Peter Normann, the Anthem doctor on trial in the deaths of three patients during botched plastic surgeries, was found guilty today of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of manslaughter.   Throughout the trial, Normann’s attorneys, Vikki Liles and John Johnson, claimed the deaths of Ralph Gonzalez, 33,…

Arizona public schools receive unsatisfactory marks when it comes to standardized test scores, as evidenced by the recently released results of this spring’s Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test, the state’s barometer for success on the education frontThere has been slight progress — reading scores rose to a 76 percent passing…

Yelling “Police!” and banking on the element of surprise, three men kicked down the door of a Phoenix home early this morning, robbing the family inside at gunpoint.   According to police, three Hispanic men rolled up to the East Virginia Avenue residence in a 1990s Ford Thunderbird about 4:15…

The shelters of Maricopa County Animal Care and Control are overflowing with dogs and cats. The MCACC’s solution: Give away the animals practically for free.This is the second time in less than a month the shelters have had overflow problems. MCACC shelters have a total of 700 kennels, but this…

To gear up for his big night of throwing out the first pitch in tonight’s MLB All-Star Game, former Gabrielle Giffords intern Daniel Hernandez perfected his form in a Congressional office parking lot.   “I’ve been practicing,” Hernandez tells Fox News before the game. “I actually got the chance to…

In a concession to common sense, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio agreed today to stop  plans for chain-gang parades in front of Chase Field before the start of tomorrow’s MLB All-Star game.   “I’m not going to interfere with the ball game tomorrow,” Arpaio promised in a news conference this afternoon. Apparently not wanting to…

Wielding a knife and out to settle a score, a Mesa woman allegedly broke into another woman’s apartment on July 4, punching her in the face and binding her hands with duct tape. Emily Daykin, 26, told police that she and three others — Christopher Endicott, an unidentified man, and a…

In preparation for the MLB All-Star game set to take over the Valley early next week, baseball and city officials are giving the public a heads up to the dangers of counterfeit merchandise. Advocating a “consumer beware” mentality for fans, Ethan Orlinsky, senior vice president for MLB properties, warned against buying…

After yesterday’s equipment failure, Salt River Project officials say power is back on for nearly 150,000 Mesa and Apache Junction residents and businesses left sweltering in extreme summer heat. The power outage was caused when an SRP transformer caught fire yesterday about 11:45 a.m. Mesa fire crews were able to control the flames within…

Now that fireworks are legal in Arizona, we know you’re excited to get out there and wreck pyrotechnic havoc on your backyard this Fourth of July weekend. But slow your roll for just a minute. In an effort to prevent patriotic mishaps, we’ve decided to offer up safety tips on…

Jerrod Aspa says he “never meant to hurt” his 4-month-old son as he wrapped his hands around the baby’s waist and shook him. But he did.Aspa, who lives on the Colorado River Indian reservation with his four other children, was indicted yesterday in Phoenix by a federal grand jury on one…

Angry and left alone to babysit, a 17-year-old girl set her Guadalupe trailer home on fire last week after binding two of her younger sisters together with tape and leaving them inside, investigators say.The children, thankfully, survived. Guadalupe firefighters were called to Sadie Johnson’s trailer about 5:30 p.m on June 22…

The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office seized about $9 million worth of meth and black-tar heroin during a traffic stop on SR 347 just south of Maricopa, and the man moving the drugs apparently is going “going to be pissed.” About 9 p.m. Friday, police stopped a Nissan Armada SUV. Once stopped,…

Hanging onto a 50-foot wall of rock on Camelback Mountain, 21-year-old Jonathan Gustafson looked down and saw his friend struggling to find a place for his hand.   Clint McHale was hanging on below him. Gustafson told him to stay calm and that eventually he would find somewhere to hang on. “I am…

Lying on Peter Normann’s operating table, butt-augmentation patient Alicia Santizo Blanco’s vitals dropped, rendering her unconscious.   “She was like a rock,” he told a detective in a 2008 phone conversation.   The doctor on trial for allegedly killing three patients, recounted her death, along with the death of patient…

Short-lived Arizona resident Bristol Palin puts her baby daddy, Levi Johnston, and the family of her mother’s one-time running mate, Senator John McCain, on blast in her new memoir Not Afraid Of Life: My Journey So Far.   The book, set to come out Friday, bad-mouths McCain’s wife, Cindy, and…

Plastic-surgeon-from-hell Peter Normann, on trial in Maricopa County Superior Court in the deaths of three patients, hired an assistant who had never been trained properly, according to testimony in his trial.Actual certification comes with the completion of a 42-week course run by a medical institution, a course his assistant never took.On the ninth…

If a real estate company promises to rent your house to some out-of-towners for the upcoming MLB All-Star Game at a “too good to be true” price, the offer’s probably bogus. The Department of Real Estate announced this afternoon that one such profiteering company, Your Stay Accommodations, is getting investigated for swindling…