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Consumate consumers should shop Phoenix

Local First Arizona and Mayor Phil Gordon have teamed up to encourage shoppers to shed holiday their dollars locally from Dec. 8 through the 15th, aka Shop Phoenix Week.

It’s a two-pronged pitch from LFA’s executive director Kimber Lanning and Gordon: Avoid chain stores and buy unique local products while propping up the city’s tax base.

Everyone should consider this, because this group has the city’s best intentions at heart. [Full disclosure: My company, Forrest Media, is a member of this LFA.] The premise is that if local dollars are spent on companies based here, more jobs and economic opportunities will be created than if we spent our Christmas bonsues at the Wal-marts of the world.

If you’re a greenie, then think of it this way: Buying less imported/chain goods and more local products reduces your shopping habit’s carbon footprint. It also promotes local businesses instead of encouraging more big-box retailers to move here and create more urban sprawl.

If you’re a policy wonk, then think of it this way: Shopping for local goods keeps local sales tax revenues flowing in your city. In this case, that’s Phoenix, whose leaders are poised to trim about $250 million from the budget because of the economic downturn brought on by the credit crises and a downward spiral in consumer spending. In simple terms, all those people buying Nintendo Wiis in Phoenix stores may help keep a city park green.

Or as Gordon says in a recent press release:

“Local businesses throughout Phoenix have been an important part of the City’s economic development and in these challenging economic times, we are asking our residents to make buying decisions that can have a greater positive impact where they live.”

A press conference for Shop Phoenix Week will be held Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at the light rail stop near Central Avenue and Washington Street Downtown.

Fake divorce lawyer gets 15 years

PHOENIX — A former lawyer was sentenced to 15 years in prison for bilking thousands of dollars from divorcees.

Gary Karpin, 57, was disbarred from practicing law in Vermont in 1992. Afterward, Karpin began posing as an Arizona divorce attorney under a business he called “Divorce with Dignity.”

In early October, a jury found Karpin guilty on 23 counts of theft and one count of fraud after he scammed his “clients” for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Ten of these victims testified against Karpin at the sentencing. Many requested the maximum possible jail time.

Clissy Landreaux, the first victim to speak, said the money she lost to Karpin caused lasting damage to her finances, affecting her ability to pay for everything from her college-age son’s tuition everyday expenses.

“The defendant will never understand the effect he had on my life,” she said. “Victims were the nails, Mr. Karpin was the hammer. And he nailed everything he saw fit.”

Leaning on a cane, Gina Niedzwiecki walked up to the podium carrying a copy of a letter she’d written detailing her five-and-a-half-year financial and emotional “ordeal.” Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and therefore unable to work, Niedzwiecki was forced to declare bankruptcy after she paid Karpin nearly $90,000.

Her case was spotlighted in a January 2005 Phoenix New Times exposé that spurred other victims to come forward.

“I can’t even afford airfare to visit my father before he passes away,” Niedzwiecki said. Both of her parents have “extensive health problems,” and her terminally ill father is not expected to live more than a few weeks.

She wanted both jail time for Karpin and restitution. If she is not reimbursed by Karpin, she says she won’t be able to keep the Arizona home she shares with her two daughters.

“Money was his motivation, and I believe money should be one of the major consequences,” Niedzwiecki said..

Five people spoke in defense of Karpin, including his sister, who flew in from Vermont. Through tears, she spoke to Karpin’s character. “My brother may have made some mistakes,” she said, “but he is not a bad person.” Karpin’s daughter also testified.

Asked to comment before the sentence was announced, Karpin broke down repeatedly as he apologized for “violating the trust” people placed in him. “Whatever sentence the court imposes on me, I will accept it,” he said.

Karpin will be credited for 194 days he has already served in jail. After he finishes the rest of his 15-year sentence, Karpin will be placed on probation for five years and required to pay related fees. A separate hearing will address restitution.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Warren Granville, who presided over the sentencing, said that Karpin “tainted the profession” by posing as a lawyer.

