DARK DAYS FOR THE SUNS

The electricity is gone. At this time a year ago, all they had to do at America West Arena was turn down the lights and put the spotlight on the Suns. The crowd would go crazy with expectation. On the sidelines, the Suns subs were on their feet, waving towels…

DARK DAYS FOR THE SUNS

The electricity is gone. At this time a year ago, all they had to do at America West Arena was turn down the lights and put the spotlight on the Suns. The crowd would go crazy with expectation. On the sidelines, the Suns subs were on their feet, waving towels…

FIFE PICKS THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB

Within the hour, Howard Hantman, 50, had been sworn in as a Pima County Superior Court judge. Now the lightly bearded Hantman, looking more like a dashing figure from a woodcut illustrating a 19th-century novel than a lawyer, was encircled by friends and colleagues. More than 100 of them had…

FRISKY COPYS PHANTOM COPY

You should have read this story months ago. Two members of the Department of Public Safety team that guards Governor J. Fife Symington III used their state cars for private business. The officers regularly visited the apartment of a woman who had been a drug informant for them, sometimes while…

FRISKY COPYS PHANTOM COPY

You should have read this story months ago. Two members of the Department of Public Safety team that guards Governor J. Fife Symington III used their state cars for private business. The officers regularly visited the apartment of a woman who had been a drug informant for them, sometimes while…

FIFE PICKS THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB

Within the hour, Howard Hantman, 50, had been sworn in as a Pima County Superior Court judge. Now the lightly bearded Hantman, looking more like a dashing figure from a woodcut illustrating a 19th-century novel than a lawyer, was encircled by friends and colleagues. More than 100 of them had…

LESSEE GO HOME

Looking back, Tanya Becker realizes that she failed to heed a harbinger of what was in store for her. She recalls that when Steve Hart approached her about a lease-purchase deal on her north Phoenix house, “I told him I was so glad that he was going to rent my…

CHARLES IN CHARGE OF ‘BAMA?

Charles Barkley, who’s been making noises about entering politics for some time, made it official a couple of weeks ago on The Tonight Show: After his basketball career ends, the Suns hero will return to his home state and kick some bureaucratic ass. He’s going to run for governor of…

DOWN-HOME SHOPPING NETWORK

Valley channel surfers who stumble upon the nation’s strangest home-shopping show should be forgiven if they mistakenly believe they’ve picked up a TV signal from a parallel universe. After all, how many video merchandisers would dare use dawn-of-television production values, cornball gags and swap-meet bargaining tactics to hawk this one-of-a-kind…

THE R&G SHOULD PLAY BALL

Here’s some advice for Louis A. (Chip) Weil III: Dear Chip, As publisher of the Arizona Republic and the Phoenix Gazette, you can emerge from this stadium-tax deal as the biggest winner of all. It’s no secret your newspaper company owns that white elephant of a warehouse located right in…

IN THE NAME OF HER FATHER

The moment had arrived. For days Robin Morris had been growing increasingly apprehensive about the role she must play on this night. Her part must be played to perfection. She must speak for her late father in a way that reflected her moral outrage at her father’s experience and yet…

ONE SLIPPERY DEVELOPER

It was February 7, 1991. Twilight was gathering on Capitol Hill as J. Fife Symington III faced off with Senator Howard Metzenbaum. The timing couldn’t have been worse. Symington was only three weeks away from a gubernatorial run-off election with Terry Goddard. Metzenbaum had convened a hearing into the failure…

THE SUNS’ EXTERMINATING ANGEL

Kevin Johnson talks like a choirboy. His intentions are always innocent. At least that’s what he always insists later. But never doubt that KJ is the most lethal member of the Phoenix Suns. He is the club’s assassin. KJ’s brutal blow delivered to the face and neck of the Chicago…