State Senate President Russell Pearce has always adopted the role of a John Wayne-esque tough guy who can handle himself.Indeed, in a June 2010 piece by Gary Nelson for the Arizona Republic entitled, “Iron will drives Pearce, agenda,” Pearce was full of bravado concerning reported threats on his person and…
Scottsdale Lieutenant Mike Stauffer — who is hoping to unseat Joe Arpaio as the Republican nominee for Maricopa County sheriff — last week participated in New Times’ inaugural online Town Hall Meeting, during which he answered every single question posed by readers in the comment section of the post.Arpaio was…
There were two murder/suicides in the city of Phoenix last night, which is way too many murder/suicides for one night.According to the Phoenix Police Department, one of the shootings occurred in the 3100 block of West Maldonado Road about 8:30 p.m.The victim, a 29-year-old Hispanic woman, arrived at her home…
What a difference a week makes. A mere seven days ago, the the Arizona Diamondbacks were riding a seven-game win streak and experiencing the thrilling high that came with upending one of the best teams in baseball. As of this morning, however, the Snakes are in the midst of a…
Last week, we asked our readers to offer suggestions for a caption for the above photo we snapped of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio eating a Mexican pizza from Taco Bell for this week’s New Times’ You Write the Caption contest.Once again, you didn’t disappoint.We had nearly 50 responses in…
In the 24-hour news cycle, it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries:…
Today’s news that the West Memphis Three — Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin — have been freed from prison in Arkansas after agreeing to an extraordinary plea deal, should give hope to all those falsely accused and imprisoned, including those in Arizona’s prisons.Since these three men were tried…
Eight doctors who have written nearly half of the state’s 10,000 or so medical marijuana recommendations didn’t check in with a DEA-monitored database as required, state officials allege. Will Humble, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, says he notified the Arizona Medical Board and Arizona Naturopathic Physicians Medical…
Today is Friday — a day that ends with the word “day,” which, sadly, seems to mean one thing here in the Valley: someone was arrested for beating up a kid.The latest contestants for Parents of the Year are 22-year-old Melissa Chambers and her 26-year-old boyfriend, Travis Darrah.Chandler Detective Seth…
“Birthers,” for some reason (probably because they know the “birther” movement is little more than a baseless conspiracy theory) will never admit to being “birthers.”Take local Tea Party coordinator Jim Wise, for example, whom we caught up with following our post this morning. We asked this guy four times whether…
Of all the things you don’t want to crash your car into while cruising around shitfaced, a cop car is pretty high on the list.This morning, Dylan Fann, 29, of San Tan, did exactly that.According to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, about 1:30 a.m., a PCSO deputy was stopped in…
“Extremely low levels” of DNA in a 2009 Buckeye rape case made for a difficult analysis, leading to a long delay for the results, says the state’s crime lab supervisor. Although a 14-year-old victim found the courage to report the rape two days after it occurred in April of 2009,…
Remember when President Barack Obama released his birth certificate to get Donald Trump, Tea Party “patriots,” and conspiracy theorists to cool it with the claims that he’s not an American citizen?Well, that apparently didn’t satisfy some of the kookier far-right-wingers, who still seem to think that Obama is the real…
There’s good news about the Diamondbacks vs. Major League Baseball’s best team, the Phillies — Arizona’s 3-3 this season against Philadelphia. The other good news is that while the Diamondbacks were losing 4-1 to the Phillies before and after a more-than-two-hour rain delay in the City of Brotherly Love last…
Above, you can see the photo we snapped of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio struggling to eat a Mexican pizza from Taco Bell during a ceremony honoring the winner of the sheriff’s Inmate Coloring Contest.You Write the Caption’s pretty self-explanatory. Here’s how you play: we show you a picture, like…
Something about Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman’s son’s story about getting assaulted while on “A” Mountain Wednesday night doesn’t add up.We’re not necessarily saying he wasn’t assaulted, but the story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.According to the Tempe Police Department, Eli Hallman, 18, was on “A” Mountain about 2…
In the 24-hour news cycle, it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries:…
As you may have heard, Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman’s son was injured on “A” Mountain last night — and that’s about all anyone knows for sure.Eli Hallman, 18, suffered head injuries and a broken jaw. He claims he was assaulted by three men, but now says he does not desire…
A 93-year-old great-grandma from Green Valley reeled in a 16.58-pound fish last Saturday to become queen for a day in Alaska’s famed Valdez Silver Salmon Derby. Lenore Groundwater beat out 797 other competitors to win the women’s one-day Derby, and her catch may yet finish first in the overall Silver Salmon Derby, which…
Thanks to “dangerous” new laws passed by the Arizona Legislature this year — and a recent court decision that overturned an injunction on laws passed in 2009 — Planned Parenthood announced today that it will discontinue abortion services in six Arizona cities.”Under the guise of making laws that make women…
Four hundred clams. That’s what some lobbyists may have paid to attend a fundraiser held for embattled state Senate President Russell Pearce Wednesday night at Alexi’s Grill in Phoenix.By my estimation, there were about 30 or 40 attendees at the height of the action. If they all paid to get…
A woman in Casa Grande has a goal: she wants to be the fattest woman in the world.That stunner to the right is Susanne Eman, and according her website — which you can check out here — she is trying to reach her goal weight of 1,600-plus pounds.”I’m your average…
