Esther Escalante has the chaste presence of a church lady, which, in fact, she is. Her husband is pastor at Phoenix Tabernacle in South Phoenix. The Tabernacle is a Pentecostal church that mixes hellfire with live music (including an accordian played in a way that would have terrified Lawrence Welk)…
Arizona lawmakers are currently considering a proposal that would significantly lower the price of a speeding ticket for some speeders. The proposal, House Bill 2662, would expand the use of one of Arizona’s odder laws, which is the ban on the “waste of finite resources,” which comes with a ticket…
Chris Simcox, former minuteman leader and alleged child molester, is looking to test that old saw about how any defendant who acts as his own attorney “has a fool for a client.” According to a February 12 filing in Maricopa County Superior Court, Simcox wants to fire his public defenders…
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas isn’t immediately escalating the feud she caused by attempting to fire two employees of the Arizona Board of Education last week. Douglas’ move was overturned by Governor Doug Ducey last week, as Ducey said legal counsel advised him Douglas didn’t have the power…
A federal judge in Texas may have temporarily blocked President Obama’s executive order that shields more people from deportation, but local pro-immigration forces are unfazed. Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego joined state lawmakers and immigrant-rights groups at the Arizona Capitol today to tell people who are eligible for Obama’s deferred-action program…
An Arizona State University professor and his family are being targeted by white supremacists and neo-Nazis over a controversial class he’s teaching called U.S. Race Theory and the Problem of Whiteness. Lee Bebout, an associate professor of English at ASU, has faced fierce criticism after Fox News anchor Elizabeth Hasselbeck…
Arizona State University Police Officer Stewart Ferrin resigned on Monday, about nine months after video of his violent arrest of a black professor went viral. Although ASU officials had said previously that Ferrin’s arrest of Ersula Ore on May 20 was proper, they flip-flopped when the public weighed in following…
Arizona’s top health official will step down March 3 after 23 years with the state. Will Humble submitted his resignation to Governor Doug Ducey on Friday. “This has been an awesome job,” he wrote Monday on the Arizona Department of Health Services Director’s Blog. However, he continued, “Careers have a…
A group looking to recall Arizona schools chief Diane Douglas is hoping that her latest controversy is going to propel their campaign into the spotlight. Douglas attempted to fire two employees of the state’s Board of Education in her bid to follow through on a campaign promise of ridding the…
The outbreak of measles in Arizona is likely over. Health officials counted seven confirmed cases of measles in Arizona stemming from the outbreak at Disneyland late last year and have been waiting over the past three weeks to determine whether anyone else developed measles. It can take up to 21…
Ex-Tempe police officer Jessica Dever-Jakusz received probation last week for sleeping with an Ecstasy dealer she was supposed to be setting up for a sting. Still, the daughter-in-law of the late Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever is by no means the worst cop we can think of in recent Arizona…
Arizona’s new schools chief Diane “Repeal Common Core” Douglas and new Governor Doug Ducey have entered into an unusual public spat that, if nothing else, is highly entertaining. Earlier this week, Douglas fired two employees of the State Board of Education over their alleged support of a new standardized test…
In life, Kayla Mueller was a humanitarian and a peacemaker. In death, she’s becoming a rallying point for ramped-up military action in the Middle East. One day after U.S. officials confirmed reports that the 26-year-old Prescott native had been killed in Syria, a captive of the Islamic State of Iraq…
At the end of the week, we bring you a roundup of visitors to the desert’s own Fourth Avenue Jail. To be considered for our Maricopa County mugshots of the week, get arrested, strike a pose, and we’ll take care of the rest. We know it’s late notice, but if…
Talk about a missed opportunity. On Wednesday, Phoenix city leaders gathered for a press conference at City Hall to announce that February is “Graffiti Free Awareness Month,” and to pat themselves on the backs for all the great work Phoenix does in combating graffiti. The media event included City Council…
An investigation into a sophisticated baby-formula theft ring in the Phoenix area has resulted in the arrests of 17 Arizonans. Alleged ringleader Deborah Lynn Russell shipped thousands of baby-food cans to mom-and-pop retail shops on the East Coast, Bill Montgomery, Maricopa County Attorney, said at a news conference today. Local…
Arizona’s Democratic lawmakers received a bizarre e-mail from the College Republicans at Arizona State University at 2:58 a.m. Monday morning. The purpose of the e-mail from College Republicans VP James Malone isn’t really clear, but it’s generally insulting and seems to be asking for money for the club to attend…
The Arizona ACLU has teamed up with its San Diego counterpart and a private law firm, Cooley LLP, to file a federal lawsuit against multiple U.S. agencies for failing “to produce records related to the abuse and mistreatment of children in the custody of Customs and Border Protection and its…
Leaders in Arizona’s atheist community gathered Wednesday to strongly condemn the fatal shooting of three Muslim students in North Carolina. Much has been made in the news that the shooting suspect, 46-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks, had a history of anti-religious comments, but the local atheists wanted to make it clear…
Can you please explain to me why some Chicanos and mexicanos get offended when you speak to them in Spanish? As a fellow Chicano, I find it hard to believe that raza gets offended by this genuine approach to them. Have you noticed this behavior yourself? That little dirty look…
Like a bad case of shingles, dealing with Rim Country crackpot and state Senator Sylvia Allen is both painful and seemingly without cure. In 2012, in the wake of redistricting, Allen chickened out of a run in a newly-drawn Legislative District 6, following a poll’s showing her with a 22…
The young basketball scout was embarking on one of his first big assignments. Ryan McDonough, 24, was visiting the Washington, D.C. area to see the Michael Jordan Classic, in which top prep stars (who then could go directly to the pros) would be scrutinized by NBA decision-makers. He was accompanied…
