Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Washington D.C. have legalized marijuana for adults 21 and older, and Arizona voters will probably get the chance to decide the question for themselves next year. The people of the 48th state are a proud, independent-thinking bunch who prefer the federal government to butt out…
Carrying gruesome placards and signs that read “Choose Life” and “Just a Clump of Sells,” anti-abortion activists crowded into a blocked-off street next to a Planned Parenthood office in central Phoenix today, part of a nationwide effort by those in the pro-life movement to end federal funding for the organization and…
Former Minuteman and alleged child molester Chris Simcox can cross-examine one of his child victims face-to-face as he represents himself in Maricopa County Superior Court, but he will have to cross-examine the other child victim, his daughter, via closed-circuit Television. That’s the ruling of Judge Jose Padilla, the jurist overseeing…
Rather than tearing an offensive page out of an honors biology textbook as previously considered, Gilbert Public Schools this month chose to put pro-abstinence, anti-abortion stickers in the book. Laura Conaway, writing for CNN’s Rachel Maddow Show, broke the story last Friday after a viewer tipped her off, and an…
Homophobic religious nut and Republican presidential long-shot Dr. Ben Carson was in Arizona recently, getting schooled in illegal immigration by none other than Pinal County Sheriff Paul “Studboi1” Babeu, during a tour of Pinal and Cochise Counties. Carson’s choice of Babeu for a study-session on border issues was ironic on…
Remember that $2.5 million secured by state and county agencies earlier this year that was earmarked to house 250 homeless individuals? There are plenty of rumors floating around social media that the money is not being used properly or that no one has been placed. But Bruce Liggett, director of…
Protesters built a fence of faux coffins and body bags around the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Phoenix office to mark the three-month anniversary of the death of a 31-year-old Mexican held in a federal detention center in Eloy. Jose De Jesus Deniz-Sahagun, who choked on a sock May 20,…
As part of a national day of action against Planned Parenthood this Saturday, hundreds of people will protest outside of six clinics throughout Arizona, including four in the greater-Phoenix area. Their plan is to draw attention to what organizers call “the heartless and even illegal activities of Planned Parenthood.” But…
A sadistic pimp who ran a bizarre, cult-like harem of prostitutes modeled on a film of the French novel The Story of O faces a lifetime in prison after being convicted July 17 on 105 felony counts, involving sex with minors, pandering and child prostitution. Prosecutors say 60-year old Anthony…
Supporters of a plan to legalize marijuana in Arizona gathered at the State Capitol today to symbolically grant the state a check for $40 million — the amount they say schools would reap if voters approve the plan next year. J.P. Holyoak, chair of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like…
Phoenix Councilman Sal DiCiccio is demanding that a plagiarizing Arizona State University professor return money for allegedly plagiarizing material he prepared for an anti-bias police training program. DiCiccio says Matthew Whittaker’s firm, The Whitaker Group, was paid $21,800 by the city after Whitaker sent invoices for the time it took…
Republican Presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson delivered his God-fearing, Constitution-loving message to about 6,000 people Tuesday night in the Phoenix Convention Center. The night began with prayer, the pledge of allegiance, a speech from a former patient, and a heartfelt musical performance from a pastor who wrote a song for…
“We’re in the ‘red zone’ right now. Today, tomorrow is probably it,” says Duane “Chili” Yazzie, chapter president of the Shiprock Community on the Navajo Nation Reservation. “We’re about to lose a lot of our crops.” Two weeks after an accident in an abandoned mine in Colorado caused more than 3…
The homeless sit in groups on the sidewalks of downtown Tempe, faithful dogs panting by their sides, sometimes chatting among themselves, sometimes hailing passersby to ask for cash, water, or cigarettes — and it drives merchants crazy. Angelica Seliga, a manager at the BMO Harris Bank on Mill Avenue, used…
When it comes to Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s 22-year reign over Maricopa County, a cursory glance at newspaper clippings from earlier in his career reveals that some things never change. Consider Arpaio’s penchant for investigating his enemies, his critics, and anyone who stands in his way. In January 1999, Maricopa County…
Sue Black, the well-connected new Arizona Parks Department director, has reportedly hired another Milwaukee buddy to a top slot in her agency. The former head of the Milwaukee parks system vows to build a “dream team” that will lead the parks department to a coveted National Recreation and Park Association’s annual…
A team of 27 journalism students from the Carnegie-Knight News21 program at Arizona State University released a major investigative series on marijuana legalization this week that focuses on the many problems related to the evolving culture and legality of the plant. The students, ranging from 19 universities across the country…
As governor, what do you do if your state’s incarceration rate is 48 percent higher than the national average and is full of fourth-graders who can’t read? If you’re Governor Doug Ducey, you use tax dollars to launch a “rebranding” campaign, duh! Ever since Ducey asked the public to submit…
Puppy-mill breeders, beware — Tempe is the latest Arizona city to consider a ban on the commercial sale of dogs and cats in pet stores. The move is part of a national campaign to crack down on puppy mills — breeding facilities where animals are kept in crowded, inhumane conditions and…
After what’s being hailed as an “overwhelming response from the people of Arizona,” Republican Presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson is moving the location of his rally Tuesday night. The event was originally going to be held in the Grace Community Church in Tempe, which can hold about 2,300 people, but…
No, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, you can’t sue President Obama for filling up Maricopa County jails. That’s what three judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit concluded when they affirmed a lower court decision to dismiss Arpaio’s lawsuit challenging the president’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and…
A mother-and-daughter activist duo are nearing the end of their walk from Washington state to Arizona in protest of the pending destruction of the Oak Flat area near Superior because of copper mining. Sally Noedel, 54, and her daughter, Emma Bigongiari, 19, braved heat waves and talked to people in…
