News

Firefighters are still making progress on the Slide Fire burning north of Sedona.The containment was at 55 percent yesterday, and 75 percent as of this morning, according to the latest update from the Forest Service. The size of the fire barely grew over yesterday, to about 21,200 acres…

President Obama announced this morning that Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has resigned.Shinseki, a retired U.S. Army general, held the post since January 2009, but calls for his resignation have been coming in recently over widespread allegations of VA mismanagement, including allegations from a retired VA doctor in Phoenix that…

Arizona’s new Department of Child Safety has been formed through a pair of bills passed by the Legislature in a special session, and signed by Governor Jan Brewer.The outline of the agency proposed last week by Brewer at the cost of $60 million is essentially what was created by legislators,…

If you’ve found it difficult to get a complete picture of what’s going on with the scandals at the nation’s VA hospitals, we don’t blame you.The American Legion, a veterans service organization, created the image above explaining most of the allegations made against various VA hospitals, starting with Phoenix…

The effort to fight the human-caused Slide Fire burning north of Sedona has cost $8 million to this point, according to the Forest Service.At times, there have been more than 1,000 people working to contain the blaze, and planes and helicopters have been used continuously since the fire started nine…

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery says a corrections officer won’t be charged for leaving his K9 service dog in his vehicle, where the dog died last month.Department of Corrections Officer Jesse Dorantes left the dog in the back of his patrol car, and left that vehicle in a DOC parking…

The City of Phoenix wants to squeeze between $1 million and $2 million more per year out of parking meters, and the city’s transportation department has some ideas.The Street Transportation Department has issued an explainer on its ideas for changes to the parking meters, which includes proposals to make the…

While vacationing in Mexico, a couple of vendors or waiters addressed me as chica. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but while relating a conversation with one of these guys to a Mexican friend of mine back in the U.S., he insisted that chica is way too…

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. The first story in the ongoing series examined how charter schools —…

If there never had been a monitor appointed by Judge G. Murray Snow in the ACLU’s big civil rights case, Melendres v. Arpaio, it’s unlikely that we would know as much as we do about late MCSO Detective Ramon Charley Armendariz. And yet, Armendariz, who the Sheriff’s Office says took…

The Slide Fire burning north of Sedona has passed 20,000 acres, but the spread has been slowing, and firefighters have been able to contain more of the fire.This morning’s estimate of the size of the fire is 20,369 acres, or about 32 square miles, and is 45 percent contained…

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. The first story in the ongoing series examined how charter schools —…

The Veterans Affairs inspector general has found that scheduling practices at the VA hospital in Phoenix are “convoluted” and non-compliant with policy.The interim report released this morning does not answer the question of whether 40 veterans died on various VA waiting lists — as a retired doctor has alleged –…

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is publicizing its 82nd “criminal employment” operation, which resulted in the arrests of four women.As usual, the workers were arrested in the investigation, and the four employers — Zipps Sports Grill, Chompie’s, Bradford Allen, and Best Western — where deputies served search warrants were hailed…

The U.S. Consulate General in Nogales issued an emergency message on Sunday warning United States citizens to take the “highest precautions regarding personal safety in and around Nogales.”The message says this warning is due to “credible threat information,” but as of today, Tuesday, there’s been no word of what the…

The Slide Fire burning north of Sedona has grown to 18,500 acres, or nearly 29 square miles.The effort to contain the fire, in order to stop the fire’s spread, is at 35 percent completion…