[jump] Dear Mr. Arpaio, In reading your press release dated June 21, 2011, regarding the “exceptional times” MCSO is experiencing, I noticed that you neglected to mention numerous and significant details: To begin, you failed to mention the approximately 500 sex crime cases that your office failed to…
Arizona, as you probably know, esta en fuego.And John McCain (among others) is pretty sure — based on no known evidence — that illegal immigrants are to blame.Even Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever presumes the following to Fox News:”The bottom line is, there was nobody in the park [which is currently…
I’m wondering how Mexicans feel about the communities of American expats springing up all over Mexico (especially those who live near or in these communities)? Also, are there places in Mexico where it doesn’t get so hot that Americans are generally pretty comfortable year round? Could you name a couple…
ALIEN NATION A call for reform: This story really sheds light on why the United States has always attracted immigrants with a dream to work hard, make their dreams come true, and contribute to society in many good ways (“Undocumented, Inc,” Gregory Pratt, June 9). The process to become a…
After going to considerable effort to qualify for the August 30 ballot, a Tea Party candidate in Phoenix City Council’s District 1 abruptly pulled out of the race June 15 after New Times reported that he’d pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his arrest in January for assaulting a man…
On a recent sunny Saturday in Phoenix, a group of church and community members gathered in an alley behind a convenience store at Adams Street and 21st Avenue to pray for a homeless man whose name they did not know. “We come together at this time as witnesses,” intoned Ian…
A trio of immigrants crouches against the wall in an attempt to catch a narrow ray of sunshine. The men are in jail, locked inside a concrete triangle. It is mid-morning in Florence, and only traces of day can be smuggled into the building through the chain-link-covered window below the…
The United States Senate is at it again with immigration reform legislation, but Republicans are still unwilling to join the effort.Today, Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, introduced legislation that would create a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in this country.DeeDee Blase, founder…
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:…
Lying on Peter Normann’s operating table, butt-augmentation patient Alicia Santizo Blanco’s vitals dropped, rendering her unconscious. “She was like a rock,” he told a detective in a 2008 phone conversation. The doctor on trial for allegedly killing three patients, recounted her death, along with the death of patient…
Four U.S. Congressmen want Attorney General Eric Holder to clarify the Obama Adminstration’s position on medical marijuana, and what they’re asking for cuts down party lines. Ironically, it’s two Democrats who are pushing for states’ rights, while two Republicans are demanding that the federal government keep its stranglehold on the marijuana industry…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will be more aggressive when it comes to questioning illegal immigrants about wildfires, echoing Senator John McCain’s baseless claim that immigrants started fires currently burning in southern Arizona.Arpaio made the announcement in a press release this afternoon. New Times, however, did not get a copy…
Short-lived Arizona resident Bristol Palin puts her baby daddy, Levi Johnston, and the family of her mother’s one-time running mate, Senator John McCain, on blast in her new memoir Not Afraid Of Life: My Journey So Far. The book, set to come out Friday, bad-mouths McCain’s wife, Cindy, and…
Guess I’ve heard the last from U.S. Senator John McCain’s haughty, over-paid flack Brooke Buchanan.Yesterday, in the midst of a PR meltdown that’s turned McCain (once again) into a political laughingstock, his office issued a statement claiming that an unnamed U.S. Forest Service official had given the Senator info prompting…
“Spiritual warrior” James Ray was found guilty today of three counts of negligent homicide in the deaths of three people at a 2009 “self-help” retreat near Sedona, during which he guided dozens of people into a poorly ventilated “sweat lodge” and discouraged them from leaving when they felt sick.Ray could…
Jackass star Ryan Dunn is dead, but there’s no shortage of Jackasses at the Westboro Baptist Church.The Kansas-based clan of kooks — known for its fear of fagalas — announced this week that they plan to protest Dunn’s funeral. The reason: he once stuck a toy car up his ass…
New York Times “We’re not always who you think we are,” Vargas writes of illegal immigrants. “Some pick your strawberries…[others] write news articles you might read.” An illegal immigrant on the Washington Post reporting team that won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007…
Got a call from a pal who works for the city of Maricopa, you know, that wildly overbuilt burg about 15 miles off Interstate 10 down in Pinal County. He told us that a British newspaper was reporting that the city of about 40,000 was about to “shut down” because of…
Ocean Spray Cranberries thief James Repetto probably wishes he was still “lost at sea.”Repetto was in a Massachusettes federal court this morning where he was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing more than $1 million from the cranberry juice giant through a mail-fraud scam — which is a fairly…
It’s official: undocumented students enrolled in Maricopa Community Colleges this fall will have to pay $317 per credit hour. The Community Colleges Governing Board voted to implement its tuition increase targeting undocumented students in the fall by a 3-2 vote last night. The tuition increase was first passed in March but…
For anyone in need of a good laugh, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio issued a press release this morning with the headline “Sheriff Arpaio Says His Office Enjoying Exceptional Times.”We’ll say…2011 has proven to be quite “exceptional” for the MCSO — it’s not often a sheriff’s office costs TAXPAYERS nearly…
Keith Kiefer, one of two men arrested earlier this year for trying to solicit a dog for sex via-Craigslist, was in Maricopa County Superior Court this morning where he was sentenced to two years’ probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bestiality.Kiefer pleaded guilty to the crime in May…
