I’m a third-year university student, a liberal studies and Spanish major. My family, extended and immediate, always like the chisme. During a family carne asada, we were all talking when one of my tías asked me what I was doing with my life — she and the rest of my…
It hasn’t been a very happy holiday season for Sony Pictures, which was hacked recently and had sensitive internal files compromised. Five movies — four of them unreleased — were leaked along with 11 terabytes of personal data, including executive salaries, release schedules, employee criminal background checks, and passwords (kept…
The Phoenix Police Department has identified the police officer who fatally shot 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon at an apartment complex last week. Phoenix PD identified the officer as Mark Rine, a 7-year veteran of the department. “He has been reassigned to a non-enforcement duty pending the outcome of the investigation,” Phoenix…
Governor Jan Brewer’s executive order that prevents certain immigrants from getting driver’s licenses is running on fumes after a series of court losses. A federal appellate court decision earlier this year called for a temporary end to Brewer’s order, and after a series of appeals by the Brewer administration, immigrants…
As another NFL team with a Native American-inspired mascot came to town last weekend, some Native American groups banded together to protest the Kansas City Chiefs. Although the groups have gotten a lot of attention for their protests of a certain Washington NFL team’s name, they’re also protesting what they…
A former spokesman for Maricopa County Animal Care and Control was arrested on charges including stalking for harassing his former co-workers, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office says Audie Greybear posed as his former co-workers on Craigslist, leading to the employees receiving sexually explicit text messages…
A viral video of alleged police brutality by a Mesa police officer doesn’t show the entire encounter between the officer and a teenage girl. The video, which has been shared on Facebook more than 120,000 times at the time of this post, appears to show the officer throwing a blow…
Protests are continuing to take place over the fatal shooting of 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon by a Phoenix police officer last week. Brisbon was fatally shot Tuesday night at an apartment complex after a scuffle with a Phoenix police officer who was investigating a drug-dealing complaint. Police say the officer thought…
Police killings across the country sparked a large protest at First Friday in Phoenix this weekend. With police in riot gear at the ready, the demonstrators protested against the killing of Michael Brown in Missouri, the killing of Eric Garner in New York, and last week’s killing of Rumain Brisbon…
Like you needed additional evidence that we live in a sick society, we now have “Mickey cam,” a 24-7 camera fixed on a vicious pit bull that mauled the face of a little boy, leaving him with permanent, painful injuries. Who’s responsible for this obscenity? Who else? Sheriff Joe Arpaio,…
What would I do without Republicans in this state? Their Jerry Springer-esque antics are a hoot, and would make for an excellent reality show, which I propose calling, with a hat tip to Snoop Dogg, “Deez Nutz.” Thursday night, the Maricopa County Republicans’ Executive Guidance Committee — under the leadership…
Arizona’s home to the most political corruption in America. That’s according to a survey of reporters nationwide, done by researchers at Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics…
I’m concerned about hate-filled attacks on all minority populations, regardless of what group is on the receiving end. Yet I’m puzzled at the disparate reactions to two targets of wacko Tempe Pastor Steven Anderson’s hate-filled sermons: Jews and gays. Recently, the Anti-Defamation League of Arizona alerted folks that Anderson had…
At the end of the week, we bring you a roundup of visitors to the desert’s own Fourth Avenue Jail. To be considered for our Maricopa County mugshots of the week, get arrested, strike a pose, and we’ll take care of the rest. This week, most of our inmates have…
Updated 6 p.m. Sheriff Joe Arpaio may face civil and even criminal contempt charges stemming from his office’s failure to comply with a court order issued in the Melendres civil rights case. In that case, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office was found to have illegally racially profiled Latinos in its…
Gerie Leigh Clayton, the owner of Scottsdale-based custom motorcycle maker Sucker Punch Sallys, has been arrested on felony theft charges. Scottsdale police say Clayton, 64, defrauded at least two people by taking money for custom bikes that were never made. “They had placed orders from out of state or out…
If a 2016 presidential candidate wants the Latino vote, he or she will have to support President Obama’s executive order on immigration. That’s according to a nationwide poll released by several Latino voter-outreach groups, which asked Latino voters whether they would support Hillary Clinton if she pledged to continue Obama’s…
I teach writing at a local community college. My students are writing their final essays on a local problem; I have one student who has decided to write about illegal immigration (specifically Mexican). We were discussing, as a class, each student’s project, and this student made a comment that I…
Dennis Wilenchik, attorney for the son and daughter-in-law of U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, has a message for the lynch mob in the Green Acre Dog Boarding case: cut down the ropes. Late Tuesday, Wilenchik, aided by his son and fellow lawyer Jack, hit the court with three motions rebutting the…
An unarmed 34-year-old Phoenix resident was fatally shot by a Phoenix police officer Tuesday night after a scuffle between the two men at an apartment complex. The officer, whose name hasn’t been released, attempted to detain Rumain Brisbon as part of a drug-dealing investigation at the apartment complex, near Interstate…
Twenty years ago, Arizona became the second state in the nation to allow charter schools to operate in the public education system. In honor of the anniversary, New Times is taking a hard look at charters in Arizona. Earlier stories in this series examined how charter schools often fail kids…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio can bring a criminal defense lawyer to a hearing on Thursday — and he might need such help, a federal judge says. The ruling by Arizona U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow comes in response to the motion for determination of counsel by Arpaio…
