Phoenix News Blog

Pizza, beer and lobsters? The lobster claw game at Bostons's Pizza Kitchen in Tempe.

The Love Maine Lobster Claw, a product of a Maine based company with distributors in Phoenix called "Love Maine Lobster," is popping up in bars around Phoenix; here's how it works: It's nearly identical to crane games found in arcades and carnivals, where players navigate a robotic claw over a sea of stuffed animals, toys and other novelties, with the hopes of retrieving a prize for a first-date or a stuffed animal for a little sister. Well, replace the toys with live Maine lobsters and you have The Love Maine Lobster Claw.

Sports nutritionist Doug Grant was convicted of manslaughter in the bathtub-drowning death of his wife, Faylene, by a Maricopa County Superior Court jury a few minutes ago.

The so-called Mormon murder case (Doug and Faylene Grant, pictured, were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) went to the jury Thursday, March 5.

Grant originally was indicted on one count of premeditated first-degree murder in the mysterious 2001 death of his wife, but prosecutor Juan Martinez threw a curve at the defense team late in the trial when he asked the judge to allow the jury to consider lesser charges -- specifically second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Grant's defense attorney, Mel McDonald, fought hard against the inclusion of the lesser charges, but Martinez won out.

More to come on the conviction -- which could carry a maximum sentence of 21 years in prison, if the jury finds there were aggravated circumstances -- when we know it.

Who could possibly think it'd be a good idea to build an over-sized statue of a stereotypical, sombrero-wearin' lazy Mexican out of sand and put it in the middle of the desert?

The far-out cats at Arizona State University's Future Arts Research, that's who.

As New Times writer Kathleen Vanesian covered in the paper's March 5 edition, the college continues to use a mix of public and private dollars to pay a bunch of artsy-fartsy types to think and maybe, if they feel like it, create something (or hire someone else to create it).

It's finally in the homestretch at the closely watched first-degree murder trial of former Phoenix Suns nutritionist Doug Grant, and the whole thing almost caved in Monday.

Many of you reading this have been following this weird murder case, which we reported on in great detail before the trial started last November.

Heads up: We will be doing a blow-out on the remarkable goings-on after the verdict, if jurors are able to agree on Mr. Grant's guilt or innocence during what promises to be an intense deliberation.

Here's a brief version of Monday's events, which involved the Captain America-looking dude in the photo, Gilbert police Sergeant Sy Ray.

Ray's machinations are at the heart of this complex saga by virtue of his biased and short-sighted investigation into Mrs. Grant's tragic September, 2001 death.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez tried to paint murder defendant Doug Grant's current wife Hilary as a co-conspiring, manipulative, slutty, cold-blooded, gold-digging, backstabbing floozy during hours of tense testimony Wednesday.

  Doug Grant, a onetime nutritionist for the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks, is accused of killing another of his wives, Faylene (that's the late Mrs. Grant with hubby in a July 2001 photo) back in September 2001.

We have written extensively about this tragic and most unusual case, and will publish a follow-up story after the jurors finally decide Grant's fate, probably in early March.

Judge Margaret Mahoney allowed the blustery Martinez wide latitude to verbally assail Hilary Grant during his direct examination.

The veteran barrister has endlessly badgered witnesses averse to his cause during this trial, which started last November. Martinez has been more than happy to exploit the rare opportunity afforded him by the judge to be especially rude and confrontational when he sees fit--which has been often.

The county pathologist who performed the autopsy on alleged murder victim Faylene Grant in 2001 told a rapt jury yesterday afternoon that he could find "no evidence to support this being a homicide."

Dr. Arch Mosley, a former Maricopa County assistant medical examiner now working in Coconino County, made the startling comment at the end of an hours-long cross-examination by Mel McDonald.

The veteran barrister is representing former Phoenix Suns nutritionist Doug Grant in this high-profile first-degree murder case, now in its third month and the end nowhere in sight.

Grant is accused of murdering his wife at their Gilbert home in September 2001 by drowning her in a bathtub after plying her somehow with an overdose of the sleep aid Ambien.

According to prosecutors, one of Grant's alleged motives for homicide was to free himself to hook back up with a onetime love interest (and current wife), Hilary.

We explored the ins and outs of this tragic and fascinating case in a two-part series before trial, and plan to publish a postmortem, as it were, after the jury finally determines Grant's legal fate (hopefully before the temperature hits 100 again).

Now, seems Joe's threatened Joe by publishing his address on the Web. But first a little background.

The arrests came a few months after Arpaio's pal, County Attorney Andy Thomas, sicced his moneymaking private attorney Dennis Wilenchik after us.

Wilenchik then had demanded a ton of information from us in so-called "grand jury" subpoenas, including the names, reading habits, and other stuff about the folks who read this rag on our Web site.

Not in this lifetime, fella.

We remember Glendale cop Matt Brown as one of the better public information officers. Brown always was straight-forward and responsive, and had a sense of humor. Even when was in a hurry, all you had to do was mention Ohio State football and he'd suddenly find all the time in the world to chat. 

Matt dropped a copy of his new self-published memoir, Hats And Ties: Police Stories From Glendale, Arizona, And Other Excerpts From My Life (the cover of the book's pictured) by New Times' offices recently and we just got a chance to spend some time with it.

It's a hoot!

Hot Topic is selling Twilight shwag, but the homemade fashions were much more popular this morning at Tempe Marketplace. The crowd for the 10:30 movie was strictly 30 and over (except for the toddlers and babies eager moms hauled along -- hey, this was local author Stephenie Meyers' crowd, The Moms) but as we were leaving, The Teens were lining up for the early afternoon shows.

Lindsay Komlos, 17, a Coronado High senior, was all about Edward. Her pal Angela Kredlo, 18, an ASU freshman, prefers Jacob. (See them in their tees, above. And for more Twilight pics, see our slideshow from last night.)

Komlos and Kredlo promised they weren't ditching class, but I know plenty who ditched work (hey, I was there in an official newsgathering capacity!) to get an early glimpse of the much-touted movie, and the woman behind us hooted when she spotted our hometown girl, author Meyer, in an appropriate cameo, halfway through the film.

Last night, South Park did its own Twilight episode, complete with an, um, interesting take on Scottsdale.