We recently wrote half-kiddingly (just half) that Andy Thomas’ henchwoman Deputy County Attorney Lisa Aubuchon would be on her way to a new gig with Sheriff Joe Arpaio in no time. Then, late last week, we got word that this failure of a prosecutor was removed as head of the County Attorney’s charging bureau…
In a marathon meeting this afternoon that stretched close to four hours, commissioners for the Housing Authority of Maricopa County agreed to accept the resignation of executive director Doug Lingner, effective today.In exchange for agreeing to resign, and promising not to sue the board unless they sue him first, Lingner…
A former employee of the Buckeye Union High School District claims in a federal lawsuit that she was fired in retaliation for ratting out an assistant principal in a suspected “sexting” case. The assistant principal, Matthew Conover, resigned last year after allegations that a 17-year-old student e-mailed nude photos of herself to his phone…
Attention Valley teens: Just when you thought your weed stash was safely hidden from your parents, get ready to say “fuuuuucccck!”A Chandler woman has started a business called Desert Drug Dog, where she rents out her retired, drug-sniffing dog to parents who suspect their teens of using drugs.Amy Halm and…
Senate hopeful J.D. Hayworth is taking a stand against Senator John McCain’s potential support of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s hypothetical nomination to the Supreme Court.There’s only one problem: McCain has never said whether he would support her nomination, and the White House told Politico yesterday, “The president thinks Clinton…
A Prescott Valley police car took a golden shower and two men got arrested after witnesses say they pissed on the car as it stereotypically sat in a Denny’s parking lot over the weekend.Prescott Valley Police Sergeant Art Askew tells New Times that, about 2:30 Saturday morning, Nathaniel Stropko and Jasen Venable,…
Readers of our paper may remember infamous local psychiatrist Joseph Franzetti — who has been caught red-handed in serious lies on medical charts and official court documents — and yet remains a doctor in good standing with the Arizona Medical Board. We’ve written about Franzetti (pictured) in two cover stories, here…
In a county feud that’s been marked by cries of legal conflicts of interest, here’s one more potential conflict: Remember how Gila County Attorney Daisy Flores is handling the potential criminal cases against two Maricopa County supervisors, thanks to a court ruling about County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ legal conflicts? Well, back in…
The leader of a group of Valley bank robbers, who wore wigs during the majority of their heists, was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today.Julio Cesar Feliciano, Jr., 46, was sentenced to 106 years in federal prison this morning for his role…
The City of Phoenix continues to refuse release of Mayor Phil Gordon’s security-detail logs –kept by members of his security team who track Gordon’s daily activities. They contain information such as where they dropped off and picked up the mayor and who was traveling with him.New Times, the Arizona Republic, other…
Back in December, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio participated in a Meet the Press-type discussion at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and before getting heckled out of the room by some overzealous protesters, he told the panel how much he missed the days when a reporter…
John McCain’s latest Web ad has created a little controversy, and now his opponent in the GOP primary for Senate, J.D. Hayworth, is speaking out about it. In case you missed it, the ad is billed as a J.D. Hayworth campaign ad, where he discusses some of the serious problems…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office announced yesterday that Elizabeth Johnson, the mother of missing baby Gabriel Johnson, had been moved from the jail’s general population to the its loony bin after assaulting two other inmates and then refusing to eat some of Joe’s “loaf.” Despite Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s public touting of Johnson as…
Attorney David Selden on Russell Pearce’s SB 1070As I previously blogged, state Senator Russell Pearce’s police state bill SB 1070 is going to the floor of the House today for COW and a possible third read. Pearce’s arguments for it are filled with half-truths and racist shibboleths, as he demonstrated…
Three teenage boys are suspects in a string of Mesa fires. Fire crews responded to six blazes within an hour on Sunday, including one inside a vacant home. The teens, two age 13 and one age 17, were questioned for several hours and booked into the Southeast Juvenile Facility in…
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: Feathered Bastard: Russell Pearce, Hold Up! Sheriff Ralph Ogden of Yuma County Speaks Out on the Cost…
So who thinks they could be a better county attorney than Andrew Thomas, who resigned the post to run for Attorney General? Anyone? Anyone?Okay, that’s probably a bad way to phrase the question. Anyone clearly would be better. But “anyone” is not necessarily a licensed attorney … and not every…
The Tempe Police Department, in collaboration with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, will conduct “special enforcement” of busy Tempe intersections for the next two weeks, the department announced today.Lucky for you, the department was kind enough to give us a list of places they will be patrolling extra hard, which…
The state House has just posted the agendas for its Committee of the Whole and Third Reads for Tuesday: Russell Pearce’s police state legislation SB 1070 is the first order of business. Pearce was pushing the legislation hard on this week’s Sunday Square-Off on Channel 12, claiming he has the…
Elizabeth Johnson, the mother of missing baby Gabriel Johnson, apparently wasn’t playing too nice with some of the other Maricopa County jail inmates, and as a result, has been sent to the jail’s psychiatric ward after refusing to eat some of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s “loaf.”Despite the sheriff’s public touting of Johnson as the…
Congratulations drug addicts — doctors hope to prove that the cure for your addiction is the actual cause of your affliction: More drugs!Doctors from around the globe are meeting in San Jose, California, this week to revisit the topic of hallucinogenic drugs used to treat stuff such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic…
Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden is urging legislators to hold off on passing state Senator Russell Pearce’s immigration bill SB 1070, saying that his county would have to pick up the tab for training costs related to the legislation, and the cost of holding more inmates on state charges in…
