By Ray Stern The Downtown Phoenix Partnership on Monday decided to dump its “Copper Square” branding of the downtown area and go with a new moniker: Downtown Phoenix. Practical, yes. Thrilling, interesting or creative — not. And neither is the so-called logo (pictured above) that comes with it. Although it…
By Ray Stern The global gold and silver shortage has hit local sellers hard in the last few weeks, leaving many without coins or bars of precious metals for the hordes of frenzied buyers preparing for economic Armageddon. “We have one one-ounce Panda,” says one Phoenix coin seller, referring to…
By Paul Rubin Word comes from the East Valley Tribune in this morning’s edition about a mysterious executive session Monday of the Gilbert Town Council. Murder defendant Doug Grant The apparent topic: Troubling matters raised in our recent two-part series on the bizarre Doug Grant murder case, which is scheduled…
By John Dickerson Dr. Gary Page (pictured above), a former Arizona homeopathic physician, has been indicted by a grand jury on one count of manslaughter. The charge results from Page’s using his homeopathic license (or M.D.h.) to perform a cosmetic surgery, as New Times reported in April. Page’s patient died…
By Stephen Lemons Napolitano as head of Homeland Security? Maybe kissing Obama’s butt will be worth it. Pollster believes McCain’s lead is shrinking in Sand Land, along with everywhere else. Jail surveillance system failed to halt videotaped murder. (Duh.) Sheriff’s office knew of Mesa library illegals in August. Feds collar…
MCSO Captain Joel Fox, the man behind SCA… I barely have time to breathe, boys and girls, but I would be remiss if I did not offer up these bagatelles for your amusement, courtesy of the PHX’s bad-boy of the left Dennis Gilman. The first is culled from a recent…
By Paul Rubin We get asked every so often whatever happened to the Snake on the Plane? You may remember the story: Avtar Grewal, a native of India in his early 30s, flew to Phoenix from British Columbia in March 2007, and went to the home of his estranged wife,…
Mesa Plaza Building By Ray Stern It turns out the cleaning crew that got Mesa in trouble with Joe Arpaio had access to City Hall, after all. Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies hit both Mesa City Hall and the library in a predawn raid as they hunted for unauthorized Mexican workers…
By Ray Stern Channel 4 (KVOA) News in Tucson reports that life-size cutout art displays featuring the likeness of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio have been popping at major intersection around the city. One of the pieces, above, appears to depict Arpaio aiming a gun at a woman and young…
By Stephen Lemons Palin supports constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. So, um, only straights should be miserable? Rep endorses Mitchell in CD5. Dems discover Shadegg credit card in Tempe office. State GOP-ers return $105K in dirty ad money. (Maybe they can borrow Shadegg’s Visa.) Valley house prices down for 17th…
By Ray Stern Trib Publisher Julie Moreno Follow the money. That’s sound advice for any investigative journalist. And it’s a key aspect of the drastic new business plan for the East Valley Tribune . As previously reported in this blog and by the Trib itself, the corporate owners of the…
By Ray Stern A Mesa official disputes the idea that Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies had any legitimate reason to be inside Mesa City Hall during last week’s nighttime raids on municipal buildings. Search warrants prepared by the Sheriff’s Office and signed by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe, soon…
By John Dickerson A video that shows the brutal killing of an inmate in Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jail has garnered attention from news outlets across the country. The footage, released last week by KPHO Channel 5 shows one inmate brutally beating another inmate to death in Arpaio’s jail. The sheriff…
By Stephen Lemons NY Times, Montini, and the Rep’s editorial board pile on Arpaio. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Saban dukes it out with Joe for headlines. Obama backed by Colin Powell on Meet the Press. So-called “Joe the Plumber” owes Mesa moolah, had his AZ driver’s license suspended…
By Ray Stern It’s no stretch to characterize the raid by Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s deputies on Mesa’s city hall and library as a heavy-handed political move. As covered in the July 10 edition of New Times, the city’s outspoken Cuban immigrant police chief, George Gascon, and Arpaio have sparred publicly…
Wall Street Journal picture of Lillie McCain, a descendant of slaves owned by John McCain’s ancestors By Ray Stern As a story on the front page of the Wall Street Journal points out today, the race for the White House isn’t just between a white guy and a black guy,…
By Stephen Lemons Mesa Mayor slams Arpaio on City Hall raid. Lady lobbyist denies getting intimate with McCain. (Can you blame her? For denying it, that is.) Rick Renzi’s lawyers say the FBI tapped his phone. Electorate offers thumbs down on McCain in new poll. Suns coach Porter puts the…
Ted Simons hosts the “debate,” with cowardly Joe as a no-show. Dan Saban is such a class act in so many respects, especially when compared to our clownish county constable Joe Arpaio. Take the KAET Horizon “debate” this Tuesday, which Arpaio blew off because his ego can’t handle going head…
What did Joe know, and when did he know it? Remember when the dirty anti-Saban ad came out a couple of weeks ago, and everyone was wondering who ordered the Republican Party to do it, and who paid for it? What did Arpaio tell Channel 12’s Joe Dana about whether…
By Benjamin Leatherman Could this train be a post-midnight express? Would you like for light-rail to operate until 2 a.m.? You should, especially if it’s going to keep your drunk ass from getting a DUI one night. As I reported a few weeks ago, the Phoenix City Council’s Transportation and…
By Ray Stern Problems with apparently bogus voter registrations turned in by ACORN, a group now under investigation by the FBI for voter fraud, haven’t been a problem in Maricopa County, says Maricopa County Elections Department director Karen Osborne. Even if the group had turned in bad registrations here, Arizona’s…
By Ray Stern Here on the light-rail stop at 12th Street and Jefferson, we’ve been hearing the guttural “honk-honking” and trolley-like “ding-dinging” for a few days during test runs of the new trains, which are set to kick off operations on December 27. But let’s face it — you probably…
