Fearing an acrimonious showdown this Saturday when Dems are scheduled to meet at the Wyndham Hotel downtown to pick a new Democratic Party chair, former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and Congressman Raul Grijalva are calling for a compromise. One that would leave Don Bivens as chair for at least…
Apache Superior Court Judge Donna Grimsley dropped murder charges against an eastern Arizona man because, she says, the accused’s rights were violated when he was interviewed by investigators without a lawyer.Joseph Roberts is believed to have murdered 72-year-old William “Stoney” McCarragher in April of 2007. Authorities allege he also helped…
After pistol-whipping a female employee at a west Phoenix Quiznos on January 11, it seems the serial armed-robbery suspect police have dubbed “Shy Guy” isn’t too sheepish anymore. Phoenix Police Sergeant Trent Crump said during a press conference Thursday that he believes the same man has committed 14 different robberies…
An Avondale man is either obsessed with hygiene or obsessed with destroying evidence of sexual assault — or both.Authorities say 25-year-old James McCoy forced his estranged wife to bathe three times, once before, and twice after he allegedly sexually assaulted her earlier this month.McCoy was arrested Tuesday for a slew…
There isn’t much difference between a fully automatic M-16 machine gun and the semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, both of which are readily available for sale in Arizona. Both shoot the same, high-powered .223-caliber ammo and can be loaded with large-capacity magazines of 30 rounds or more. Except for different internal workings…
A 10-year-old Arizona City boy was medevaced to a Phoenix hospital yesterday after three dogs attacked him as he and a group of kids got off a school bus.About 3:30 p.m. yesterday, the victim and several other children got off their bus near South Reef Road and Guaymas Drive in…
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu has been elected to serve a second term as the president of the Arizona Sheriff’s Association.Babeu, an Iraq war veteran and former Chandler police officer, made a name for himself in recent years for his tough stance on immigration. Babeu’s reputation as the face of…
A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday against Jared Lee Loughner for the attempted murders of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and two of her aids,Ron Barber and Pamela Simon.”Today, the Grand Jury returned an initial three-count indictment against Jared Lee Loughner in the Tucson shooting case. We are in the…
The same day it was announced that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords would be moved to a hospital in Houston to begin rehab as early as Friday, the hospital announced another milestone in her recovery: she stood up.The hospital announced yesterday that Giffords — with the help of medical staff — stood…
The Suns needed a win last night to keep their momentum and playoff hopes alive. But on a day when they announced next season’s ticket prices and incentives for ticket-holders to renew in the next month, they needed a more convincing victory than a 106-98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers…
I’m not Mexican (or from a Spanish-speaking country, for that matter), but I get mad when the gabachos in my town say that all Mexican girls do is take drugs and get pregnant, drop out of school, and end up on welfare. I know a lot of Mexican women who…
GUN CRAZY We’re all so predictable: Typical of New Times to call for strict gun control in Arizona when an obviously crazy person, who could have done his murderous deed [almost] anywhere in the nation unimpeded, killed the six people and injured [13] others in Tucson (“Day of the Dead,”…
GRAND STAND Here’s a brief multiple-choice quiz relating to current events here in Arizona. See if you can pick the right answer. In response to the tragic events in Tucson, where goofball madman Jared Lee Loughner’s shooting spree injured 13 people, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and killed six more, notably…
Editor’s note: This story has been edited from its original version. There’s a 20th casualty from January 8 — a city shot full of holes. Columbine, Waco, Oklahoma City. All places defined, in the collective consciousness, anyway, by violent acts. And now Tucson. It’s true that we don’t think of…
Editor’s note: This story has been edited from its original version. Here’s a story about a mentally ill man with a gun in Tucson that you probably haven’t heard. On a Monday afternoon last October, Joseph Molina, 34, stopped traffic near the bus station in the city’s downtown. Armed with…
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:…
A group of state representatives has introduced a bill that would strip the governor of the power to commute prison sentences and hand it over to the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency. The legislation, formally titled HCR 2025: the Arizona Commutation Reform Act, is designed to ease over-crowding and save…
A hunter roaming the desert in Pinal County over the weekend made a grim discovery: he found a half-buried toolbox containing a decomposing body.Much to the chagrin of Governor Jan Brewer, Pinal County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tim Gaffney confirms to New Times that the head was still attached to the…
About 60 percent of Americans believe police presence should be mandatory when members of Congress hold Town Hall-type events, a new poll shows. The poll, commissioned by The Hill, a Washington D.C. newspaper, also found that 91 percent of Americans want to keep seeing meet-and-greets with members of Congress like the one Gabrielle Giffords was at on January 8…
Phoenix police have identified the woman arrested this morning during what local media jumped the proverbial gun and dubbed a high school “riot.”As Phoenix police spokesman Sergeant Tommy Thomspon explained this morning after several members of the PHX fourth estate reported the “riot” — “the school was locked down for…
Last night CBS 5/KPHO reported that an eyewitness to a January 14 fatal shooting in Mesa by a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputy has disputed Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s account of the incident.Miguel Hernandez, a neighbor of victim Felipe Ramirez Castellanos, told KPHO that he did not see Castellanos point a…
The man believed responsible for the Christmas Day assault on state Representative Frank Pratt has been indicted by a Pinal County Grand Jury on various charges, including kidnapping and aggravated assault.Hillyard Scott, 34, was arrested about a week after the attack on Pratt for an unrelated — although very similar –…
