News

Following a court order, the Tempe City Council will discuss at its meeting tonight what to do next with a the case of a tattoo parlor that had its business license revoked after neighbors complained it might make the area seem seedy.The Tempe City Attorney’s office confirmed the court decision…

Usually, when cops talk to Rodney Hapney, 42, it’s because they’re arresting the transient for trespassing or some other minor, though troublesome, offense. Police went looking for Hapney yesterday for a different reason — to thank him.Hapney, who lives occasionally in a homeless shelter at 35th Avenue and Buckeye, recently…

Politicians waste millions of your tax dollars pumping up their own names for illegitimate purposes, says a new report by the Goldwater Institute.The author of Shameless Self-Promotion, How Politicians Use Your Money to Get Re-Elected, is Shawnna Bolick, wife of the Goldwater’s director of litigation, Clint Bolick. (The institute does…

We’ve gotten several e-mails in the last few days wondering what happened in the sentencing phase of recently convicted cop killer Donnie Delahanty. Short answer — nothing yet. Superior Court Judge Warren Granville has been off this week, and the jury is not scheduled to reconvene until Monday, May 18. At…

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner met with President Barack Obama yesterday before Obama’s speech at ASU. Obama invited Warner to play basketball with him at the White House, and Warner offered to pray for Obama’s family…L. William Seidman, former business school dean at Arizona State University and a CNBC commentator,…

My wife is from Michoacán state. We’ve bought a home in the small town of her birth. I love everything about the quiet little place. Even her mother is kind to me, as if I were her son. The food is incredibly good. The puerco is killed that morning and…

BUDOFF’S FOLLY You lost at me “goon”: Thank you for writing such a well-thought-out article. This was the first time I had heard of this situation (I live in Kansas). Like you, I’m very disturbed that a judge would take it upon himself to establish a religion for these children…

No doubt about it: Phoenix is broke. Mayor Phil Gordon is flying to Washington to beg for federal bailout bucks so frequently, he should probably register as a lobbyist. So it’s downright bizarre that, in the midst of this nightmare, city leaders are fighting desperately to give away $97 million…

Strapped with a sidearm, carrying an Arizona flag, and wearing a golf cap and ink-black sunglasses, the neo-Nazi insisted that he not be referred to as a Nazi of any sort. “I’m a National Socialist!” he declared proudly. Though he would reveal his name only as “Harry,” this particular neo-Nazi…

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:The Sun Sessions: Bargrass Revival Does “Margaritaville” Lucero Live: Moshing to Pedal Steel Chow…

 President Barack Obama deftly turned an embarrassment for Arizona State University into a theme for his commencement speech on Wednesday, urging students to never stop “adding to your body of work.” The reference was to a statement made by ASU spokeswoman Sharon Keeler when asked why the university was not…

We heard from Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Paul Chagolla following our post this afternoon about his office’s request of public records from the county: He takes issue with our quip about him wanting the media to rally behind its request.”I wasn’t looking for anybody’s support,” Chagolla says of his…

An Arizona prosecutor considered a “pioneer of asset forfeiture” will brief U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today about efforts to target smugglers of illegal immigrants.Cameron “Kip” Holmes, a longtime prosecutor with the state Attorney General’s office, was recently profiled on a Web site for the Association for Certified Asset Forfeiture…

Last week, New Times featured an in-depth look at the hype surrounding the “Craigslist Killings.” Much of the controversy and opposition centered on the “Erotic Services” section of the Web site. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Sheriff Thomas Dart of Cook County, Illinois both wanted it removed. But Craigslist was…

Paul Chagolla a champion of Arizona’s public records law? Please! Chagolla was a former top flak for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and we had to laugh after reading his comments following an opinion column by the Arizona Republic. The column suggests Arpaio should “scale back” his large records request…

Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio says fellow Councilman Mike Nowakowski committed an “illegal act” by suggesting to a city official that the police chief be fired.Nowakowski has responded by calling DiCiccio a “liar.”The Arizona Republic’s Scott Wong covers the city soap opera today in an article that suggests Nowakowski could…

We signed up for the Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s new e-mail bulletin service about a month ago and received our first “alert” today: A new Rasmussen poll shows that 58 percent of voters believe Arpaio’s had a positive impact on the state. Not only do a majority of Republicans…

[jump] Anderson, named to the newspaper’s second team of 20 winners, is a veteran intern at TGen in Phoenix: Anderson, who also has worked in research projects at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, will remain at ASU one more year to complete dual majors in Bioengineering and Medicinal Biochemistry. He…

President Barack Obama’s arrival in Tempe today will tie up streets and disrupt light-rail service, but it’ll be another momentous event for his fans.  His 7 p.m. commencement speech at Arizona State University is a sold-out show expected to be witnessed by a crowd of 71,000 at the aging Sun Devil Stadium. A pre-graduation-ceremony show…