It’s been nearly three weeks since a man was found dead in a Tempe canal with a gunshot wound on his body, and Tempe police still haven’t determined whether he was murdered or committed suicide — or they’re not tellin’ anyone about it if they have.If 47-year-old Jeff Allen Ahlers…
Legally challenged rapper Lil’ Wayne, while serving a one-year prison sentence in New York for drug and gun convictions, pleaded guilty Friday to similar charges in Arizona.Wayne, a.k.a. Dwayne Carter, a.k.a. “Weezy,” appeared in a Yuma County Court via-live video feed from New York City’s Rikers Island jail to change…
A former inmate in Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s infamous Tent City has decided to show America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff” how he really feels about his incarceration with a well-placed tattoo.Check out the pictures after the jump…
It’s not every day that a well-known neo-Nazi offers to take you to a place called “the slaughterhouse.”But that’s what Mesa neo-Nazi J.T. Ready did on Saturday, leading a group of neo-Nazis, militia-types, and some seriously naive individuals to “secure” an abandoned building by that name on Vekol Road, off…
James Wren, a Phoenix police officer accused of shaking down drug dealers for thousands of dollars, has been formally indicted on eight charges. Maricopa County prosecutors announced Friday that Wren now faces charges including theft, money laundering, armed robbery, kidnapping, and use of a wire or electronic communication in drug-related transactions…
José Valverde is a force to be reckoned with. Less than three years ago, Papa Grande used his powerful array of fastballs and splitters to secure 47 saves as the closer for the Arizona Diamondbacks, propelling the team all the way to the 2007 National League Championship Series. This past…
Along with the praise and help in the polls Governor Jan Brewer’s received after signing SB 1070, Arizona’s controversial, new immigration law, the governor’s also getting a little heat from those opposed to the new statute. By “heat,” we mean people are comparing her to Nazis…
The Arizona State baseball team is on a mission for title number six as they play in their opening College World Series game on Sunday. The program’s last NCAA title was in 1981 and has won five overall (1965, 1967, 1969, 1977, 1981). In Tempe, however, it feels a lot…
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:…
Oh, the irony of all ironies. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon sent out a letter today to Phoenix residents on the city budget with an opening line that read: “In the City of Phoenix, we value transparency in government.”Value transparency?Wait, there’s more: “Every city employee and elected leader reports to you, the…
Peddlin’ weed is a family affair for the Bowens, a Chandler family that’s tri-generational weed-trafficking biz has come to an end with the convictions of three of its members.Federal authorities announced today that Kingsley Lloyd Bowen, 66, of Brooklyn, New York, is the latest member of the Bowen family to…
Augustus Shaw, Republican candidate for State Representative, has been kicked out of the race by a judge because he doesn’t live in the right district. The ruling by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Edward Burke prohibits Shaw’s name from appearing on the primary ballot in Tempe’s District 17 this year. Shaw lives a…
Rapper Chuck D, the MC who as a part of the rap group Public Enemy excoriated Arizona over the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day controversy with the song “By the Time I Get To Arizona,” is blasting Sand Land again, this time in the new joint “Tear Down That Wall.” The track is…
Elsa Lynch, a longtime judge and court administrator in Paradise Valley who abruptly retired last summer, has received a sentence of one year’s probation for theft of government benefits. As we reported in January, Lynch was indicted by a federal grand jury a few weeks after “retiring” from her position last July…
CNN is reporting that the Obama administration plans to file a legal challenge to Arizona’s new “papers, please” legislation SB 1070 within a month. The news channel cites an unnamed “senior administration official” as its source. The Justice Department itself will only go so far as to say it is still reviewing the…
With the amount of attention Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has brought to his 78th birthday, you might think he’s a 16-year-old girl.First he “tweeted” that he needed ideas on how to celebrate his birthday. Then he claimed his special day was “ruined” because a blind-advocacy group uninvited him to…
Phoenix police have made an arrest in the case of a man murdered yesterday at a party at a west Phoenix apartment complex. Anthony Granado, 21, was arrested yesterday afternoon after witnesses at the party identified him as the person who shot and killed 29-year-old Haki Miggins…
Another game, another bland performance in the World Cup by Phoenix’s own Robbie Findley. After an unimpressive opening match against England, Findley didn’t fare much better this morning against Slovenia as the teams played to a 2-2 draw. While we give credit to Findley for making the team and earning…
A Queen Creek woman, hopped up on pharmies and rage, shot and killed her boyfriend on Wednesday night, according to court documents acquired by New Times. Police were called to the Queen Creek home of 52-year-old Susan Quinnett at about 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday by Quinnett, who reported that her…
We just got word that the Arizona Game & Fish Department has been granted a federal permit to “take” (trap) more jaguars despite being partially responsible for the illegal “take,” and ultimately the death, of “Macho B,” the last known wild jaguar in the United States, last year.AGF was granted…
I called Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada Thursday about a report I’d read on the Website of NBC affiliate KVOA Tucson concerning four border crossers fired upon by two men wearing camouflage and bearing assault rifles.One man was injured with a gunshot wound to the left forearm, the rest…
The mood at the courtroom hearing was light.Maricopa County Judge Edward Burke cracked jokes about Augustus Shaw’s lack of hair, Shaw smiled and waved to the man hired to spy on his family.But the weirdest part had to be the very subject of the hearing itself — an absurd attempt…
