Frequent New Times readers know that we’ve spent a good part of the last eight months covering the mysterious death of Jeff Ahlers, a Tempe man whose bullet-riddled body was pulled from a canal last June.It turns out, the death has now been ruled a suicide, according to the Tempe…
A state lawmaker wants to scratch out the anti-discrimination clause in Arizona’s medical marijuana law and give immunity to employers who fire qualified patients. The callous bill by State Representative Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, also seeks to ban people from using medical weed “in a condominium or planned community common area that…
A father of a student at St. Gregory’s Catholic school in Phoenix says that aside from being a pederast, Carl Mosher, a gym teacher at the school accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student, has not only devastated the school, but he was a flat-out shitty teacher, as well…
A billboard truck that began rolling across the country today advertises the estimated number of gun-related homicides since the January 8 massacre in Tucson. It’s the latest gun-control propaganda tactic by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an East-Coast group spearheaded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Manino. The number on the truck,…
State Senate President Russell Pearce’s son Joshua Trent Pearce was arrested February 9 by the Mesa Police Department on outstanding warrants issued by the Maricopa County Superior Court. Currently he’s cooling his heels in Durango Jail.The thirty year-old unemployed roofer had a revocation hearing scheduled for today, but it’s been…
Several of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ friends in Congress will be holding a fundraiser to raise money for the wounded U.S. representative’s 2012 campaign, fueling speculation that if she’s able, she’ll run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Jon Kyl.Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Representative Adam Smith…
The manslaughter trial for “spiritual warrior”/snakeoil salesman James Arthur Ray, the Oprah-approved “self-help guru” charged with the deaths of three people in Sedona in 2009, is underway in a Yavapai County Courtroom, where prosecutors and Ray’s attorneys are in the midst of jury selection.Ray’s been charged with three counts of…
It was a wild scene at the Maricopa County Superior Court building today as Judge Glenn Davis ordered that Armando Castillo be released on bond while awaiting re-trial in a 13-year old shaken-baby case. Prosecutors agreed to a new trial for Castillo last week. You can see our report here…
The Tempe Police Department released its annual crime report this morning, and most crime in the city is down — except murder, which is way, way up.In total, there were 12 homicides in Tempe in 2010, which is the most the city has seen since 2000, when there were 13…
Remember last year when Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi tested positive for doping agents while playing for a team in the Turkish Basketball Federation? You probably don’t — it is women’s basketball. In any event, about that…The lab that claimed Taurasi was doping has now retracted its report on the…
As Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords continues her recovery in a Houston hospital after being shot through the brain during the January 8, shooting rampage in Tucson, she still hasn’t been told about the extent of the attack and, presumably, the deaths of six people killed during the rampage.One of Giffords’ aides,…
Maricopa County jurors went home yesterday without reaching a verdict in the “honor killing” case of Glendale man Faleh Almaleki, who stands accused of killing his daughter Noor and seriously injuring a former family friend. Defense attorneys for Almaleki did not argue during the trial that he is innocent of…
It was almost another disappointment. The Phoenix Suns won a thrilling game against the Utah Jazz last night, holding onto an 102-101 victory after nearly giving the game away. Planet Orange led the Jazz 76-73 at the start of the fourth quarter, when they promptly allowed the Jazz to go…
Governor Jan Brewer seems to have scored a “win,” if you can call it that, in her effort to cut hundreds of thousands of childless adults from the state’s Medicaid program, otherwise known as the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, or AHCCCS.Brewer recently signed legislation authorizing her to seek a…
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:…
Most Arizona residents prefer larger cultivation facilities for medical pot and residency requirements for dispensary owners, says a poll commissioned by the folks who brought you Prop 203.Joe Yuhas of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association spoke of the poll results today at the medical marijuana rules hearing in Tempe, and…
This is Part Two of our live-blogging from the Department of Health Services medical marijuana hearing in Tempe. Click here for Part One. This is sort of like posting raw video — if you see something useful or interesting here, great. Without further ado, on to the comments:…
Here are some quotes from speakers at today’s medical marijuana hearing about the proposed regulations. The entire speech of each individual isn’t represented. We’re not trying to record all the thank-yous to DHS (of which there are many), just the parts we found interesting (and what we could catch.) When…
There’s good news: Congressman Raul Grijalva won’t be running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Jon Kyl. He also says there’s a “distinct possibility” that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will mount a Senate campaign.Grijalva, as you may recall, encouraged people to boycott all things Arizona after Governor Jan…
It’s standing-room only here at the state-sponsored public hearing on medical marijuana at Arizona State University. Looks like at least 400 people showed up, cramming into all the chairs and lining up along the back wall of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law’s Great Hall in Tempe. This is just…
What’s the best way to lure a guy out of his house so you can shoot him? If you’re group of Midwestern gang members, a fire bomb is a good place to start. Cops say Tracey Nichol Wilkins was part of a group that threw a “fire bomb device” through…
Finding naked pictures of yourself on another person’s MP3 player would probably be a little frightening. When that person’s your step-dad, you might also throw up in your mouth a little bit.Paul Osvaldo Ortiz-Fuentes, an illegal immigrant living in Phoenix, was arrested yesterday after his own 13-year-old step-daughter found naked…
