It’s back!As part of Improv Everywhere’s “Ninth Annual No Pants! Subway Ride,” this Sunday will be the second annual “No Pants AZ Light Rail Ride.”Not familiar with the event? No problem — the concept is simple. First, you get on the light rail, then you drop trou, and finally, you…
Fantastic game downtown last night between the Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets, as my colleague Ben Leatherman already has detailed in Valley Fever. We were fortunate enough to be courtside for the thriller, which had the intensity of a do-or-die playoff game. Down in the bowels of the not-so-packed arena…
Why should we buy anything that comes out of Arpaio’s PR department considering the sheriff’s statements under oath during his deposition in the Melendres racial profiling case? There, confronted with his own press releases by lawyer David Bodney, Arpaio squirmed like a cheap gunsel under a hot lamp in some…
Radio host John Jay Van Es, of Johnjay and Rich, um, fame, must not be a diligent Valley Fever reader. If he were, he would know the ins-and-outs of how to beat a photo radar ticket. Instead, the morning-drive loudmouth boasted on his radio show this morning that he had…
A lawyer in Ohio pleaded guilty yesterday to money laundering charges stemming from money he received from the leader of a drug ring based in Phoenix. Authorities say 40-year-old Kyle Hunter received more than $100,000 from convicted drug king-pin Leonard Barnhouse. Payment for services rendered, right? Wrong — Barnhouse paid…
The next 3-D, futuristic, should-be blockbuster is pegged to be set right here in Arizona. However, like many films set in Arizona, this one’s being shot somewhere other than the Grand Canyon State. Cowboys and Aliens, John Favreau’s futuristic answer to the über-successful Avatar, is a 3-D journey into a Southwestern conflict…
Two nights, two hard-fought victories for the Suns. Approximately 24 hours after pulling out an exhausting road win over the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix returned home to US Airways Center to outlast the Houston Rockets 118-110 on Wednesday in a game that was an absolute wild ride and the very definition…
A man is in custody after leading police on a chase and then crashing a truck into a Tempe building. The accident happened shortly after 6 a.m. at 48th street and Southern Avenue. Police received reports that a man saw someone drive off in his truck. After plowing into the…
The Mexican is still trying to shake off the Herradura from the previous year, so I’m reprinting this week a favorite column of mine from el pásado. To make up for my siesta, though, I’m bringing back the YouTube edition of this column, where I’ll take the questions of the…
OUR “PROTECTORS” A damn disgrace: What is the process for throwing this buffoon Joe Arpaio out of office, and why hasn’t it begun yet (“Is Nothing Sacred?” Paul Rubin, December 24)? Same question with regard to County Attorney Andrew Thomas, who is so deep in Sheriff Joe’s hip pocket that…
Michelle Miguel was far from a dangerous criminal. When the 34-year-old East Valley resident was arrested by the Chandler Police Department in June 2008, it was for driving on a suspended license and failing to show up at a hearing for a previous DUI charge. Bad judgment, certainly, but nothing…
CHRISTMAS ANGEL Miriam Mendiola-Martinez is a small woman, but her passive, sad demeanor makes her seem smaller. When she was busted by Scottsdale police for using false ID at her place of employment for six years — Dillard’s department store — the arresting officer estimated the then-pregnant Latina’s build at…
I met Big Noise filmmakers Richard Rowley and Jacquie Soohen while they were in town to cover the National Socialist Movement march on the Arizona state Capitol in November. Though the duo live in New York, they fly all over the world, from Afghanistan and Iraq to Mexico and Ecuador…
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 Sends His BFF E.J. Montini a Pizza, Per Their Little “Tradition” Up on…
The Arizona Cardinals’ performance-plagued B-squad quarterback Matt Leinart won an award today, and it wasn’t for most under-thrown receivers, or clipboard-holder of the year. Despite his follies on the field, it turns out Leinart’s a bit of a philanthropist.Leinart was named the Arizona Cardinals/Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year…
Dennis Wilenchik, the one-time special prosecutor whose investigation into New Times led to the nighttime arrests of its top executives, has been cleared of all wrongdoing by the State Bar of Arizona.And, sadly, this isn’t one of those New Times spoofs. The State Bar really has dismissed all claims against…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, though it’s a taxpayer-funded law enforcement agency and not a network studio, is no stranger to flaky reality television, and its latest venture into the world of docu-drama promises to be as tacky as they come.Starting next month, TLC will feature a new show called…
Can Arpaio Twitter via his ancient Smith Corona typewriter? That’s what’s been keeping me up late as I ponder the true author or authors of Joe’s very active Twitter account. In his recent deposition in the big Melendres vs. Arpaio racial-profiling lawsuit, Arpaio told plaintiffs’ lawyer David Bodney that he eschews…
Janet Napolitano should get a stay of execution as chief of Homeland Security, despite countless calls for her head after the failed Christmas Day underwear-bomber fiasco, Senator John McCain says.McCain, speaking from Afghanistan, says he doesn’t agree that Napolitano should be immediately canned for the failure, or for her bone-headed…
An elderly man extradited to Maricopa County in November on a 1987 homicide charge is apparently being held under the wrong name. Confusion in the case, however, didn’t help the white-haired, wheelchair-bound guy get out of jail during a court hearing on Monday. As we reported previously, Phoenix police and the U.S. Marshal’s…
Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin sent Homeland Security Chief and former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano a bill for more than $1 billion and he’s not too optimistic that she’s gonna pay up.Martin believes — as did Napolitano during her reign in Arizona — that the federal government is responsible for paying the…
[jump] As a matter of fact, this menacing mug — as far as we know — only got caught with drugs. Dodson got pinched in Phoenix on Monday night on suspicion of two felony drug-possession charges — not exactly grounds for a death glare. Despite the relatively minor charges, Dodson’s scowl may…
