By Paul Rubin When word came to us recently that current Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Peyton Thomas underwent a procedure on a shoulder, the first question we had was, “Which one?” Should have known it was the right one. The guy is so conservative that he probably had his left…

By Paul Rubin Mexican welterweight boxer Antonio Margarito’s surprising 11th-round TKO stoppage of previously unbeaten Puerto Rican champ Miguel Cotto was one of the more stirring sporting events we’ve witnessed in a while (at least since gimpy-legged Tiger Woods limped to victory in the U.S. Open over a wonderful journeyman…

When Jose Padilla hears about the latest local police “sweep” against Latinos who may be in this country illegally, he flashes back to his hometown of Brownsville, Texas, and “Operation Wetback.” “I can remember the people running from the police yelling ‘Migra! Migra!” says Padilla, referring to the Spanish term…

By Paul Rubin For the record, we subscribe to the time-worn journalistic adage that information is power, and we also love to check up on people we have in our sights–or not. So when a buddy from Virginia who works in the security industry forwarded us the link to Felonspy.com,…

Suzi Dodt, who sees dead people, is speed-talking about one of her “unidentifieds.” “99-305 has a name, a family, a story, but we just don’t know it yet,” says Dodt, a death investigator with the Office of the Maricopa County Medical Examiner. “It’s amazing and sad to me that no…

By Paul Rubin We love a good lawsuit around here, as long as it’s not us getting sued. We recently came upon yet another one, the July 1 opinion by the Arizona Court of Appeals that reversed and remanded the case of Lloyd F. Breshers vs. the City of Phoenix…

By Paul Rubin When Jose Padilla hears about the latest local police “sweep” against brown people from south-of-the-border, he flashes back to his hometown of Brownsville, Texas, and the government program dubbed “Operation Wetback.” “I can remember the people running from the police yelling `Migra! Migra!” says Padilla, referring to…

By Paul Rubin Abigail Rose Minor was just 34 months old when–according to police, prosecutors and a trial jury–her father locked her into a tox box, where she suffocated after apparently struggling to free herself for minutes. The investigation into little Abbey’s horrific death became part of our 2006 series,…

By Paul Rubin We were sad to learn about the death a few days ago of Bob Eger, a veteran local sportswriter and author who was known to everyone he worked with and wrote about as a consummate professional and genuine nice guy. Egs, as his pals called him, covered…

By Paul Rubin We wrote a sad story recently about an octogenarian named Herman Teague, who’d had the misfortune of going to work as a greeter at a Wal-Mart near the 101 and Bell Road. Teague fainted at work and sustained a bad gash to the back of his head…

By Paul Rubin Been getting a bunch of missives from folks wondering the status of the Gary Karpin criminal case. New Times readers will remember the ubiquitous north Phoenix divorce “mediator” who dubbed himself “Dr. Gary,” the title referring to an alleged doctoral degree from a college in Vermont that…

By Paul Rubin When we named ASU fast-pitch softball pitcher Katie Burkart “Best Female College Athlete” in our Best of Phoenix issue last September, we quietly wondered if it wouldn’t be the kiss of death to the team’s chance of making it to the College World Series the following June…

Herman Teague loved his new job as a greeter at the Wal-Mart Supercenter just off the 101 and Raintree Drive in Scottsdale. It wasn’t about the money, about $180 a week before taxes for part-time work, or the benefits (the company provided none to him). Teague was living off Social…

By Paul Rubin Talk about getting it wrong. Political pollsters in California’s capital city of Sacramento had Mayor Heather Fargo favored to win yesterday’s primary by about seven percentage points over former Phoenix Suns basketball star Kevin Johnson. Instead, K.J. drove right past the two-time incumbent on his way to…

By Paul Rubin Robert Ortloff, who recently was convicted of killing 20-year-old Kathleen Smith at her Tempe condo back in 1984, has been a rather accomplished jailhouse lawyer since his incarceration in 1986 in an unrelated case (sending a mail bomb to a U.S. Army soldier based in Texas). But,…

By Paul Rubin Suns game just finished, as did the season… Heart finally slowing to a more survivable rate, but the inner heart–the one that beats more intensely as the soul of a season slowly reveals itself—isn’t doing so great at the moment. Terrific game when the Spurs weren’t employing…

By Paul Rubin Late one night six months ago, plainclothes Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies showed up in unmarked cars at the homes of New Times founders Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin. The grim-faced cops arrested the men on misdemeanor charges of revealing so-called grand jury proceedings — orchestrated by then-county…

By Paul Rubin The Suns were kind enough to stick New Times up in Section 207 for last night’s fiasco against the San Antonio Superiors. Best to be as far from the action in the 115-99 crushing loss as possible, sitting among good folks who have lived and now are…