Altar Ego Church chat: The July 26 article on alleged problems at the two Catholic parishes in Phoenix (“Immaculate Heartbreak,” Gilbert Garcia and Laura Laughlin) really gave this devout, lifelong member of the faith (43 years) reason to wonder how the situation could have been allowed to go so far…
See Ya Later . . . An alligator is loose at the Phoenix Zoo, and that’s no croc. The zoo recently acquired two young gators that had been confiscated from citizens by the Game and Fish Department. One new arrival was promptly killed by an adult gator. The other hasn’t…
By the time the starter trills his ready whistle, and the crowd at the Sydney Aquatic Center begins to hush, and the four hulk-shouldered, body-shaved U.S. swimmers have exchanged a few last looks of anxious resolve, the swimmers will each have won a spot on what may prove to be…
Undoing Time Sources tell the Flash that attorneys for former governor J. Fife Symington III have again pushed back the deadline for federal prosecutors to reindict Symington on bank and wire fraud charges. The government was expected to file charges later this month against the Fifester. But Symington’s attorneys have…
From August 9 to 16, the Olympic swimming trials will be held in Indianapolis, with the top two U.S. finishers in each individual event going on to the games in Sydney. Once there, only the first finishing U.S. swimmer in each stroke, at 100 meters, will be tapped for the…
Since his Olympic triumphs in ’96, Gary Hall Jr. of Phoenix, a free-spirit freestyler who has trained off and on at the Phoenix Swim Club, has endured a number of well-publicized hardships, though the one that’s been least publicly explored is his post-Atlanta falling out with his maternal grandfather, Charles…
Jay Blanchard is exhausted. “Please excuse the bags under my eyes,” he says as he slaps a piece of lettuce on his lunch, tuna on whole wheat. Blanchard was up long before dawn on this late July morning, putting up signs for his legislative campaign. Most candidates would hire out…
The county jail at Dysart and Bell roads in Surprise hadn’t seen an inmate since 1994. Sheriff Joe Arpaio closed the small facility that year because it was inefficient. He was short on detention officers and he didn’t want to waste the taxpayers’ money. But five years later, for just…
Last year, an alleged assassination attempt by gang members against state department of corrections chief Terry Stewart led to the creation of the DOC’s Protective Services Unit. Stewart was so concerned for his safety, according to documents released by the DOC, that he requested a “behavioral plan that would cover…
Tongue Depressor TLSí: We are writing in response to the article “Critical Connection” (Amanda Scioscia, June 29). As caregivers in a community rich in cultural diversity, we were outraged and disappointed in the erroneous, inaccurate and slanted image presented of our emergency department and its staff. The best that can…
The Reverend Saúl Madrid was agitated. Two weeks had passed since a fire charred the interior of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in downtown Phoenix. Ever since the blaze, Madrid, the church’s pastor, had heard questions and innuendoes swirl like buzzards around his head. “They say I’ve been stealing from…
The early evening has left the McDonald’s lobby somewhat vacant. A few patrons are finishing their meals while others are working on a post-meal ice cream cone. A customer comes into the restaurant and approaches Admir Lejlic, the first assistant manager. The customer is complaining about the lack of attention…
After a decade in the Vaginal Vault — Dr. Brian Finkel’s nickname for his medical office — the Phoenix abortion provider is packing up his Elvis memorabilia and his stirrups, his stuffed antelope heads and his speculums, his fertility goddesses and his cases of birth control pills, and moving to…
Mental Hygiene Care package: As New Times notes, money isn’t everything when it comes to Arizona’s lost and antiquated mental-health-care system (“Club Meds,” Paul Rubin, July 13). Despite minuscule results, we continue to hammer the brain-altering chemicals of psychiatry into our treatment modalities and ignore the lack of human involvement…
“There aren’t many Mexican cowboys here tonight,” says playwright Guillermo Reyes, with a hint of sardonic disappointment in his voice. A glance around the room affirms his observation. One lone cowboy sits at the bar, complete with 10-gallon hat and dusty boots. The rest of the cramped, humid dance floor…
White Heat Black lash: Regarding the letter (July 6) written by A. Gene Kelso, the white supremacist: You, sir, and I use the term loosely, are an idiot. First, regarding scientists, you forget about George Washington Carver, perhaps one of the greatest scientific minds in history. As far as mental…
Going Head to Head The Flash has been so caught up in the impending battle between the newly sold Arizona Republic and the Tribune that another possible skirmish in the Valley’s newspaper world was almost overlooked. It seems Echo magazine, the 11-year-old bimonthly devoted to the local gay and lesbian…
The main difference between Sunny Day Real Estate’s 1998 release, How It Feels to Be Something On, and its just-released The Rising Tide, lies in the lyrical content: On How It Feels, singer-lyricist Jeremy Enigk focused his very cerebral and very born-again perspective on a love relationship; on the latter,…
You’re playing music full-time and actually getting paid for it. You’ve got lucrative gigs in and out of state with a guarantee of up to $2,000 per show. And when you return home, it’s always to a packed house. People sing along when you point a mike in their direction…
“I’m old,” says 20-year-old Lynda Sue Dale, nervously running her long, painted nails through her dark hair. “I been old for a long time. I don’t really have a life, a social life, no more. I spend a lot of time in my apartment, staring at the TV or whatever…
Marguerite Kay made headlines around the world in 1996 with her discovery that Vitamin E could help stave off the crippling effects of Alzheimer’s. But during her research at the University of Arizona, the world-renowned scientist also discovered what she believes was a case of the university overcharging on grants…
Marguerite Kay is far from being the only university or state employee to claim reprisals for whistleblowing. The following are synopses of a few cases from around the state. The narratives were assembled using court documents and rulings, as well as testimony and rulings from university hearing panels. Comments from…
