New York Times “We’re not always who you think we are,” Vargas writes of illegal immigrants. “Some pick your strawberries…[others] write news articles you might read.” An illegal immigrant on the Washington Post reporting team that won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007…
It’s official: undocumented students enrolled in Maricopa Community Colleges this fall will have to pay $317 per credit hour. The Community Colleges Governing Board voted to implement its tuition increase targeting undocumented students in the fall by a 3-2 vote last night. The tuition increase was first passed in March but…
The Republicans won’t invite Phoenix Mayoral Candidate Greg Stanton to their candidate forums. And they, along with Phoenix Tea Party-types, are branding him as “the real enemy of the citizens of Phoenix.” Why? It’s because Stanton is “the candidate to beat for Phoenix mayor” and the “front runner” in the…
Griselda Nevarez Maricopa Community Colleges’ Board Members are backpedaling on their tuition hike despite General Counsel Lee Combs’ fearmongering. The Maricopa Community Colleges Governing Board will hold a special meeting tomorrow evening, called by Chancellor Rufus Glasper, to discuss delaying the tuition increase it approved in March targeting undocumented students,…
Phoenix Councilman and mayoral candidate Claude Mattox’s is hosting a mayoral forum for himself on Facebook and Twitter — using social media to connect with his constituents.Mattox’s online mayoral forum, at first glance, seems innovative.Individuals get to pose questions for him for a week on either his Facebook or Twitter…
The Mormon church announced last week that it advocates a type of amnesty for illegal immigrants who “square themselves with the law and continue to work” in the United States. The statement, published on the church’s website, also takes aim at harsh anti-illegal-immigrant laws like those passed in Arizona and…
Undocumented Arizona State University graduate Erika Andiola won the Freedom from Fear Award this morning, a national prize given to immigration activists by Public Interest Projects. Andiola won for advocacy on behalf of the DREAM Act, as well as for her confrontations with legislators such as Senate President Russell Pearce and U.S…
Gary Whalen, a conservative candidate vying for a District 1 Phoenix City Council seat, withdrew his name from the ballot this morning.He also pulled down his campaign website (electgarywhalen.com) and scrubbed his Facebook page.Whalen is retreating from the race after New Times wrote about his January arrest at his north…
A man who says he is not Gary Whalen, a conservative candidate running for a seat on the Phoenix City Council, tells New Times an interesting yarn to explain away his Whalen’s arrest in January for assaulting his boyfriend.We wrote yesterday about Whalen, 42, getting arrested on January 23 after…
Just four days after Gary Whalen signed up to run for the Phoenix City Council in January, police report that they arrested him at his North Phoenix home for getting into a fight with his ex-boyfriend.We left a message for Whalen, who qualified for the ballot on May 27 to run for the…
State Senator — and former Senate majority leader — Scott Bundgaard has been charged with a pair of misdemeanors for his February freeway scuffle with his ex-gal-pal “Iron” Aubry Ballard.Bundgaard’s been charged with one count each of reckless assault and endangerment for the freeway fracas that resulted in a night…
lively exchange at the Downtown Voices Coalition’s mayoral forum at the Lexington Hotel last night. At most forums, candidates cleave to the their talking points and engage in political niceties, but residents who attended last night’s forum got a few fireworks.Downtown Voices leaders allowed candidates to ask questions of each…
Phoenix mayoral candidates have shared their views during several forums across the city. And there’s another tonight hosted by Downtown Voices Coalition, but this one is deviating from the standard Q&A-style format where questions come from a moderator.At this downtown-centric mayoral forum, moderated by the Arizona Republic’s Richard Ruelas, candidates will ask…
There are two major endorsements Valley politicians go after with gusto during election season — police and fire. And while one candidate usually grabs both endorsements, unions are divided on who is best qualified to serve as Phoenix mayor.The Arizona Police Association is behind former Phoenix Councilman Greg Stanton and…
President Obama’s hoping to secure votes from illegal immigrants by fighting an Arizona law that requires proof of citizenship at the polls, says Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne. The Obama Administration filed an amicus brief on Friday with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in preparation for more hearings on a…
Wanna know what happens in Phoenix when people stop being polite, and “start getting real and shit?”A spoof of MTV’s the Real World, set in Phoenix and starring Governor Jan Brewer, is making the rounds on the Internet.It’s pretty funny — frozen toaster strudels are considered “ethnic food” for black…
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has refused to answer any reporters’ questions about a home she was rumored to have recently bought in Scottsdale. But Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren apparently isn’t any reporter.Despite the former vice presidential candidate’s recent media silence, Van Susteren scored 20 minutes with Palin last…
We reached out to the Maricopa Community Colleges Governing Board after last week’s board meeting to ask if they plan on reconsidering their tuition hike targeting undocumented students. We also asked board members to address the criticisms levied against the board last Tuesday night that they were misinterpreting state…
Former TV pitchman J.D. Hayworth claims the effort to recall Senate President Russell Pearce is backed by “socialist thugs who carry swastikas.”It seems the former “free government money” spokesman is confusing some of Pearce’s supporters with those trying to run him out of office — we’ve met several supporters of the recall,…
Trying to deflect the blame for the decisions he made isn’t working out so well for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Our cover story this week, Joe Knew, describes how documents and his own current and former staff members put Arpaio squarely in the loop. His retired chief financial officer says…
In a 5-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court has sustained Arizona’s employer sanctions law.The law forces employers to check the immigration status of employees, and allows the state to penalize businesses that hire illegal immigrants…
Connecticut will become the 13th state to charge undocumented students in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. Their senate passed a bill yesterday to that effect, which the governor has said he will sign, in stark contrast to Arizona education policies. Proposition 300, a 2006 law mandating that anyone…