“As one of the victims said, you come to a professional at a time of need, and you breached that trust over and over again,” he told Karpin. “At their most vulnerable point in life, you kicked them when they were down.”

A civil case has also been filed against Karpin.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

What Black Friday?

For several years, the phenomenon known as Black Friday has held little meaning for me. The day after Thanksgiving Day has usually been one of leftovers and, yes, more football. Which begs the questions: Can one get enough turkey and football?

This year, seeing that the ASU-UofA football game had been pushed back one week, I decided to see what this Black Friday thing was all about. And I have to say, it was no big deal.

Now in full disclosure, I am not a shopper. "Doorbusters" mean nothing to me. They’re just more junk that either A) breaks down after 6 months or B) spends the rest of its life in obscurity in a junk drawer. ["Oh, there's that _________ from Sears!"]

This year, I was amazed at the lack of craziness that the MSM was hyping. I slept in until 10 a.m., then went shopping around 11: 30 with a list my GF and I had created. We went in this order: Macy’s, Sports Authority, Ulta, Office Max, Sears, Target and Sears (a different location had the gift we were looking for). We were eating Thanksgiving leftovers and watching the Arkansas-LSU game by 3:15.

But everywhere we went, there were no real lines. The only place that was fairly packed was the Apple Store at the Biltmore (OK, so I snuck away from Macy’s). Other than that, it was pretty ho-hum.

Based on the "doorbuster" stuff that was gone and the small crowds we did see, I came to this broad conclusion: Many big-box merchants didn’t offer very good deals, people were still holding back because of the economy, and if they were spending money, they were spending it on technology (i.e., a noticeable absence of Nintendo Wii, external hard drives and removable memory stick and anything Apple).

I would love to hear about other Black Friday experiences. It just didn’t live up to the hype, and thankfully, had no tragic endings like this story .

Phoenix photo radar ‘islands’ and you

Anyone who has used the freeways in the Phoenix-Metro area in the past few months has seen the steady increase in speed cameras placed there (hopefully without the accompanying evil "flash").

That was then. This is now, as they say, and now is getting ridiculous.

The cameras mounted on the sticks are seemingly being strewn up everywhere. There are clusters of them along the southbound lanes of State Route 51 that, in my opinion, drivers have caught onto. I’m calling them "islands," and together, they’re like one big "archipelago" of cameras. It’s kind of like the Galapagos, only, you know, less cool.

But the nice thing about these devices – if there is a nice thing, other than their ability to control speeds, I guess – is that the signs posted to warn you about them tend to be posted pretty far ahead of the cameras themselves. After several drives on my commute, I’ve noticed that there’s not much along the 51 for the state crews to pin them to. The state law mandates they have to be at least 300 feet before the camera.

The one use I am objecting to is the mobile speed camera. They’re usually mounted to Ford Escape SUVs, and the crewman who parks it also drops a sign on a tripod out ahead of the camera.

But lately, this sign has been getting closer and closer to the camera. One of them today appeared to be about 100 feet in front of it. Traffic is going about 65 mph. You do the math on braking distance.

I’d like to see if anyone is interested in amending this 300-foot law. Obviously, some of these crewmen aren’t following it – and that means your ticket could be dismissed.

The text of the state law is pretty short and sweet. For you policy wonks, it’s ARS 28-654. You can view it here .

If you think you’ve been nailed by photo radar and the sign wasn’t far enough ahead of the camera, here’s the part of the law that sets you free:

If the standards and specifications prescribed pursuant to this section are not in effect during the operation of a photo enforcement system, the court may dismiss any citation issued to a person who is identified by the use of the photo enforcement system.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind it if folks got together and amended this law so that the signs are 500 feet away. Any takers?

Crow goes viral with pep rally video

TEMPE — Arizona State University President Michael Crow e-mailed a movie clip to both faculty and students of where ASU stands in the current financial “storm.”

With the nation’s economy stuck in a whirlpool, Crow attempted to reassure students by stating that ASU is “in one of the safest ports in the storm.”

