Published online: Wednesday, January 11, 2006, 3:10 p.m. MST An independent voting-technology expert has discovered widespread problems within the Maricopa County Elections Department that raise serious questions over the ability of voting officials in the nation’s fourth-most-populous county to conduct fair and accurate elections. “Any election where the margin of…
Who Would Jesus Marry? No better than pedophiles: I first noticed John Dougherty’s latest article in his “Polygamy in Arizona” series on the New Times [national] Web site (www.newtimes.com), and as the opening statement introducing the story touts, this may be the “most shocking development yet” in Phoenix New Times’…
Transamerica A beacon of light: I’ve been an avid reader of New Times for years, and I’ve never been disappointed with the journalistic integrity of its writers. This was especially true when I read “The Crying Game” article (Joe Watson, December 22). I’ve known one of the principal subjects of…
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs continued to elude a nationwide manhunt at the end of 2005 as the fundamentalist Mormon municipalities he controls along the Arizona-Utah border headed toward financial disaster. Jeffs, 50, was named to the FBI’s most wanted list last August after he fled the largest polygamist community in…
You cannot slug a cop. It’s that simple. And the police cannot assault prisoners. This simple bargain between law enforcement and the rest of us is one of the things that separates Americans from the denizens of Iraq and every other dusky pest hole. Keeping the scales even on this…
A Tough Break Arms and The Man: This is an issue that a lot of people keep talking about, and it’s getting blown far out of proportion with the main issue completely overlooked: DJ Donnie Burbank (a.k.a. Dr. Father, now a.k.a. Dr. Fracture) had his arm broken by a bouncer…
Hear that squawking? It’s not The Bird. It’s that group we’ve come to know as “downtown artists.” This time they’re not shrieking about city fathers trying to police the lawlessness of their monthly First Friday gatherings (one of which is coming up just next week) along that stretch of galleries…
Fifteen years ago, a strange-looking child suffering from severe physical maladies and acute retardation was brought into the office of Dr. Theodore Tarby. The pediatric neurologist regularly deals with a wide range of serious childhood diseases as a doctor with the state-funded Children’s Rehabilitative Services in Phoenix. Tarby says he…
Growing up on the Navajo reservation in northeastern Arizona, little boys play basketball, torture their younger sisters, and try to emulate their fathers. Everson played with dolls and wore his mother’s makeup. Not much has changed for Everson since elementary school. Two years ago, at 15, Everson got his own…
The Bird’s been keeping a beady eye on the competition of late — and not because it wants to learn how to bore its readers to death. No, this faux falcon has been flying over Cancer Corner, that downtown spot formerly known as Second Street and Van Buren, just outside…
State of Emergency Better late than never: Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your recent “Ambulance Chasers” article (Sarah Fenske, October 27). Ms. Fenske’s story appears, in large part, to be based on innuendoes, half-truths and distortions coming from Southwest Ambulance’s management and union. Until now, Rural-Metro/Southwest has…
There’s an open bottle of Veuve Clicquot next to us as we sip champs to the tune of the Shakira and Alejandro Sanz duet “La Tortura,” deep in the bowels of Phase 54 (www.phase54.com), this dope spot out near I-10 and Elliot Road that’s blowin’ up like George Clooney’s waistline…
It may have looked like a group project to some of the kids in eighth-grade science class. But the chemical compound one 13-year-old girl was pouring from her hand into the small bottle her friend was holding wasn’t listed on the classroom’s Table of Elements. “What is it?” a Phoenix…
One scorching afternoon in June, a cadre of Phoenix New Times writers and editors gathered at a small, dark bar in downtown Phoenix. What better way for journalists to plan a drug series than over cocktails? We knew crystal methamphetamine was a tremendous problem in our community, overwhelming law enforcement…
Crystal Not-So-Clear The Bird wouldn’t be surprised if readers who’ve been following New Times’ series “The Perfect Drug,” on crystal meth in Arizona (the final installment of which is in this issue), are left with a certain distrust of the so-called “facts” presented by our fearless civic leaders. After all,…
The Thandie Newton of P-town and I plan to stay fly ’til we die just like the Dirty South’s Three 6 Mafia, but we also wanna keep it trill, y’all. That’s the combo of “true” and “real.” And I can’t think of a spot truer or realer at the moment…
Judge Not Jurist prudence: In reading about Judge Warren Granville’s attitude on the bench and the issues with the County Attorney’s Office, I say one thing: “Bravo! You go, Judge” (“Judicial Blacklash,” Paul Rubin, December 1)! It isn’t often that one gets to see a truly competent jurist like Granville…
If you’re super bored, or really desperate, you can make crystal meth from Tylenol Cold/Severe Congestion cool-burst caplets. You need denatured ethanol, or acetone, or anhydrous ammonia. You need iodine crystals and red phosphorous. And then you need 16,560 Tylenol caplets — a purchase that alone will set you back…
Pretty, blond, and poised, Jamie doesn’t look like a meth addict. But she’s been using for four years, since she was 19. She smoked some this morning. She smokes some every day. She has to. “I need it every morning to get started, and then on my lunch hour,” she…
As the December 3 Colorado City Unified School District board of governors meeting draws to a close, Alvin Barlow, Arizona’s longest tenured public school superintendent, instinctively opens his pocket calendar to set the date for the next meeting. Barlow flips through the calendar for a few seconds and fumbles with…
Attention, fight fans: The Bird would like to direct your attention to Scottsdale, where anxious strippers are gearing up for a battle that may prove epic. In this corner, the City of Scottsdale, armed with the best legal advice money can buy and a burning desire to save its citizens…
The Meth Plague How to deal: My hat goes off to Maggie Voss and her accomplishments. What she’s done for herself and her family is no easy feat (“Ice, Ice, Baby,” Robert Nelson and Joe Watson, November 24). I know this because my story is very much like hers: hard-core…
