Three Arizona Department of Corrections detention officers have been indicted on fraud charges following a long investigation that showed they had cheated on pay sheets, says the Maricopa County Attorney’s office.Evan Vincelli, 28, Sonja Schroeder, 26, and Joseph Constantino, 38, stand accused of stealing a total of $56,000 in 2006…
U.S. bankruptcy judge Redfield Baum did not make a ruling today in the case that will determine the future of the Phoenix Coyotes. Baum says he needs more time to examine hundreds of documents filed late last night, and he also says both sides in the case have made contradictory statements in…
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Teresa Sanders had never seen anything like it.Sanders was in court Friday morning to sentence Bryant Wilkerson, a 30-year-old Fountain Hills postal clerk whose cause was championed by both New Times and the NAACP. Wilkerson was involved in an accident in May 2007 that killed 15-year-old…
A “mysterious” object that spurred articles in the Arizona Republic and elsewhere turned out to be a giant research balloon — which was exactly what it looked like in pictures. UFOs spin almost as much fun as Bigfoot in the media, and Arizona has been hyper-fertile ground for sightings since…
Lowell Elementary School in Phoenix has been close by health officials until May 26 because of an outbreak of “influenza like illness.”Swine flu could be the cause, but no tests are planned. The virus, officials have decided, has a weak punch. Still, “as a precaution,” Lowell is being closed until…
Tucson land-planning veteran Judith Patrick has been appointed by Governor Jan Brewer as chair of the State Compensation Fund’s board of directors, the first woman to hold the position.Patrick is a principal in R.G. Patrick Land Planning in Tucson, and has served on the SCF board since 1992. In a…
A wildfire burning near Bisbee has led to some closures on Highway 80. The fire, called the Mule Pass Fire, was believed to have scorched 140 to 150 acres as of 8 p.m. last night, and is burning away from town, according the Arizona State Forestry Division…A strange, glowing object…
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: Channel 3/AZ Family’s Whitewash of Extremist Nativist Glenn Spencer Up on the Sun: NIN/JA Tour,…
A junket to Saudi Arabia for 10 U.S. mayors wasn’t just a chance to network for the business community — Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon says it was about building a safer world.One of the most important things Gordon contends he accomplished on his six-day trip, paid for by the Saudi royal…
True to form, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is milking a hunger strike ongoing in his jails, locking down three of his uncertified, Amnesty International-condemned gulags today over the so-called threat of “inmate-on-inmate-violence.” Alas, the danger of “inmate-on-inmate violence” wasn’t a concern for Arpaio following the murder of inmate Robert Cotton on May 1, 2008 by a…
After a 90-minute hearing in federal court, Judge Raner Collins said he will decide Tuesday whether to order the corporate owners of the Tucson Citizen to keep publishing the 138-year-old newspaper.State Attorney General Terry Goddard, who accuses Gannett and Lee Enterprises of trying to monopolize the Tucson daily newspaper market,…
Mary Peters, the Harley-riding transportation guru who left her longtime job as director of the Arizona Department of Transportation to become Transportation Secretary under President George W. Bush, has joined the Goldwater Institute as a “senior fellow.”Peters was considered a potential candidate for governor in 2010 until Governor Jan Brewer…
A would-be child rapist, caught with the help of an alleged pimp, was convicted of attempted child prostitution last week. We expect the judge to throw away the key when Dell Rainbow Vanderschuit is sentenced on June 16. As we reported in March, Vanderschuit has already served four years in…
One of the most wonderful attributes of a new line of toys released in Phoenix this weekend, Go Go Pets Hamsters, is that the rodent lookalikes don’t “poop, die or stink.” That’s according to the Scottdale-based PR firm, Martz Agency, which tells us the toys “invaded Phoenix” over the weekend,…
Following a brief decline in ridership, people boarded the Valley’s light-rail trains more than a million times in April.Metro Light Rail doesn’t know precisely how many folks get on its trains, but estimates that last month saw 1,044, 135 boardings. That works out to a daily ridership of 34,805 –…
The Ford Shelby GT Mustang that helped cause the arrest of the Arizona Republican Party director Brett Mecum was made for people who love a good thrill.Though the DPS news release on Mecum’s alleged April 10 speed-camera violation states his car is a GT 500, the body style — judging…
I’ve been so busy chasing Sand Land neo-Nazis that I haven’t had a chance to blog about this April 30 piece on the border fence by Channel 3 reporter Carey Pena. The segment would’ve been a rather pedestrian report on the 700 miles of border fencing being built because of the…
A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments by the state Attorney General’s office this morning as to why the Tucson Citizen should stay closed, says one of the newspaper’s would-be buyers. Stephen Hadland, CEO of the Santa Monica Media Group, publisher of the Culver City Observer, sent the following…
For a slide show from Saturday’s rally, click here.Chants of “Let’s go Coy-otes!” and “Stay away Canada!” filled the air as about 200 Valley ice hockey fans in white rallied to show their support for keeping the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale. The surprise wasn’t so much that the much-vaunted “Destroy your…
The judge was just playin’.Amazing at it sounds, Maricopa County Criminal Presiding Judge Gary Donahoe told the East Valley Tribune that his e-mailed threats to release jail inmates early should not be taken seriously by the Sheriff’s Office. “I guess maybe it was frustration and maybe trying to get their…
For Max Scherzer, it was about time. The second-year pitcher had pitched well enough to win several games this season, but the Arizona Diamondbacks’ anemic offense let him down each time. On Saturday, in a 12-0 laugher against the Atlanta Braves in Hotlanta, Scherzer finally got his first “W,” shutting…
Mesa resident Brad Benson is peeved about a local church that sits in a strip mall, 10 feet from his backyard. Benson claims that the church, Ministerios La Gran Comision, plays “rock music at weird hours” and over-amplified sermons. Police are currently working to clarify the noise ordinance in that…
