Cover: Diamond Girls
After a 43-year hiatus, professional women's baseball returns to San Jose, with a team record that would make any city proud.

News: Guarding the Jailhouse
The Santa Clara County jail guards' union has endured more than its share of internal strife, with a quarter-million of its budget spent on lawsuits ordered by its leader, Richard Abbate.

Back to the Garden: The naked truth about shedding clothes, breaking rules and chatting with Susie Bright.

Public Eye: Uniform uniformity.

Polis Report: Programming oldies but goodies.

Flea-Market History: At America's Smithsonian, the relics of national myth rub shoulders with pop-culture detritus.

Clubbed Demi-SEAL: G.I. Jane is a tribute to Demi Moore's personal trainer.

After the Rush: Julia Dyer's lesbian comedy Late Bloomers bucks the trend.

NYPD Beef: The pounds make the man in Stallone's predictable Cop Land.

Talking Pictures: Famed conspiracy collector Jonathan Vankin analyzes the new paranoia thriller Conspiracy Theory.

Whole Lotta Lolla: Lollapalooza '97 lurched back into its rightful spot as the alternative rock festival to be reckoned with, and George Sakkestad captures it in an online photo essay.

Foreign Exchange: Japan's Pugs make American audiences scream at Lollapalooza.

Remembering Luther: Just as he achieved the homegrown success he craved, bluesman Luther Allison was gone.

Flash in the Deadpan: David Byrne's finely honed sense of irony survives undimmed on Feelings album.

Casting a 'Spell': With Book of Spells, the Boneshakers shakes free of Was (Not Was).

Beat Street: Lollapalooza returns to its original vision.

Worm's Turn: Mexico's other great agave derivative--smoky, powerful mezcal--takes its rightful place as a premium sipping liquor. Christina Waters samples rustic handmade mezcals from remote Oaxacan villages.