The deputy county attorney who helped former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas with his most controversial cases has filed a claim against the county for $10 million. Lisa Aubuchon states in a lengthy claim letter that her reputation has been damaged and future earnings prospects in doubt after smears by…
The man charged in the 2008 beating death of two Phoenix boys was found incompetent to stand trial today and will be sent to a mental health facilityJoe Sauceda Gallegos, 38, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder after he allegedly beat two young boys to death with a…
So President Barack Obama, who still talks a good game about “comprehensive immigration reform,” has now signed a supplemental border security package worth $600 million to add 1,000 Border Patrol agents, as well as hundreds of new officers for U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio apparently forgot that he’s a politician during an appearance on Anderson Cooper 360 this afternoon, right before a brief “oh shit” moment when he realized that, well, he is a politician.Arpaio is a media whore and seems to like seeing his name in print even…
We like to laugh here at New Times, so we were excited to learn that the Chicago-based sketch-comedy troop Second City had released a parody of Ben Quayle’s uber-awful campaign ad, in which he claims “Barack Obama is the worst president in history.”The ad sucks. It’s tacky, lame, and concludes…
We’ll spare you a cliche lede about “getting caught with your pants down” — KPHO beat us to that — we’ll just say it: a Valley couple got caught doin’ it in a Scottsdale parking garage last week.The couple, a 38-year-old Scottsdale man and a 26-year-old Phoenix woman, were reportedly…
We’re not sure what’s more degrading: being called a meth-head, being called a drug mule, or being engaged to a convicted murderer who also happens to be your cousin.Casslyn Welch, the fiancee/ cousin of convicted murderer John McCluskey, has experienced each.The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office says prior to Welch helping…
If Senate hopeful J.D. Hayworth was pissed off yesterday, he’s gotta be fuming today.In response to a comment Hayworth made that America is better off with Barack Obama as president than it would be with John McCain in the White House, the McCain campaign released a new campaign ad highlighting…
So much for that winning streak. After enjoying a brief respite from losing while simultaneously having their way with Milwaukee for the past three games, the Arizona Diamondbacks were dealt an 8-4 defeat by the Brew Crew on Thursday. Last night’s game wasn’t broadcast on television (thanks to the whims…
Since Andrew Thomas quit his gig as Maricopa County attorney to run for attorney general, his sinister smirk hasn’t been plastered all over the New Times Web site nearly as often as when he was launching baseless investigations into judges and his — and Joe Arpaio’s — other political rivals.With…
I recently interviewed an associate of neo-Nazi J.T. Ready’s, someone privy to details about Ready’s group U.S. Border Guard, who claimed Ready was using donations to his outfit to pay his rent and buy personal items. This source, who asked not to be identified, told me that Ready had received substantial contributions,…
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:…
There’s a new addition to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s infamous posse: “The Motor City Madman” himself, Ted Nugent.Nugent was in town today for a special ceremony at which he was deputized by Arpaio. The two apparently had lunch, too. At least Arpaio claims they had lunch — the sheriff’s…
We just spent a few minutes chatting with Melissa Rein, the former director of public relations at Rose & Allyn Public Relations, the firm that likely planted the story about Congressional candidate Ben Quayle’s ties to The Dirty.If you’re unfamiliar with the saga, click here. She claims she’s not involved…
There’s a new candidate for the world’s dumbest, alleged criminal: 37-year-old Honandez Simmons.Simmons was arrested early this morning after he was found in the parking lot of a Mesa shopping center picking up change.Picking up change in a parking lot is not illegal, as far as we know, but the…
In somewhat of a concession to humanitarians leaving water out in the desert for thirsty migrants, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that it will allow more water stations on the 118,000-acre Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona.Although Fish and Wildlife has permitted the group Humane…
Leave it to PETA to turn a debate over the lives of millions of HUMAN BEINGS into a ploy to save a few dogs.PETA is running a billboard in Arizona — playing off the state’s controversial, new immigration law — urging people to adopt “undocumented” dogs.The group contends that “dogs…
If you’re a political candidate considering taking a ride on Jan Brewer’s recently acquired, Greta-Van-Susteren-fueled coattails, you may want to reconsider — two candidates with Brewer’s stamp of approval lost their primary elections Tuesday.Not to say it’s Jan’s fault they lost, but it seems her super-star status after signing SB…
Bombshell stuff at a press conference just completed in downtown Phoenix at the offices of interim Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley. The biggest news was that a county grand jury last March rejected efforts by one of then-County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ special prosecutors to issue major felony indictments against Superior…
What happened when a shamelessly ambitious zealot (Andrew Peyton Thomas, a timelessly paranoid publicity-seeker (Joe Arpaio), a meglomaniac with a heart of coal (David Hendershott), and a person whose interpretation of the rule of law differs from ours (Lisa Aubuchon) conspire to violate their oaths? This is what happened–The Case(s) of…
One of the best, if not only, defense against an attack of swarming killer bees is to run away. But you can’t do that when you’re stuck on the side of steep cliff face, with no way to move up, down or sideways. That’s the situation a rock climber in southern…
Senate Hopeful J.D. Hayworth is firing back after reports that he believes the country would be worse off if John McCain had won the 2008 presidential election.Check out our story on the matter here.At a campaign stop Tuesday night, Hayworth said “don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the guy…
