When Brandi Sveback and her husband, Chris, bought a house in Mesa six years ago, they had no idea how close the property would come to devastating their plans for the future. A couple with three small children, they just wanted a starter home. Eventually, they intended to save enough…
ANALYSIS (See list of related stories that led up to this piece) “This situation has absolutely nothing to do with the Sheriff’s Office.” That’s what sheriff’s spokeswoman Lisa Allen told New Times last week when questioned about the growing SCA campaign finance scandal — a claim that surely ranks right…
287(G) BOOS You’d have to mine Davy Jones’ locker to discover the true depth of our Democratic ex-governor’s duplicity over the federal government’s 287(g) program, the new rules for which were announced with great fanfare by Janet Napolitano’s Department of Homeland Security two weeks ago. The press was informed that…
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: Feathered Bastard: Neo-Nazi Oi Fest II Scheduled for October 24 in Tonopah, Arizona George Gascon Was Threatened…
Scorpions: 2 Sky Harbor travelers: 0 Last week, a local guy got stung on a plane from Phoenix to Indianapolis. Yesterday, a New Jersey man was stung in the neck as he waited in line at Terminal 2’s security checkpoint. Just a coincidence, says Alisa Smith, spokeswoman for Phoenix Sky…
Just learned that scathing political humorist Bill Maher will have Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher, which airs this Friday, July 24 at 10 p.m. The confirmation of this is up on HBO’s page for Maher. And Kate Baker, my contact at HBO, tells…
Rudi Apelt, a German national whose brutal murder of a local woman led to a death sentence in 1989, got a reprieve from death row in May after his lawyers convinced a judge that he is mentally retarded.But Apelt won’t be getting out of prison anytime soon. Yesterday, Maricopa County…
Four boys ages 9, 10, 13 and 14 lured an 8-year-old neighbor into a shed at a Phoenix apartment complex, then sexually assaulted her, police say. The crime happened last Thursday evening, and police were called to the scene after reports of a young girl running out of the shed,…
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ come-from-behind win Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies was great and all, but it don’t mean squat unless a team can build some momentum from it. Consider the momentum unbuilt Wednesday, because the D-Backs dropped a tough one, 4-3, to the surging Rockies and lost yet another series…
Image: Wikimedia Commons Computer hackers inadvertently came to the rescue of ESPN sportscasting hottie Erin Andrews, scaring off would-be voyeurs from downloading a peeping Tom’s video because of a threat of computer viruses. Confession: We found this out on the Internet while searching for the video. Not that we ever would have downloaded…
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is offering a free, two-hour workshop next week on how to “find, stalk, call, judge, and harvest” black bears in Arizona. The class is designed for hunters, but you can always just skip the “harvest” part if you spot one of these amazing mammals in…
Mesa Police Chief George Gascon’s adios as he packs it in for the City by the Bay is showing up local Mesa politicians for the hayseeds that they are. As reported in the East Valley Tribune by Sonu Munshi, Gascon admitted to her that unnamed Mesa officials wanted to sack him…
A former schoolteacher from Tolleson walked out of a Buckeye prison a free man on Tuesday following a successful appeal of his conviction in a shooting he says was in self defense. The West Valley View describes how Harold Fish, 62, (at right) plans to go camping and fishing, and that…
What could it be that draws neo-Nazis to western Maricopa County town of Tonopah? Desert vistas pregnant with ennui? The occasional corpse dumped next to the Interstate? Exhaust from the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant? Whatever it is, Tonopah will once more be the place for the booted and braced come…
Federal handouts come with long, twisted regulatory strings attached. Now, thanks to a series of new Arizona State University classes, stimulus-grabbing businesses can prepare for the bureaucratic onslaught.The classes are being offered by a side-gig of the ASU’s Ira A. Fulton’s School of Engineering called the Alliance for Construction Excellence,…
New Times writer Paul Rubin’s detailed analysis earlier this month of the 2008 bust at Waterworld Safari (now Wet & Wild) demonstrates just how tough it’ll be to get a conviction against one of the company’s managers. To make this employer-sanctions case stick, prosecutors working for Maricopa County Attorney Andrew…
It’s a safe bet that the closest the execrable Arizona Diamondbacks squad will get to this year’s postseason will be tuning into Joe Buck and Tim McCarver’s play-by-play on FOX. But that’s not to say our lovable losers won’t have a say in who’ll be in the MLB playoffs come…
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled that the city of Glendale must reveal records by Friday that show what incentives it’s offering to a new owner of the Phoenix Coyotes ice-hockey team. Among the potential team buyers are Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, and Daryl Jones of Research Edge…
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: New Wavves Song Available on Sendspace Source Victoria to Play Rhythm Room Twice…
The Arizona Republic published a lengthy piece on Sunday about MACE, the Maricopa Anti-Corruption Effort, run by Dave Hendershott, Chief Deputy of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. One question we didn’t see raised or answered in the piece, though: How does Hendershott’s involvement with the SCA scandal affect his role…
Max Dunlap, who was convicted in 1993 of masterminding the 1976 fatal carbombing of Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles, died in prison today at the age of 80. Dunlap, a jury concluded, ordered the attack on Bolles. Dunlap always asserted his innocence, and the Republic story linked above notes…
In the 1997 Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown, Robert DeNiro’s character walks into an apartment and finds Bridget Fonda’s flakey blonde character watching television with bong in hand. He says to her: “You know that shit will kill your ambition.” She replies: “Not if your ambition is to get stoned and watch TV” Here…