“We’re not one of the universities that has had our funds in one of the firms that have collapsed,” Crow said in the video. “All in all, we’re doing very well as we manage our way through this storm.”

According to ASU, the university’s total operating budget for 2009 is almost $1.6 billion. Crow also mentions the financial state of Arizona, which provides more than a quarter of the operating budget for ASU, and how the university has already taken a $30 million reduction in state investment over the past few weeks.

In addition, Crow said that we can expect to see more state related cuts. As a result, the university will be looking to make cuts in both faculty and courses.

“We’re going to focus on maintaining classes,” Crow said in the video. “We’re going to focus on maintaining quality. We’re going to focus on maintaining academic and student support services.”

Crow’s video was e-mailed to students on Nov. 20. ASU faculty was sent a different version of the video, which included some exact figures and dollar amounts. Students were not given the opportunity to see this version.

Johnny Trumble, an ASU finance senior, says that Crow’s video didn’t make him feel better about ASU’s near future.

“First of all, I don’t really understand why he refers to the financial situation as a storm,” Trumble says. “Obviously, we’re all well aware that the country’s economy is hurting, so it doesn’t really leave students feeling positive about how this is going to affect us. It’s also quite gloomy to know that certain majors, or classes for that matter, are going to see a significant cut.”

In the video, Crow touches on tuition increases both at ASU and elsewhere.

“Many schools around the country are looking at dramatic tuition increases…many schools around the country are looking at mid-year tuition increases,” Crow said. “Right now we are not.”

Michael Cavaleri, a public relations senior, says that this bothered him the most.

“As an out-of-state student who already pays more than triple what in-staters pay, it really makes me sweat thinking that possible tuition raises could happen with less than a year to go before graduating,” Cavaleri says. “It just makes me want to get out of school as soon as possible.”

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Drop that Burger: An interview with the “Mad Cowboy”

Do you want fries with that?

The answer, my friends, is no. That is, if the “Mad Cowboy” has anything to say about it.

Following up on last week’s beef-tastic look into Arizona’s cattle industry, in which I spoke with former Beef Ambassador and current Arizona Beef Council spokeswoman Anna Groseta, I now present the flip-side of the cattle equation: an interview with Howard Lyman, a former Montana cattleman turned vegetarian activist, who has been dubbed the “Mad Cowboy” for his efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of mad cow disease and the calamitous environmental impact of meat production.

He is probably best remembered for his appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, where his comments about the beef industry ended up getting them both sued for libel by a group of Texas cattlemen. They won. (Lesson: don’t sue Oprah).
And just because it makes really fun reading, here’s a partial transcript of the talk with Oprah that landed them both in so much hot water:

Howard: Absolutely… 100,000 cows per year in the United States are fine at night, dead in the morning. The majority of those cows are rounded up, ground up, fed back to other cows. If only one of them has Mad Cow Disease, has the potential to effect thousands. Remember today, the United States, 14% of all cows by volume are ground up, turned into feed, and fed back to other animals.

Oprah: But cows are herbivores, they shouldn’t be eating other cows

Howard: That’s exactly right, and what we should be doing is exactly what nature says, we should have them eating grass not other cows. We’ve not only turned them into carnivores, we’ve turned them into cannibals.

Oprah: Now see, wait a minute, wait a minute. Let me just ask you this right now Howard. How do you know the cows are ground up and fed back to the other cows?

Howard: Oh, I’ve seen it. These are U.S.D.A. statistics, they’re not something we’re making up.

Oprah: Now doesn’t that concern you all a little bit, right here, hearing that?

Audience: Yeah!

Oprah: It has just stopped me cold from eating another burger!

Audience: (Claps loudly and shouts) yeah!

Now, the beef industry, by and large, has renounced this process of grinding up dead cows and feeding them to other cows, otherwise known as “bovine necro-cannibalism” (okay, I just made that word up). But according to Lyman, they are still using their substantial political power to keep investigators from looking too hard for cases of mad cow.

