The Arizona Department of Public Safety is warning of “stepped-up DUI enforcement” around metro Phoenix metro on Super Bowl Sunday.”The Super Bowl DUI Saturation Operation will be highly visible and staffed by additional DPS Highway Patrol Officers along with those officers who are normally scheduled for duty,” according to one…
A rumored flu epidemic centered on the Maricopa County Jail is false, officials say, and a move to prohibit jail visitors from wearing face masks is merely to avoid possible panic. Calls were flooding in all day on Thursday about the rumor, which was apparently spread by some defense lawyers…
Arizona’s House and Senate both approved a proposal to spend more than $6.8 million to hire new employees at Child Protective Services, which includes $5.7 million in new spending from the state’s general fund.In addition to that, one legislator proposed dipping into the general fund for a little bigger special…
A bill introduced this week could let a majority of Arizona students become eligible to receive state money to attend private school.Senate Bill 1236 would considerably expand the qualifications for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs), especially lower-income families. ESAs provide debit cards pre-loaded with state money to parents, who then can…
Remember Jodi Arias?The femme fatale might be a convicted murderer, but that doesn’t stop her from posting nuggets of wisdom to Twitter (with help from the outside). However, Arias announced yesterday that she’s going on a Twitter hiatus, so we thought we’d share the top 10 pieces of Arias wisdom:…
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, our cast of characters create a…
The fight for a medical-marijuana dispensary on unincorporated Maricopa County land won a key victory on Wednesday with the Board of Supervisors lifting its ban on the shops. But the five Supervisors — one Democrat and four Republicans — and the county attorney continue to see the case as their…
Just in time for a settlement conference today at the offices of Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, where Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne hopes to put an end to the campaign-finance case against him, Horne’s rival for the GOP nomination, Mark Brnovich, has released this YouTube video, portraying Brnovich as…
The number of people apprehended by Border Patrol agents in Arizona last year was the lowest in 20 years.U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced today that there were 125,942 apprehensions last year, which still amounts to an average of 350 people per day…
The Arizona bill that would criminalize publishing sexual images that were shared in confidence is “almost certainly unconstitutional,” according to a University of Arizona law professor.House Bill 2515, proposed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, would make it illegal to “knowingly disclose, display, distribute, publish, advertise, or offer a photograph,…
Phoenix Fire Chief Bob Khan is retiring.Khan, who’s been chief since 2006, says he wants to spend time with his ill father…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office carried out its 76th and 77th “criminal employment” operations this week, and the results were unspectacular.The result of the 76th operation: One guy arrested at a Chili’s restaurant in Mesa…
I am a butt-white Irish guy, happily and stoked to be married to a beautiful Chicana.Her familia is from a gorgeous rancho deep in the corazón of Zacatecas, and I’ve been wanting to experience all the ranchero lifestyle I keep hearing about from my acquired familia mexicanos (and from those…
People tend to view the Chamber of Commerce in the same colors as the Rotary Club or the Knights of Columbus: officious do-gooders lending a helpful hand in the name of economy and country. It’s a largely accurate assessment — at least on the local level. In Davenport, Iowa, it…
I have a terrible confession: I heart Sand Land Republicans. For a sheer boredom-killer, there’s nothing like a congregation of them, such as at the Arizona GOP’s mandatory January meeting, where I’m always entertained. Where else can you watch a pretty conservative five-term U.S. senator be censured by his own…
Arizona voters “narrowly oppose” marijuana legalization, according to the latest poll on the issue.Scutari and Cieslak Public Relations’ poll is the fourth poll conducted on the issue in the last year, all by different polling companies. Two of the polls have showed voters supporting legalizing marijuana, and the other two…
Two people have been arrested in the 2008 murder of Arizona State University student Zachary Rowe.William Crawford, 27, and Rory Coriell, 29 — both of whom have prison records — have been arrested in Rowe’s murder, which took place at a rented home in Chandler…
I have a terrible confession: I heart Sand Land Republicans. For a sheer boredom-killer, there’s nothing like a congregation of them, such as at the Arizona GOP’s mandatory January meeting, where I’m always entertained. Where else can you watch a pretty conservative five-term U.S. senator be censured by his own…
It’s not a surprise, but the new owners of the Phoenix Coyotes will be changing the team’s name to the Arizona Coyotes for next season.The name change was part of the arena lease agreement with the city of Glendale, although it didn’t say exactly when that change had to happen…
In an effort to secure federal funding, hundreds of volunteers searched across the Valley Tuesday morning as part of an annual effort to count homeless people.Coordinated by the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), more than 300 volunteers went out from 6 to 9 a.m. to count and interview homeless individuals…
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted unanimously in favor of a proposal to spend more than $6.8 million to hire new employees at Child Protective Services.That’s not to say all the senators on the committee were eager to approve a large special fund for CPS, since some of them have voted…
To comply with court orders in the Melendres v. Arpaio civil rights case, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is holding another “community meeting” on Wednesday.The meeting will be conveniently located at an MCSO substation out in the woods…
