Scottsdale-based Taser International, the manufacturer of stun guns used by police departments all over the world, is off the hook for two Taser-related deaths because the two men who died each had PCP in their systems when they were zapped by authorities.One of the men apparently was a steroid user,…
The New York Times piled more criticism of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio this afternoon over his office’s record of poorly investigated sex crimes.Reporter Marc Lacey, in what will be one of his swan-song articles from Arizona before leaving to serve as deputy editor of his paper’s foreign desk, writes…
Eugene Foster’s girlfriend’s teen daughter will probably think twice before she takes naked pictures of herself on her cell phone. That’s because Foster taught her a “lesson” Wednesday night — by sending naked photos of the girl to dozens of contacts stored in her cell phone.Many of those who received…
Clergy child-abuse expert Janet Heimlich will be in Scottsdale this afternoon to give a talk about abuse within the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect of Mormon polygamists once led by Warren Jeffs.Heimlich is the author of Breaking Their Will, an expose on maltreatment of children…
It’s pile-on time for that infamous ignorer of sex-crimes cases, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and, boy, does the near-80 autocrat ever deserve the abuse.Democratic Congressmen and state legislators are calling for his scalp in the wake of his latest scandal — the MCSO’s ball-drop on more than 400 sex cimes cases,…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio may have blown it on 432 sex-crime investigations, but there’s one “investigation” he’s quite proud of: his “Cold Case Posse’s” investigation into whether President Barack Obama’s eligible to be president.In honor of the sheriff’s (embarrassing) investigation into the continuously debunked “birther” conspiracy theory (and the…
The evidence shows that Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s top men ran an illegal campaign-finance scheme to benefit their boss’ 2008 race, say newly released investigation documents. The internal affairs probe of the so-called SCA scandal concluded earlier this year and resulted in the termination of two of Arpaio’s closest aides, Chief Deputy Dave…
Arizona senators Jon Kyl and John McCain today issued a joint statement saying they are “concerned” with the the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office’s bungling of several hundred sex-crime investigations.”Concerned” is as far as the senators would go, though, and rather than calling for Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s head — as several…
One unfortunate aspect of the occupation of the Salt River Project’s Tempe headquarters last week was that the activists involved were not able to pull off a similar action at the Westin Kierland Resort, where corporate interests and GOP legislators were engaged in a veritable orgy of legislative cross-pollination during…
Just five months after signing into law the nations “toughest” anti-immigration law, Alabama lawmakers are having “second thoughts amid a backlash from big business, fueled by the embarrassing traffic stops of two foreign employees tied to the state’s prized Honda and Mercedes plants.”The backpedaling involves the state’s Republican attorney general…
According to the medical website drugs.com, some of the side effects of Xanax include decreased sexual desire or ability, diarrhea, dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, light-headedness, nausea, tiredness, and weight changes. One of the more severe side effects (as you can see in the mugshot to the right) is red, swollen…
Four alleged human smugglers were arrested last night when the Department of Public Safety busted up a drop house in Avondale.Also found inside the home was weed, cash, and 19 illegal immigrants — many of whom have been arrested before for crimes like drug possession, weapons misconduct, child abuse, crimes…
Congressman Ed Pastor of Arizona’s 4th District has joined the ranks of Sand Land politicians calling for Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s resignation over the MCSO’s mishandling of more than 400 sex crimes cases in El Mirage, many involving child victims.Today, Pastor’s office released the following statement endorsing plans by some on…
Federal authorities spent more than a year investigating Governor Jan Brewer’s role in collecting Social Security benefits intended for her mentally ill son, Ronald, who currently is in a state hospital after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1990 on kidnapping and sexual assault charges.The federal government,…
It’s been a tough year for Phoenix city employees — from enduring false claims by politicos they are bilking the city with their average compensation at $100,000 to being vilified in the 2011 mayoral election, accused of bleeding taxpayers with their inflated salaries and bloated benefits.Despite it all, city employees…
As the outrage over Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s mishandling of several hundred sex crimes continues to spread, the sheriff’s crusade to prove that President Barack Obama is a Kenyan version of the Manchurian Candidate wages on.Arpaio, as we’ve reported, agreed to investigate the president’s citizenship at the request of…
Rachel Brock, the daughter of Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock, was sentenced yesterday to 10 years supervised probation and a deferred one-year in jail after pleading guilty to charges that she sexually abused the same boy her mother, Susan Brock, was convicted of molesting. See our cover story on the…
HOMELESS AND HARMLESS Two masterful tales by Rubin: Over the past few weeks, Paul Rubin has had two penetrating, though vastly different, stories. The latest was [about] Raven, which was masterfully told on Thanksgiving weekend (“The Outsider,” November 24). It truly reminded us of how lucky we are to have…
I read in your book that Mexico is due for a revolution about every 100 years or so. The last one was in the first part of the 20th century and you said it is about ready for another one. Do you think the drug war presently being fought between…
Russell Jefferson waves at the two women standing in front of his apartment. He hobbles through the crosswalk on Seventh Avenue south of Osborn, pushing a makeshift cart with groceries from a nearby Bashas’. Jefferson’s humble apartment of about a year is his first real home in a decade or…
Phoenix attorney Carmen Fischer has a thing for bad boys. Really bad boys. You may vaguely recall her name making headlines in 1999 when it was revealed that the veteran defense lawyer had engaged in an affair with one of her clients, Michael Sanders, as Sanders was tried for a…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio seems to think Democratic politicians are using his office’s bungling of more than 400 sex crime investigations as a reason to call for his resignation — not because of his incompetence, but because they don’t like his policies on immigration.He also seems to think other…