That’s not even to mention the myriad other harmful effects of our nearly 100-million strong population of cattle here in the United States.
(Disclaimer: this interview has been edited for clarity, and to make me look smarter)

The Footprint: Why should people care about the beef industry?

Howard Lyman: Right now we’re in the process of deciding whether human beings are going to survive on planet earth or not. Probably the quickest change we can make is to change our diet.
80 percent of the grain produced in the U.S. is stuffed down the throat of an animal –- 16 pounds of grain will feed 32 hungry people or one Rush Limbaugh.
TF: Americans are used to a meat-based diet. Is there any hope that there will be widespread change to that anytime soon?
HL: I believe in my lifetime that the majority of Americans will be eating a plant-based diet. Did you ever think people would change their attitude about smoking? Is there anybody in the US today that does not know that smoking is not good for your health? The cattle industry as we know it is going to go the same route as smoking…
It doesn’t happen overnight, but the train has left the station, and I believe that within this generation it will happen… I can remember that within ten years ago – you’d get on an airplane and order a vegan meal and they’d think you had a communicable disease.
…
There’s only one thing that ever changes human behavior, and that is crisis –- and we should thank god that we have one right now. What with the financial problems that we’re facing in the U.S. today… we’re going to find that we cannot afford a meat-based diet.

TF: What’s up with mad cow disease these days?
HL: If we take the difference between the U.S. and Canada as far as looking at mad cow disease –– the U.S. has got probably 50 times more cattle than Canada –- we both have the same background in feeding our animals –- and yet they are finding exponentially larger amounts of animals with mad cow disease than we are in the United States.
How long is it going to take for people to understand that the policy of the U.S. is not to find cases of mad cow disease?
I’m absolutely convinced that the government policy is don’t look, don’t find.

Happy Thanksgiving!
John Collins Rudolf

Mining projects forge ahead despite copper price plunge

Last time we here at The Footprint checked in on Rosemont Copper, and their bid to build a vast open-pit copper mine in the heart of the Santa Rita mountains south of Tucson, the project was riding high on record copper prices and a flood of investment capital into the mining industry.

What a difference a few months makes.

The price of copper has been absolutely clobbered since the onset of the financial crisis in September, falling almost 60 percent from its high of $4 per pound this summer.

What does that mean for projects like Rosemont? Well, it depends who you ask.

Jan Howard, spokeswoman for Rosemont Copper, says that the original feasibility study for the mine, completed in July 2007, calculated that the mine would be profitable with copper at $1.50 per pound.

When copper prices were hovering around $3.50 per pound, that seemed almost extravagantly conservative. But with copper trading at about $1.65 on Wednesday, you can bet that Augusta Resouces (the Canadian mineral exploration firm behind the project) executives are definitely starting to sweat.

Nevertheless, they appear to be keeping their game faces on.

“I think that this is a very viable project,” says spokeswoman Howard. “I’m not going to speculate further.”

Yesterday I also had the chance to talk with Madan Singh, the director of the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources, who says that Rosemont Copper will probably forge ahead with the mine.

“Rosemont is still 2 or 3 years away from starting. In a few years, the price of copper may be entirely different than it is right now,” he says. “Unless they run into some liquidity problems, I don’t think they will be affected very much by the price of copper at this point.”

Liquidity problems? Who’s having liquidity problems now? Oh yeah,everyone.

Meanwhile, the AZ Daily Star reports that an even bigger project — the proposed Resolution Copper mine, near Superior, is running into some money problems.

Via StarNet:

Funding for a controversial underground copper mine being developed near Superior has been temporarily slashed by the majority stakeholder in the project.

British miner Rio Tinto PLC has cut funding for the project, which is being directed by Resolution Copper Co. David Salisbury, Resolution’s president, said Tuesday that the company’s 2009 budget has been cut by about two-thirds and that an undetermined number of contract workers will be laid off.

“The whole global-finance issue is impacting us,” Salisbury said.

Locals struggle to revive Guadalupe’s scene

GUADALUPE — Unless you know it’s there, the Tianguis Mercado looks like a roofless warehouse with paintings of Indians and the Virgen de Guadalupe in bright blues, yellows, greens and reds.

