The $1 Building Anyone sifting through the public records of tangled real-estate transactions conducted by the Baptist Foundation of Arizona will soon begin asking questions: What would possess a religious foundation to pass up the opportunity to acquire a $1.9 million office building for $1? Why would that foundation turn…
About a year ago, Julia Roberts was a guest on Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio. Near the end of the show, craggy host James Lipton put her through his standard 20 Questions routine, profound stuff like, “What’s your favorite curse word?” When Lipton asked Roberts what she eventually hoped to…
Modern Rock: 1. The Sport Model This four-piece Tempe band evokes all the mid-’60s hyperactivity of British power-pop with enough ’90s crunch to avoid sounding like a retro anachronism. The members inked a deal with locally based indie NMG Records last October, and they’re putting together tracks for a full-length…
Last year, Maricopa County employee Yolanda Robinson reported her co-worker, Joe Coulter, for sexual harassment. Apparently her complaints have been warranted–and then some. County officials refused to release an investigation into Coulter’s behavior toward Robinson. But they did offer up a redacted copy of the written reprimand Coulter received as…
Two months ago, celebrity wardrobe stylist Philip Block addressed an audience of clothing marketers, retailers, buyers and designers at Magic, the U.S. fashion industry’s annual summit in Las Vegas. “In the era of the too-perfect supermodel,” he said, “young consumers relate more and more to performers who look like them,…
The Sounds of Violence Dan Rather was standing at the food trough at downtown Phoenix’s magnificent Orpheum Theatre before last week’s television gabfest about children and violence. Between Texas-size gulps of Brie and bread, the veteran newshound held court with the anchorstruck about covering just about every major story from…
When Dana Weick decided to register his car online earlier this month, he had no reason to suspect that his credit-card number, its expiration date and his home address would be made available to the public. Weick expected a Web site affiliated with the government and run by IBM would…
The nature of this column demands that I begin by explaining my reason for writing it. I have written before about abuses of power by police and courts, and now I’m going to write about it again. But in this case the victim was me, and I want to state…
Hogan’s a Hero As an advocate with the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, I had the good fortune to work for Tim Hogan during his tenure as executive director. Tim is as described by Michael Kiefer in his article (“Timely Tim,” April 9). He is also a…
Chartered to raise funds for religious charities, the Baptist Foundation of Arizona and its web of subsidiaries have neglected good works in favor of financing real-estate empires for insiders, investing in highly speculative land deals and lavishing generous salaries, offices and automobiles on staff. While giving a pittance in philanthropic…
Organicide: If you’re one of the growing number of folks who makes a point of buying organic produce, the news is grim. For more than 20 years, through no-nonsense state laws and rigorous, independent third-party certification, organic growers have kept careful control over what can and cannot be called organic…
Central High School’s ringer is coming down with the flu. Albert Cho is ingesting fluids as quickly as he can, but it isn’t doing much good. In the big competition tomorrow, he knows he’ll be in the grips of a fever. Even healthy, Cho would hardly be intimidating. The slight…
In order to understand the audited financial statements published annually by the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, New Times hired Robert Mroz of Barrington Consulting Group, Inc., a national firm that specializes in financial analysis and forensic accounting investigations. Mroz, a vice president of the firm, is based in Phoenix. The…
On March 23, the Baptist Foundation of Arizona hand-delivered a letter to New Times in response to written questions. The letter, signed by Chairman of the Board Berry Norwood and BFA President William Crotts, included an introductory section, which is printed here: This letter is the written response of the…
He’s Not Joking Sheriff Joke Arpaio’s crack PR staff can’t get the Crime Avenger out of the publicity tailspin of the past few months. After years of doing his cheerleading, the mainstream media have begun to portray him accurately, as a blowhard whose jail innovations are more effective at getting…
The legal skirmish between a local pro-life group and the City of Phoenix is now in the hands of a federal appeals court. Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White heard arguments about the city’s bus advertisement policy on March 12 as part of a three-judge panel of the Ninth…
Economic development. Downtown revitalization. A big league city. The Bank One Ballpark was rammed down the public’s gagging throats with the promise of this and much more. Everyone would benefit from the rain of dollars created by the $356 million stadium, from the sole proprietor to the corporate titans, promoters…
The girl is 12, but looks older. She wasn’t born here, but she’s American. She sounds like an American. She left Nigeria when she was an infant, and has no memories of the place. She attends school in Phoenix. Xaviera Makinde has a long, thin body, large eyes and a…
What’s Up, DOC? In your recent article “Custody Battle” (Chris Farnsworth, April 2), you inaccurately describe as a “settlement” the recent agreement between the Department of Corrections and attorneys representing inmates in protective segregation. It was nothing of the sort. Rather, the department and the inmates’ attorneys simply agreed to…
The bell that House Speaker Jeff Groscost rings to summon legislators back to the House floor sounds alarmingly like a door-chime rendition of the theme from Jeopardy!. At jeopardy on this particular day (some weeks ago) is the school-finance bill, and the esteemed House members are hammering out its final…
Joe Valiente, 27, professional rapper, takes a long hit from a short joint and peels back a window curtain in the rear lounge of his luxury tour bus. Ten feet away, on a grimy sidewalk in downtown El Paso, a line forms along the brick edifice of Club 101. Whooosh…
The euphoria sweeping through 50,000 fans cheering as the Bank One Ballpark’s roof retracted on opening day to unveil a crisp night sky splattered with fireworks came only after a $300,000 last-minute modification to the sensitive roof mechanism. No one with the massive construction project knows whether the latest fix…
