The Spike has tried for years to get Phoenix Coyotes owner Steve Ellman to return phone calls about his wily financial maneuvers that led to the needless destruction of the Los Arcos Mall in Scottsdale. Not to mention his subsequent hoodwinking of Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs to drain the city’s…
From guest editorials in the Sunday paper to letters read to congregations across the Valley, Bishop Thomas O’Brien has been on an aggressive campaign to sell himself as a longtime progressive leader in the fight against pedophile priests. In reality, O’Brien should instead be confessing to nearly 20 years of…
Though it’s proven in the past that adversity tends to strengthen its resolve, the Phoenix Heat Quadriplegic Rugby team (“Murderball,” Susy Buchanan, February 28) found no glory in taking second at the national finals two weeks ago. At the United States Quadriplegic Rugby National Championship Tournament, held at Metro State…
Every Tuesday evening, Paul Hamra leaves his jewelry store in Scottsdale and drives across town to Si Kenig’s house in central Phoenix for his weekly Ping-Pong lesson. Paul parks his Lexus in the driveway, knocks hard and loud on the front door, then peers through the window to see if…
A boy who died in an apparent suicide at an Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections facility was locked in his cell for more than a week at a time and complained repeatedly that a staff member was touching boys inappropriately, according to internal ADJC documents. ADJC has released almost no…
The Spike took a road trip to Cave Creek and beyond recently, which meant dodging hundreds of aging fat guys who can now afford pricey, tricked-out Harleys and, apparently, a week off work for an outlaw biker rally. The motorcycle maniacs had gathered, against the wishes of town officials, as…
Clean SweepDiscriminating evidence: In your article “Cleaning House” (Susy Buchanan, April 4), what relevance does this have to the story: “Rosie Alvarez looks like a delicate little thing, with a firefly waist, full breasts and willowy limbs. Her face is tiny, too, framed by dark tendrils that match her full…
Phyllis Hansen-Day, the chief clerk of the Maryvale Justice Court, had strong ties to one of the Valley’s most lethal street gangs. The questions now facing investigators: How much did she help that gang as chief clerk? And how much did she really know about the murder in her home?…
Black HoleThe Spike has been most interested in the state’s effort to snag the International Genomics Consortium project even though The Spike has only the vaguest notion of what a genome is. Still, even The Spike has been able to grasp that this is another of those projects that requires…
City SlickerThe straight scoop: After reading the article “Exalted Ruler” (John Dougherty, March 28), I noticed that the reporter reversed two paragraphs, which distorted what I had said. To set the record straight, I would like to point out that a few years ago I did receive some complaints from…
At first glance, the group assembled at the pizza joint in a Mesa strip mall seems as docile and diverse as a citizenship class. Clustered in groups of twos and threes at bright blue Formica tables, they glance around the room conversing quietly in Albanian, Spanish, Vietnamese and English. From…
Check, PleaseThe Spike was intrigued by recent campaign finance disclosure records filed by Jan Brewer, the departed Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chair who quit that office to run for Secretary of State. It seems that more than 40 jail employees coughed up more than $5,000 in cash at a…
Department of Public Safety Sergeant Rudy Buck is truly an army of one. Buck has the impossible assignment of making sure the thousands of private security guards working in the state are properly trained and licensed. And that makes Arizona residents some of the nation’s most vulnerable people when it…
Color Barrier Civil rights: In your most recent issue, the subject of black-on-white racism by the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World lodge was clearly stated (“Exalted Ruler,” John Dougherty, March 28). I have been at the lodge and have witnessed this activity and feel that…
At 1:35a.m. on a hot July night last summer, an undercover state liquor agent shelled out $7 to a doorman named Willie to gain access through the back door of one of the oldest speakeasies in the city. Although the bar at the William H. Patterson Elks Lodge at 1007…
Phoenix City Councilman Michael Johnson’s private security business is under state investigation for sending unlicensed security guards to Sky Harbor Airport and two community airports also operated by the city, New Times has learned. The company, NKOSI Incorporated, has a $600,000-a-year contract to provide security guards at Sky Harbor, Goodyear…
Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza and his city council cohorts (all two of them) continue to provide the most entertaining show in town. So The Spike just had to grab a ringside seat at last week’s city council meeting. What a show. Co-conspirators Rimsza and councilman Mike Johnson managed to dupe…
An iguana living on the Phoenix Zoo’s Arizona Trail recently was maimed after animal handlers inadvertently left a heating pad in the reptile’s cage, causing second- and third-degree burns over most of its lower body. The iguana, nicknamed Stumpy, was so badly burned that its tail had to be amputated…
The Chamber In defense of the defenseless: Thank you for your well-balanced and thoughtful column regarding Eric Vogel’s alleged mistreatment at the hands of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies (“Torture Chamber,” Robert Nelson, March 14). As an advocate for mental health consumers and a member of the National Alliance…
Phoenix police officer Franklin Brown Jr. has returned to the scene of the crime.”Right here is where it started,” he says, standing on an isolated two-lane road at the city’s southwest tip, on Lower Buckeye Road between 91st and 99th avenues. “This is where I got shot.” Speaking in the…
Police officers throughout the country have been caught — and some even prosecuted — for falsifying reports of being shot on duty. In Brockton, Massachusetts, a police officer claimed last March that a man had shot at him after a routine stop. The bullet pierced the officer’s jacket, but didn’t…
A Fly in the AnointmentOnce upon a time, Phoenix was known as The Best Run City in the World. That was funny then, and would be even funnier now given the recent antics of Mayor Skip Rimsza, top city administrators and some council members. Except there’s actually serious public business…
