Faced with a series of trials, an Arizona official turns up the public relations machine to full tilt, launching a string of populist initiatives meant to soften his image. Governor J. Fife Symington III? No, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. In recent weeks, Arpaio has announced such innovations as a…
The heart of Governor J. Fife Symington III’s criminal defense has been punctured by his own jottings. It would seem that only an emergency transplant by Symington’s defense team can save him now. But if the defense team, led by John Dowd, must continue to rely on compromised witnesses such…
Fife and Bum Corps Fife Symington and his illegitimate fiefdom are taken to task thanks to Michael Lacey and John Dougherty (“Ode to Joyce,” Michael Lacey; “A Colossal Liar,” John Dougherty, May 15). Symington is just a microcosm of the malaise since the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. He is…
Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. Not only because I do not have Lou Gehrig’s disease, but because it has been my privilege and pleasure for the last 90 weeks to write the column that you are now reading. All of that will…
Leopard skins, tikis, martinis. In its day, Scottsdale’s Safari resort was the big bwana of Valley luxe. Under the hotel’s imposing porte-cochere, valets dodged lethal tail fins as they struggled to keep up with an endless stream of late-model gas guzzlers. In the resort’s continental-style restaurant, fashionably dressed guests oohed…
Iolanda and Pasquale Ranalli immigrated to New York from Italy in 1953. Middle-aged and poor, they had modest aspirations–to raise their three children, and then to save enough money for a happy retirement in America. But life in America was more of a struggle than they had envisioned. Unable to…
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…
