The Phoenix Coyotes, a team that has struggled to put butts in the seats and was nearly relocated to Canada last year, got some encouraging news from Nielsen Media Research: More people are watching games on television.What a difference a winning season makes…
Federal agents, acting on a tip, searched a semi-trailer delivering squash at a Rio Rico warehouse Tuesday night, and guess what they found? A whole lotta weed. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement got a tip that the trailer looked out of place at the warehouse. After agents established surveillance of…
The beaten-up Portland Trail Blazers played and lost the night before, and were in eighth place in the NBA’s Western Conference. The rested Phoenix Suns were on a five-game winning streak, with four of those victories coming on a four-game road trip, to make them fifth in the West. And on that trip, the Suns had…
An Arizona ATF agent who infiltrated the Hells Angels has won a civil complaint against the ATF. The agent, Jay Dobyns, says his bosses failed to protect him after he received death threats from the notorious motorcycle club. But federal lawyers have filed a counterclaim against Dobyns, alleging that he “harmed…
It started with the boss’ brother. Doug Lingner had been executive director of the Housing Authority of Maricopa County for just two months when he hired his brother to repair a carport at the agency’s Seventh Street complex. Total cost: $2,000. Now, that wasn’t such a big deal. Yes, state…
ON THE BORDER Jim Albert has all the answers: I still say that these smart, young Mexicans’ [being] sent back to Mexico after we’ve educated them to the max could be Mexico’s gain; readers of New Times who say otherwise simply have their heads up their asses. The article that…
CHICKENS COMING HOME? Call it Sal Reza’s Long March: the persistent pressure the Phoenix civil rights leader has applied to Wells Fargo to oust Sheriff Joe Arpaio from his 18th- and 19th-floor roosts in the pricey, executive office building in downtown Phoenix. When Reza began the campaign in late 2008,…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s public-relations team issued a joyous press release after winning a civil rights case in U.S. District Court in downtown Phoenix. “Civil Rights Violation Case Is 12th Straight Jury Win For Arpaio,” the sheriff’s flacks titled it. The recent release quoted Arpaio: “Once again, this is yet another…
Hot on the heels of news that Wells Fargo wants Joe Arpaio out of his pricey executive suites in the bank’s downtown Phoenix tower, human rights activist Salvador Reza is raising the stakes, asking that Attorney General Eric Holder seek receivership over the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, effectively taking control of the day-to-day operations…
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 Partners with Nativist Extremist Kris Kobach, Arizona ADL Blasts Both Up on the…
A judge on Wednesday cleared the way for a court hearing next week that will have county attorneys Andrew Thomas and Sheila Polk answering questions by Mary Rose Wilcox’s lawyer. Thomas’ office had tried to quash the compelled testimony, but Pima County Judge John Leonardo wouldn’t hear of it. “The…
The founder and former owner of a popular hooker-finding Web site pleaded guilty on Tuesday to trying to hire a hit man to kill a prostitute who’s suing him. David Elms founded TheEroticReview.com in 1999 and eventually became one of the most influential men in the call-girl biz. His…
A Yavapai County woman was arrested Monday after police say she used a stolen credit card to pay — among other things — two court fines.On Sunday, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office got a call from a woman who said she’d had her purse stolen from her unlocked car the…
Robert Halliday, Governor Jan Brewer’s appointee to become the next director of the Department of Public Safety, came under fire at his confirmation hearing today over an incident at a golf course, where the probable director claims he “acted unprofessionally.”During the hearing, senators raised questions about e-mails several of them…
Scottsdale resident Beau MacMillan, star of Worst Cook in America, may want to change the name of his show to Worst Traffic Enforcement in America and set it in Maricopa County after his arrest in Scottsdale on Sunday night.MacMillan was pulled over after he failed to come to a complete stop…
Fans of country music star Jimmy Wayne — from California to Connecticut — are furious over a Valley Fever post that mildly criticized Wayne’s charity walk for the homeless from Nashville to Phoenix. We would like to take the opportunity to, um, apologize.Check out the post that caused all the commotion here.As was noted,…
A South Carolina senator, arguably the biggest tea-bag in the conservative “Tea Party” movement, says he will remain neutral in the Arizona Senate race, where John McCain is squaring off with conservative darling J.D. Hayworth.Senator Jim Demint told Fox News’ Gregg Jarrett this morning that he is not taking a…
As disturbing as the prospect is of a nativist extremist lawyer like Kris Kobach training all 881 of Sheriff Joe’s beigeshirts in immigration law, I have to wonder if it’s a sign that Arpaio’s throwing in the towel on the big Melendres vs. Arpaio racial-profiling lawsuit now underway in federal court…
The parents of a 14-year-old Phoenix girl have been arrested after the girl escaped from a bathroom-turned-dungeon, where she was kept for nearly two months.The girl was kept in the dungeon as punishment for stealing food, according to Phoenix’s Fox affiliate, KSAZ.The details of the girl’s captivity are pretty gruesome,…
The Arizona Legislature’s resident redneck, Senator Russell Pearce, is under fire for an offensive e-mail he sent to his legislative colleagues last week, and the director of the Anti-Defamation League thinks the senator should be more sensitive.The e-mail in question tells the story of an illegal immigrant in California awarded millions of…
Ron Sterr, the principal of Litchfield Elementary School who sent a “joke” letter to teachers berating students’ intelligence, has been demoted. The school board voted 4-1 to have Sterr demoted to assistant principal at another school. The majority of parents who spoke at the board meeting Tuesday reportedly expressed support for Sterr,…
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’s Secret Immigration File, and David Hendershott’s Secret AOL Account. Plus, Hendy’s Depo Now…
