In September, Crystal Todd happened to catch a television documentary that surprised her. The program, on the health effects of water damage and mold in homes and buildings, could have starred Todd and her 8-year-old son.For five years, Todd and her son, Connor, lived in the Vista Montaña Apartments on…
Firing Line Editor’s note: New Times’ exclusive interview with the arsonist responsible for a string of fires on the edge of the Phoenix Mountains Preserve has sparked a firestorm of controversy over the paper’s handling of the interview (“An Exclusive Interview With the Preserves Arsonist,” January 25). Staff writer James…
There’s a subpoena on my desk. I’m not named in it, but one of my colleagues, James Hibberd, is. He’s the journalist who interviewed the Mountain Preserves arsonist, then wrote a story about it. [read the story] Hibberd met the arsonist because he and his editors believed the guy might…
The arsonist remembers the day it began. He was mountain biking when he first considered burning down somebody’s house. He had no prior experience with arson, he says. “Hell no,” he exclaims, somewhat offended at the very idea. “I had never committed a crime, period.” And why would he? He…
The man claiming responsibility for the Mountains Preserve arsons provided details proving he is a member of the CSP and demonstrated knowledge about the fires that was authenticated by authorities or subsequent events.Such details include: • The unpublished contents of CSP communiqués sent to several publications. • Previously unreported facts,…
Celia “CeCe” Margaret Doane is best known for her 1971 Miss Arizona title and the Rolls-Royce she drives around Paradise Valley, but the town’s police also know her for her frequent calls — sometimes to 911, often to Police Chief John Wintersteen on his cell phone or at home. When…
ASU’s Manzanita residence hall is a 15-story salute to the wondrous versatility of duct tape.The tape is two and three layers thick on ducts located in the bowels of this 37-year-old modernist nightmare. Electrical and plumbing machinery and conduits are cobbled snarls of gray tape, red rust and black muck…
The beagle puppies used in Dr. Michael Berens’ controversial brain tumor research project (“Screwing the Pooch,” January 4) have been quietly adopted out. Barrow Neurological Institute released the dogs from a Tucson kennel several weeks ago, even though representatives told New Times the dogs were unfit for adoption and would…
Torcher ChamberMatch game: I am reading the article “Burn, Baby, Burn” (James Hibberd, January 11) and I am shaking my head in disbelief over the casual attitude that so many people have toward the arsonist, who feels he is justified in doing this crime to make a point.I do not…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s neuroses are the stuff of legend, the wellspring of his unquenchable thirst for attention. If ego were anorexia, Arpaio would look like Manute Bol.As a lawman, Arpaio has been a scofflaw. Whether he and his charges are lynching, maiming and exploiting suspects, pocketing pink underwear money, illegally…
Mercy MeThe Fifester skates again. Bill Clinton’s pardon of former governor J. Fife Symington III is just one more jaw dropper in a perpetual plethora of plummeting mandibles. They say that time heals all wounds. They also say that it really helps if your wife is heiress to a chemical…
I received the following e-mail from an Arizona Republic insider who shall remain nameless:Employees at The Arizona Retarded were recently dismayed to learn that under its new and ever-so-wise owners, the illustrious Gannett chain, the newspaper’s front page would be whored out to the highest bidder. Perhaps this is a…
Cine CapriceThe Flash trembles, for as in some other large cities, the film critics from Valley media outlets have at last decided to get themselves organized. The Phoenix Film Critics Society, or PFCS, was founded last year, with a small, elite membership, including New Times’ own M.V. Moorhead, Bill Muller…
Being a responsible college student, Larsh Kellogg generally avoided getting drunk before noon on weekdays. But really special occasions warranted really special drinking. For a few days in late January, Kellogg would dash back from his morning class at Arizona State University, load up a car with a few buddies…
Though he rarely sets foot in a courtroom anymore, Barnett Lotstein is one of Arizona’s most high-profile prosecutors. The loquacious attorney appears often on television and radio, serving as Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley’s mouthpiece. As front man with the press and public, special assistant Lotstein holds forth on the…
Most people who feel they’ve been wronged by the cops file a lawsuit or a complaint, or ignore the incident. Joe Soldwedel created a newspaper.The Tiempo-Times won’t roll off the presses ’til March, but it’s already making news in Yuma County — both for its news-gathering methods as well as…
A Lab, A Dog Blind data: I have several comments regarding the story “Screwing the Pooch” (James Hibberd, January 4). First, the research work demonstrated by Mr. Hibberd is extraordinary. It is apparent that he took the time to speak with research professionals with the expertise to understand the issues…
The fact that the Korean War-era ambulance is lumbering along well below the posted speed limit is causing the motorist behind us to become irate as all hell. You can always tell when a driver’s tweaked: His head is invariably tipped back and askew, his mouth works out all the…
“Happy hunting,” says a communiqué claiming responsibility for the firebombings of nine luxury homes encroaching on the Phoenix Mountains Preserve. The mysterious hit-and-run arsonist has violently reduced each house to a scorched effigy of suburban sprawl. And with the latest damage estimates surpassing $5 million, the FBI’s anti-arsonist task force…
Craig Rosebraugh insists he is not the leader; he’s not even a member; he does not order elves to do their elven mischief at construction sites across the country. He doesn’t even have any two-way communication with members, let alone actually meet with them. This is not a hierarchical organization…
A photographic negative of dead Italian fascist Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clarette Petacci, isn’t something you’d expect to find in the laundry room of a Sun City home. But as Morris Berman holds the blackish 4-by-5-inch transparency up to the ceiling light in a room stuffed with papers, a…
Beagle ManiaPuppy love: I was electrified by your “bombshell” on the puppy and mother-dog experiments at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Barrow Neurological Institute (“Screwing the Pooch,” January 4). James Hibberd did an excellent job. He simply must do a follow-up, as this cruel scenario has not played itself out yet…
