Meghan McCain, the “progressive conservative” daughter of Senator John McCain, has signed a book deal that will net her an advance in the “high six figures.” The New York Observer reports today that the local political princess shopped her idea around to other publishers before taking the offer from Hyperion…
Tempe police reported today that a woman was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment after witnesess saw her pushing a baby in a stroller while drunk. Perhaps the most interesting part of this story, though, is the woman’s name: Fannie Jumbo. According to the Arizona Republic’s write-up of a…
As blogged previously, when Lou Dobbs had ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis and the Rev. Al Sharpton on his show recently to talk about Dobbs’ pal Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Arpaio’s racial profilin’ ways, the pair tag-teamed CNN’s alter kocker nativist, leaving him punch-drunk in his corner. Dobbs and Lewis in…
President Obama plans to move fairly quickly on immigration law reform, hoping to evolve a proposal for Congress to look at this fall that includes making illegal immigrants legal. The New York Times quotes administration officials who say Obama has made immigration a significant priority. He plans to talk to…
We dropped in yesterday at the first-degree murder trial of Donnie Delahanty, a young Phoenix man who, on May 10, 2005, followed through on a promise he had been making to pals: If some cop, any cop, pulled him over when he was in a car, he’d shoot the son-of-a-bitch…
When a newspaper gets a good quote, sometimes you don’t know it’s good until much later. Such is the case with Andrew Paparella Jr., owner of Andrew’s New American at Citrus Cafe in Chandler, who’s been accused by Chandler police of stealing his customers’ credit numbers in a scheme to…
The producers of “Supernanny” and “It’s Me or the Dog” are looking for a few bad teens to star in an upcoming reality show in which kids trade in their parents for “The World’s Strictest Parents.” If you hear the call of show biz, strut on down to the Desert…
The Phoenix Suns were impressive against a good team Wednesday night, beating the New Orleans Hornets 105-100 on sterling play by their team leaders. But it doesn’t matter. The Dallas Mavericks demolished the Utah Jazz 130-101 later in the evening and knocked Phoenix out of the playoffs. Remember, going into Wednesday…
ASU is bucking tradition a bit by declining to offer the keynote speaker at its next graduation commencement ceremony an honorary degree, even though that speaker is President Barack Obama. An ASU spokesperson says honorary degrees are conferred upon people with a large body of work, and Obama’s “body of…
Halfway through Bryant Wilkerson’s trial for manslaughter, aggravated assault, and a host of other felony counts, a juror had an interesting question for Judge Teresa Sanders. The question has yet to be posted to the public record, so I can’t tell you the precise phrasing. But the gist was this:…
The pivotal moment in Doug Grant’s murder trial came without fanfare. Former Phoenix Suns nutritionist and vitamin-supplement entrepreneur Grant was accused of committing the ultimate crime: the first-degree murder of his wife, Faylene, at their Gilbert home as three of their young children were in another part of the house…
For as long as I can remember, Mexicans were known for doing three things: Drinking lots of cerveza, having lots of niños, and saying “¡Ay, caramba!” While I can vouch for the first two, I’ve never, ever personally heard a Mexican utter those famous two words. Is this an urban…
The juror, a thoughtful woman who teaches art to elementary school children, started dreaming about the case during the trial. “The other jurors and myself were lost in a forest, and we couldn’t find our way back out,” she says. “There was a cabin, and Doug Grant was in there…
TURNING POINT Editors note: After the following comments were lodged, Bryant Wilkerson was acquitted of manslaughter, aggravated assault, and felony endangerment. The jury found Wilkerson guilty of fleeing the scene of an accident he didn’t cause. See Sarah Fenske’s column for coverage. Racist hellhole: Kafkaesque indeed! This story should be…
TRIUMPH IN D.C. The weather was muggy. The cherry blossoms were in bloom. And Sheriff Joe Arpaio was on the agenda on Capitol Hill, in a joint session of two subcommittees of the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by California congresswoman and Democrat Zoe Lofgren. Officially, the three-hour session was meant…
We understand that in the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. Worry not! We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Valley Fever: McCain Refers to Hispanics as “You People” During Meeting, Says…
Another day, another racial profiling allegation against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. This one comes in the form of a lawsuit filed last month with the county Superior Court: Sheriff’s deputies assumed a Hispanic man jailed for an unpaid traffic ticket was an illegal immigrant and drove him to…
Boos from a two-thirds-empty Chase Field rained down upon the once-beloved Eric Byrnes as he walked to the plate in the fourth inning Wednesday afternoon in the rubber game and series finale 9-2 loss against the Colorado Rockies. Byrnes, who wowed Arizona fans in 2007 after becoming one of only…
Our cover story this last week told you about the unexpected consequences of Arizona’s Clean Elections experiment: a more polarized legislature, a fair amount of gratuitious spending, and dirty tricks aplenty. But one of our sources recently pointed us toward an interesting phenomena potentially related to Clean Elections –…
Senator John McCain grew visibly angry during a discussion about immigration issues with Hispanic business leaders, telling them “you people” made the choice in the presidential election, says a report by the National Journal Magazine. A spokesman for McCain called the accusation a form of “character assassination,” but the alleged quotes from…
Two former executives of the company that owns Checker Auto Parts — both local men — have been charged in a 31-count federal indictment with falsifying reports, lying to an auditor, and other schemes intended to manipulate the company’s reported earnings. Former CSK executives Martin G. Fraser, 53, of Glendale,…
Part one of Sharpton and Lewis vs. TV minuteman Lou Dobbs I don’t know what CNN’s resident nativist Lou Dobbs thought he was doing when he invited the Rev. Al Sharpton and ACORN’s Bertha Lewis on his program yesterday. But suffice it to say that the bottle-blond senior citizen got…
