Cody Custer groaned and removed an ice pack from his aching back. Clad only in his underwear, he began the laborious process of taping a brace to his right knee. He had a trainer tape his right ankle, then wrap a huge Ace bandage around his thigh, waist and groin...
Claudia Webb can't forget the day her late husband was betrayed by his union. Reed Webb was a new salesman for the U S West Direct Yellow Pages in Phoenix. In 1991, his second year, Webb's sales were near the top of the highly competitive 30-member staff that sold the...
It's said that Sam Coppersmith surprised even himself the night he snatched Arizona's First Congressional District from an incumbent Republican who seemed much better suited to the conservative East Valley district. It was called the upset of 1992, a race so close that Coppersmith, a pro-choice Democrat making his first...
Felix Solis steps down into the hole with a tiny pink box. Clutching it close to him, he closes his eyes and prays aloud. "Lord, I hope you will accept this baby into Heaven, where things are better than they are here," Solis says, his voice cracking. "Please watch over...
An Introduction Since my book, Secret Ceremonies, was published last month by William Morrow, the Mormon church has been up in arms. I have been visited by a local Mormon official who told me that his authority to discipline me "comes from Jesus Christ," and who, on April 25, saw...
Kenneth Wayne Reed keeps meticulous records. He has to. His future absolutely depends on it. Locked in Maricopa County's Madison Street Jail for the last 18 months on felony charges of aggravated assault and kidnaping, 35-year-old Reed cannot meet the $25,000 bond needed for his release on domestic-violence charges. Frustrated...
Brian Flatgard is loose and goofy, wearing an earnest grin and a backward baseball cap over hair that free falls to his shoulders. He lifts a hand-bound book of poems as he steps to the microphone and lets fly: "Thanksgiving yum yum," he reads in an accent as flat as...
Brian Flatgard is loose and goofy, wearing an earnest grin and a backward baseball cap over hair that free falls to his shoulders. He lifts a hand-bound book of poems as he steps to the microphone and lets fly: "Thanksgiving yum yum," he reads in an accent as flat as...
You may think Bo Diddley's rich. You may think Bo Diddley inhabits a Jaggeresque world of limos, laughs and luxury. You may think his membership in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame secures him universal credit for his contributions to the music. If you do, you're wrong. "My life...
Scanning an office decorated with a shoe-shaped planter, a giant, boot-shaped piata and a picture of actor Daniel Day-Lewis as he appeared in My Left Foot, Jeanne Sallman smiles beatifically before offering a rather startling description of her occupation: "You might say I'm running a dating service for the feet."...
With all the hubbub about the downtown baseball stadium--for which Maricopa County taxpayers are expected to pay up to $250 million--it's high time for some perspective. With apologies to Harper's Index, here's what else could be done with a spare quarter-billion dollars: 1. Estimated number of molestation lawsuits Michael Jackson...
The experts agree that mothers do not have a biological, psychological or natural advantage that automatically makes them better kiddie-caretakers than fathers. Obviously, the experts have never watched a guy change a diaper. There are many areas in which men excel. They grow superior mustaches. They can wear boxer shorts...
In nine days, 51 creepy phone calls and death threats were made to Leon and Jeanette Woodward. U S West Communications determined that 43 of those calls originated within state police headquarters or from the home of Department of Public Safety Officer Van Jackson. Subsequent events raise the possibility that...
Louie Jones has been a force on the Phoenix fine-dining scene for what seems like forever. Previous associations with such posh and prestigious places as The Orangerie, La Champagne, La Reserve, Etienne's, Les Jardins, and Cafe de Perouges have earned Jones a reputation as the most recognizable restaurant host in...
"What a dump!" How many times has the phrase crossed your mind as you passed vacant lots, a ratty back yard, derelict strips of commercial buildings? Virtually no neighborhood between South Mountain and Squaw Peak is without a share of blight, as the Phoenix City Council finally acknowledged last year...
Well, we've seen the waning of the Woodstock wankarama, thank you very much. Unless newscasters and the glossies run totally out of filler for the next ten summers, we won't have to hear that story again for a decade. Today marks the year's true dash down the gauntlet of memory:...
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...
It's easy to cuss the Arizona Corporation Commission. The name is so depressingly bureaucratic most people don't even know what it means. And when they find out what the commission does, setting utility rates in this state, the bile automatically starts to rise. Who can forget that Arizona Public Service...
"I'm always nice to Bob Corbin, because if there's one person in Arizona who can ruin your life, it's the attorney general." This observation, made privately by one of the state's most powerful politicians, reveals how much the office has changed since the days when Arizona's attorney general did little...
LS2Moonlight and love songs Never out of date Hearts full of passion, jealousy and hate Woman needs man and man must have his mate That no one can deny It's still the same old story A fight for love and glory A case of do or die The world will...
In late May, only weeks after announcing record losses for a second straight quarter, America West Airlines chairman Ed Beauvais boasted to nationwide airport executives meeting at the Phoenician resort that the airline would soon expand service into Mexico. As one onlooker put it, "The most disturbing thing about Beauvais'...
You're trying to save money. Or maybe you're struggling to make ends meet. Times are hard, but there are a few things you're not willing to give up. Like a meal out with the family or friends every once in a blue moon. But where can you go if you're...
