Jodi Arias accuses her prosecutor of lying and demands the immediate release of forensic reports related to her victim’s laptop in a court motion filed on Wednesday. As we reported in early November, the sordid Arias saga took another turn for the bizarre when accusations of police mishandling of evidence…
Phoenix police are still seeking clues in the murder of the 17-year-old daughter of two prominent Tempe residents. A local resident taking out trash in an alley near 18th Place and Roeser Road about 9:30 a.m. on Monday spotted what appeared to be a person sleeping and called police. Cops…
How did the patron saint of Mexico get a name derived from Arabic? El Moro Judio You’re referring to the Virgin of Guadalupe, the brown-skinned apparition of the Virgin Mary who tradition says appeared before the Aztec peasant Juan Diego in December 1531 just outside modern-day Mexico City. As you…
The future of Arizona’s Medicaid expansion was thrown in doubt on Wednesday after the state Supreme Court ruled that a legal challenge to the program could move ahead. Thirty-six Arizona lawmakers who voted against the Medicaid bill in 2013 were injured as a group, the court ruled in an opinion…
A 22-year-old Tempe man was killed on Tuesday after several men burst into his family’s home and shot him during an apparent marijuana robbery. Michael Perez was home with his wife and 3-year-old son in the 1000 block of East Manhattan Drive at about 9:20 p.m. when the assailants made…
The body of a 15-year-old Buckeye girl who ran away from home last week was found yesterday in a desert area, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Leah Costa ran away from home on Christmas Eve with her 17-year-old boyfriend, and deputies have arrested that boyfriend on several charges,…
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and other Arizona foes of medical marijuana were hit by another symbolic setback with last weekend’s opening of a Sun City dispensary. The White Mountain Health Center, a nonprofit company operated by marijuana activist and bong-tool inventor Daryl “Butch” Williams, is the now the 84th…
Drunk driving is bad. That said, here’s where police will be setting up “saturation patrols” around the Valley, looking for impaired drivers on New Year’s Eve:…
On a recent Friday afternoon, Nick Kriaris, owner of Encanto Green Cross medical-marijuana dispensary in Phoenix, and his brother, Chris, tried to open an account at Bank of America for their nonprofit business with $420 in cash. The attempt at the bank branch at 3030 North Central Avenue was, to…
The City of Phoenix is warning bus passengers that bus drivers could vote to strike this week. Phoenix Public Transit Department spokesman Matthew Heil tells New Times that the contracted bus service, First Transit Inc., informed the city that it gave a “best and final offer” to the Amalgamated Transit…
2014 was a big year for Phoenix news. Below, check out the 10 biggest stories of the year:…
Drunk driving is bad. That said, here’s where police will be setting up “saturation patrols” around the Valley, looking for impaired drivers this weekend:…
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. This week, we introduce the 50 best…
The other day, my Italian boyfriend and I were sitting in a cafe in Santa Monica. He asked me an interesting question: “If you had the choice to be any nationality in the world, which one would you choose?” Being the proud Latina that I am, I said, “Mexican.” Then…
Gather ’round, kids, it’s time for the annual telling of our favorite Christmas tale — how Santa Claus nearly died in Arizona 82 years ago. In 1932, Santa jumped out of an airplane over Mesa, but his parachute didn’t deploy, and scores of people watched Santa fall helplessly to the…
Brian Sands, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s book-writing retired executive chief, predicts his ex-boss won’t be reelected in 2016. “I think he’s done,” says Sands, who retired last year as one of Arpaio’s closest aides after a 30-year career at the agency. The voting public no longer trusts him and…
An independent report on the two-hour execution of Joseph Wood earlier this year gives a positive review of how the Arizona Department of Corrections carried out the execution. This report was commissioned by the state after the extraordinarily long execution, which went on for so long that Wood’s federal public…
Former Phoenix Police Chief Danny Garcia fought the law, and the law won. And too often, the law in this town is spelled P-L-E-A, the acronym for the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, the union that “represents” around 2,600 rank-and-file Phoenix cops. I write “represents” in quotation marks because, though PLEA…
Glendale police are investigating a claim that the brother of Rumain Brisbon threatened to kill the officer involved in the controversial shooting. Rickey Brisbon, Rumain’s older brother, was arrested on Friday on unrelated charges, but Glendale Police Sergeant David Vidaure tells New Times that Brisbon is still the subject of…
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery announced today that animal cruelty charges will be dropped against the four suspects in the Green Acre dog-death case. One count of fraud remains against Jesse and Maleisa Hughes, owners of the Gilbert boarding facility where at least 23 dogs died overnight in June, Montgomery’s…
Interim Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner says he expects to make changes to the organization of the department, in the wake of the firing of former Chief Daniel Garcia. Garcia was fired last week after a lengthy battle with the police unions, although was officially terminated for disobeying orders from…
Yesterday was the first day of Winter, which means there are some realities about Winter in Phoenix that you’ll have to accept. Here are 10 realizations you’ll have during a Winter in Phoenix:…
