Kids. Clerks. Priest. As operator of one of the country’s most successful independent movie-theatre chains, Dan Harkins prides himself on showing some of the most sophisticated, controversial and daring films ever to hit local screens. During any given year, the multiplex mogul can be counted on to present dozens of…
When Jose Saavedra signed up for an Internet account through Primenet, the Phoenix-based online provider, he had no clue that he had set in motion a series of events that ultimately would land him in a jail cell on felony charges. But that’s exactly what happened. A college freshman at…
How many Democrats named Stuart does it take to challenge Congressman John Shadegg? Just one. And that makes Stuart Starky mad. Starky–a shoe salesman originally from Long Island–says Arizona Democratic party officials did everything they could to nudge him out of the primary race in Congressional District 4 and clear…
Picture George Leckie in a Teddy Not all of Governor J. Fife Symington III’s $25 million debt stems from construction-loan defaults and massive legal fees. Our bankrupt and indicted governor also appears to have splurged on undergarments–intimate ones at that. The Flash has reason to believe that the Fifester ran…
There aren’t any airplanes in the sky right now. Nothing but wild blue yonder is visible through the window frames as the afternoon sunlight mixes with tinted glass and softly invades the room. There are plenty of airplanes in here, though. A Flying Fortress, a stealth bomber, a Steerman biplane,…
Snakes Alive I was dismayed by Dewey Webb’s article about rattlesnakes (“Rattle Royale,” July 4). I am not a wild-eyed animal activist. I’ve never burned any laboratories, but I do have a feeling for animals. From the tone of Webb’s article, it seems this writer condones cruelty, vivisection, just unbelievable…
In a better world, June 6 would have been a fine day for Glendale police officer Janis Whitson. That day, Whitson’s immediate supervisor completed his annual review of the 12-year veteran’s performance. “You have been a strong participant in team efforts and have promoted cooperative behavior and team efforts on…
Fourth of July weekend is as festive as ever in the villages of Pine and Strawberry. In Pine, there is a pancake breakfast at the old school. A barbecue at the Senior Center. An arts-and-crafts display. A show put on by local fiddlers on the porch of the community center…
When federal agents arrested a dozen members of the Viper Militia on weapons charges, that was news to Gordon Tunstall of Phoenix, whose fledgling business had just enjoyed its three best weeks since getting off the ground. But it was even bigger news to him when a newscast the next…
Victoria Painter’s story is an all-but-forgotten footnote in the infamous Temple murders case. But its final chapter has yet to be written. In September 1992, the Phoenix resident sued the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and one of its officers, Larry Troutt. The lawsuit included…
A few years ago, the stretch of alleyway at 34th Street between Virginia and Yale streets wasn’t much to look at. Sixteen feet from side to side, used not for trash pickup but for a chain of utility poles, it had become overrun with trash and debris–a four-foot-high junk pile…
Yea, though I walk through the Valley of Jack Chick Publications, I will fear no boredom, for his hysterical story lines and stark images art with me; his lurid, blistering religio-comics like This Was Your Life, The Sissy?, Bad Bob!, Are Roman Catholics Christians? and Where’s Rabbi Waxman? shall comfort…
Easel on Down the Road That Ric Orozco’s former art student Arturo Tinajero, 15, bought an airbrush and not a gun says it all (“Multicultural Stew,” Marc Ramirez, July 11). Ray Woodley Phoenix Teen Spirit I must take issue with M. V. Moorhead’s comments regarding Welcome to the Dollhouse (“Nerd…
Treatment: War of the Roses meets The Money Pit meets The Player. Scene 1: A summer day in present time, early morning, a quiet neighborhood in central Scottsdale. The movie opens in the rambling ranch house of our main character, accomplished screenwriter Steven McKay. The camera pans the house–living room,…
Four girls and four boys are lined up on either side of a short table, their gazes fixed on a projection screen in a classroom at Sutton Elementary in Phoenix’s Isaac School District. The drawing projected there depicts the everyday life, a dinner scene maybe, of people indigenous to Mexico…
U.S. Department of Justice investigation into conditions at Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jails documents what inmates and prison rights advocates have alleged for years: excessive use of force that verges on torture, and severely inadequate medical care. A federal report on jail conditions released last week reveals dozens of…
Suddenly, Eddie Basha is mincing no words. The East Valley grocer lost his 1994 gubernatorial race against Governor J. Fife Symington III without saying much about the incumbent’s financial and ethical problems. Many observers believe this Nice Guy approach contributed to Basha’s nose dive in the final weeks of that…
Dr. Robin Silver, emergency room physician, wildlife photographer, environmental activist and, he insists, fiscal conservative, has filed petitions to run in the September Republican primary against Congressman John Shadegg. As a last-minute candidate, Silver faces a time crunch, name identification problems and the considerable campaign resources congressional incumbency provides. Even…
Grant of Impunity Talk-show hosts and print pundits made great, gleeful note of the story: The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a federal court order that Arizona prisons provide inmates with top-drawer law libraries! “Such gross overreaching by a federal district court simply cannot be tolerated in our federal system,”…
Fife Sentence It seems to me that what the various columnists, letter writers and Fife Symington himself all have missed is a simple point: A person in a prominent position, such as the governor of a state, should serve as a model and an example for our young (“Governor J…
Why did the rattlesnake cross the road? When a diamondback slithered across the dirt road in front of her a few summers back, Sandy Weber didn’t wait to find out. Instead, the adventuresome grandmother calmly stopped her pickup and did what anyone else in her particular business would have done…
On the morning that Todd Hall realized his life was falling apart, he was lying on the couch watching cartoons with his two younger children, Todd Cody, who was 17 months old, and John, who was 4. His two older children were off playing with friends, and Hall was about…
