It’s an odd day in the annals of the Arizona legislature when members of the far-right John Birch Society — a conspiratorial-minded organization obsessed with the “New World Order,” the Federal Reserve, and the gold standard — actually sound saner than the Republinuts in control of the state House and…
Joseph Bryon Lucas was planning on going on a trip to Europe with his best friend. That is, until he killed his pal by driving his car 90 miles per hour into a tree.Police say Lucas, 18, called 9-1-1 just after midnight Tuesday, saying that he had crashed his 2004…
“The Mav” says he’s sittin’ this one out.Arizona Senator John McCain said this week that he has no plans to endorse any candidate in the 2012 GOP presidential primary, which may not sit well with some GOPers who stumped for him during his brutal primary with former TV pitchman J.D…
Lawyers for snake-oil salesman/”spiritual warrior” James Arthur Ray want the Oprah-approved “self-help” guru’s manslaughter trial moved from Yavapai County to a court in the Phoenix area.Ray’s attorneys don’t believe it’s possible for their client to get a fair trial in Yavapai County because of extensive media coverage of the case…
Let’s say you’ve just gunned down your best friend in a fit of rage over a gambling debt. Remorseful, you dial up 911 and tell the operator that your pal’s dead and it’s all your fault.Normally, such a confession, recorded on a 911 call, would pretty much guarantee a guilty…
Obviously not hip to the work of Dateline NBC’s To Catch a Predator, a 24-year-old Phoenix man was arrested Tuesday after allegedly trying to solicit sex from a 14-year-old in an online chat room. Police say Godfrey Exal Pinho was trying to solicit sex from a person he believed to…
It’s way early in the Phoenix mayor’s race, but for political junkies wanting a glimpse of what might be, here are the results of a poll conducted by the Motola Group, a Phoenix based-public advocacy firm. While some 40 percent of people report they are still undecided, of those who…
A Pinal County man has been charged with murder after police say he kidnapped and then drowned his own cousin.Humberto Hernandez-Hernandez, 18, was arrested last week for the drowning murder of his cousin, 21-year-old Mauricio Gonzalez.According to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, on January 22, deputies received a call from…
An upcoming episode of an ABC News show features patrons of a Tucson eatery coming to the rescue of Hispanics getting grilled by a “gringo” security guard who wants to see their “papers.” The “What Would You Do” episode, judging from an accompanying article on ABC’s Web site, sounds more…
Arizona is home to many, many crappy drivers, and a 14-year-old kid police say was driving a stolen car drunk through Phoenix Wednesday night is only the latest.Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves tells New Times a highway patrolman spotted a white Ford Focus “driving erratically” northbound on…
Trying to identify the most annoying lovebirds in Scottsdale is no easy task, but the folks at American Idol appear to have done it.Last night, a Scottsdale couple — who’re already billed as Idol’s first “power couple” — appeared on the show. They hold hands, finish each other’s sentences, and make…
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu’s office has finished an investigation into alleged misconduct by high-ranking Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office employees, says a spokesman for Babeu. Allegations in an internal memo penned by by Deputy Chief Frank Munnell, which surfaced in September, zeroed in on Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s chief deputy, David Hendershott, but also mentioned Captain Joel Fox, of SCA infamy, and…
A Pinal County pervert admitted to police that he can’t stop molesting little girls and he needs to go to jail — that was only after police suspected him of molesting a 9-year-old family friend.The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office got information that 72-year-old Salvador Valentin had molested the 9-year-old daughter…
Several members of the Arizona State Legislature want to force doctors to offer to show women seeking an abortion ultrasound images of the fetus before they end their pregnancy.Supporters of the bill, introduced by Republican Representative Kimberly Yee of Phoenix, say it’s designed to give women more information about abortion,…
Gortat the Great made another appearance Wednesday as the Phoenix Suns knocked off the Milwaukee Bucks at US Airways Arena 92-77. Marcin Gortat, the Polish import who came to the Suns in a December trade, continued his weeklong string of stellar play for the Suns, scoring 19 points and pulling…
My gabacho friends look at me askance for being a gabacho who enjoys mariachi music. They, and even some of my Mexican friends, run and hide when I go a step further and start listening to the mournful ballads of Vicente Fernandez, backed up by — you guessed it —…
The sexual relationship between Susan Brock, the now-estranged wife of Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock, and a teenage boy didn’t start with a kiss. It started with a handjob in the backseat of Brock’s Lexus as it sat parked in a partially developed neighborhood near the Chandler airport in October…
At least one major dispute already has erupted among Arizona’s fledgling marijuana businesses. Al Sobol, one of the industry marketers featured in our earlier cover story about Proposition 203 (“Chronic Future,” November 25) filed a complaint in January with the U.S. Justice Department, alleging collusion between some would-be dispensary owners…
TUCSONED Tucson will rise above: Great story on Tucson! Personally, I think [the city] will rise above this tragedy because it has a lot going on that’s positive (“Branded,” Amy Silverman, January 27). But, as you write, it will be known for the tragedy for a while. I would argue…
TARGET PEARCE Consider it a classic pincer move: two separate, ongoing efforts to recall the most powerful, hateful politician in Arizona, state Senate President Russell Pearce. First into battle was the irrepressible DeeDee Blase, founder of Somos Republicans, an organization loathed by wingnut GOPers and mainstream Democrats with almost equal…
You may have read of New Mexico’s newly-elected Republican Governor Susana Martinez’s executive order rescinding what she’s referred to as that state’s “sanctuary status,” and instructing state police to inquire into the immigration status of “criminal suspects” and report that info to the feds.Some have characterized this as New Mexico’s…
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:…
