Considering the head-spinning frequency of its lineup changes and the sole authorship of its songs, Whiskeytown has no reason to continue now that leader Ryan Adams has released a solo disc, other than its cool name and the fact that there’s probably a contract somewhere with Adams’ signature on it…
“URGENT NEW INFORMATION!! PLEASE FORWARD TO RESPONSIBLE PARTIES OF THE BANK ONE BALLPARK SAFE OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT!!” So began a stark, and somewhat bizarre, letter that was faxed on May 16 to Arizona Diamondbacks attorney Brad Holm. Ramon J. Cook, a construction engineer from Texas, had been hired to review…
San Carlos — Margarite Faras sits at her dining room table weighing the cost/benefits of her weaponry. The old snub-nose .38 is handy but about as accurate as a blunderbuss. The high-powered rifle is deadly beyond 30 yards but worthless in close quarters. A sawed-off 12-gauge would be best, but…
News that the Arizona Board of Accountancy took serious action last week against Arthur Andersen LLP, a multinational accounting firm, for allegedly ignoring and covering up fraud within the failed Baptist Foundation of Arizona was “the first ray of sunshine” in a year for Fred and Betty Ordorica. The Ordoricas,…
The final act in Judge James McDougall’s career occurred last month, when a state disciplinary body reprimanded the former jurist for having been derelict on the job. “[McDougall] admitted there was evidence of delay in matters pending in his court, and such delay resulted from his inadequate supervision of his…
Cause and EffectCommon ground: I want to let you know that I think your article about Dennis Burke and Arizona Common Cause was unfair (“Lost Cause,” Amy Silverman, December 7).In my 3,200-mile walk across the U.S. that ended earlier this year, just after my 90th birthday, Dennis and others in…
Have you noticed the haze hovering over the Valley? Attribute it to exhaust venting from smoke-filled rooms where bureaucrats, civic boosters, lawyers and business types are plotting to get a $335 million football stadium built on their turf. Voter approval of Proposition 302 has triggered furious competition among communities that…
Feathered FiendsTitanium — one of the Air Force Academy’s peregrine falcons — zips just over the heads of students from Tempe High School’s honors biology class. The raptor is about to snag a piece of meat on the end of string being swung by his handler when all hell breaks…
Desolation is available in bulk around much of Riggs Road, that stretch of two-lane highway south of Phoenix that cuts a path through the Gila Indian Reservation. Too long on a desolate road can do something to you. Objects start to look inconsequential and hollow. Polished cars become rushing blurs…
If Vic Chesnutt is the Faulkner of contemporary Southern music — brooding and gothic, with a strong thematic emphasis on the dark conflicts at work within the human soul — then Victoria Williams bids fair to be its Eudora Welty: at once optimistic and wistful, forgiving of human faults, both…
In mid-October, the big story in the Phoenix Latino community was Ernie Fernandez. Fernandez, 25, had been arrested in 1997 on one count of first-degree murder and one count of child abuse, both in connection with the death of his girlfriend’s two-year-old son, Ricky Robles. From the start, Fernandez insisted…
Gila County sheriff’s detective Tom Rasmussen is not pleased to receive my call. “You’re going to write about this and blow our cover totally up,” he complains. Yes, I am. Cover tends to disappear when you bust someone for Internet sex crimes, especially if that someone works in a state…
For the better part of two decades, Felicia Fahr was the Valley’s Queen of Queens, a flame-tressed temptress who ruled the local female impersonator circuit with stiletto heels, sequins, lethal talons and, as more than a few colleagues can attest, a tongue to match. Arriving in Phoenix from Los Angeles…
Arizona Common Cause — the local affiliate of the national watchdog organization — quietly closed its doors December 1. The abrupt end to the longtime Arizona grassroots lobby raises questions about who really made the decision to close Arizona Common Cause, and, given its lack of effectiveness in recent years,…
Customer Disservice Claim jumper: A brand-new J.D. Power and Associates National Auto Insurance Customer Satisfaction Survey shows State Farm among the top three U.S. auto insurers and the only major national insurer in the top three. This high policyholder satisfaction rating is consistent with the fact that more State Farm…
Chillin’The Flash and entourage are more than fashionably late in arriving at the autoMATIC art and performance space, which is located in an old warehouse at Ninth Avenue and Jackson. It’s a dark neighborhood teeming with dark characters. Ambient derelicts. They meander everywhere, in every direction, as if they have…
Karl Whitmire takes in strays. Cats, usually, but sometimes a dog. Once in a while, even a person. Billy Lyster was a stray of sorts — cute and sweet but not too quick, Karl remembers. And young. That was 13 years ago. Karl was 35, Billy 21. A friend asked…
A few hours after finding his wife dead in their Ahwatukee home, Brian Eftenoff sat down with a homicide detective. He appeared distraught over Judi’s death. “She was blue, like somebody beat the shit out of her,” Brian told homicide detective Joe Petrosino at the downtown Phoenix police station. “I…
Rosa Perez de Lopez is a housewife, mother and criminal alien. But these days, her kids are on their own with homework while she sits in Nogales, Sonora, thinking about the mistakes that led to her deportation.In April, four Immigration and Naturalization Service agents knocked on George and Rosa Lopez’s…
Abiding Faith Hide and seek: We, members of the Christian Faithful, apologize for the lateness of this communication. However, it does not lessen our appreciation of your coverage in New Times of the controversy involving Father Saúl Madrid, Bishop Thomas O’Brien and the Catholic community/Latino parishioners (“Immaculate Heart Break,” Gilbert…
“They misunderestimated me.” — George W. Bush, November 6, 2000The probable ascendancy of George W. Bush is incontrovertible proof that America loves a dolt. This does not mean that Dubya will be a bad president. It’s entirely possible that this great country desperately needs a dunderhead just now — someone…
Castle CashSmall wonders never cease. The Phoenix City Council actually took some initiative on Tuesday, overruling a committee of citizens and asking voters to spend bond money to acquire land around the venerable Tovrea Castle. Part of that acreage, held by a Tovrea family trust, is in escrow for sale…
