Fan Mail Diamond in the rough: Thanks for the good piece about our champion Arizona Diamondbacks (“Pitcher Perfect,” Paul Rubin, June 20). It was a story back in 1999 about Buck Showalter that turned me on to “the free paper with all the advertising.” I appreciate the occasional sports piece…
Chuck Kniffin steps out of the Arizona Diamondbacks dugout into the late-morning sunshine. The team’s new pitching coach is accompanied by Randy Johnson, one of baseball’s most towering figures, physically and by way of achievement. It’s mid-May, early in the season, and Johnson wants to tweak his pitching windup, to…
Imagine the western United States without power for six months. No computers, no phones, no air-conditioning, no refrigeration, no manufacturing, no American Idol. The devastation to the U.S. economy would make September 11 look like a fender-bender. Al-Qaida likely has the technology and know-how to make this nightmare real, says…
Sexual Tension Low blow: As always when portraying a controversial figure or group, I see the New Times has apparently managed to dredge up an extreme critic of Ina Gregory’s Quodoushka workshops in the course of writing its feature article on Harley Reagan (“Sacred Orgasm,” Susy Buchanan, June 13). I’m…
The Spike was glad to see Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio take a break from busting chops last week to get his own chops roasted, albeit by a cast of political B-listers: state House Majority Whip Robert Blendu, House Speaker Jim Weiers and Phoenix Coyotes owner Steve Ellman. The purported…
Lucy didn’t pay $1,200 and fly across the country just to watch naked strangers in cowboy hats probe their anuses. A widow and business owner from the Deep South, Lucy says that, since her husband’s death, she has been fascinated with spirituality and is intent on exploring a variety of…
Years ago, The Spike went to Haiti. En route, The Spike met Sammy From Miami, who owned both a wig factory and a large villa in Port-au-Prince. Sammy was well-known in the casino at the Royal Haitian Hotel, an oasis of jet-setting opulence in the midst of a city of…
July 4. Independence Day. At Bank One Ballpark, the World Series champs will take on home-run king Barry Bonds and his San Francisco Giants in a battle of National League titans. Forty-five thousand fans, easy. Forty-five thousand suckers, easy. Suckers? What other sort of spineless sots would let their lovers…
Hidden Agenda Pickin’ problem: Gee, where were the picket signs and holier-than-thou shouts from the members of Tri-City Baptist when Dr. Ralph Stanley played at Nita’s Hideaway recently? (“Deathbed Conversion,” Darren Keast, June 6) I didn’t realize that he was a degenerate, a bad influence on me, not to mention…
Richard Mallery is a master of the art of the deal. A Fullbright Scholar and Stanford Law graduate, Mallery is entranced with the power of words and the allure of drama. “I’m a fuzzy who deals in metaphors,” Mallery says, employing a term used at Stanford to describe liberal arts…
Rebecca Kastl wraps her long fingers around a coffee mug and lifts a latte to her lips. The steaming brew fogs her glasses, for a moment obscuring her sky-blue eyes. Kastl, 34, is articulate and bookish, but she’s no geek. Currently working as a network engineer, she is serenely confident…
The Spike recently stumbled across another good reason (like we need one) to trade in J.D. Hayworth for someone who actually has a lick of sense. Turns out the Republican congressman is hawking “official” J.D. Hayworth schlock on his campaign Web site. Like the Official J.D. Hayworth T-shirt. At $15,…
Church BusinessSex, lies and the Catholic Church: Thank you for your continued excellent reporting on the past and current state of affairs in Bishop O’Brien’s office (“Blame Game,” Robert Nelson, May 30). As a member of the church, I must tell you that the depth of the continued sanctimonius deceit,…
Hangin’ County Attorney Rick Romley has a message to any citizen who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle: If you accidentally injure someone, you’ll do hard time. If you accidentally injure a cop, you’ll do double hard time. If you recklessly injure someone and you are a cop, chill…
Jeff Newton is looking for office space. Nothing fancy, just a table and chairs, a good desk lamp and a caramel double-shot latte waiting when he walks in the door. For the past four years — nearly every night since January, when he quit his waiter job at Olive Garden…
The new message recorded on the information line at Duncan Family Farms is straightforward, but veiled. “Due to operational issues outside of our control, we are temporarily suspending activities in our farm yard. Our farming operation is continuing as usual; this suspension is only for the farm yard activities.” Given…
The Metropolitan Arts Institute, downtown Phoenix’s well-regarded charter arts school, will be moving to new digs in the middle of the school year. The school is being forced out as part of the city and landlord Jim Kaufman’s plans to preserve historic buildings at the former Phoenix Union High School…
As most bishops nationwide begin digging themselves out from the avalanche of priest sex scandals, Bishop Thomas O’Brien seems intent on digging himself deeper. O’Brien’s latest outrage of many stems from a column I wrote three weeks ago about two women’s accusations of sexual misconduct by Father Patrick Colleary, an…
Coaching StrategyThe good guys: I just wanted to thank you for a great column regarding the so-called “abuse” scandal at Mountain View High School (“Ode to Coach Busken,” Robert Nelson, May 23). As a former Toro (Coach Parker era), it was nice to see another viewpoint other than the trash…
Annie Lopez gives as good as she gets. Offend her and you’ll likely find yourself starring in her artwork. An example at hand of her cathartic approach is a piece she created last year featuring the silhouette of a woman and the legend You Are So Judgmental, inspired by a…
Buddy Strong sauntered through the throng during an intermission at the Cricket Pavilion last Sunday night, looking for friends and family there to celebrate his homecoming. The 21-year-old Phoenix native was about to take the stage as the keyboard player for Usher Raymond, one of pop R&B’s biggest young stars…
Phoenix aviation department officials are considering canceling an $800,000-a-year contract for a security services company owned by Phoenix city councilman Michael Johnson because the company has failed to perform its duties. Aviation director David Krietor says a decision will be made in the next week or so whether to seek…
