The Republicans won’t invite Phoenix Mayoral Candidate Greg Stanton to their candidate forums. And they, along with Phoenix Tea Party-types, are branding him as “the real enemy of the citizens of Phoenix.” Why? It’s because Stanton is “the candidate to beat for Phoenix mayor” and the “front runner” in the…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office can keep large portions of the Babeu report hidden until Captain Joel Fox’s disciplinary process is complete, a judge told the Arizona Republic and Channel 12 News (KPNX) today.The newspaper and TV station had sued the MCSO to force an immediate and complete disclosure of…
Maricopa County has a problem: It’s animal shelters are “overflowing” with chihuahuas.An earlier chihuahua infestation hit the Valley in December 2009. More on that here. According to Maricopa County Animal Care and Control, there are about 200 chihuahuas currently bedding down in the county’s shelters, and they all need a home…
A former teacher at a Mesa elementary school pleaded guilty today to charges that he attempted to molest a 7-year-old girl in the band room of the school where he worked and the girl was a student. Michael Lamonica, a former music teacher at Mesa’s Brinton Elementary School, pleaded guilty…
A man is dead and his leg is now missing following a hit and run incident early yesterday morning.According to the Mesa Police Department, cops were called to the 400 block of West Broadway Raod about 2:30 a.m. yesterday after two men reportedly were hit by a car.The responding officers found…
The Arizona Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s key ruling in a methamphetamine-possession case against a local woman, concluding that the Mesa police “coerced” her into admitting she was carrying the drug. In a unanimous ruling issued last Wednesday, the panel agreed with Maricopa County Superior Court Judge George…
The effort to recall state Senate President Russell Pearce has passed another milestone: This morning, Maricopa County Elections Director Karen Osborne confirmed that the county has validated 10,089 signatures of the 16,949 forwarded to her office by the Arizona Secretary of State.Of the 16,836 signatures examined so far, 6,747 have been…
Griselda Nevarez Maricopa Community Colleges’ Board Members are backpedaling on their tuition hike despite General Counsel Lee Combs’ fearmongering. The Maricopa Community Colleges Governing Board will hold a special meeting tomorrow evening, called by Chancellor Rufus Glasper, to discuss delaying the tuition increase it approved in March targeting undocumented students,…
Look out Joe Arpaio, there’s, um, a new “toughest sheriff” around here.Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu was named the National Sheriff of the Year by the National Sheriff’s Association over the weekend, much thanks to his crusade to rid his county of illegal immigrants.Like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Babeu is…
Senator John McCain on Saturday blamed wildfires currently raging in Arizona on illegal immigrants — without offering any proof to support his claim.”There is substantial evidence that some of these fires have been caused by people who have crossed our border illegally,” McCain said at a press conference. “They have…
In the most disgusting, reprehensible, and irresponsible comments of his political career (and that’s saying a lot), Arizona’s senior U.S. Senator John McCain is blaming illegal immigrants for Arizona’s recent plague of wildfires, saying it’s the reason the country needs a “secure border.”As reported by CNN, the former presidential candidate…
Pro-immigrant lawyers and activists are slamming the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for recently announced policy “changes” that they say will do nothing to improve the way illegal immigrants are being deported.ICE director John Morton is saying he will give the department’s lawyers more decision-making options on what immigration…
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:…
Larry Black, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s former No. 3 man, is no longer listed on the Phoenix International Raceway’s Web site as director of security. We can only speculate that he’s lost the lucrative job he’d had since 1998 in the wake of damning allegations that caused Arpaio…
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ office announced today that she plans to spend Father’s Day in Tucson, which will be her first trip back to Arizona since she went to Texas for rehab after getting shot in the face during the January 8 Tucson shooting.”We’ve been dreaming of this trip for some…
As we mentioned earlier this week, law enforcement agencies across the Valley are checking out the sleazy, Scottsdale-based porn website Backroom Casting Couch — and now it’s short its best “talent” recruiter.Antonio Adrian Gonzalez, 28, was arrested yesterday on kiddy-porn charges following a multi-jurisdictional investigation into his web-based “modeling” and…
Arizona’s medical marijuana program is presenting a strange, new world for law enforcement. Before a single state resident had a registration card issued by the Arizona Department of Health Services, police in Mohave County were seeing pot-possession cases that would normally be routine suddenly dumped by prosecutors. Yesterday, we wrote…
Despite having a well-publicized lead foot, being “creepy around women,” simulating a blowjob while dressed as a super hero, allegedly using a state voter-registration list to get a woman’s address, getting accused of charging a political candidate $2,000 for Joe Arpaio’s endorsement, and currently being unemployed, former Arizona Republican Party…
They say all politicians are by definition liars, but I’m beginning to believe state Senate President Russell Pearce could teach a college course in it.Sand Land’s Professor of Prevarication was on KAET’s Horizon Thursday to discuss the recall effort against him with host Ted Simons. Almost from jump, he began dishing falsehoods and…
Selling nearly 200 pounds of amphetamine in the United States probably won’t land you on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, but it apparently will in Sweden, which is where Predrag Stojanovic is one of the country’s “most wanted” criminals for allegedly slangin’ some speed.Stojanovic, 44, was busted by U.S. Immigration…
Phoenix Councilman and mayoral candidate Claude Mattox’s is hosting a mayoral forum for himself on Facebook and Twitter — using social media to connect with his constituents.Mattox’s online mayoral forum, at first glance, seems innovative.Individuals get to pose questions for him for a week on either his Facebook or Twitter…
Steer clear of Mesa if you don’t want to see the junk of a child — a teenage serial flasher is on the loose.The Mesa Police Department says a kid between the ages of 14 and 18 has exposed himself to at least six women since February.Mesa Detective Michael Melendez…
