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: Update on The Edge 103.9’s “Format Modification:” Less New Music, More 90s Hits…
Sean Noble [above], a local right-wing political consultant and former chief-of-staff for John Shadegg, is in the hospital after a one-car accident on Friday. Greg Patterson’s Espresso Pundit blog reported yesterday that Noble, who also writes a so-so political blog called Noble Thinking, “lost control of his car while driving down…
Cops figured Mesa cardiologist Richard Lewis had fondled more than just the two women they knew about when he was arrested in June. Now, Mesa police say an investigation has uncovered 16 more victims, thanks in part to widespread media coverage. Police didn’t release details of the new cases…
Solar power will be the “new economic engine for Arizona,” writes local lawyer Jordan Rose in Saturday’s “My Turn” column in the Arizona Republic. Whether that’s true or not, it’s already an economic engine for Rose, [pictured]. She’s the lawyer for SolarCity, a California company planning to install solar panels…
An employee at the McClintock High School bookstore embezzled about $192,000 from the store in a two-year period, Tempe police say. Rebecca Sue Soto, 49, [above], was arrested this morning at her Tempe home following a lengthy investigation by police. According to cops, someone saw Soto leave the school…
A recent headline reported that there are now 25,000 homeless children in the Arizona public school system. We wondered — after reading in the Arizona Republic that this number of homeless kids is equivalent to the population of Fountain Hills — shouldn’t Child Protective Services step in? Apparently not. Even…
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge threw cold water on Captain Joel Fox’s already tepid arguments for keeping secret the names behind a large Republican Party donation. At the hearing requested by Fox to stave off an impending order to cough up the names of the mysterious “SCA” donors…
How many Arizona legislators does it take to change a budget? All of them; as long as they’re locked in a room together, not getting paid, and not allowed to go home until they do it. The Arizona State Legislature unanimously passed a budget package Monday that would restore funding…
This building on Broadway Road used to house Hustler Hollywood Tempe. It couldn’t find customers, and now it’s becoming — a preschool. What is the world coming to? …
If they weren’t born here, 96.5 percent of Arizona high school students would not qualify to be United States citizens, according to a study released last week by the Goldwater Institute. The “Freedom From Responsibility” survey shows that only 3.5 percent of Arizona high school students would pass a basic…
In the top half of the eighth inning at Chase Field last night, the boo birds came a-calling once again on the 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks. The pesky San Diego Padres had just padded their lead after a throwing error by catcher Miguel Montero, who was trying to prevent Everth Cabrera…
A company in Luxembourg is funding research for Valley company T-gen. The research will involve testing and storing blood and tissue samples.T-gen doctor Jeffrey Trent called the Luxembourg contract big news for the Arizona bio-research community…Police are still investigating a possible case of sexual assault aboard a school bus in…
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 J.T. Ready Speaks at Phoenix Tea Party Event, as Does Tasered Tempe Pastor Steven…
July may not seem like the time to start the ever-daunting college application process. But College Depot is waiting for you anyway. Calling all students, their families, the out-of-work and the starting-over: The Depot serves as a college counselor, computer network, bilingual information hub/hangout and support system for anyone looking…
These uber right wing Tea Parties continue to be a magnet for extremists and crazy folk of all stripes. Though I wasn’t able to make the recent hate-Obama rally that took place July 4 at the Arizona state Capitol, I have since discovered from info provided from some pals that…
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Captain Joel Fox will argue before a Superior Court judge on Tuesday that he shouldn’t have to turn over the names of donors behind a nebulous $105,000 contribution to the Arizona Republican Party. The county elections department has wanted to see those names since election season, but…
Border Patrol checkpoints and their impact on civil rights will be discussed at a forum next week in Green Valley hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union. The topic is a hot one in the southern Arizona community, where some residents have fought plans to install a permanent checkpoint on…
Bret Tarver A 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of starting the 2001 fire that killed Phoenix firefighter Bret Tarver. Chris Benitez was 15 when he started a fire in a trash mound next to a westside Southwest Supermarket, investigators believe. Tarver was helping to battle the inferno…
A Phoenix woman who coached boys — including her teenaged sons — on the fine art of armed robbery wasn’t quite as bad as the real Ma Barker, says a weekend story by the Associated Press. We covered the case for you last month after police announced the arrests…
Police made two more arrests last night in the case of a fatal arson fire last month at a Phoenix business, Young Champions of America. Josh Robinson, 28, a karate instructor at the company, was killed in the blaze that he helped start, police say. Jeffrey Otto, 19, and Moniza Murillo,…
Our blog posts about beating photo-enforcement tickets have spurred a few comments like this one: Walt says: Hello. My wife made a right turn on red at one of Avondale’s traffic lights. Received a violation notice in the mail to me since the vehicle is only registered to me. The…
Elsa Lynch, Paradise Valley’s longtime judge and court manager, will retire July 15.Her position is so unusual, the town might need two people to replace her. She’s the only court administrator we’ve ever heard of who is also a municipal judge. The town’s Web site says she’s an “Arizona Supreme…
