People have portraits made of their babies, right? Babies take considerable preparation and require lots of loving care and regular checkups. Plus, you always have to keep an eye on their fluids. So it makes sense that some people might want to have formal portraits made of their automobiles. Right?…
Distressed that her baby was born minus an ear and with a disfigured skull, a mother went to court in 1982. She sued her former employer, Research Chemicals, claiming the company caused the birth defects by exposing her to dangerous workplace chemicals while she was pregnant. For 24 years, the…
Here is how the police investigate a fellow officer. In the midnight hour of January 28, two uniformed patrolmen from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) pulled over seventeen-year-old Jeffrey Dawes and his sixteen-year-old passenger Aaron Carstens. The teenagers had led the state troopers on a freeway chase where speeds…
Larry Debus is perhaps the highest-profile criminal defense lawyer in town. He draws more than his share of the big criminal cases. His batting average is extremely high. Walk into court with Debus at your side and your chances of walking out a free person are excellent. Debus is one…
Frankly, I’m touched by the huge number of entries we’ve received for the “Name-the-Baby Sweepstakes.” Of course, I could look at it another way and be appalled by the unmitigated greed of people who’d go to all the trouble of filling in and cutting out the entry form, addressing an…
Special message to readers from Cap’n Dave: This is the second installment of my special guest-review program, by which I goof off for several weeks and have my friends do all the work, at least until the new serious restaurant reviewer punches in on March 14. This week it’s Tom…
Look closely at any city in the United States today, and you will see the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the twentieth century’s greatest architects. Many of the low-slung designs which dot today’s suburbs developed from his “prairie house” concept. The triangular roof he designed for a Unitarian…
Is he or isn’t he? Only his mail carrier knows for sure. The ornery SAM STEIGER had vowed to decide about running for governor when he returned from the Orient last week. Well, he returned and he didn’t decide. Steiger told us, “It’s much more probable now.” But he was…
Note to readers from Cap’n Dave: The honchos here recently got the big idea that I would be the perfect person to do the long Cafe reviews during the transition between the last first-stringer and the next one. I know it looks easy, but it isn’t. The long ones are…
You’d have thought Keith Turley was defending the town’s virgins from cowboys hungry after a long stint on the range. How dare these rustlers from Oregon come to Arizona and try to despoil our biggest company. He blustered what an “insult” this was; how these interlopers were just “opportunistic.” From…
Karen Ann Law didn’t know she had a “namesake” in Phoenix until last July. But this is not a cute, heartwarming story about two pals with the same name. It’s a tale of giving credit where credit should not have been due. Karen Law’s discovery has led to a War…
Unless you’ve had your head in the oven for the past week, you’re probably aware that the 34th Annual Pillsbury Bake-Off was recently held at the Pointe at South Mountain. Inspired by its presence in our town, I rummaged through a stack of old Better Homes and Gardens magazines in…
Feathering your nest: To most, it’s just a cliche. To the board of directors of Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, it was an economic strategy. Nothing so illustrates how the “homeboys” did business than how they dished out $50 million in “venture capital”–money loaned for speculative investments. More than half, or…
It doesn’t bother me that my brother-in-law calls me Mr. Potato Head. Nor do I mind that no one ever leaps to my defense. What’s really annoying is that, the older I get, the less defense there is to leap to. To illustrate my point, I ask you to imagine…
“I had rather be a dog than the prime minister of a country where the only things the inhabitants can be serious about are football and refreshments.” –George Bernard Shaw The real political infighting never changes. We never learn about the brutal behind-the-scenes business until too late. But this time…
It is not enough to bury your son. Before the earth has settled upon your boy’s casket, you must read that your seventeen-year-old was a juvenile delinquent. Then you must be attacked in the state’s largest newspaper as bad parents. Everyone you know, all of your relatives and all of…
“When I got out of the army, I was working as a bouncer at a club back home. My family knows the Crowders, and I seen Crowder’s dad at K mart. He told me about this place out here. We hooked up, and Crowder asked me if I wanted to…
As the young players of the Phoenix Roadrunners strap on their gear and stretch their sore legs, coach Garry Unger skates graceful laps around the ice with one of his stars, Bruce Boudreau. While the men glide along during practice at Tower Plaza’s ancient rink, they tap a puck back…
Harvey McElhanon has put a lot of change in his jeans with his famous Arizona institution: the necktie-slashing western steakery in North Scottsdale known as Pinnacle Peak Patio. Since the 1950s, it’s been a regular on the tourist circuit, pulling in busloads of folks from all over the world who…
The simple truth about Terry Goddard is that he is not electable as governor of this state. The fact that he would be a disaster in that role is secondary. Like everyone else who sees through him, I find the mere possibility that Goddard might be our next governor at…
Now that state liquor boss Hugh Ennis is moving to revoke the booze license of the notorious crack outlet Club 902, the only question left is: How did the saloon stay open so long? Police Chief Ruben Ortega knows that the buck stops at his desk, which explains why he’s…
It’s almost time! Burkett Child No. 2 will soon be pulled, kicking and screaming, into the real world. And frankly, the parents are too damned busy to thumb through the stacks of baby-name books they bought the first time around . . . giving you the honest-to-God chance to win…
