News

  Last year, when the city of Phoenix still had money, Earth Hour was all fun and games. Then came the recession, which forced the city to start making nine-digit budget cuts and laying off hundreds of people. New Times has confirmed that, this year, Phoenix won’t be spending thousands in public funds to…

Just got off the phone with Senator Linda Gray — who almost made us feel bad that we gave her a cyber-slapping in our previous blog post. Gray was brimming with apologies for her critical letter to local high school sophomore Ana Garcia. In fact, she’s hoping to visit Garcia’s school next…

State Senator Linda Gray slams a high school student for poor writing and displaying “ignorance” in a biting letter that was first published in the Daily Kos today. The worst part: Gray’s own letter contains poor grammar and typos. What a friggin’ hypocrite — and she claims the student’s the one…

It’s been exactly two weeks since the jury in the Doug Grant murder case began to deliberate his fate. The panel returned to work this morning, and some close to the case suspect that a verdict finally may be near. The basis for that belief are questions the jury has had in the past…

  Despite the many tales of abuse, we know of only two cases in which one of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio investigated his own deputies for alleged racial profiling incidents. One is the investigation of deputies related to the traffic stop of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon’s aide, Jessica Rodriguez. As…

  The California man arrested by police thanks to a tip by a concerned alleged pimp served time previously for forcibly raping a 13-year-old girl. The vicious 1996 crime by Dell Rainbow Vanderschuit, (pictured), is mentioned in a police report obtained by New Times that also records how the perv…

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s still pushing her budget-rescue plan to state lawmakers, which includes a proposed temporary tax hike. Legislators haven’t exactly received Brewer’s plan with open arms, and she says their reluctance may delay a special spring election which puts approval for the tax hike in voters’ hands. A…

Why is it that when I go to the Mexican supermarkets to buy productos femeninas, fully 98 percent of the aisle provided for such things is composed of maxi pads and the limited selection of tampons are in dusty boxes with a sell-by date of 1986? I assume it has…

JUST DESERTERS Pardon them: The point in “No Canada” about this being a “poverty draft” is a good one. Though these people enlisted and weren’t drafted, their pitiful circumstances at home made the military the best job option they could find. Then they get to Iraq and find out what…

BAD BREAK Why did six of Joe Arpaio’s goons break the arm of a Mexican house-mom? The answer seems to be that MCSO corrections officers are brutes empowered by a barbaric law enforcement entity that’s rewarded with federal immigration power under the 287(g) program. What The Bird has learned about…

An attorney who recently left a top spot at the State Bar of Arizona says Maricopa County sheriff’s detectives recently questioned him in Flagstaff about his alleged “intimidation” of another lawyer with close ties to Andrew Thomas. That attorney, Bob Van Wyck, says he was baffled by the unannounced visit…

Elaine Sanchez understands Guadalupe, Arizona, as well as she understands her six children. She was born and raised in the village of 5,500 souls hard by the freeway and the conventional suburbs of Tempe and Phoenix. Sheriff Joe Arpaio put Guadalupe on the nation’s map during his anti-immigrant sweep last…

Rusty Brown isn’t your typical civil rights hero. For starters, he’s a white male. He’s also a lawyer and a really good golfer: a six-time tournament champion at the Phoenix Country Club. (His handicap is a plus-2 — which tends to elicit gasps of envy from people who know about…

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: Mesa Woman and Three Kids Wait for Illegal Immigrant Dad’s…

  The public feud between the county Board of Supervisors and the county attorney’s office is getting more personal. Lawyers hired by the county supervisors want Lisa Aubuchon, the prosecutor in the criminal case against County Supervisor Don Stapley, held personally liable if a judge orders sanctions for Aubuchon’s release…

  You’re 14. You’ve got 100 pounds of pot and an illegal immigrant in the car, and you’re being chased by a ticked-off deputy. Where do you go? The mall, naturally. On Tuesday night, a Department of Public Safety officer tried to pull over a passenger car on Interstate 10…

  The party’s not over, after all: A year and a half after a New Times article about the rave scene at a downtown Phoenix warehouse owned by a convicted child molester, the glowsticks are brighter than ever. Michael Booher, (pictured), who served four years in prison for coercing a 7-year-old…

  A Maricopa County Superior Court judge signed a bench warrant today for prostitution whiz David Elms, who skipped his scheduled arraignment. As readers of the blog know, Elms also missed a court hearing on March 4, but officials decided it might have been inadvertent. When he failed to appear…

  Valley Fever spent part of Monday afternoon at the home of Bobbie Meza, a 1982 graduate of Tempe High School. Her family is kind of like the Brady Bunch, except Dad’s an illegal immigrant in jail for identity theft. Meza is 44 years old, wearing a black tank top…