For the phrase “natural causes” to have been in the same headline as the name Viva Leroy Nash is purely ironic. Nash, who died Friday, February 12, at age 94 — he was the oldest person on death row in the United States — escaped legal execution by the state…
The attitude of too many in the immigrant-rights community toward neo-Nazi hugger and state Senator Russell Pearce’s bigoted bill SB 1070 is one of resignation and defeatism. The bill, which passed the Arizona Senate Monday 17 to 13, would turn all cops in this state into immigration agents, and forbid…
I’m not poppin’ bottles, yet. I wanna see the guy indicted first Though I don’t begrudge the celebratory nature of this latest video from Dennis Gilman, I think the dancing in the streets is a tad premature. Personally, I’m keeping my dancing shoes in storage for when (if?) Arpaio and…
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: Up on the Sun: Last Night: Blues and Booze at Long Wong’s at the Firehouse Ozzy Osbourne…
Analysis by Michael Lacey A new and refreshingly competent political star, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, emerged from the startling judicial proceeding held yesterday afternoon in a basement courtroom in downtown Phoenix. And federal prosecutors, who’ve convened a grand jury to investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio, were handed unimpeachable evidence that…
At last he speaks! Or plans to, anyway.Tiger Woods, golf’s most notorious horn-dog, has scheduled a limited press conference for Friday, which also happens to be the second day of the Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson.The timing of the much-awaited press conference wouldn’t be much of an issue if…
A Phoenix mom was arrested last week on suspicion of sending her daughter and other teens over to an ex-boyfriend’s Tempe house in September to rough the guy up with Tasers and other weapons.Police believe that Katherine Faye White, a 40-year-old woman with a history of forgery and theft convictions,…
Dean Martin’s new Website opens Arizona’s checkbook for all to see. Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin has launched a new, free Web site where people can go online and see every dime the state government’s spending. The site, azcheckbook.com, touts “Government transparency at your fingertips,” and includes an enormous wealth…
If you’re a professional athlete looking to get a DUI, Scottsdale’s your place. In the past few years, celebrity athletes such as Mike Tyson, Charles Barkley, and Seattle Seahawks tight-end Jerramy Stevens have found themselves on the wrong end of a breathalyzer in Scottsdale, and now we can add another name…
Where’s Ed Ableser’s head at? As the state marches toward bankruptcy, the Democratic lawmaker from Tempe has focused some of his attention on an event that happened before he was born: He wants the naughty United States to take responsibility for its role in the 1973 coup in Chile that brought a vicious…
In the midst of the state’s looming budget catastrophe, the Arizona Legislature got down to the, um, important business of determining a state horse.The House Government Committee approved a bill that would make the Spanish Colonial the state horse of Arizona.HB 2634, dreamed up by Representative Pat Flemming, would revise the…
Yesterday’s court proceedings examining the question of whether the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office must be removed from prosecuting Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox contained a number of big revelations, as we detailed in this earlier blog post.But one of the most fascinating pieces of news for anyone following these cases involves…
A Gilbert man faces felony weapons charges after he tried to pop a cap in his dog Sunday afternoon, after the animal bit his daughter in the face.Whatever happened to a firm smack with a rolled up newspaper?About 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, the man’s 11-year-old daughter was in the backyard…
In the wake of Friday’s shootings at the University of Alabama-Huntsville — where a professor shot six people, killing three — the sponsor of a bill that would allow Arizona profs to pack heat in the classroom is using the incident to promote his bill.State Senator Jack Harper sponsored the guns-on-campus bill and…
An organization called Dogs 24/7 will be hosting a “speed-dating” event this weekend that hopes to match humans with the Valley’s most eligible dogs.Get your minds out of the gutter — although the group describes the eligible dogs as “bachelors” and “bachelorettes,” this isn’t a bestiality convention, it’s an event…
Children sang, citizens spoke, and protesters railed at the most recent community hearing on the newly approved Phoenix food tax. The hearing at Burton Barr Central Library on Tuesday night was the seventh of 15 scheduled hearings around the Valley for citizens to voice their opinions on the food tax…
In a hearing yesterday that stretched to more than four hours, both Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk shared their perspectives on the investigation, and prosecution of, Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. The hearing allowed Wilcox’s attorney, Colin Campbell, to argue that Thomas must be disqualified…
We didn’t hold out a great deal of hope that the perennially weak Arizona Medical Board would drop the hammer on Dr. Joseph Franzett, the subject of two New Times exposes in recent years, this one and this one. The latter story, entitled “Dr. Deception,” described how the Phoenix-area…
Amar’e Stoudemire won’t be wearing a Phoenix Suns uniform for very much longer, if the current maelstrom of trade rumors proves to be true. With a little more than 24 hours to go until the NBA trading deadline, Big STAT could become a member of the Miami Heat by this time…
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted yesterday to require that a copy of the Ten Commandments be placed in front of the old state capitol. The bill calls for the Legislative Council to seek donations for erection of the monument, and will now go to the full Senate for final approval…A…
Just read the big news that neo-Nazi hugger and bigot Russell Pearce got his plan to erect the Ten Commandments outside the old state Capitol through committee. Yep, Arizona may not have enough dough to keep its rest stops or its MVD offices open, but there’s enough money for this…
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: Joe Arpaio Victims Celia Alvarez, of Busted Jaw Fame, and Armando Nido File Suit Up…
