Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has been ordered to personally attend a settlement conference in a death penalty case — and may have attend many more such hearings. Two years ago, Thomas wanted Judge Timothy Ryan to recuse himself from cases involving the County Attorney’s Office, claiming Ryan showed bias…
Neighbors in a northwest Phoenix neighborhood are trying hard to keep the first Mormon temple in the city from going up because of a lighted tower that would rise three stories above the church.”To light up that spire like a torch until 11 p.m. is a severe detriment to us,” says resident Tasha Cady,…
To say that 64-year-old Roy Berneburg had a rough day would be putting things mildly.He started Tueseday morning at the hospital, got in a fight with a cop later, and ended his day back in the hospital, which is generally the case when you try to fight with police. Oh yeah, then…
Tasty bud, cool babes and a cause you can believe in: Now that’s a movement, people. And you can join up this Saturday at 24th Street and Camelback where Phoenix NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) will be rallying locally as part of a worldwide demonstration on behalf…
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer apparently believes she was given divine authority to rule the people of Arizona.Arizona Republic Columnist E.J. Montini points out that at a meeting of Lutheran pastors last night, Brewer had this to say:”And I firmly believe that God has placed me in this powerful position of Arizona’s governor…
Way back in March, 64-year-old Kristal Forest disappeared. Today, Yavapai County police asked for the public’s help in figuring out where she is.Forest was last seen on March 29 with 55-year-old Robert Reed near Camp Verde. She was preparing to drive to Texas, where she was scheduled to arrive on April 2.Forest was…
Phoenix police tried to “cover up” last year’s mistaken shooting of a homeowner who’d been holding an intruder at gunpoint, a lawsuit against the city claims. Tony Arambula, 35, was shot six times by Officer Brian Lilly — including twice after he fell to the ground — on September…
If you ever find yourself a “visitor” at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, don’t expect them to roll out the red carpet; in fact, don’t even expect to have any sort of unimpeded human contact.The Sheriff’s Office, on the 19th floor of the Wells Fargo Building in downtown Phoenix, has just installed…
I took up Phoenix libertarian Ernie Hancock’s invite to be on his Webcast Wednesday morning, after much prodding from Hancock and his supporters. Alas, I couldn’t make it into the studio. (Sorry, Ernie, I’ve never been an a.m. person.) Still, we spent a whole two hours jabbering about everything from Tempe Obama-hate-preacher Steven…
A recent study suggests states deemed highly religious have a higher teen-pregnancy rate than more God-challenged states; as expected, Arizona is ranked in the top five in the religious category.The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Drexel University, suggests that certain values found within very religious communities are the…
The Arizona Diamondbacks dropped another game last night, losing 5-6 to the San Diego Padres. Next up: the first of three D-Backs home games against the Colorado Rockies on Friday evening…A $30 million loan could help the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community build a new spring-training complex on tribal land…
WACKO PASTOR And they’ll call it The Nutty Preacher: I know, somebody should make a movie about Steven Anderson called The Nutty Preacher. The Bird’s story was eye-popping, and then I saw [Anderson] on TV and on the Feathered Bastard blog. When I first saw the stories on him getting…
We gabachos get differing reports regarding the Reconquista. Some say it’s a genuine movement, well under way. Others claim it’ll never happen, but that it’s useful as a slogan that both antagonizes white America and energizes young Mexicans. Let’s say for now that it’s a genuine movement destined for success…
On the night of February 16, 1970, Brian McDonnell was sorting through bulletins on the Teletype machine at Park Police Station in the Upper Haight neighborhood of San Francisco. The respected 44-year-old sergeant was checking results from the recent union elections, in which he was running for station representative. Steady…
HE’S A WINNER! Allow me to be the first to congratulate Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as the recipient of the 2009 Bull Connor Award, recognizing “outstanding achievement in the promotion of racial discrimination, disregard of human rights, abuse of power, and general hatred of the ‘other.'” Of course, Joe…
I’ve been under the gun recently, so I haven’t had time to post pics and give a little report of what happened this past Sunday at Tempe’s Faithful Word Baptist Church, home of the Obama-must-die pastor Stephen Anderson. The crowd of protesters led by local activist Leonard Clark was much smaller this…
In the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Up on the Sun: Scottsdale’s The Buzz Shuts Down Neba and What Laura Says to Play a…
In her novel Mansfield Park, Jane Austin writes: “The younger brother must help pay for the pleasure of the elder.”Well, life has once again imitated art, only this time it happened in a Yavapai County courthouse.Preston Haymes, a 19-year-old from Phoenix, was arrested yesterday after police say he impersonated his older…
Maricopa County Elections Department Director Karen Osborne referred the SCA case to his office earlier this month — saying she’d found reasonable cause to believe that “a number of individuals and entities acted alone and in concert” to violate state campaign finance law.But Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas hasn’t decided…
Authorities had searched high and low for 53-year-old Kelley Tate (above), who went missing in the rugged Superstition Mountains last Thursday. But they didn’t search low enough. After 150 searchers combed the mountains for days, utilizing dogs, horses, and a helicopter, a phoned-in tip led to the discovery of Tate’s…
Someone must have given probable gubernatorial candidate and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard the first lesson in Politics 101: Old people vote.On Monday, Goddard announced that his office will be holding a series of “Senior Anti-Crime Universities,” designed to inform oldsters how to avoid everything from identity theft to getting abused by hospital…
The Phoenix Suns are in the process of reducing their players to NASCAR-driver status with a new deal that allows corporate sponsorship of practice uniforms and the team’s practice court.The team announced today that they have struck an agreement with the Annexus Group, a Phoenix-based annuity-design firm, to put the company’s logo…
