Phoenix officials approved on Wednesday a loan of up to $2.5 million that will help transform Travel Inn Apartments into 90 studio apartments for homeless and low-income individuals. Part of the loan agreement ensures that 38 of those remain earmarked as affordable rental units for at least 40 years. The…
The remaining ballots cast in the Phoenix council election have been tallied, and it’s unofficially official — District 4 candidates Justin Johnson and Laura Pastor, and District 8 candidates Kate Gallego and Warren Stewart will face-off in a November 5 election. (The vote counts don’t become official until the City…
The ruling by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service to recognize same-sex marriages for tax purposes is a good sign, according to a group of Arizona’s gay-marriage proponents.The agencies explained yesterday that same-sex couples that were legally married in any jurisdiction will be treated as…
Phoenix police say a man didn’t realize for several hours that he left his 3-month-old son in a hot car, even though he was smoking weed right next to the car at one point.Daniel Gray’s 3-month-old son, James, died in the car, which was parked behind a sports bar where…
Drunk driving is bad.With that out of the way, here’s where police will be setting up “saturation patrols” around the Valley, and elsewhere, looking for impaired drivers this weekend, including Labor Day:…
Welcome to Courthouse Update, a weekly rundown of goings-on at the Maricopa County Superior Court.This week, a crappy mom gets probation for trying to give away her baby, the murder case that no jurors seem to able to agree on, Jodi Arias acts like Jodi Arias, and more:…
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’re just pointing out some things…
Galdino Sierra, a California sex offender whose family was gunned down in Mexico by rival factions of his Indian tribe, has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for returning illegally to the United States. Tucson lawyer Roger Sigal says that Sierra, 26, a Chatino from the state of Oaxaca,…
Witnesses claim that a South Phoenix man, Frank Morrison, was roughed up by police earlier this week, and essentially left for dead.The Phoenix Police Department doesn’t quite have an explanation for what happened…
Witnesses claim a black church groundskeeper in South Phoenix was roughed up by Phoenix police officers, who just left him there.The man, Frank Morrison, suffered a stroke during his run-in with police, and has been hospitalized since early Monday morning…
In another victory for pro-legalization forces, a new Obama Administration policy announced today takes a mostly hand-off approach to state marijuana laws. The news by the U.S. Justice Department comes as a long-awaited response to last year’s elections in Colorado and Washington that legalized the use and sale of marijuana…
Congratulations to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at Arizona State University, which has just been named the “most out-of-control” frat in the United States of America.Rolling Stone magazine gave SAE (ΣΑΕ) the honor for its two high-profile incidents last year — the death of a pledge, and an extremely intoxicated…
A 5-year-old Mesa boy will be Arizona’s 40th medical-marijuana patient under the age of 18.Zander Welton has cortical dysplasia, a brain abnormality, which causes him to have seizures, which several medications, two brain surgeries, and an implant haven’t solved, according to his parents…
Reporter John Dougherty made an appearance on Southern California Public Radio yesterday to answer questions about his report on the increasing evidence that the Granite Mountain Hotshots never should have been deployed.Although some people have decried Dougherty’s report for whatever reasons, Dougherty has a pretty good explanation for the necessity…
A new study tells us much of what we already presumed: men and woman are both shallow — men look at physical beauty and women seek a mate with high social status. This new study is novel, however, because researchers studying speed-dating and preference had turned this stereotype on its…
A naked meth-head in a Phoenix park told police he had a good reason he was walking around completely naked.Steve Charow, a 47-year-old Phoenix resident who just happens to be a registered sex offender (surprise!) tried to explain that a Good Samaritan he met in the park offered to wash…
If you trust Allstate’s data, then there’s no big city in the United States with safer drivers than Phoenix.The statistics don’t take into account someone driving like a complete jackass, but just relies on accident statistics, naturally…
The extent to which the media rolls over for Sheriff Joe Arpaio never ceases to astound. Take Joe’s recent comments following an August 17 incident in the desert, where Glendale resident and self-identifying “militia minuteman” Richard Malley allegedly pointed an AR-15 at an MCSO deputy. The incident is described in…
For this Labor Day fin de semana, behold two oldies but goodies that I amazingly haven’t yet passed off as new in this columna. The first one is still current and one of the favorite questions the Mexican ever got; for the second respuesta, I’ve added some thoughts at the…
Would you hop into an elevator with Hannibal Lecter? Trust Julian Assange with your most intimate secrets? Allow Jared Loughner access to a gun range? Then, why would anyone ever let Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio give lip service to complying with federal Judge G. Murray Snow in the ACLU’s…
A news release published for a pro-solar-energy Republican group features a fake, pro-Obama logo for the group that was created by its critics. Tuesday’s post about the news release on Rose Law Group’s website would appear to erase any doubt that TUSK, fronted by Jason Rose and Barry Goldwater Jr.,…
More than a year ago, Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced his team had developed “probable cause” to believe President Obama’s birth certificate was a forgery.Most people just laughed their rear-ends off and got on with their lives. Others, however, have spent a considerable amount of time proving that every allegation –…
