News

In case you missed any news action this week, we’ve got you covered.Here’s our recap of the most-read news stories of the week:…

The thousands of ignored allegations of neglect and abuse that went uninvestigated isn’t the only crisis Arizona’s Child Protective Services is dealing with.This morning, the CPS oversight committee at the Legislature brought in a child-welfare expert to explain some statistics surrounding the number of Arizona kids that are placed in…

While Republican lawmakers are arguing that it’s necessary to allow warrantless searches of abortion clinics in Arizona, the first warranted search of an abortion clinic in several years just recently took place.The Associated Press, which reported this fact, noted the coincidence that this warrant just happened to get served when…

A group of same-sex couples have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Arizona’s ban on same-sex marriage.Several Arizona laws outlaw aspects of same-sex marriages in the state, including Proposition 102, passed by voters in 2008, which states that the only recognized marriages in the state are “a union of one man…

A survey of Phoenix residents suggests that people are generally confused about what happens if they don’t have health insurance at the end of this month.Consider that there are about 1 million uninsured people statewide, and only about 60,000 have purchased health insurance through the exchange established by Obamacare –…

It can be difficult to keep up with all the lawsuits surrounding Arizona’s litany of recent laws imposing restrictions on abortions.In one of those lawsuits, filed over Arizona’s 2011 law banning sex- and gender-based abortions, the plaintiffs are appealing the dismissal of their challenge to the law.The National Asian Pacific…

A funny thing happened in 2013. Both of us — two curmudgeonly writers who between us have lived in Arizona way closer to 100 years than either would like to admit — came to a shared conclusion. We like Phoenix. That’s funny because for years we’ve loved to hate this…

Go to Elizabeth Arden’s Maine Chance No, we’re not talking about the Elizabeth Arden salon at Biltmore Fashion Park or the new one in downtown Tempe. This was a full-blown spa, the western companion to Arden’s original spa in Maine, and it was a tattered mess in all the right…

The current clothing trend is for ladies to wear low-cut jeans and belly shirts that expose their midriffs. That looks great on a hard-bodied woman, so why do so many fat Mexica mujeres insist on dressing like this? It’s one of the grossest things imaginable. Their gut hangs over their…

It’s a typical Monday morning for Joe Simek, a veterans advocate at the Justa Center, a day program for homeless seniors in downtown Phoenix. He stops filling a plastic bag with toiletries for a homeless veteran to chat about his background and his job. Simek is retired Army, served for…

A grand jury has indicted former NFL safety Darren Sharper on sexual assault charges for alleged assaults that occurred in Tempe in November.Sharper was charged last month with drugging and raping two women in Los Angeles, and a few weeks later, authorities in New Orleans issued a warrant for Sharper’s…

As expected, Governor Jan Brewer will not be seeking a third term in office.Although the Arizona Constitution prohibits a governor from holding that office “for more than two consecutive terms,” Brewer has been insisting for several years now that she might be able to run for a third term. She…

Phoenix voters will likely be voting on reforms of the pension system for city employees, which includes actually phasing out the program, and replacing it with a 401(k)-style plan.A right-wing group called the Arizona Free Enterprise Club started its effort to collect signatures to put this on the ballot in…

A 55-year-old Oklahoma man has been arrested for allegedly mailing a “bomb” to Sheriff Joe Arpaio last year.The package addressed to Arpaio’s office was intercepted by postal inspectors in Flagstaff in April. A federal indictment of Gregory Lynn Shrader confirms what a law-enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told…

Despite the headlines, not everyone believes Phoenix has housed every homeless veteran in the city. It’s a typical Monday morning for Joe Simek, a veterans advocate at the Justa Center, a day program for homeless seniors in downtown Phoenix. He stops filling a plastic bag with toiletries for a homeless…

The Arizona House of Representatives voted unanimously yesterday in favor of a bill that would make it a felony offense to share someone else’s nude pictures without his or her permission.Arizona is among several states that are taking up so-called “revenge porn” legislation this year…