Developer wants to build some homes. Neighbors want a say in how development will look. So do city planners, who say developer is asking for too much. Developer winds up getting everything he asks for. Allegations of cronyism ensue. The tiff is typical of the give-and-take that goes on each…
Governor J. Fife Symington III’s criminal case may be decided as much by the type of cars and window shades jurors prefer as by the labyrinth of financial statements and bank memos that the jurors will see. Symington’s defense team has gone to great lengths and expense to develop a…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio loves to point out that his fame has spread beyond the United States, but increasingly, that international scrutiny is less than complimentary. New Times earlier described a London magazine cover story which ridiculed “the Lion of Metz” for his self-promoting (Arpaio brags that he served in the…
No Mercy Arizona was scheduled to execute a mentally retarded man last night. Ramon Martinez-Villareal, found guilty for the 1982 shooting death of two men, was scheduled to die by lethal injection in the wee hours of May 21. A Mexican citizen, Martinez-Villareal suffers from mental retardation and severe mental…
Are Maricopa County’s jails so barbaric that a foreign nation could refuse to give up fugitives bound for Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s gulag? That could be the result when a court in Iceland rules on the extradition case of Connie and Donald Hanes, who are wanted on a charge of felony…
I expected to find standing room only, but there are plenty of empty seats. It’s the day after the trials officially start, but in reality nothing much will happen for a few days. The jury is still being selected. But when the man in the chair is the governor, it’s…
Last week, a local jury said it was not absolutely convinced that former gubernatorial aide George Leckie was a crooked moron. This was surprising news. Leckie, after all, was so intoxicated with the potential for living off the government teat that he once tried to palm off a swanky resort…
KJ’Accuse New Times is cruel and unfair to exploit Kevin Johnson’s life and career with an unproved accusation (“The Summer of ’95,” Paul Rubin, May 8). And to imply that KJ’s career as a mentor to children was nothing but a sick game is ignorant. It is his right to…
Carol Zraket welcomes visitors to her Scottsdale home with a broad smile and the weary words, “He’s in the war room.” But before she can turn to call him, her husband, George, appears carrying copies of the faxes, memos, letters, lawsuits and petitions that have been his chief arsenal in…
Journalist Michael Lewis may be the supreme cynic in an age of press cynicism. His aloofness for political hoopla set the tone of his coverage of the 1996 presidential race in the New Republic. He waxed diffident about candidate Lamar Alexander’s nervous tics, Bob Dole’s vanity and his fellow journalists’…
Arizona Governor J. Fife Symington III finds himself in U.S. District Court, facing 22 felony counts that could strip him of his job and send him to prison for decades. How did it come to this? It’s simple. He lied. He lied some more. And then he lied about the…
Defense Motions Zapped Governor J. Fife Symington III’s hope of creating a circuslike atmosphere at his criminal trial has been dealt a blow by a series of pretrial rulings by U.S. District Court Judge Roger B. Strand. Strand rejected requests by Symington’s defense team to take jurors on a whirlwind…
New Times journalists capture state’s top media awards New Times staff writer Tony Ortega won the state’s top award for print journalism Saturday when he was named 1996’s Virg Hill Journalist of the Year by the Arizona Press Club. New Times reporter John Dougherty was runner-up for the award. New…
Crying Foul I am happy that the girl in Paul Rubin’s article about Kevin Johnson is receiving counseling; it appears she needs it (“The Summer of ’95,” May 8). I work in the mental health field and would like to say that accusations should be taken seriously regardless of the…
The waiting, at long last, is over. The governor of Arizona is on trial. After seven years of incriminating news reports followed by the governor’s vague denials, J. Fife Symington III now sits in front of a jury. Make no mistake. He is guilty. He swindled his mother the heiress,…
Some people have jobs that are rewarding on many levels. Their daily tasks fulfill. They help others, solve problems, right wrongs, contribute to the general good of society and, therefore, to mankind. Some jobs provide stimulating workplaces, environments that are conducive not only to teamwork and camaraderie, but to simple…
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has released records revealing that a company controlled by a business partner of Governor J. Fife Symington III’s family has been under scrutiny by the agency for more than two decades. The company, GAC Produce Company, Inc., is controlled by Alejandro Canelos Rodriguez, a Culiacan,…
Dispatch From Newsweek Every once in a while, especially during a slow news cycle, you can count on someone from the liberaleasternmediaelite to parachute into Arizona and look into natives’ goings-on. These reports from the front invariably read like a bad anthropology field study, marked by cliche, condescension and misinformation…
In a 180-degree turnaround, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has decided to prosecute a man who allegedly raped, beat and choked Kim Boyden in her Scottsdale home last August. And not just in city court, as Boyden was once told. Mike Logan will be tried in Maricopa County Superior Court;…
I am standing in a house at the end of a dirt road within shooting distance of the Superstitions, holding a pair of Elvis Presley’s sunglasses in my hand. They are plated in silver and gold, the glass is tinted a light purple. The letters “EP” are molded between the…
Phoenix Suns fans who were puzzled by the inconsistent play of Kevin Johnson during the playoff series against Seattle should consider this: Days before the series began, an attorney for a 17-year-old Phoenix girl delivered a letter to Johnson. It demanded $750,000 before 5 p.m. on April 28. If Johnson…
Salient citations from recent shows Regarding Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano, who is openly gay: Now this is a guy that could take some hairy-rumped individual out to the garage, bend him over, and do whatever these kinds of people do to each other. And in the paper, he’s wonderful. *…