Enclosed by four walls in the southern part of Guadalupe, a potentially huge and culturally rich business market has failed to spark out-of-the-ordinary interest since its construction nearly 30 years ago.

But recent development of the Tianguis Mercado is offering new hope to propel forward a successful tianguis – a traditionally Hispanic market where a wide variety of ethnic foods, produce, pottery, crafts, jewelry, shoes and many other goods are offered at individual booths or stations.

The Mercado was originally built about three years after the incorporation of Guadalupe in 1975, on the southeast corner of Avenida del Yaqui and Calle Guadalupe. Guadalupe Finance Director Mark Johnson said the Guadalupe Organization – a coalition created for the improvement of the town – led the project, but it didn’t turn out quite as planned.

“I stay motivated and hope I can live to see it become the Tianguis Mercado we once thought it would be,” says Guadalupe resident Gloria Cota. “But in order to do that, we need more money.”

FUNDRAISING FALTERS

The original vision that founders had in mind for the purpose of the project was to improve economic development and retain the Hispanic flavor of shopping, Johnson says.

But this vision was blurred shortly after when Guadalupe entrepreneurs were unable to follow through on their commitment to starting a business in the Mercado.

Cota, originally from Phoenix, moved to Guadalupe as a newlywed of a town resident a few years before the Mercado was built. She decided to take on a leadership role, hoping that fellow community members would follow.

“I’ve always been the type of person that goes around and gets everyone excited about something,” Cota says. “So I went around to all of the houses in the community and asked people if they’d want to start a business in the Mercado.”

Cota says she kept records of residents that shared her excitement about the Mercado and the specific types of business that they said they’d be willing to bring to the market. For Cota, direction and organization continues to be the key to success.

“I wanted to start a restaurant in the Mercado but we never had the money to do it,” Cota says. “You’ll never taste Mexican food as good as mine… But it takes a lot of money, you know, to start a business.”

Upon realization that money was crucial to starting a business, residents’ entrepreneurial dreams came to a screeching halt.

“I know that there’s loans that people can get to start their own business and then pay back when they make money from it,” Cota says, “but we just never really looked into it.”

And neither did the other disillusioned Guadalupans.

Cota said she did look into having someone offer some basic business courses for those community members that were adamant about starting a business, but those plans were never followed through either.

Johnson adds that although the original intent for occupancy was for businesses that were of Hispanic nature, such as Mexican curios, arts & crafts, clothing, restaurants, tortilla shops, bakeries and meat markets, it was soon found out that “there was not enough interest by these types of businesses to locate in the Mercado, so the spaces then became available for offices, furniture, law office, fruit and vegetable store, smoke shop, check cashing and money exchange.”

Del Yaqui Mexican Restaurant, San Diego Bay Restaurant, Coffee de Mexico Coffee, Shop De Leon’s Western Wear and Mexican Pottery & Furniture are a few of the main business currently located inside the Mercado. A jewelry repair shop, mattress store, smoke shop, karate studio and Yaqui transportation services are some others.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Lupita Llamas, of Ahwatukee, is owner of the two main restaurants in the market. Llamas said her previous ownership of a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix provided the entrepreneurial experience necessary to begin running the restaurants about 18 years ago.

“This place has so much potential,” Llamas says. “There’s just a lack of movement.”

Llamas says she gets just about enough clientele to keep her business going, although only a few are from Guadalupe.

“I would say that about 85 percent of the business comes from outside the town,” Llamas says. “I don’t think that the prices are too high, but that may be why the locals don’t come in.”

And Llamas might not be that off. The Town of Guadalupe’s median household income is $21,587 compared to Maricopa County’s $41,994 overall, according to 2000 Census figures.

“Well, real Mexicans aren’t real big fans of Mexican restaurants,” says long-time Guadalupe resident Natividad Valenzela. “We make better stuff at home and it costs us less to make.”

Valenzuela, 46, says her family would rather spend money eating out at restaurants that offer something different, like at Arizona Mills, which is directly north of Guadalupe.

