POWER TRIPS They find fake crimes more interesting: My heart bleeds for this young woman. Imagine what she went through at Moon Valley High School, only to be treated like a worthless whore by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. She was 14 years old when this videotaped statutory rape happened;…
Peace activist and anti-war den mom Cindy Sheehan will be a busy one while she’s in town over the next couple of days with a fundraiser at a local home, an appearance at Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe, and most interestingly, a protest announced by the End the War Coalition,…
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: Sony Ruins eMusic’s Indie Credibility, Raises Rates Arty Girl: David van Alphen at…
No surprise here: Anti-photo-enforcement Judge John Keegan has dismissed the speed camera case against Arizona Republican Party Director Brett Mecum. Keegan, justice of the peace for the Arrowhead Justice Court, has tossed hundreds of photo-enforcement cases because he believes the system is unconstitutional. The Department of Public Safety sends…
Paul Chagolla can’t stop being a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.Though Chagolla left Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s flighty “communications” department in December, having been promoted the department’s first Hispanic deputy chief, he’s been filling the pages of local newspapers in guest columns. His latest diatribe in the East ValleyTribune…
The number of homes sold in Phoenix continues to smash records made during the peak of the housing boom in 2005. The numbers look quite impressive on a chart made by a local real estate sales blog, click2az.com:…
The State Senate still intends to boot reporters out of rooms at the State Capitol that they’ve worked in for more than three decades — it’ll happen at the end of this legislative session, staffers say. So, in the interest of preserving a (somewhat moldy) slice of history, here is…
One single out. Just three little strikes. That’s all the Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen — or more specifically, Tony Peña — needed to protect a four-run lead with two away in the bottom of the eighth versus the Los Angeles Dodgers last night. But instead of landing that lone K (or…
Two school buses collided on Highway 89 in Chino Valley Tuesday afternoon, injuring one of the bus drivers and at least a dozen students from Heritage Middle School. Initial reports indicate that three school buses were traveling in a procession when the first collided with a pickup truck, causing a…
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: Kyrsten Sinema’s Guide to Delusional Democratic Thought, In Bookstores Soon Up on the Sun: The…
An Apache Junction woman claims the Arizona Heart Hospital violated her right to religious freedom by demanding she be immunized as a condition of employment. Melissa Allen, a licensed nurse, applied at the Phoenix hospital two years ago as a patient care assistant and was told by the “charge nurse” that…
A California woman sued Pepsi after finding out that Crunchberries contained no real fruit, but a judge ruled any reasonable person could have figured that out. The case of Janine Sugawawa does provide a modicum of hope that the justice system isn’t running on four flats — this one was nipped…
Our cover story on the stands this week concerned one Tony Tercero, a Vietnam War veteran and onetime big-league marijuana smuggler whose family is seeking greater recognition for his long-ago wartime heroics. As was noted in the story, Tony learned weeks after we first met with him that he was…
A few hours ago, we were driving in the vicinity of the Clarendon Hotel on 4th Avenue south of Indian School Road when it struck us: It’s June 2, the anniversary of a day that will live in infamy (to steal a line) in Arizona and in journalism circles around the…
The first month of amnesty for businesses with delinquent tax bills netted the city of Phoenix $1 million. Sort of. The 190 businesses that took advantage of the program through May 15 promised to send their share of sales to Phoenix over the next six months. We’ll see how much…
The Arizona Court of Appeals today smacked down Sheriff Joe Arpaio, ruling that administrators at the Maricopa County Superior Court do not have to turn over thousands of e-mails, as Arpaio had demanded.In a unanimous decision released this morning, the three-judge panel found that Superior Court Adminstrator Marcus Reinkensmeyer acted correctly…
There’s nothing like a good box-of-feces story to brighten your day. Metro light-rail spokeswoman Hillary Foose confirmed media reports that a man took a box of poop on a train this morning and threw it on the floor. Unhappy passengers disembarked at the 36th Street and Washington station, and…
Would you take financial advice from a homeless man? Lessons in humility from Simon Cowell? Follow Kirstie Alley’s diet regimen? Look for WMD’s with a map drawn by Dick Cheney? Or take an anger management class taught by Russell Crowe? Then why in tarnation would you read a book about…
The wrestling match between Governor Jan Brewer, her veteran political consultant, and other Republicans is breaking out of the cage. A conservative blog site, Gila Courier, points out that High Ground, the lobby group run by Brewer’s consultant, Chuck Coughlin, has several Republican legislators as clients. Point being that these…
The most pivotal moment in perhaps the Arizona Diamondbacks’ hoped-for turnaround took place during the top half of the second inning during their Monday-night game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in L.A. Facing Hiroki Kuroda in his first start since Opening Day, Stephen Drew led off with a double that…
Despite a lawsuit on behalf of the developmentally disabled that challenges a January budget-balancing law, the Arizona Supreme Court declined to review a Court of Appeals ruling that would allow budget cuts in services for disabled people. Among the services that can be cut are various forms of therapy and…
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:Charles Ryan Attends Marcia Powell’s Memorial Service, Says He Didn’t Know Powell Had Guardian Up on…
