In the 24-hour news cycle, it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries:…
[jump] Visibility as low as 50 feet. Muddy rain. Powdery stuff on teeth, in lungs. Blacked-out neighborhoods — until you got close enough to see that the lights really were on.Tonight’s dust storm was dustier than the typical Arizona haboob, with fine particles just hanging in the air even during…
A six-month internal investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office that resulted in two of Arpaio’s top men being fired will cost the county up to $102,000.The amount is considerably higher than the $46,000 we heard it would cost earlier this year.The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is expected to…
Three Maricopa County employees are heading to mediation talks on Monday with the possibility of settlements in their multi-million-dollar claims against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas.This will be the first round of what are sure to be other mediation talks — and potentially quick and lucrative…
Black people continue to be unemployed at twice the rate of whites in the United States, and various studies show that racism, rather than other factors, is likely the cause.The pattern has been consistent statistically for about 60 years, notes D.C.-based reporter and writer Andy Kroll in an eye-opening article…
Arizona can’t force Jared Loughner to take his anti-psychotic medication for now, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court ruled today.The opinion comes less than a week after U.S. District Judge Larry Burns said Loughner could be forced to take his meds. This spring, the apparently insane Tucson massacre suspect, who shot…
Phoenix Councilman Claude Mattox has shifted his message of support for CityNorth — flip flopping in that he voted for it, said at one debate that he wouldn’t have voted for it given today’s public reaction and later told 12 News that he would vote for it again.Wes Gullett, one…
When a creepy stranger clad only black boxer-briefs climbed into a 14-year-old’s bed on Sunday morning and told her to be quiet, the girl made the only sensible choice:Scream. Loudly.Her shouts woke up her 11-year-old brother, who shared her bedroom in the home near Peoria and 7th avenues. The boy…
Arizona’s harsh laws against undocumented immigrants plays a role in the waning popularity of the Phoenix boxing scene, as New Times pointed out in a May 12 article.The beating of local favorite Alexis “Beaver” Santiago in Indio on Friday, which saw Coachella’s Randy Caballero take the WBC Youth super bantamweight…
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ one legitimate superstar-in-the-making was rightfully named to the National League All-Star team as a reserve on Sunday, the same day his team salvaged a win against the Oakland Athletics in the D-Backs’ final interleague game of the season. The All-Star Game will be held Tuesday, July 12,…
Judging from the war-like sounds of our neighborhood, more people than ever were using fireworks this Fourth of July because of last year’s law that legalized them.We’re pretty sure a lot of the bangs we heard weren’t from the now-legal snakes, sparklers and ground-spinners. Plenty of typical firecrackers were being…
Last year one of Mexico’s most revered soccer teams cancelled its game in Glendale in opposition to Arizona’s immigration law, Senate Bill 1070. Now that the most controversial elements of the law are tangled up in federal court, Club America’s management has decided to come to Arizona and play at…
In the 24-hour news cycle, it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries:…
After yesterday’s equipment failure, Salt River Project officials say power is back on for nearly 150,000 Mesa and Apache Junction residents and businesses left sweltering in extreme summer heat. The power outage was caused when an SRP transformer caught fire yesterday about 11:45 a.m. Mesa fire crews were able to control the flames within…
Now that fireworks are legal in Arizona, we know you’re excited to get out there and wreck pyrotechnic havoc on your backyard this Fourth of July weekend. But slow your roll for just a minute. In an effort to prevent patriotic mishaps, we’ve decided to offer up safety tips on…
Governor Jan Brewer believes that a “clarification” by the feds on medical-marijuana programs proves she took the “proper course of action” in halting the voter-approved dispensary program.Brewer and state Attorney General Tom Horne filed a declaratory judgment in federal court in May, and also instructed the Department of Health Services…
Normally, possessing photos of Jaden Smith, the star of the most recent Karate Kid movie/son of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, won’t land you in prison.However, if you’re a convicted sex offender currently on probation after getting convicted of child prostitution charges, photos of the 12-year-old star could land you…
Things just got even worse for “reality” porn recruiter Antonio Adrian “Gonzo” Gonzalez.”Gonzo” was charged last month with several kiddy-porn-related charges for allegedly sexually attacking several underage girls he was recruiting for his websites, photosbygonzo.com and gonzomodeling.com — both feeders for the porn website “Backroom Casting Couch” — and now…
Jesus Busso Estopellan, who admitted murdering an Arizona State University student and his friend earlier this week, told police he was ordered to kill one of the men by an unidentified “Jamaican” following a weed deal gone wrong. According to court documents obtained by New Times, Estopellan told detectives he brokered…
Jerrod Aspa says he “never meant to hurt” his 4-month-old son as he wrapped his hands around the baby’s waist and shook him. But he did.Aspa, who lives on the Colorado River Indian reservation with his four other children, was indicted yesterday in Phoenix by a federal grand jury on one…
The Arizona Supreme Court has again upheld the death sentence of a man who murdered his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son more than 20 years ago.Styers is one of 24 inmates who’s been on Arizona’s death row for two decades or more.In a 4-1 ruling today, the court has again affirmed the…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says oppressive heat has prompted him to briefly “cool it” on the whole tough-guy thing when handling inmates in his Tent City jail — and, of course, he wants the world to know.With temperatures expected to reach nearly 120 degrees this weekend, Arpaio’s apparently concerned…
