Former Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano’s giving the tell-all (maybe the tell-most) story of his life in a book released this month, and the man’s got some stories to tell.Giuliano faced some tough times in his decade-long stint as mayor — from being openly gay to the unsuccessful recall election against…
Starting today, feeding birds in Scottsdale’s public parks can land you in jail.Like, an actual misdemeanor that would lead to a really awkward conversation in a job interview.The city recently passed the ordinance, which goes into effect today, makes it a class-two misdemeanor if you get caught being a total…
In April, the U.S. Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a portion of Arizona’s voter-approved voter-ID law, intended to keep non-citizens from voting. Because of that ruling, Arizona was supposed to stop enforcing the law. But a new order by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy permits the law…
Republicans are stumbling all over themselves to denounce President Barack Obama’s executive action today to block the deportation of students who would benefit from the proposed DREAM Act. And in doing so, they’re bumbling right into the trap the White House has laid for them. Obama’s move, initially announced with…
Maricopa County prosecutors have re-indicted Jeffrey Martinson, whose conviction in the 2004 murder of his young son was overturned a few months ago. For strategic reasons, the June 5 grand jury indictment added a new count of child abuse and, this time, prosecutors will be able to argue both premeditated…
Governor Jan Brewer called for a press conference this morning shortly after news broke of the Obama administration’s plan to stop deporting young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country when they were kids.Brewer apparently forgot that she’d actually have to articulate a response to the policy change, because…
President Obama announced today that his administration “will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children and have since led law-abiding lives.” From the Associated Press: The policy change, announced Friday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, will affect…
Michael Marin, the onetime Wall Street trader, Yale-educated lawyer, and world adventurer, declined yesterday to take the witness stand in his own defense as his arson trial winds down. Marin is on trial in Maricopa County Superior Court for allegedly burning down his Biltmore Estates mansion in July 2009. Prosecutors…
Archaeologists have discovered Maricopa County Joe Arpaio’s birthday was yesterday, and in typical Arpaio fashion, he shouted it from the rooftops.For Arpaio’s birthday, Citizens for a Better Arizona’s Randy Parraz brought the sheriff a cake. The purpose, according to one of Parraz’s e-mail blasts, was to put 80 candles on…
Yesterday, we informed you that it took eight law enforcement agencies to track down a guy who stole a first-edition book of Mormon.Jay Linford’s been pegged by Mesa police as the guy who lifted the 182-year-old Book of Mormon from the Rare and Out of Print Books and Art store,…
At least Republican Jesse Kelly’s being honest about why he’s not going to try for a third shot at running for Congress — he wasn’t very close this time.Democrat Ron Barber beat Kelly by about 6.5 percentage points this week, in the special election to finish out the term of…
There were no blind people around to ruin Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s birthday this year, so he sent the boys in beige to round up some brown folks, then went to race go-karts.Illegal-immigrant roundup/”employer sanctions operation” number 61 took place this mornings at a car parts store in Phoenix…
FINAL THOUGHTS 10:14 P.M.: I drove by Oaxaca on my way home from the office this evening. Apparently, they’ve been getting nasty calls from the nativists telling the staff that the business will be “boycotted” because its management chose not to host Arizona’s biggest hatemonger and a passel of his…
People caught near the U.S.-Mexico border with backpacks bulging with marijuana are eligible for reduced sentences under a new policy by the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office. “Backpackers” with no prior history of drug offenses and no extenuating circumstances, like also packing a firearm, are receiving plea deals that reduce the…
Seems there’s there’s no room at the posada for former state Senate President Russell Pearce. Yesterday, I gave you a rundown of the nativist goons set to appear at Macayo’s Mexican Restaurant on Central Avenue tonight for a fundraiser to benefit Pearce, a veritable who’s who of anti-Mexican bigots in…
Talking Points Memo uncovered some details yesterday about the FBI allegedly using lobbyist Mike Williams as the middle-man between Tempe City Council members and a fake corporation in its bust of former city councilman and current state Representative Ben Arredondo.The question people may have is, “Who the f**k is Mike…
Back in the day, the University of Arizona pennially had one of the nation’s best baseball teams, and trips to the College World Series in Omaha were both expected and commonplace. But times got tougher and tougher after the Wildcats’ 1986 championship win, with only one appearance in the Big…
Have you ever been so upset about a quiz in Cosmo magazine that you just wanted someone to stab you?We’re not sure what the answer to that is, but police say that’s what Noelle Clough’s husband did on Sunday.Sure enough, Clough, 22, complied with her husband’s request and stabbed him,…
For the second-straight night, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ bats were silent, as the team fell again to what may be the best team in baseball, the Texas Rangers. On Monday night, they lost 9-1, with their sole run coming on an eighth-inning solo homer by Miguel Montero. On Tuesday night, they…
The theft of a first-edition Book of Mormon, we have discovered, is some serious shit.At least, it was to the eight law enforcement agencies investigating the matter.Jay Linford’s been pegged by Mesa police as the guy who lifted the 182-year-old Book of Mormon from the Rare and Out of Print…
Not long after the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office decided Marty Atencio — the Army vet who died in Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Fourth Avenue Jail in December — died from “law enforcement subdual” and other causes, MCSO has another dead inmate.The Feathered Bastard has the information on Raymond Farinas, whose…
A few months ago, Alan DeLong sat down to watch a new reality show on the Discovery Channel. First Week In goes inside jails around the nation and does mini-profiles of newly incarcerated inmates as they experience degradations at their hardcore digs. The episode was titled “Intimidation” (not to be…
