona State University is building something to create more roadblocks. City officials encourage Tempeans to “bus, bike or walk,” and at least one group is taking them to heart. Critical Mass, a bicycling...
Saturday night is overrated. More often than not, I find myself having the most fun on a school night. After all these years, there's still a naughty thrill to going out in the middle of the week. Maybe it's because there are lower expectations and people loosen up. Maybe folks...
