A second person has been arrested in a case in which $8,000 was embezzled from Phoenix Girl Scout troop 534. Scottsdale police spokesman Sergeant Mark Clark says cops began to investigate after troop members noticed missing funds in April. Former troop leader Trisha Proud, 29 — also a mother of…
The controversial foreclosure bill written by State Senator Steve Pierce and passed into law by Governor Jan Brewer earlier this month is set to be repealed — if the budget ever gets approved, that is. According to Arizona Association of Realtors spokesman Tom Farley, the repeal of Senate Bill 1271…
In response to my request for a comment from the Phoenix Police Department concerning Phoenix Law Enforcement Association President Mark Spencer’s challenge to the current Operations Order 1.4.3, PPD spokesman James Holmes got back to me yesterday. His comment follows below. But first a little background. As I discussed in this…
A lawsuit filed by the ex-employee of an Arizona funeral home claims one of the company’s owners habitually defecated at his desk, disposing of his waste in the office trash can. The employee claims she got sick from the man’s allegedly horrific hygiene, and she also claims another worker at…
Governor Jan Brewer woke up extra early Friday to try to save her potentially doomed budget plan.Brewer met with Senate Majority Whip Pamela Gorman about 7 a.m., in a last-ditch effort to persuade the Governor’s political foe to sign on to her budget deal, which includes a sales tax increase that…
We wrote a few weeks ago about the ongoing criminal case against Lessie Serrano, a food-service supervisor for Golfland Entertainment Inc., the company that owns two Valley water parks and used to own WaterWorld (now called Phoenix Wet `n’ Wild) in Glendale. Last December 18, a Maricopa County grand jury indicted Serrano on highly…
Miller may have been a fine law officer, but we’ll always remember him as the guy who tried to goad us into getting arrested during a little squabble over public records last summer at Phoenix City Hall. After being told by sheriff’s officials we could not touch papers in a…
N ativists wrote in after our July 16 “Border M.A.D.ness” cover story about Minuteman leader Shawna Forde (left), saying either Forde was a misunderstood patriot driven to participating in the killing of a reputed Mexican drug runner and his little girl because of a troubled past or that she was…
The 2009 New York Mets are more or less an afterthought. Despite their humongous payroll — second only to the ever-profligate crosstown Yanks — and the presence of contemporary rock-star athletes such as Johan Santana, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, and Gary Sheffield, the underachievers have been overshadowed all year by…
The Arizona state government budget is once again up in the air, as legislators failed to approve a spending plan for 2010 over a late-night session last night. The Senate is scheduled to reconvene today at 1 p.m., but another vote isn’t expected to be taken…The city of Gilbert’s request…
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: Lily Allen and Liam Gallagher’s Drunken Flight, Charles Manson Courts Phil Spector, Green…
This is our through-the-windshield shot of a gigantic earthmover being escorted by DPS cruisers this morning going west on McDowell Road. The wheels of the vehicle probably needed a wide-load sign themselves. We caught up to the procession ahead of us to take this shot, observing as the tractor-trailer’s driver moved into oncoming lanes (cleared…
Not just Phoenix, not just in Maricopa County, but cities in the entire state of Arizona were snubbed this year by Money Magazine’s “Best Places to Live” rankings. That’s right; not a single town, village, or city in the entire state made the highbrow gazette’s cut in this years rankings.This year’s Money poll…
Thirty-five years ago tomorrow, two sisters were seen walking down Baseline Road near Power Road in Mesa. The Leslie girls, Cynthia (who also went by Cindy), 15, and Jackie, 13, had told their mother they were off to a babysitting gig. But there was a bit of naughtiness: They actually planned to…
Got sand? Sure, but what good does it do when someone steals your $85,000 dune buggy? Chandler police report today that on July 11, thieves broke into the yard at Automotive Diagnostic Specialties, 6835 West Chandler Boulevard, then loaded up a flashy Black Widow sand rail (the one in the pictures) onto…
The U.S. Department of Education is giving the State of Arizona $14 million to help create highly competitive charter schools across the state.Arizona Department of Education Superintendent Tom Horne says he will take the much-needed funding with open mitts. “This is a win-win for students, parents, and the state. Providing…
South Phoenix’s Roosevelt School District, historically one of the Valley’s worst-performing districts, made an impressive gain in test scores in 2009. The district announced today that students performed 9 percent better in math and 10 percent better in reading on the AIMS test. That puts the district in better…
After Arizona State Univeristy’s fall from grace as one of the top party schools in the country, the Sun Devils have been bestowed a different honor, only it’s not nearly as fun. This time,everyone’s favorite obnoxious little buzz-word’s in play: “green.” And ASU’s one of the “greenest,” according to a survey released by…
Tom Candiotti, a former MLB pitcher who’s now a broadcaster for the Arizona Diamondbacks, is suing former D-Backs pitcher Todd Stottlemyre over a soured investment deal. The lawsuit, filed June 30 and posted online yesterday by courthousenews.com, says that Stottlemyre (brother of current pitching coach Mel Stottlemyer Jr.) worked for…
When we read the headline to the latest news release from the Department of Public Safety, “Officer makes a traffic stop and discovers 97 undocumented aliens inside of a refrigerated commercial trailer,” our first thought was — good thing it was refrigerated, cause it’s dang hot out. Reading further though,…
Following up on our coverage of the SCA campaign finance scandal, some readers have questioned the hiring of Dennis Wilenchik.The attack dog lawyer is the sheriff’s go-to guy — the “special prosecutor” in charge of the aborted investigation that led to the arrests of New Times’ owners Jim Larkin and…
Studies often reveal little more than a “lack of funds” available for whatever, but we bumped into one this morning that knocked off our socks. A collaboration between the National Immigration Law Center, the ACLU of Southern California, and a large law firm resulted in this finding: “There is no question that the…
