Leaders of a Tempe mosque have decided that if congregant Sumayyah Dawud wants to continue attending prayers and other community functions at the Islamic Community Center, she must either dress and pray as a man or provide medical documentation proving she is anatomically female. Though Dawud was born male, she…
We’ve all done it: chugged our wine or whiskey during Thanksgiving dinner in an attempt to drown out the racist and political rambling of crazy uncle George. Dealing with family members often requires that the libations flow freely — we get it. But this year, if Uncle George goes on…
How’s this for irony? One month before Governor Doug Ducey issued a statement calling for a halt to the placement of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Arizona, the Arizona State Transportation Board voted in favor of spending about $367,000 in public funds to honor a Syrian Muslim immigrant. The mostly-federal…
With the gun culture going strong here in the desert, it’s not hard to believe that Arizona is ranked the eighth most-dangerous state in the country.But there’s more to it than that. To calculate the measure of which states are most dangerous, the data crunchers at the personal finance website…
Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva is determined not to let the U.S. Department of Agriculture forget about Nosey, the 32-year-old African circus elephant he and other animal welfare advocates say has “reportedly undergone long-term abuse and has suffered serious, willful, and chronic violations of the Animal Welfare Act.” For months, Grijalva’s…
No open-meeting violation occurred over an order to place anti-abortion stickers in Gilbert Public Schools’ biology textbooks in August, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office ruled. However, the school district’s governing board was set to receive mandatory training last night on Arizona’s Open Meeting Law at a special session because of…
Convicted child-rapist Adrian Cruz is back in Phoenix, following a six-year vacation from his lifetime sentence behind bars, a vacation he owes to the negligence of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s boys and girls in beige. Cruz, who escaped from MCSO custody in 2009, was arrested in April by Mexican police, after…
Two Arizona Congress members, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Matt Salmon have introduced federal legislation aimed at cracking down on what they say are security gaps in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program — the federal program that allows citizens from 38 countries “to travel to the United States without a…
Lying in a hospital bed, Phoenix resident Kit Kloeckl was deathly ill and could barely breathe. He had contracted pneumonia, but the treatment wasn’t working, and he was getting sicker. After a battery of tests, an infectious-disease specialist entered his hospital room with a grim expression on his face. “You’re…
How many people have died in our sheriff’s jails? Six months ago, on May 4, 2015, I asked a spokesman for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for a cadaver count. It was not an idle question. Since he was elected sheriff in 1993, county taxpayers have shelled out more than…
The nation has seen six years of legal medical or recreational marijuana use in 23 states and Washington, D.C., not to mention decades of widespread illegal use, but experts still have no real idea whether the drug poses any significant danger. What is certain is that marijuana is the second…
Surrounded by Republican bigwigs, including John McCain and Jeff Flake, Democratic state Senator Carlyle Begay, whose district covers the Navajo Nation, announced that he is joining the Republican Party. “With an open mind and heart, I clearly see the Republican Party is a party of progress, a party of hope,…
Arguing that current efforts to stop Mexican drug cartels from packing heroin over Arizona’s border have “fallen short,” Governor Doug Ducey today appealed to federal officials for financial and technical support for a controversial new border security force made up of state police. Since September, when Ducey quietly assembled the…
Following a terrorist attack in Paris, a jumbo-jet bombing in the Middle East, and threats by ISIS to take their battle to the American homeland, it may not be the best time to cut back on airport security. But controversial brain scientist Peter Steinmetz and some friends held signs and…
In a public letter to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, the American Civil Liberties Union calls the governor’s new plan for an anti-drug-trafficking border Strike Force “seriously concerning” and potentially “devastating.” Ducey, who campaigned on a promise of mitigating cross-border human and drug trafficking, says he’s making good on this promise…
A bag containing $7,000 in cash. A self-made billionaire code-named “Cabo.” A media-hog sheriff obsessed with a wack investigation of President Obama’s birth certificate. A supposed CIA database of illegally harvested data. And a Seattle-based computer guru, code-named “Oz.” These are a few of the speakers and subjects found in…
A new independent study from the economic consulting firm, BBC Research and Consulting, finds that if Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva’s Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument bill passes, it will bring in $51 million annually to the economy of Northern Arizona. The figure comes from the combined economic value of…
Way too often those of us who live in Arizona are downright embarrassed when a story sweeps national and even international media about a bonkers person from our state. Below, find the 10 most cringe-worthy Arizonans: 10.) Amy Bouzaglo of Amy’s Baking Company There have been some darn stubborn people running…
The name of each transgender murder victim was read in somber tones: Lamia Beard, Virginia. Keyshia Blige, Illinois. Kandis Capri, Arizona. Some in the crowd of about 50 that gathered on the Arizona State Capitol lawn to commemorate their lives Friday, which was Transgender Day of Remembrance, dabbed at tears…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s lead attorney John Masterson had just begun to argue why the court should pay no heed to the MCSO’ so-called Seattle investigation, when federal Judge G. Murray Snow, standing rather than sitting for most Friday’s final arguments in the sheriff’s contempt trial, interrupted him. The jurist stated…
The Arizona Supreme Court decided today that people with a medical marijuana card are not automatically immune from DUI laws if they are pulled over and found to have “marijuana or its metabolite” in their systems. The ruling overturned an earlier decision by the court of appeals that, as David…
A Chandler medical-marijuana lawyer’s license could go up in smoke in a State Bar of Arizona discipline case that involves accusations of shady deals, backstabbing her own clients, and making a dishonest grab for tainted cash. The allegations of ethical misconduct, conflict of interest and lying appear in an explosive…
