Reggae Great Buju Banton Is Locked Up on Drug Charges. Was He Entrapped?

Buju Banton had been blowing off the man he knew as "Junior" for months. The 38-year-old reggae sensation was always ready with an excuse to rush off the phone or cancel plans — he had rehearsal, he was getting ready for a tour, he was too tired. But Junior, a stout, blockheaded Colombian, had been relentless over the past week, calling every day like a needy girlfriend. He laid the guilt trip on thick, saying he'd made a special trip to Florida's west coast and even borrowed a boat so he could catch up with Buju over drinks.

"For like five months, [he] has been calling me rep... full story >>

The Remaking of Vickery Meadow

Ray Mali dresses neatly in a collared cotton shirt, jeans, clean sneakers and a bulky leather jacket that doesn't keep him quite warm enough. It's eight o'clock on a January morning. He takes his last few gulps of tea and leaves for work, his muscles aching even before he steps outside of his apartment. He's only 33, but his body hasn't caught up with his new routine, a long morning commute to a job stocking shelves at a used bookstore, for $7.25 an hour he needs too badly to be anything but prompt.

He begins his walk through the boxy patchwork of parking lots and unadorned building... full story >>

Colorado hopes to lure filmmakers with a new plan

Colorado's film industry is a bit like Billy Crystal, whose 1991 hit movie City Slickers was set in the modern-day Wild West and largely filmed here. It used to be a leading man, roping cattle and scoring starlets. Now it does voiceover work for cartoons.

Despite our state's scenic beauty, filmmakers have stopped making movies in Colorado because it's cheaper to film elsewhere, especially in states that offer hefty tax breaks and rebates on money spent filming there. Two of those states, Utah and New Mexico, often stand in for Colorado in movies featuring the Centennial State.

Buju Banton is innocent

On December 8, 2009, reggae singer Buju Banton slipped on his swim trunks, pulled a pair of jeans over them, and, along with two friends — a female companion and his longtime driver and pal, Ian Thomas — jumped into his silver Land Rover with a "Jah One" vanity plate. They left his modest duplex in suburban Tamarac and began the drive to the Gulf Coast for a day of fun in the sun.

As the exit sign for Naples came into view, Buju called a man they were to meet named Junior to give him a heads-up they would soon arrive. But Junior said plans had changed. They needed to dri... full story >>

The Life of a State: A Timeline of Arizona's History

Long before we were officially a state, Arizona was making history — and not all of it bad, though some of it certainly borders on the unbelievable. In 1910, a Maricopa County Sheriff by the name of Carl T. Hayden took part in the first known automobile chase. He caught the bad guys and used the good press to great advantage, winning a seat in Congress and going on to be the first seven-term U.S. Senator. Take that, Sheriff Joe. We leave this project wishing it were the state’s bicentennial, because we certainly could have gone on with another 100 moments in Arizona history. We ... full story >>

Notes of a Second Class Citizen, Part One: Into the Basement