Phoenix police officer Franklin Brown Jr. has returned to the scene of the crime.”Right here is where it started,” he says, standing on an isolated two-lane road at the city’s southwest tip, on Lower Buckeye Road between 91st and 99th avenues. “This is where I got shot.” Speaking in the…
Police officers throughout the country have been caught — and some even prosecuted — for falsifying reports of being shot on duty. In Brockton, Massachusetts, a police officer claimed last March that a man had shot at him after a routine stop. The bullet pierced the officer’s jacket, but didn’t…
A Fly in the AnointmentOnce upon a time, Phoenix was known as The Best Run City in the World. That was funny then, and would be even funnier now given the recent antics of Mayor Skip Rimsza, top city administrators and some council members. Except there’s actually serious public business…
A Phoenix city councilman says a top administrator knowingly withheld important information about one of the most high-profile city debates in recent memory: the proposed downtown football stadium. Councilman Doug Lingner was so angry at assistant city manager Sheryl Sculley that he wrote a formal complaint letter to her boss,…
New Boy in TownTalking out of both sides: Clint Bolick, “The Merry Revolutionary” (Amy Silverman, March 7), would merrily use publicly financed vouchers to breach church/state separation, leaving the way open to indoctrinate kids with ultra-parochial religious and cultural beliefs, unscientific notions of science, etc. Clearly the diversion of public…
Everyone has a breaking point. For residents of the Encanto historic neighborhood, it came with a fashion show. Not just any fashion show. This was “Wildfire,” a 600-guest extravaganza showcasing international designer Ralph Lauren, complete with a carnival tent and an amplified rock band blasting music after 11 p.m. less…
Tinkerbell would have been 9 years old next month. The female porcupine, born in 1993 and received by the Phoenix Zoo in 1998, had a pretty easy life. All she had to do was perform for people as part of a zoo educational program. But when her weight became an…
Eric Vogel was terrified to walk from his house. He imagined getting lost and confused. He imagined police arresting him and hauling him off to jail, a place where hulking guards would humiliate him, strip him naked and torture him. Vogel, 36, was paranoid and delusional. He was mentally ill…
Psych WardGoverning principles: I read your column about Joe Arpaio (“Serious Business,” Robert Nelson, March 7). Excellent. I wish and hope you’re successful in getting the word out, but don’t count on it. I agree completely regarding Arpaio, and wrote in a name hoping he wouldn’t be reelected; however, I…
Clint Bolick is cheerful. Not cheerful in the toys-all-over-your-desk, high-five-your-co-workers-at-the-copy-machine way. He’s truly happy. Bolick attributes his permanent good mood to a great home life, but those who know him best — friends, colleagues and even his wife — say it’s job satisfaction that really makes him smile. A decade…
Public RecordsThe Spike wonders what Glendale residents must have thought when they recently found the confidential records of mental health patients blowing through their backyards and businesses. Oh yes. Big faux pas. It seems that someone at the state-funded West Camelback Value Options clinic, 5022 North 54th Avenue — which…
Maricopa County bureaucrats again are dogging the handful of folks who make a living by selling wieners around the downtown Phoenix courthouse. Ed “The Hot Dogger” Haramina and his food-cart competitors recently learned that the county has canceled the vendors’ two-year contracts at the four sites, even though more than…
Joe Arpaio is a psychopath. Arpaio is considering running for governor of Arizona. He’ll announce his decision March 27. If he runs, he’s the front-runner. Recent polls show voters view him more favorably than any other candidate. His name recognition is at 94 percent, 10 percent higher than the leading…
Roller Rugby When the tough get going: Fantastic article (“Murderball,” Susy Buchanan, February 28)! These guys are great! Anyone with half as much body function and twice as much ambition is 10 times the man I will ever be. I had no idea that this sport was growing so fast!…
On a recent Saturday afternoon at the Arizona State University gym, Andy Cohn of the Phoenix Heat lowers his head like a charging ram and powers his way across the floor. Gleefully, he smashes into one of his teammates, an unsuspecting Mike Gilliland, and the clash of metal on metal…
Star StrickenThe Spike is not the most discerning of television viewers. Other than The West Wing and 24, which are actually entertaining, the Spike is usually happy to flop on the couch for Everybody Loves Raymond reruns until it’s time to shop the 10 o’clock news for something that’s not…
As a fierce competitor myself, I can’t help but respect, if not admire, a player who leverages the strength of his opponents in an all-out effort to win the game. Because that’s what Phoenix Coyotes owner Steve Ellman has been attempting to do — use his old enemies in Scottsdale…
Fresh from the Winter Olympics, Dr. Bob Harmison has resumed teaching at Phoenix’s Argosy University, where he is a professor of sports psychology. But he’s still stoked, to borrow a word Harmison heard a thousand times in Salt Lake City during his two-week stint. Harmison served as a mental-training counselor…
Fire StormGreed screed: I was not surprised at all to see the article on Rural/Metro in your paper (“Burned,” Amy Silverman, February 14). Having almost been a “victim” of a career with Rural/Metro, I found your article was too compassionate in its coverage of the company. Rural/Metro has long been…
Let this be stated for the record: Ulises Ferragut Jr.’s mother loves him. Marie Brito says she knew her older of two children was special, even when she and her then-husband, Ulises Sr., were raising him in their native Cuba. She says her son had a rare combination of great…
Squaw Peak PotfallsThe Spike almost hates to break this news since there’s a good chance the uproar will again drown out the reality. But here goes: The Squaw Peak pots are probably coming down off the Highway 51 retaining walls. And, depending on how the state Department of Transportation rebuilds…
Up in SmokeFighting to retire: I loved your article on Rural/Metro and the screwing of its employees (“Burned,” Amy Silverman, February 14). I did not enjoy the treatment the firefighters received; I enjoyed Rural/Metro being exposed for the liars and cheats they are. I worked for them as a paramedic…
