A U.S. customs officer who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes to allow immigrants into the country illegally, is heading to the joint, compliments of a federal judge.Jose Carmelo Magana, 46, of Yuma, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge James A. Teilborg to serve 37 months in federal prison followed…
With fewer half-naked aborigines in the world to hang out with, National Geographic decided to spend some time last year with the polygamist clan north of the Grand Canyon. The magazine received “exclusive” access to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Colorado City, Arizona and…
As the Mexican government’s war on drugs continues to produce lackluster results, Mexico’s ruling party is taking aim at a different enemy: musicians.Members of Mexico’s National Action Party have proposed legislation that would make “drug ballads,” or “narcocorridos,” illegal.Violators of the law could face up to three years in prison…
Saying that attorneys for Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas made a procedural error, U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow rejected the “amended complaint” they attempted to file last week in their racketeering lawsuit against county officials.While that ruling has nothing to do with the merits of the case, it…
this week’s winter storms, hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes because of the weather, and the moving company U-Haul hopes to ease the burden placed on displaced families. U-Haul is offering displaced families from flooding 30 days of free storage in its containers. If you don’t have a box, guess…
The Arizona Game and Fish Department may have some explaining to do over the death of the last known jaguar in Arizona. A report filed by the Department of the Interior alleges that the initial capture of the cat, known as Macho B, was probably intentional and violated the Endangered…
night’s storms, the worst Arizona has seen in 17 years….The Bashas’ grocery store chain has come up with a bankruptcy exit plan. Bashas’ will pay nearly $300 million in debts in regular installments. The plan may be accepted in U.S. Bankruptcy Court as early as April, but some of the debts…
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: E.J. Montini Earns His Pizza By Kissing Up to Joe Arpaio, Yet Again Up on…
The National Weather Service has issued an improbable tornado watch for Maricopa and Pinal counties until 10 p.m.Sorry, snowbirds, Phoenix isn’t nothin’ but sunshine all the time.According to the National Weather Service, a major tornado in Phoenix is incredibly rare but evidently, not impossible. In fact, Arizona averages four tornadoes…
Three people arrested yesterday have been accused of bilking a bank out of $750,000 and running a network of shady businesses with the infusion of millions of dollars of capital from Mexico.The crimes spanned the last decade, police say, and included businesses that would be familiar to many readers, including:* CBNC,…
It’s not officially official yet, but if ESPN’s Chicago insider, Bruce Levine, is right, which he often is, the Cubs have chosen Mesa as their first choice for their new spring-training facility Suck on that, Charlie Crist.The Cubs have spent the last several months deciding whether they would remain in…
Did you hear the one about the guy who broke into a head shop and stole $300 worth of fake weed? Probably not, because it’s not a joke — some idiot actually did it on Monday night in Flagstaff.In the police blotter of yesterday’s Arizona Daily Sun, there is a…
A Mexican national suspected of murdering a woman in 2003 was busted by U.S. Border Patrol agents near Nogales.Guzman Badilla-Corona, 28, better known in the crystal-meth community as “Indio,” was trying to cross back into the United States from Mexico when he got picked up by border agents. After running Badilla-Corona’s fingerprints…
Valley skiers want to see fresh powder in the high country, and today’s storm system is bringing plenty.But the weather will need to clear up a bit before anyone can enjoy it.Blizzard conditions today shut down Sunrise Ski Resort and Arizona Snowbowl, the state’s premier snow-skiing spots…
Thousands of Arizona convicts held out-of-state in at least two private prisons would be coming home this year under budgets proposed by state leaders.The prisons in question are:* Huerfano County Correctional Center in Walsenburg, Colorado. Capacity: 752 beds. Held 676 Arizona inmates as of yesterday. Corrections Corporation of America’s contract…
Tiger Woods, whose location has been more elusive than Osama Bin Laden’s since his Thanksgiving car wreck, was spotted outside a sex-addiction-rehabilitation clinic in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Another loss for the Arizona economy, as hopeful businesses in Wickenburg planned for his arrival — and that of the media frenzy that was certain to follow –…
Arizona Republican Party Executive Director Brett Mecum seems to think that the $50,000 left off of the organization’s latest spending report is “all good,” but another GOP bigwig is calling for an independent audit of the party’s books. Yuma County Republican Party Chairman Phil Townsend sent a letter to high-ranking…
According to the Rep’s E.J. Montini, if you oppose Sheriff Joe Arpaio and you lose at the polls, you should just keep your gob shut.Wow, talk about a mouthpiece for the little old ladies in Sun City, and Arizona’s reactionary, nativist contingent. Montini’s certainly earned his many pizzas from Arpaio…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has spared no expense in his quest to read e-mails penned by court administrators — filing a lawsuit, an appeal after he lost the lawsuit, and finally a special action after he lost the appeal.But Arpaio isn’t done yet, as county records make clear. Indeed,…
Despite walking away from his judgeship on America’s Got Talent after an alcoholic, shirtless bout with a cheeseburger, David Hasselhoff is getting back on the tube — and there’s a good chance the Hoff may make a cameo appearance in Arizona.The former Knight Rider star and Baywatch beefcake is getting another shot at…
As woeful as the Phoenix Suns’ fortunes have been over the past few weeks — losing four straight games, staging repeated scoring collapses, you name it — the subpar squad has at least one saving grace. At least they ain’t the New Jersey Nets. The cellar-dwelling Alantic Division team has…
Officials broke ground this morning on a domestic-violence shelter in downtown Phoenix. The Chrysalis Women’s Shelter costs $3.1 million and will expand services to children and women who are victims of domestic violence. The 24,300-square-foot facility will have 50 beds and is scheduled to open in the fall…The first of…
