News

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: Feathered Bastard: Arizona Democratic Party and Ruben Gallego Take Money from Nativist Mark Spencer’s PLEA Up on…

Faculty at Arizona universities will have to wait a little longer before they’re permitted to pack heat in the classroom, thanks to Senator Linda Gray Gray, the chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, chose to hold off on voting on a bill that would allow faculty at Arizona universities…

The story was almost as infuriating as it was tragic:   A veteran police officer makes a so-called “routine” stop of a vehicle on a Maricopa County road. The vehicle is occupied by two men. The driver of the car has an outstanding warrant for his arrest, and has served time in prison for committing…

“Spiritual warrior” James Arthur Ray, who was indicted on three manslaughter charges yesterday, pleaded not guilty to each charge this morning in Yavapai County Superior Court.Ray’s attorney entered the not guilty plea on Ray’s behalf and told the Associated Press the charges were “unjust” and he expected Ray to be…

Welcome to Alice Coopers’ nightmare.A former business partner of the heavy-metal god is suing Cooper (a.k.a. Vincent Furnier) in Maricopa County Superior Court for allegedly failing to promote Coopers’town, a Phoenix restaurant owned by the two men, and using the business’ assets inappropriately.Brian Weymouth, Cooper’s former business partner, claims that…

Rabbi Albert Plotkin, known far and wide as one of the greatest (and most egalitarian) spiritual leaders to lead a congregation in these parts, died on Wednesday. He was 89. ​Plotkin was a remarkable man.  He was in the forefront of the civil-rights movement of the 1960s, and worked until the end…

A battle of the bulge has broken out between two restaurants that feature sexy “nurses” as waitresses, heart-attack-themed ambiance and towering burgers that would make a vegan vomit. Jon Basso, who launched the Heart Attack Grill in Tempe five years ago, is suing a Florida restaurant with a similar theme…

There is nothing too extraordinary about this mug other than the fact that it has been a long time in the making.James Arthur Ray was arrested last night on three charges of manslaughter following the deaths of three people at a self-help seminar he organized in Sedona last October.Ray maintains…

If you’re like us, you may have been later than usual for work this morning due to a colossal wreck on the westbound I-10.At about 6:40 a.m. a tractor trailer, a motor home, and a passenger vehicle crossed paths near 32nd Street to create the perfect storm for Valley commuters.According…

If you’ve ever found yourself in the nightmare scenario of not being able to drink yourself into a stupor before 10 a.m. on a Sunday, you may be in luck. A state House panel just approved a bill that would allow booze-hounds to get their fix a little earlier on…

Robert Halliday, the newly-appointed director of the Department of Public Safety, criticized the photo enforcement cameras on Arizona streets and highways, saying the system needs to be restructured or scrapped altogether. Halliday says he’d rather see more officers on the highways instead of the cameras, and a restructuring would mean…

Nick Mathison leans over the glass display cases at Trader’s Smoke Shop in Peoria and spreads a pile of flaky green herbs across the counter. “I smoked some of this one night when I was watching a movie,” he says, tucking tufts of his red hair under a black baseball…

UP IN FLAMES And while we’re talking stupidity . . .: Ray Stern’s story on the fire at Young Champions of America headquarters in Phoenix appears to be a tale of a “gang that couldn’t shoot straight” and of misguided revenge. But it’s also about how an individual apparently manipulated…

How can a formerly proud Latina like myself feel proud to be Mexican again after my beloved relative was murdered in Mexico by narcos while visiting? I still have love for my heritage, and I understand that many Mexican people live in desperate situations because they have no opportunity. But…

The lead story on KPHO-TV’s evening news last April 1 had bombshell potential. With a mug shot of a sullen-looking African-American man looming in the background, Channel 5’s anchor opened the newscast with: “It’s a new face on the most notorious crime spree in Valley history. This is Terry Wayne Smith…

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: Feathered Bastard: Catch James Garcia’s Dream Act Play for Free, One Night Only, Guaranteed to Make Nativists’…

It seemed only a matter of time, but the leader of the “spiritual warrior” sweat lodge tragedy has finally been arrested on manslaughter charges.According to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, a warrant was delivered to the attorney of “spiritual warrior” James Arthur Ray, and Ray was arrested “a short time…

John McCain is taking to Fox News tonight to go On the Record With Greta Van Susteren and talk about underwear bombs, gays in the military, and supposedly everything in between.”The maverick” is in a conservative showdown with former Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth, so perhaps an appearance on America’s most “fair and…

You’re Mexican. You’re been arrested and accused by Arizona authorities of being part of a crime ring that spawned a 102-felony-count indictment. You’ve got access to a fortune in Mexico. Pretty slim chances that you’ll be freed from the Maricopa County Jail, right?Not if you’re Mario de la Fuente Manriquez…