Commander Rich Burden, discussing the merits of drinking, then drivingAs District IV Commander, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Rich Burden oversees areas of Anthem, Cave Creek, Carefree, New River, and Desert Foothills.Over the years, he has earned a measure of infamy for dogging longtime Arpaio foes Jim Cozzolino and Tom…

Citizens for a Better Arizona, the committee that has forced a recall of state Senate President Russell Pearce, has announced a fundraiser for this Thursday, August 25, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the law offices of Snow and Carpio, 55 E. Thomas Road, in Phoenix.Randy Parraz, co-founder of…

State Senate President Russell Pearce has always adopted the role of a John Wayne-esque tough guy who can handle himself.Indeed, in a June 2010 piece by Gary Nelson for the Arizona Republic entitled, “Iron will drives Pearce, agenda,” Pearce was full of bravado concerning reported threats on his person and…

Today’s news that the West Memphis Three — Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin — have been freed from prison in Arkansas after agreeing to an extraordinary plea deal, should give hope to all those falsely accused and imprisoned, including those in Arizona’s prisons.Since these three men were tried…

Four hundred clams. That’s what some lobbyists may have paid to attend a fundraiser held for embattled state Senate President Russell Pearce Wednesday night at Alexi’s Grill in Phoenix.By my estimation, there were about 30 or 40 attendees at the height of the action. If they all paid to get…

Though he has until September 9 to do so, Mesa Republican Jerry Lewis will file signatures with the Arizona Secretary of State tomorrow to place his name on the November 8 recall ballot in Legislative District 18.To formally square off against state Senate President Russell Pearce, Lewis needs 621 qualified…

If you need a sign of state Senate President Russell Pearce’s desperation, look no further than above: one of the placards sprouting up around Mesa, smearing the recall effort, Citizens for a Better Arizona co-founder Randy Parraz, and Pearce challenger Jerry Lewis.The sign, the product of Citizens Who Oppose the…

There’s been yet another development in the saga of loserdom being perpetuated by state Senate President Russell Pearce’s attorney Lisa Hauser in the legal challenge to the recall.Today the Arizona Supreme Court declined to review Hauser’s appeal of Superior Court Judge Hugh Hegyi’s recent decision dismissing her lawsuit.Hauser was seeking…

I’ve not known the local Libertarian crowd to be overly fond of state Senate President Russell Pearce, which makes me wonder why one of their tribe appears to be jumping into the recall campaign in Legislative District 18. A move that will inevitably dilute the vote.The guy’s name is Michael…

DeeDee Blase, founder of Somos Republicans and the driving force behind the Tequila Party, takes political flak from both the right and the left. Democrats suspect her, and extremist Republicans loathe her for her calling out the GOP on the immigration issue.Whatever you may think of her, she’s essentially a…

At this point, I’m really beginning to wonder if state Senate President Russell Pearce is a sadomasochist. The sadist part is easy to see. But the masochism becomes more evident with each new legal maneuver by Lisa Hauser, the attorney working on behalf of Pearce and Pearce’s pal Franklin Bruce Ross,…

Superior Court Judge Hugh Hegyi just issued a ruling in state Senate President Russell Pearce’s legal challenge to his recall, dismissing the complaint brought by the legal beagle working on his behalf, Lisa Hauser.Hegyi agreed with the defendants — the Arizona Secretary of State, Maricopa County Elections, and Citizens for…

Tommy Cattey, the Mesa resident who had filed paperwork to campaign against state Senate President Russell Pearce in the upcoming Legislative District 18 recall election, has dropped out of the race and endorsed fellow contender Jerry Lewis.Cattey, who made his announcement at the Wright House in Mesa this morning, told…

Funny thing about the ruling Republican caste here in Sand Land: they like to give themselves meaningless awards that look legitimate to the unskeptical eye, in a bald attempt to trick the electorate into thinking that they’re a bunch of good guys and gals.Case in point, the “Friend of the…

If I didn’t know that his fundraising appeals are written by the usual political hacks, Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s latest e-mail blast would make me doubt the man’s sanity.Not that there isn’t plenty of reason to doubt it otherwise, but an e-mail blast sent out yesterday signed by Joe rails about…

The product of some right-wing wag or the latest example of dirty pool from the camp of state Senator Russell Pearce? I’ll opt for a little of both, as the phony Twitter account under the name of Legislative District 18 recall candidate Jerry Lewis is just the sort of sophomoric…

State Senate President Russell Pearce was a no-show today to the hearing that could, hypothetically, save his hide in the upcoming November 8 recall election in Legislative District 18. Ditto the official plaintiff in the legal challenge to the recall: Mesa resident Franklin Bruce Ross, who also had better sheep to…

Monday morning, oral arguments are scheduled to begin in the legal challenge to the recall of state Senate President Russell Pearce. Lawyers representing the Arizona Secretary of State, Maricopa County Elections and the recall committee Citizens for a Better Arizona will square off against attorney Lisa Hauser, who has identified herself…

Who is Olivia Cortes, and why has she filed to run in the November 8 recall race against state Senate President Russell Pearce in Legislative District 18?Over the weekend, I paid Cortes’ modest condominium in Mesa a visit. A woman identifying herself as Cortes’ sister came to the door. She…