Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade allies with a dubious business partner

Between bites of braised lamb shank, Richard von Houtman — or, as his black American Express card reads, Baron Richard von Houtman — holds his iPhone sideways to display a recent call. It's a Chicago number alongside the name "Siohvaughn." As in Siohvaughn Wade, the ex-wife of 27-year-old Miami Heat demigod Dwyane Wade.

"We spoke for 45 minutes," boasts von Houtman, a Fort Lauderdale transplant. Traces of a haughty British accent linger after 20 years in the States. "She says she's going to send photos of herself with bruises after being beaten by Dwyane to... full story >>

Kidnapped McKinney Man Gets an Up-Close Look Into Nigeria's Oily Heart of Darkness

Larry Plake was just outside the control tower on his way to bed aboard the Cheyenne, an oil barge anchored six miles off the coast of Nigeria, when he heard the shots. A veteran rig worker for Houston-based oil and gas contractor Global Industries, Plake, a Texan through and through, had just finished his evening shift and was in a bad mood after dining on a subpar version of African-style barbecued spareribs. At first, the "pop pop pop" sounded like someone lighting a blowtorch. But the deafening sound of bullets ricocheting off steel and bursting through the metal sides of the ship... full story >>

Caution: A herd of bull elephants is coming to the Denver Zoo

Raw testosterone leaks from slits on either side of their broad faces, running in rivulets down the wrinkled folds of their gray skin like liquid sideburns. The smell is acrid; one elephant researcher even described it as "evil." It's a stench that, when mixed with the potent urine constantly dribbling down the backs of their thick legs, can turn stomachs from several hundred feet away.

The foul-smelling secretions are a harbinger of a very special time in a male elephant's life, a time worthy of its own young-adult novel, something with a title like Are You There, God? It's... full story >>

It’s a dirty job nabbing horny guys in the park, but somebody’s gotta do it

A balding, middle-aged man sits in an Oldsmobile, parked trunk first in a spot in a Penn Valley Park lot. It's lunchtime midweek, and he's eating tacos from a fast-food bag. Trash is piled high in the backseat. The Oldsmobile and the surrounding asphalt, if viewed from the top floor of the glaringly white One Park Place condominium tower at the southernmost edge of the park, would appear as a mere fingernail scrape against a Crayola-green landscape. The grassy humps of the 130-acre park ease up to the grounds of the World War I Museum, where the Liberty Memorial's grooved monolith... full story >>

Dwyane's Disaster

Between bites of a braised lamb shank, Richard von Houtman — or as his black American Express card reads: Baron Richard von Houtman — holds his iPhone sideways to display a recent call. It's a Chicago number alongside the name "Siohvaughn." As in Siohvaughn Wade, the ex-wife of 27-year-old Miami Heat demigod Dwyane Wade.

"We spoke for 45 minutes," von Houtman boasts, traces of a haughty British accent lingering after 20 years in the States. "She says she's going to send photos of herself with bruises after being beaten by Dwyane to Pat Riley."

That's Heat... full story >>

Meet Bob Fletcher: Ramsey County's most controversial cop

Bob Fletcher is a man under siege, but you wouldn't know it by looking at him.

Fletcher proceeds through the Ramsey County Sheriff Department's third-floor offices with the detached ease of a man strolling through his own living room. With his Roman nose and deep-set eyes, he bears a passing resemblance to Fred Gwynne, of Munsters fame.

"This is it," he says, motioning to the fluorescent-illuminated surroundings with a quick sweep of his right hand. Given his reputation, you expect to see a smoke-stained bulletin board scrawled with esoteric flowcharts detailing the... full story >>

Arpaio’s Busts of Illegals at Popular Valley Water Parks Are All Wet

"It's about time and it's great. It's kind of like the shot fired at Concord in the Revolutionary War, the shot heard around the world."

State Senator Pearce was referring to Maricopa County sheriff's deputies raiding two popular water parks, Waterworld Safari in Glendale and Golfland SunSplash in Mesa, a few days earlier.

Heavily armed deputies executed search and arrest warrants at the parks after an investigation that began with a tip from a former Waterworld... full story >>

For Entertainment Purposes Only

On Dec. 22, 2008, Deputy City Attorney Jerry Threet sent a sternly worded letter to one of the owners of a strip club at 220 Jones Street in the Tenderloin. Operating under various names — first Club Vixen, then Pink Diamonds — the club had racked up a record of safety and permit violations over the past two years. It had done so in defiance of the San Francisco Entertainment Commission, the seven-member board of political appointees tasked with regulating local nightclubs.

Overcrowding, fights, and gunplay had already led the city attorney's office to write no... full story >>

Extreme Makeover: All-Star Edition: St. Louis is cleaning house for the midsummer classic, but is it, well, lipstick on a pig?

The last time a swarm of TV cameras, talking heads and newspaper reporters descended on St. Louis, they were all abuzz about Sarah Palin. Leading up to the vice-presidential debate at Washington University in October 2008, Barack Obama characterized the difference between the policies of John McCain and George W. Bush as "lipstick on a pig," an ill-received remark that some said was a veiled reference to the soon-to-be ex-Alaska governor.

Next Tuesday President Obama will throw out the first pitch at the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and an even larger media horde... full story >>