A bill that had Arizona librarians warning of drastic budget cuts has been amended in the libraries’ favor.In its original form, House Bill 2379, proposed by Republican Representative Justin Olson, would put a cap on property-tax increases by “special districts” around the state, which includes county library districts…
Most places in the United States are not dominated by a single personality. Sure, in Washington, President Obama’s every movement is news, and in New York, it’s Gotham’s mayor who garners the most media time. Yet here, in the nation’s sixth-biggest city and fourth-biggest county, not a week goes by…
A little more than half of Arizonans are in favor of legalizing marijuana, according to the latest poll on the subject.The Behavior Research Center’s Rocky Mountain Poll asked more than 700 Arizona residents whether they believe the sale of marijuana should be made legal. Fifty-one percent were in favor, and…
Arizona’s Senate Judiciary Committee voted against a bill that would allow industrial hemp farming in the state.Hemp farming is illegal in most states, despite the fact that smoking the plant, which is related to marijuana plants, won’t get you stoned…
After a new state law in 2011 seriously limited the number of places in Arizona where abortions could be performed, Planned Parenthood once again is providing abortion services in Flagstaff.Planned Parenthood stopped providing abortion services at several of its Arizona locations (including Flagstaff) after those new regulations were made official…
Walt Hunter and Jarris Varnrobinson, two officers fired by the Florence Police Department, continue to fight to clear their reputations. Their latest battle involves an attempt to keep their names off what’s known as the “Brady List.” The list isn’t a good place for cops’ names to wind up –…
Proposals for a border fence are nothing new in Arizona, but Republican state Senator Bob Worsley’s call for a “virtual border fence” is a bit different.Worsley explained the system in a committee hearing Monday, saying the public would be able to monitor the images collected by these devices with infrared…
Several national news-media outlets are claiming that gangs of stray Chihuahuas are “terrorizing” or “taking over” the West Phoenix neighborhood of Maryvale.With tales of packs of up to a dozen Chihuahuas attacking children as they walk to school, we decided to check it out firsthand…
You’re safe — the asteroid known as 2000 EM26 did not hit Earth Monday night. Scientists predicted it wouldn’t. But by interstellar standards, this block of rock the length of three football fields was on our front porch. As our cover story “Space Invader” explains this week, these so-called near-Earth…
Several people whose family members have been in immigrant detention centers for months, or even years, are on a hunger strike outside the Phoenix Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.The hunger strike started last night, and they plan to stay there without food for the next two weeks…
There’s been a lot of speculation from media types that Millennials can’t or won’t buy homes, and it seems to be turning out that way around here.According to the monthly real estate report from Arizona State University’s Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice, Millennials in the Phoenix area “are…
Get this: Arizona voters want to vote.After Arizona’s Republican-led Legislature passed a series of elections changes in one bill last year, it hardly took any time for non-Republican groups to band together and collect enough voter signatures to put the issue on the ballot.Republican lawmakers are now working to repeal…
This Sunday, Channel 3’s Politics Unplugged focused on Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne’s legal woes, and featured the two candidates who’d like to replace him: Republican Mark Brnovich and Democrat Felecia Rotellini. Brnovich aims to bump off Horne in the GOP primary, and Rotellini wants a general election re-match with…
A 36-year-old man was fatally shot inside a Walmart store in Chandler Sunday after getting into a fight with another customer.According to Chandler police, it appears that the men didn’t know each other before getting into a dispute at the service counter in the store, near Warner and Alma School…
Grand Canyon rangers wrestled an employee of the national park to the ground during an arrest last week after she reportedly refused to cooperate during a stop for speeding. Dina Matlock, a blond woman in her early 20s known to officers as a frequent speeder, appears to have ticked off…
Recently, I addressed the issue of whether or not Republican state Senate hopeful Ralph Heap is a “revenge candidate” for recalled, disgraced former state Senate President Russell Pearce, currently First Vice Chair of the Arizona GOP. Heap is taking on state Senator Bob Worsley, the guy who buried Pearce by…
There are a whole lot of myths and urban legends about Phoenix.Strap on your helmet just in case your mind gets blown by our picks for the 10 biggest myths about Arizona’s capital:…
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:…
It might not be surprising, but county health departments in Arizona ranked obesity the top public-health priority, according to a survey in the state’s first-ever comprehensive health assessment.In the past 20 years, Arizona’s had a 19 percent increase in the amount of people who are obese or overweight — the…
Darren Sharper, a former Pro Bowl safety in the NFL, has been accused of raping women in several states.The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced this morning that Sharper’s being charged in two rapes there and revealed that Sharper’s also being investigated in rapes in Nevada, Louisiana, and Arizona.Tempe…
B.J. Pasquel resigned recently as head football coach for Coronado High School in Scottsdale for “personal and family reasons,” says a February 5th Arizona Republic article. New Times has learned that the resignation came just before Pasquel settled an extreme DUI conviction with the city of Scottsdale. It wasn’t the…
Jaime Castellano, a former school district superintendent in Apache County, resigned as executive director at a Pennsylvania charter school after the school disclosed why he’d left his job in Arizona.A local paper near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, reports that Castellano “resigned suddenly” last month, and it’s now been disclosed that Castellano gave…