Cathy Cuccia, of Mesa, says she took her friends visiting from her hometown in Wisconsin to the Mercado so that they could experience the real deal.

“This is one of the only places you can find authentic Mexican food,” Cuccia says. “It’s like I found an underground Mexican food business that no one knows about.”

And that’s exactly the problem – no one knows about it. But Guadalupe residents don’t have to be business gurus to figure out that what they’re missing is some recognition and awareness in the Valley.

NEW FUNDS FROM CONGRESS

Improving the appearance and commodities of the building will help to attract business and result in more sales tax more the community, Johnson says.

Community members created the Mercado Committee about two years ago to manage the spending of funds provided by Salt River Project and grants obtained with the help of U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Phoenix.

Gloria Cota, vice chair of the committee, now brags about the new landscaping, painting, lighting and parking lot. It was Cota who originally contacted SRP about possible funding for landscaping at the Mercado. It was also Cota who originally wrote a letter to Congressman Pastor seeking aid in obtaining funds for the Mercado.

This resulted in about $14,000 for irrigation and $14,000 for trees and shrubbery on SRP’s part, and nearly $400,000 in Economic Development grants through Pastor, according to Johnson.

“This money allowed us to get lots of things, including the paintings on the outside,” Cota says.

In 2006, the Phoenix New Times awarded the Town of Guadalupe the ‘Best Community Mural’ of Phoenix.

“The mission-style Our Lady of Guadalupe Church is at the center of the painting, surrounded by children playing the piñata game,” New Times wrote. “A troupe of folklorico dancers floats on the painted dirt, and in one corner a large hand cradles the white dove of peace.”

Cota says committee members are hoping to eventually have restrooms inside the market as well as a permanent stage to host cultural events such as quinceañeras and Cinco de Mayo parties.

The Mercado Committee is currently looking at requesting additional EDA grant funds through Congressman Pastor’s office, and hoping to get approval from town leaders to host fundraising events called kermesses. The carnival-style benefit common to Mexican culture brings community members together to sell a variety of Hispanic foods, beverages and crafts, and also offer entertainment events such as marriage booths, bull-riding and tarot reading.

“We are getting there,” Johnson says. “But I also believe that someone or some management company will have to be hired to get the information about the Mercado out to the public, both in and out of the Valley.”

‘Metrosexuals’ shatter fashion, cultural barriers

PHOENIX — Make-up. Skinny jeans. Fitted T-shirts.

Shopping mall employees like Chandler Fashion Center’s Randy Graham have the seen these fashion changes and wondered, Is that guy gay?

The answer is no. It’s more than likely that the teen shopper is just part of a larger cultural movement: the metrosexual.

“I have noticed a huge trend among boys in middle school and high school who are wearing feminine clothing and even make-up,” Graham says. “I see them walk into stores like Sephora and put on the make-up.”

According to renowned Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud, gender roles have always played a crucial part among society.

But what was once considered a clear black-and-white distinction between masculinity and femininity has now meshed into androgyny — the mixing of masculine and feminine characteristics.

The term metrosexual has evolved from its earliest meaning of a heterosexual male with a strong concern for his appearance, to a socially acceptable attribute that often reverts back to the stereotypical qualities of a gay male.

Karlene Chavis, a 22-year-old Arizona State University senior, says this new look is starting to show up everywhere. It’s has also grown to include music, as many of the young fashionista sporting this look are into emotional-hardcore music, also known as Emo.

“Besides the few ‘E-mo’ kids I know, I am noticing a lot more guys dressed in what would be considered ‘normal’ clothing, wearing eyeliner,” Chavis says.

British journalist Mark Simpson is widely credited with coining the term “metrosexual” in 1994 in an article titled “Here Come the Mirror Men” in The Independent. Simpson used the term to describe a new trend of men emerging in Europe. He wrote:

“The typical metrosexual is a young man with money to spend, living in or within easy reach of a metropolis — because that’s where all the best shops, clubs, gyms and hairdressers are. He might be officially gay, straight or bisexual, but this is utterly immaterial because he has clearly taken himself as his own love object and pleasure as his sexual preference. Particular professions, such as modeling, waiting tables, media, pop music and, nowadays, sport, seem to attract them but, truth be told, like male vanity products and herpes, they’re pretty much everywhere.”

