They didn’t put Fife Symington in a Plexiglas box, but the scene still reminded me of the Adolf Eichmann trial. There the fidgeting former governor sat, front-row of the Arizona House of Representatives, face-to-face with his accuser, new governor Janet Napolitano, as she delicately alluded in her State of the…
Last April, the doctors gave James Manak some painkillers and sent him home to die. After months of unexplained chest pain and difficulty breathing, Manak was diagnosed with a rare, untreatable form of cancer called mesothelioma. At 81, he wasn’t so shocked by the death sentence, but he was surprised…
Last September 22, veteran mental-health advocate Jack Harvey looked at a visitor from his hospital bed and got to the point. “There’s so much to do still,” Harvey said, “and I’ve just been one guy trying my best to help things along. I think folks ought to know that, if…
Judge Not Jurist prudence: As a lawyer and longtime student of his opinions, I read your article on Stanley Feldman with interest (“Judging Stanley,” Amy Silverman, January 23). Any honest person who is familiar with his opinions should at least admit that Judge Feldman was very bright, but was a…
For the past 20 years, a liberal Jew from Tucson has had as much impact on life in Arizona as anyone. While Republican governors were being impeached and indicted, while conservative legislators were whining about gay bowel disease and creating the alternative-fuels budget disaster, Arizona Supreme Court Justice Stanley Feldman…
First off, The Spike wants to thank all of you who were truly moved by the plight of the five baby desert tortoises in the path of the new Arizona Cardinals stadium, as reported last week in “Super Bowl V,” a story by freelance contributor Rubén Oman. The story, which…
If new information in an inmate-beating case is any indication – and if there’s any justice in this world – Sheriff Joe Arpaio should someday get sized for a pair of pink underwear of his own. A little background: In late December, I wrote about the strange case of a…
Ruffled FeathersA man after our own heart: I had to twice check the date on the front page while reading about the supposed effort by Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill to circumvent laws prohibiting the removal of desert tortoises from their natural habitat (“Super Bowl V,” Rubén Oman, January 16)…
Father Patrick Colleary has done his time. And we can only hope that the county attorney finds enough evidence to eventually force Bishop Thomas O’Brien to do his. Colleary was freed from the Madison Street Jail last week after charges of sexual abuse against him were dropped by County Attorney…
The beleaguered Wilson Elementary School District, which recently saw two of its three board members removed from office by the state for widespread improprieties, is again being rocked by investigations and accusations charges that recently elected board members say are politically motivated. The latest flap is a continuation of the…
On a recent sun-spanked morning, the founder of Ladmo Park Chicano Chronicle slinks into Starbuck’s, sporting an active cell phone and a ferocious attitude. The notoriously elusive Chicano cyber activist slips into a seat at a side table, his back to the door. Despite the friendly corporate setting, he shuts…
The controversy over the alleged doctoring of an image of Mars by an Arizona State University research center is exploding like a supernova. The backpedaling and finger-pointing among a once-unified group of researchers claiming the government conspired to cover evidence of life on the Red Planet is as interesting as…
Breaking PointHip-hopped up: I just had to write and make a point about your article “Robot Wars” (Jimmy Magahern, January 9). Breakin’ isn’t hip-hop. The scene isn’t hip-hop, never was. Sorry, just not the case. The electronic dance music culture is where it’s at now been for a while, too…
Like an Arizona Cardinals fourth-quarter rally that typically stalls just short of pay dirt, the team’s long pursuit of a new football stadium and the Super Bowl is in serious jeopardy. New Times has learned that construction of the $355 million multipurpose facility, scheduled to begin in days, could be…
Country ComfortThe Spike used to have squirrel pelts with a 12-gauge shotgun hole in the side tied with twine onto mesquite branches hung on the guest-room wall. Their little heads and tails used to give The Spike nightmares, almost as much as eating their tiny, deep-fried legs. Squirrels, incidentally, taste…
In the last place anyone would expect to unearth hipness the Arthur Murray Dance Studio in central Phoenix one of the West’s biggest annual hip-hop cultural events is halfway through its weekendlong stint. In a school cafeteria-size room normally reserved for slimming seniors with herniated disks, nearly 700 kids, most…
The Spike loves a superhero. In this case, that would be Roy Solaski, 72 years old and disabled but still fighting the good fight for truth, justice and the American way. Solaski is waging war against a collection agency (a true American villain) in federal court (totally the American way)…
As the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, it’s business as usual at Privé, a new player in the Valley’s hip-hop nightclub scene. The music is thumping, rattling the wall it shares with Seamus McCaffrey’s with such force that liquor behind the bar threatens to topple. Privé’s staff has…
Struggling to Stay AfloatWater gates: I wish to clarify a couple of key inaccuracies in Quetta Carpenter’s article, “Kid Drownings” (December 26), specifically those regarding the KSLX/Fulton Homes Fence Watch program. KSLX (100.7 FM) created the Fence Watch Program in the spring of 2001. Instead of giving away cash for…
The Year of Living Dangerously Cinema 2002 counterbalanced a treacherous world. In order to distill the essence of a year in cinema, one must first appraise the year itself. In a word, 2002 was about strife. Why? Mainly because some of our leaders are stupid and/or insane. (We’ve all been…
Ten. Now there’s an arbitrary number for a best-of list. Kinda limiting. What about 11, 12 and 13? Didn’t they matter? Completely in the interest of self-indulgently trumpeting la crème de la crème of 2002 cinema without throwing down a laundry list here’s my traditionally unorthodox tip-top lineup, sorted mainly…
In all, a far better year than any in recent memory, so much so that it feels impolite and irresponsible to choose a mere 10 best among the annum’s offerings. This list remained in flux ’til the last possible moment; five seconds ago it featured, among others, Signs, Full Frontal,…
