Republican Senator John McCain again may face a primary challenge from the right. State Senator Kelli Ward of Lake Havasu City sent an e-mail to supporters saying she’s going to “test the waters” to see if she can drum up enough support to be a viable challenger to McCain. “As…
U.S. Senator John McCain will run again for the position he’s held since 1987, telling a local newspaper he has “a lot more to do” for Arizona and the country. Sure he does. And the 78-year-old will likely be reelected, too — in 2010, he kicked Democrat Rodney Glassman’s butt…
A new website launched two weeks ago by disgraced Arizona politician Andrew Thomas about the “threat” of ISIS appears to be defunct. Thomas, ignominiously disbarred in April of 2012 after abusing his power as Maricopa County Attorney, last year wasted $750,000 in Clean Elections cash for his failed bid for…
Arizona lawmakers yesterday approved a bill that would prevent the state’s cities and towns from banning or taxing plastic bags. Some states and cities have implemented bans and taxes on the bags to mitigate the waste or other environmental impacts, and it’s been reported recently that such bans are being…
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has vetoed a bill that would have banned police departments from setting quotas for traffic tickets. Though there have been reports of ticket quotas across the country, the same reports haven’t been coming out of Arizona, which Ducey mentions in his veto explanation. “While quotas for…
Thousands upon thousands of votes aren’t counted every election year in Arizona, according to a new report. The Arizona Advocacy Network, which is run by a onetime Democratic politician, released a report detailing how Arizona’s election laws affect voter turnout, and it doesn’t look good — through public records and…
Another attempt to ban the Common Core standards in Arizona schools has been voted down by state lawmakers. The Arizona Senate yesterday voted 16-13 to defeat a bill that would have banned the standards from being used in schools, thanks to a few Republican senators who joined the Democrats in…
Late Monday afternoon, Governor Doug Ducey vetoed state Senate Bill 1445, which would have prevented Arizona police departments from revealing the names of officers involved in violent incidents for 60 days. After successfully passing through the state Legislature last week, the bill was transferred to the Governor’s Office, and action…
Amanda Stanford, Pinal County Superior Court clerk, denies the allegation of an extramarital affair with a court bailiff made by him and his wife. Phoenix New Times hasn’t yet heard back directly from Stanford, but she made several statements about the matter on her official Clerk Facebook site. We’d tried…
UPDATE April 2: Governor Ducey has signed this bill into law. Arizona lawmakers have again attempted to crack down on panhandling in the state. The state’s anti-panhandling law passed in 2013 was struck down in the courts, while former Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a toned-down version of the law last…
U.S. senators John McCain and Jeff Flake have proposed an amendment to the federal budget that would create a spending-neutral reserve fund to support a zero-tolerance approach to prosecuting illegal border crossers. The motion follows reports that the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office plans to stop using a controversial program, called…
Animal-welfare advocates are calling on Governor Doug Ducey to veto a bill that the advocates say weakens the state’s animal-cruelty laws. House Bill 2150, passed by the Arizona Legislature this week, creates a new classification of cruelty toward livestock and poultry, separate from other animals. “HB 2150 simply creates new…
Members of the ACLU, NAACP, and other local activist organizations assembled at the State Capitol minutes after the Arizona Senate passed SB 1445, the controversial bill that prevents police departments from releasing the name of an officer involved in a violent incident for 60 days. The final vote held Tuesday…
A Valley-based company that specializes in cleaning LDS temples and churches will pay at least $250,000 to the federal government for hiring undocumented immigrants, its owner says. Joel Votaw, operating officer and founder of Valley View Building Services, tells New Times the payment will be part of a deal still…
A bill that would put an end to a nearly five-year ban on payday lending is languishing in the Arizona Senate after narrowly slipping through the House with a 31-29 vote. Still, about two dozen legislators, faith leaders, and community activists gathered in a gravel parking lot sandwiched between two…
Arizona lawmakers yesterday rejected another attempt to ban the practice of people collecting others’ election ballots to turn in. Such a practice was utilized by the group Citizens for a Better Arizona during the successful 2012 recall of then-Senate President Russell Pearce. CBA workers collected early-voting ballots from voters who…
An Arizona House committee passed a bill Thursday that would prohibit state agencies and employees from enforcing any new federal “act, law, order, rule or regulation” restricting gun ownership or ammunition. Senate Bill 1330 prevents the federal government from forcing Arizona to use resources and manpower to enforce federal laws,…
The Arizona Senate yesterday passed a bill that creates a new tax break for certain religious groups. A version of the bill, which is being pushed by the notorious Center for Arizona Policy, was vetoed by Governor Jan Brewer after it was passed by lawmakers last year. Now it’s up…
Update 3/17/15 7:30 p.m.: An amendment to SB 1445 passed in the House Wednesday afternoon. The vote was 44 to 13, with three members not voting. (View the full voting breakdown here) Original story follows: Community leaders and members of the ACLU gathered on the capital lawn this morning to…
The Arizona Senate Committee on Rural Affairs and Environment recently advanced three bills and one memorial demanding that all federally owned public lands in Arizona be transferred to the state immediately: • HB 2321 tells the federal government to give up the title to all public lands in Arizona; •…
A bill that would have used $10 million in state funding to build a virtual border fence in Arizona was passed by the state Senate yesterday, but not before the $10 million was stripped from the bill. Republican Senators Bob Worsley and Steve Smith have been trying for a couple…
It took three hours of debate and discussion, but the Arizona House subcommittee on Military Affairs and Public Safety passed SB 1445, the controversial bill allowing the name of an officer involved in a deadly or violent incident to be withheld for 90 days. “This is a very, very important–and…
