These days, few students at Gateway Community College at 40th Street and Van Buren are aware of the horrible events that happened at the site more than 13 years ago. On a chilly March evening in 1991, 72-year-old John Lee Sr. and his 50-year-old daughter, Ginger, were tending to their…
drinking problem A public service: Finally, somebody had the nerve to say it! People at .08 ain’t the problem (“How to Drink and Drive and Get Away With It,” Bruce Rushton, September 2). I’ve always believed that this is just a ploy for the legal system — be it the…
Nine days after September 11, 2001, a guy named Joe Deihl from Paradise Valley started a company called Regency Medical Research, Ltd. Within months, Regency had an amazing new product on the market. It was KI-Spray, a small bottle of potassium iodide that users could spray in their mouths when…
If you’ve ever stood in line waiting to pass through security at downtown Phoenix’s county courthouse, you’ve surely uttered a word or two that qualifies as obscene. It’s not that the folks manning the metal detectors and rubbing their magic wand over your body aren’t polite. But the lines –…
With the J-grrl back in the saddle this week after her brief leave of absence (though whose saddle, I’ll never tell), I decide to let the lezzie Eva Longoria pick our party-place du jour. Three guesses where the Jettster wants to lick her lips and twist her hips? The new…
Dancing With the Devil Skinheads, freaks and biker chicks: I just wanted to write in and express my love for your Inferno column. The one on the Palo Verde in Tempe (“Motley Crew,” Stephen Lemons, August 26) was very interesting. Skinheads, bikers and all kinds of freaks in one location…
The canonization of Jerry Colangelo as the savior of Phoenix will continue this week as the local media stumble over themselves to heap accolades on him as he’s inducted September 10 into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Be prepared for full-page spreads in the Valley’s two major daily newspapers extolling…
“JSB is here! Jason just saw him in the parking lot!” In the toy-castle-styled arcade building just east of the water park at Mesa’s sprawling Golfland-Sunsplash amusement center, the news is passed above the din of blaring video games and hollering teens as if the words themselves were a stage-diving…
It’s a fine Tuesday night in the Zona, and Saddam Hussein’s chrome-dome, um, brother-in-law Sheik Samir Hussein is getting his ass beat down by a big-assed Catholic priest in a dog collar known as Father Punishment. The shirtless Sheik had come into the rasslin’ ring at The Sets in Tempe,…
DOUBTING THOMAS Balls to the wall: Your article (“Dangerous Mind,” Paul Rubin, August 26) was very direct, very clear and extremely informative, and I am now a lot more interested in voting. This [Andy Thomas for County Attorney story] is more horrifying news about Arizona politics, but it had to…
Cherry lollipop? Check. Eye patch? Check. Bandage on knee? Check. Loaf of bread open on the passenger seat, next to a half-empty bottle of Scope? Check. Bag of groceries with disposable diapers on top? Check. Driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance within easy reach? Check. Cell phone turned off…
Voters have a golden opportunity to throw 72-year-old Sheriff Joe Arpaio out of office in the September 7 Republican primary — an election that Independents can participate in simply by requesting a Republican ballot. This is far from a meaningless primary. Outlaw Joe is much more vulnerable in the primary…
Next time you head downtown for the First Friday artwalk, don’t be surprised to wait in line to see the art, particularly on Roosevelt Street between Central Avenue and Sixth Street. Even if you easily make it through the door at a gallery, you’ll have to literally rub shoulders with…
Now that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout: The Zona finally starts jackin’ its game up to the minimum of what’s expected from 21st-century party people by extending the drink curfew until 2 a.m. It’s like the end of friggin’ Prohibition, yo! Granted, it’s not like Gotham where you can slam back…
Political Leanings Far from ideal: I have no doubt that Rick Murphy is a man of personal integrity. However, he is still far from ideal for representing Arizona (“Jesus Wouldn’t Do That,” Michael Lacey, August 12). He and Trent Franks are two peas in a pod, and their paternalistic social…
From the street, Tempe’s Palo Verde Lounge looks like the sort of janky, pale brick building that might house a meth lab, a massage parlor, or a drop spot where the mob boys stash shipments of disco doughnuts. The only outward signs of drink-slingin’ taking place are a neon Bud…
Public support for Outlaw Joe is eroding at an astonishing rate as the September 7 Republican primary nears, with more evidence surfacing that Arpaio profited by offering cushy jail space to the wealthy and powerful. The new Jailgate developments come as an independent survey released last week by the Rocky…
In his cruel and unusual 1994 book Crime and the Sacking of America: The Roots of Chaos, Maricopa County Attorney hopeful Andrew Peyton Thomas wrote this: “By publicly incarcerating drug dealers and other criminals, displaying them before their neighbors in large, open-air holding pens with their names and crimes prominently…
How often a car is stolen in Arizona: Every nine minutes, 16 seconds Value of cars stolen in 2002: $377.3 million Number stolen in 2002: 57,668 Number of vehicles stolen in 1993: 33,006 Number stolen in Maricopa County in 2002: 44,180 Number stolen in Greenlee County in 2002: 1 Number…
Editor’s note: John Dougherty’s August 5 column “Dog Day Afternoon” generated more than 1,000 letters and telephone calls from outraged readers. They were mostly from Maricopa County residents, but many came from other locales across the country. Printed here are a representative selection of this outpouring. As usual, because of…
It sounds too good to be true. Just stick the key in, jiggle it around a little, and presto: Any Chrysler product manufactured between 1992 and 1999 will open and start. At first, it is too good to be true. A Jeep. Then a Concorde. Then a Neon. Then a…
We all know how Joe Arpaio serves up justice to average schmucks. He proudly shows no mercy. He subjects them to the vilest of conditions. Death and injuries often result. But it’s a different story for the rich and powerful. If you or yours are in a position to help…