Chris Shearer, a 21-year-old ASU junior, says it’s definitely a leading trend.

“This style was popular years ago over in Europe, the U.S. is just now jumping on the trend,” Shearer says. He wears fitted jeans and shoes similar to Keds that could be classified as women shoes but he is straight.

“I really don’t think that with today’s society you can decipher a person’s sexual preference based on how they dress. It’s just absurd,” Shearer says.

Sometimes more work is involved, as is the case with ASU marketing sophomore Ade Kassim.

“I spend like two hours getting ready, it’s silly but I do,” he says. “I have to have everything pressed, or I won’t wear it. My appearance is important to me; it’s the first thing people notice.”

Simpson’s definition of a metrosexual would be considered a type A or type C narcissist, as the metrosexual loves himself or an idealized image of what he would like to be. But metrosexuality can no longer be defined to one specific definition.

Today’s society is a melting pot of diversity. What was once one way has completely evolved into something else.

A gay-rights activist, who requested anonymity, says, “Society tells us what characteristics are gay, straight or bisexual, but now with straight guys wearing designer labels and make-up, who knows what their sexual preference is, you just can’t tell these days.”

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Local author investigates the afterlife

SCOTTSDALE — His son died at age 18. His father was a famous psychic medium and minister from the 1960s to the 1980s.

These two things led Mark Ireland to begin writing his first book, Soul Shift, a story of Ireland’s loss and his journey to find where the dead go after life on earth.

Ireland’s father, Richard Ireland, was most known for counseling celebrities, including Mae West, Glenn Ford and Amanda Blake. He once received a letter from Mamie Eisenhower, on behalf of Dwight Eisenhower, congratulating him on getting married.

“His connections were even beyond what he could talk about,” Mark Ireland says.

While Ireland didn’t grow up in a time when TV shows like Medium and Ghost Whisperer existed, he says it seemed normal to have a father who always knew what was going on.

Despite his father’s success as a psychic medium, Ireland says he never aspired to follow in his father’s footsteps.

“I was always comforted thinking that there could be more, but I never strived to be like
my dad,” Ireland says.

He went on to study at Arizona State University in Tempe, where he later began working in business. But, his life changed after his son, Brandon Ireland, died on Jan. 10, 2004, from a severe asthma attack while hiking with friends in Scottsdale’s McDowell Mountains.

Ireland said before his son left for the hike, he had very strong feelings that something bad was going to happen and urged his son not to go.

“I would worry about him at times, but this just seemed more stronger and urgent,”
Ireland says.

Ireland says he contacted his uncle after his son’s death because he had psychic abilities. Mark Ireland wanted to know if he knew any details surrounding his son’s death. A few days later, Ireland said his uncle called back and revealed to him the cause of death before the autopsy report was revealed.

This and a few other strange occurrences led Ireland to start writing Soul Shift (224 pages, Frog Books, $16.95). Ireland said he initially planned on writing a biography of his father, but it quickly turned into a story about his own life.

“I needed to work on something constructive just to maintain my sanity at that point,”
Ireland says.

He had a series of four meetings with top mediums, including Allison DuBois, the subject of the NBC’s TV show Medium. Ireland said he tried to control each situation to the best of his ability to test DuBois’ psychic powers.

“I am coming in almost as a journalist reporting on the work of people like Allison
DuBois from my perspective in a controlled situation,” Ireland says. He also participated in a single blind test at the University of Arizona with psychic Laurie Campbell.

Ireland says Campbell was able to give “amazing detail” about his life and the event’s surrounding his son’s death.

Still, Ireland said he does not plan on quitting his day job any time soon. His book has sold 2,500 copies, but he continues to work full-time as an advertising executive at Valassis, a print advertising company.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

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