About 11:20 p.m. Monday, Jose Gonzalez-Esparza called police to report his girlfriend lying unconscious on the floor of their Mesa trailer home. A little while later, police say, Gonzalez-Esparza admitted to beating her to death with a baseball bat. Emergency responders found Maria Gomez, 45, dead in the living room…
While Ian Kennedy hasn’t delivered many wins this year with his pitches, the Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher certainly sparked off the most unforgettable moments of the season and made headlines across the sports world with a certain 92 m.p.h. fastball he tossed last night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kennedy…
The mother of the 2-year-old girl who was found wandering around an Anthem neighborhood around 4 a.m. yesterday has been arrested on a child-abuse charge.Turns out, yesterday was not 22-year-old Nikki Hockett’s first run-in with Child Protective Services.See also:-2-Year-Old Found Wandering Around Anthem Neighborhood at 4 a.m…
Former Republican Congressman Rick Renzi was found guilty yesterday of 17 felony charges in his corruption trial.Renzi’s pal James Sandlin was also found guilty of 13 felony charges, in a corrupt land-swap deal, in which Renzi essentially used his position as a congressman to turn a profit.See also:-Congressman Rick Renzi…
Mother nature caused nearly 600 deaths in Arizona between 2005 and 2011.Even though most injuries sustained from nature or the environment aren’t fatal in Arizona — as more than 22,000 people visited emergency rooms for those injuries in 2011 alone — you might be surprised to find out what the…
A state appeals court affirmed a Maricopa County Superior Court ruling dismissing a lawsuit against Governor Jan Brewer for her annual “Day of Prayer” proclamation.Mostly, the judges have found that the atheist groups that filed the lawsuit didn’t prove that Brewer’s calls for prayer caused them any injuries.See also:Atheists Not…
Atheists did not prove that Governor Jan Brewer’s annual “Day of Prayer” proclamations caused them injury, a state appeals court says.The appeals court affirmed the Maricopa County Superior Court ruling dismissing the lawsuit, which was brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and other groups.See also:County Judge: Jan Brewer Didn’t…
After trailing for most of Monday night’s game, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ clutch, four-run rally overcame a two-run deficit and Heath Bell’s horrendous pitching to seal a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Heading into the ninth inning, the D-backs trailed 3-1 with little hope of winning; yet, Arizona willed…
Three of the four people killed in a mid-air plane collision north of Phoenix late last month were certified flight instructors, according to a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report.The NTSB report says the planes were on a similar path the morning of May 31, before they both made turns…
An Anthem man found a 2-year-old girl in his driveway around 4:30 a.m. today, and had never seen this little girl before in his life.Deputies eventually found one of the child’s parents, 22-year-old Nikki Hockett, more than two hours later. Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Joaquin Enriquez tells New Times…
Today in Found at the Border: A Mexican national trying to smuggle more than $1.6 million out of the United States discovered that dogs can be trained to sniff out cash.Cosme Barcelo-Quijada, a 56-year-old with permanent resident status who lives in Yuma, broke the record for the most cash seized…
A Black man has filed a lawsuit against the City of Surprise, alleging that being cited for DUI with zero alcohol in his system was more like being cited for DWB — Driving While Black.Surprise Police Chief Michael Frazier has since issued a statement saying he couldn’t go into specifics…
Last week, the Scottsdale City Council agreed to pay $4.25 million to the family of John Loxas, who was unarmed when Scottsdale Police Officer James Peters shot him in the head in February 2012, killing him instantly.Loxas was the sixth man killed by Peters, who has since retired from the…
A Southwest flight that took off from LAX and was headed for Austin, Texas, landed at Sky Harbor after someone phoned in a bomb threat.Statements released by airport officials indicate that the plane is isolated on one of the runways, as the 143 passengers were evacuated. Police were blocking access…
A Phoenix couple tossed their meth and kids in the car to go on a ride to a Discount Tire store Friday night, where they stole seven tires. A witness watched as Kristina Francis and her husband, Michael, stole the truck tires from a Discount Tire store near 18th Street…
After a rough start to the season, Brandon McCarthy’s first year in the desert got even rougher last week. Two days after the D-backs’ placed McCarthy on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation, McCarthy suffered a seizure in a restaurant. McCarthy is okay now and has started to take anti-seizure…
Today in Found at the Border: For the second time in two weeks, a Mexican national was busted trying to smuggle weed into the United States by hiding the product in jalapeños.Whereas the Mexican national who attempted to bring more than 3,300 pounds of weed on May 27 stuffed the…
The local lobbying organization best known for its fanatical anti-abortion proposals has finally come around with some anti-abortion legislation, after staying quiet for most of the legislative session.CAP apparently has Republican Representative John Kavanagh on a leash, since Kavanagh introduced the strike-everything amendment allowing surprise inspections of abortion clinics, and…
In his 328th attempt at suing someone in federal court, state prison inmate Dale Maisano is demanding $1 trillion from the state of Arizona and others for a belly ache he claims was caused by eating prison food.In a related lawsuit, he’s seeking $10 trillion because he claims he got…
A 49-year-old Tempe resident who was kicked out of a friend’s house is accused of threatening to kill that friend, before attacking him with a hedge trimmer.According to court documents obtained by New Times, Jeffrey Bergstrom and the unidentified “friend” have been in several physical fights before, but the hedge…
Jodi Arias coverage has been in the doldrums since the May 23 non-decision by the jury on the death penalty. Some news media outlets are digging up crumbs leftover from the trial. Nancy Grace and CNN resorted to interviewing Arias’ fellow jail inmates; Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced last…
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitching was mostly awful during this weekend’s three-game series against the San Francisco Giants, with the exception of Friday, when it was Patrick Corbin’s spot in the rotation.Corbin, 9-0, still didn’t get the win Friday at Chase Field, despite giving up a single run over 7 1/3…
