A key piece of evidence is missing in the investigation into how a Phoenix firefighter and his son’s teenage friend fell to their deaths in August at Camelback Mountain. Gary Johnstone, a technical rescue team member and veteran firefighter for 15 years with the department, was pronounced dead at the…
Phoenix Police Chief Daniel Garcia held a press conference yesterday, in part to demand a two-year contract from the city. He was fired for holding that press conference. “The chief disobeyed a direct order when he held his news conference today,” City Manager Zuercher said in a statement released shortly…
The older I get, the more I appreciate that line by Elvis Costello: “Oh, I used to be disgusted/ Now I try to be amused…” But you’ll forgive me if Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s latest stunt nevertheless leaves me nauseated. According to an MCSO press release, he will be hosting five…
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 read the inmates’ faces…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is shutting down his Criminal Employment Unit, which notoriously raided businesses around the county to arrest undocumented immigrant employees. Immigrant-rights groups sued Arpaio over the raids earlier this year, and as part of that lawsuit, Arpaio submitted a notice yesterday stating that the unit is…
Where does 25 equal 30, and 22.7 percent equal “most?” The Arizona Republic’s “Fact Check: Keeping Arizona Honest” column, of course. In Sunday’s paper, as a reader informed us this week, a fact-check completely flubs the evaluation of Mark Brnovich’s comment on TV last month about the state’s medical-marijuana patients…
An allegedly suicidal 18-year-old Army soldier was shot and killed by a police officer Tuesday afternoon. Police say William R. Osterlind had developed a relationship with a 14-year-old girl, and was approaching her house when a Phoenix police officer fired one shot from an AR-15 rifle that hit Osterlind in…
Behold my annual Mexican Christmas guide, where I recommend the best Mexi-themed libros for you to give to your loved ones this Navidad instead of yet another tamale to unwrap. Buy them at your local bookstore, or order online, but do buy! Lowriting: Shots, Rides & Stories from the Chicano…
Righteous rage fills the air as a young African-American demonstrator yells through his bullhorn. “We are fed up!” cries Jarvis Johnson, his face filled with emotion. “We are done! We want justice, and we want it now!” Johnson’s walking back and forth in the middle of the intersection of Seventh…
Republican Martha McSally has officially upset Democratic Congressman Ron Barber. The results of the recount were released this morning, and McSally won the district by 167 votes. The recount actually extended the lead for McSally, whose 161-vote lead over Barber was close enough to trigger the recount…
Governor Jan Brewer’s executive order that prevents certain immigrants from getting driver’s licenses will be blocked by a court order. A federal appellate court decision earlier this year called for a temporary end to Brewer’s order, and the U.S. Supreme Court today denied the Brewer administration’s request to keep the…
The Phoenix police union says Rumain Brisbon, the unarmed Phoenix resident who was fatally shot by a Phoenix police officer earlier this month, had the choice to live. The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association issued a lengthy press release rationalizing the shooting, which it normally doesn’t do. “Mr. Brisbon had the…
The co-founders of Phoenix New Times are giving a $2 million gift to Arizona State University’s journalism school to support a new program focused on coverage of Latino and borderlands issues. Mike Lacey and Jim Larkin, the New Times founders, are using proceeds from their lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff…
Legal marijuana could be a reality in the Phoenix area even if pot remains illegal under Arizona law. News broke last week that the Justice Department is advising federal prosecutors not to stop tribes from growing or selling marijuana on their lands, even in states where marijuana remains illegal. According…
The United States Supreme Court won’t take up a case involving an Arizona law that severely restricts medicated abortions in the state. This means that enforcement of that law remains blocked while Planned Parenthood Arizona and the Tucson Women’s Clinic continue to fight the law in federal court, as they…
Phoenix’s TV news crews certainly have a lot of on-air talent. Below, we give you our picks for the 10 hottest TV news ladies of Phoenix:…
UPDATE 12:17 p.m.: Coach Bruce Arians says Stanton “does not need surgery — just rest.” Read more from Arians at the bottom of this post. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Drew Stanton was knocked out of last night’s game against the St. Louis Rams with a knee injury, but Stanton’s not necessarily…
The marijuana legalization movement has several foes in Arizona, and Merilee Fowler, executive director of MATFORCE in Yavapai County, is one of the biggies. Both sides are getting an early start on the campaign to pass or defeat a likely ballot initiative planned to be put before Arizona voters in…
A serial Walmart shoplifter was caught this week, and he turned out to be a corrections officer, according to authorities. Hugo Rivera, 34, shoplifted from Walmart stores at least five times, according to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, and had already been banned from entering any Walmart store when he…
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 take a walk on…
The Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled that Debbie Milke, the mother who spent more than two decades on death row for her son’s murder, can’t be retried in the case. Milke’s conviction was tossed out by a federal appeals court last year after it held that the state unconstitutionally…
The federal judge in the racial-profiling case against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has expanded the investigative powers of the monitor assigned to the agency. Over concerns that MCSO employees “may continue to be engaged in efforts to frustrate the implementation of this Court’s Orders, and may in fact be…
