I’m perched on a stool at The Merc Bar, a bucket of vodka-Red Bull before me, with the superstylin’ sounds of Britain’s Groove Armada pulsing through the stereo, and — if I get any more relaxed — Mary-Kate Olsen’s bony butt could knock me over by bumping into me. Jett’s…
Arpaio’s Dumb and Mean Joe’s gotta go: Three cheers to John Dougherty. Your article was the best news I have read in a long time (“In the Crosshairs,” June 24). It’s truly grand to see people like County Attorney Rick Romley stand up to Joe Arpaio and not prosecute the…
Blair Sato edges his white ’95 Nissan 240SX up to the front of the line, out in front of about a dozen other cars waiting their turn to race around the wide oval of a racetrack, and grins. “We’re next,” he says, tightening his grip around the steering wheel and…
Want to throw the fear of God into Phoenix elected officials, downtown business tycoons and their self-serving cheerleaders at the Arizona Republic? Want to get them to finally pay attention to you, the little guy, whose taxes keep getting sucked up into massive big-box projects that line the pockets of…
Joe Blows Capitalizing on an opportunity: Outstanding reporting in your story on the sheriff (“In the Crosshairs,” John Dougherty, June 24). I worked for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for 13 and a half years, and I knew within the first week of his being elected what an ass he…
Curators at the Arizona State University Art Museum are planning an exhibition of contemporary art titled “Democracy in America,” just in time for the presidential election this fall. And, not coincidentally, just in time for the third and final presidential debate, scheduled to take place just hundreds of feet away,…
How’s this for a get-rich scheme? You get elected to public office, say, sheriff. You start scowling like John Wayne and jam the jails full. You put the cons in stripes and house them in surplus Army tents, where four guards oversee 1,800 inmates. Your detention officers beat up prisoners,…
For six years, hot dog vendor Hernan Rivera played hide-and-seek with county health inspectors. Sometimes the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department inspectors would pop up unannounced at one of the three hot dog carts Rivera has stationed throughout Phoenix. They would peek inside at the rows of bacon-wrapped Sonoran-style hot…
I’m all alone in the ‘Zona this Saturday night. Jett’s jetted off to NYC for a little vay-cay, leaving me by my lonesome in P-town. (Sigh.) Never thought I’d admit to missing 116 pounds of bitchy lipsticker, but I reckon I do. Thought I’d stay home, sip Hennessy, and play…
Go Ask Alice A loyal listener: Wow! I guess you’re not a fan of Alice Cooper’s radio show, eh (“Alice in Revolver Land,” Brendan Joel Kelley, June 3)? I read your article, and between bong hits I couldn’t stop laughing. Funny stuff. I’m actually writing to you because I do…
Linda Saville leans across the table in a downtown Phoenix restaurant and recites the pledge she made at the moment her brother was acquitted of conspiring to kill Sheriff Joe Arpaio. “I swore I was not going to let this happen to someone else,” she said about that fateful Friday…
Dora! Dora! Dora! Think piece: Okay, which is it? Dora Schriro is bad because she coddles prisoners, or she’s good because she’s come into right-wing-nutville Arizona with a liberal attitude toward corrections (“Dora’s Darlings,” Bruce Rushton, June 3)? It seems that your writer wanted to have it both ways, and…
I’m situated at the bar at TT Roadhouse, a pint of Harp before me in a frosty glass, awaiting the Pink of P-town to show her pretty lipsticker kisser. Suddenly, the Jettster slaps my back, a vodka-rocks in one paw and a pint of her own in the other. Apparently,…
Scott Holden walked into court on May 2 certain of victory. He was representing Diane Brauch, whose husband, James, had fallen in a Scottsdale nursing home and ultimately died from his injuries. The facts of the case were horrific. Left unattended for hours, James Brauch fell and shattered his leg…
Robby Hammock remembers his every glorious hop, skip and jump into the arms of Randy Johnson after the Perfect Game last month. “I know I looked like Mini-Me out there on the mound, but I was so flippin’ excited,” says Hammock, the unlikely starting catcher of the Arizona Diamondbacks and…
Private Practice Patients and prudence: Rarely am I ever so moved by an article that I feel I must write in, but your story on the Havasupai really touched me (“Indian Givers,” Paul Rubin, May 27). I am a registered nurse and have been in the operating room for 12…
It’s a hot, humpalicious night in the ‘Zona, and yours truly’s pounding down pistachio at the local Baskin-Robbins. Suddenly, a fembot frame darkens my dish. “Knew I’d find you here,” says the Jettster. “We have to work tonight, Porky. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be on a diet?” “Yeah, I’ve…
The central Phoenix dance studio has all the charm of a prison cell — with ugly curtains — but it pulses with sex and sass and sweat. Bass shakes the floor as Ellen Rath takes the lead, pounding out a routine to Missy Elliott’s “Pass That Dutch.” Their tight bodies…
Antonio Berumen spends most of his rehearsal time upside down, spinning and bouncing and bending his body into various positions — all of which appear equally painful. His fiercest skill: hopping on his right hand. His record: 75 consecutive hops. In April, Japan’s Nippon TV network flew the 22-year-old b-boy…
Technique is Jessica Jesse Jackson’s strong suit — a rare trait in hip-hop. She hammers out each move with cool precision. The 27-year-old, who joined Nebellen in February, has had plenty of practice: dance lessons, gymnastics training, cheer competitions on ESPN . . . even a gig at Disneyland, dancing…
For many teenagers, high school is an exercise in blending in. Francesco Caban directed his energies elsewhere. He joined the dance program at Arcadia High, then the cheer squad — both times, the only boy. Caban says he endured a lot of name-calling. Once his classmates saw his intensity and…
Les Du Mouchel is not used to standing still. He’s been mimicking the moves of Michael Jackson since age 3 and has shaken his money maker — literally — as a resident dancer at Axis/Radius, CBNC, Sanctuary and Club Bash. But these days, the 22-year-old is stuck at a standstill…
