Harry Mitchell

Did Ben Arredondo Deserve Prison Time?

Former state Representative Ben Arredondo ended up receiving no prison time for his charges related to his ticket-bribery exchange and scholarship scam.Instead, Arredondo -- a 65-year-old Republican-turned-Democrat who served on the Tempe City Council for 16 years before making it into the state Hou ... More >>

Judge in Ben Arredondo Case: Maybe FBI Should've Gone After Wall Street Instead

It looks like U.S. District Judge Frederick Martone had some reasons for sparing former state Representative Ben Arredondo from prison on his felony mail-fraud convictions.For one, Martone wouldn't really peg Arredondo as the kind of guy who would use the entrails of hookers as decorations.See also: ... More >>

Harry Mitchell Sticks Up for Ben Arredondo, Looks at the Bright Side of Corruption

Former Democratic Congressman and Tempe Mayor Harry Mitchell has taken an interesting route in supporting ex-state Representative and recently admitted felon Ben Arredondo.While prosecutors are looking to lock up Arredondo for as much as three years on a pair of mail fraud charges, Mitchell was one ... More >>

Jeff Flake, U.S. Senate Candidate, Says He's Opposed to Budget Earmarks, But Looked the Other Way When it was Politically Convenient

Congressman Jeff Flake, who is running for U.S. Senate against former U.S. Surgeon General Rich Carmona, says he doesn't like earmarks, which some call "pork barrel spending." He certainly has earned a reputation for fighting against federal funding for specific projects attached to unrelated bil ... More >>

Is the Bloom Off the (Jason) Rose? PR Stuntman Lost More Petals in May

The post-election dust has settled, and we would be remiss not to take a look at the scorecard for one of our favorite public-relations stuntmen -- famous (some would say infamous) spin-master Jason Rose.   We see that he lost a few more petals in May, but Rose tells New Times that busine ... More >>

Michael Monti Leads Mark Mitchell in Race for Tempe Mayor After Election Day

The relentless attacks on Mark Mitchell seem to have worked out in Michael Monti's favor in the race for Tempe mayor, as Monti was up by one point after people hit the ballot box yesterday.There are still some votes left to count -- provisional ballots and people who brought their early-voting ballo ... More >>

Terry Goddard Leads Dems in Hypothetical, Gabrielle Giffords-Less Senate Race, Poll Finds

Bad news, Democrats: without Gabrielle Giffords, this guy is your best shot at winning a U.S. Senate seat.​Assuming Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords doesn't miraculously run for the Senate seat getting vacated by Senator Jon Kyl, former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard is the most popular am ... More >>

Fiesta Bowl Fiasco: Arizona Dems Make it Political -- Despite Some of Their Own Having Benefitted From John Junker's (Ahem) Generosity

​By now you probably know about the Fiesta Bowl's decision to ax CEO John Junker following an internal investigation into how he was spending the organization's money, but it's the alleged illegal contributions to the campaigns of Valley politicos that has Arizona Democrats fuming.Junker, the ... More >>

Fiesta Bowl Fracas: Reimbursement of Campaign Contributions Confirmed, CEO Junker Canned, Questionable Spending Abound -- Including $33,000 Pebble Beach Birthday Party

​Here's something that was expected from the Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma beating Connecticut by 28 points. Here's something unexpected from the Fiesta Bowl: Their employees have allegedly been running a scheme to reimburse illegal campaign contributions (among other accounts of contemptuous courtship w ... More >>

Arizona Democratic Party's Wacky Mailer for Nick Coons

Dems supporting Libertarians? How about helping fellow Dems for a change?I agree with Espresso Pundit's Greg Patterson about as often as I agree with state Senate President-elect Russell Pearce, which is, almost never. But he exposed an ugly little problem with the Arizona Democrats recently th ... More >>

Arizona Election 2010: Goddard Concedes to Brewer Amid Conservative Field Day

Image: www.azsos.gov​Terry Goddard won't follow his father's footsteps as Arizona Governor, at least not this time.The high-profile Democrat was just one more body thrown on the pyre following the Arizona's Election Day slaughter by Republicans. Goddard conceded to Governor Janice Brewer at abou ... More >>

Barbra Streisand - Send in the Clowns [Live]

​ Song: Barbra Streisand, "Send in the Clowns" [Live]Context: Today's soundtrack is dedicated to John Boehner. And to the spineless Democrats in California who failed to back Prop 19. And to the people of Iowa who removed the Supreme Court justices responsible for the state's landmark gay marriage ... More >>

David Schweikert: Driven Into Politics Because of Arizona Heat?

David Schweikert back in the day ​David Schweikert might just have stumbled into politics because it was "too hot outside."That's the story that Lois Fitch just told New Times at Schweikert's campaign headquarters in Scottsdale.Fitch, a former American History teacher at Saguaro High Schoo ... More >>

Night's Still Young, but Proposition 203's Trailing in Early Votes; Potential Landslides Could be Ahead for Republicans Jan Brewer, David Schweikert, and Ben Quayle. John McCain Landslide All but Certain

  ​Proposition 203 is failing to live up to expectations of a landslide victory as very early ballots come in, with the medical-marijuana measure trailing 52 percent to 48 percent. These are the results of about 430,000 early ballots in Maricopa County. The early votes&n ... More >>

David Schweikert: Early Figures Show Comfortable Lead

Schweikert: The margin is growing​Congressional candidate David Schweikert is up by nearly 12,000 voters as early polling numbers start rolling out. The margin has been widening between Schweikert and his opponent Congressman Harry Mitchell. Schweikert: 59,134Mitchell: 47,148And his fel ... More >>

Defeated Congressman Harry Mitchell: More Time for Grandchildren, Trips to Costco

Congressman Harry Mitchell​A crowd of Congressman Harry Mitchell's supporters gathered at Tempe Mission Palms, waiting for the defeated congressman to arrive. Mitchell, a Democrat who represented Congressional District 5 for two terms, lost his seat to Republican David Schweikert.It was not ... More >>

Congressional Dems Scaling Back Ad Budgets for Arizona Candidates

www.kir.com​It seems some of Arizona's Democratic members of Congress aren't as vulnerable in their re-election bids as originally anticipated -- at least the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee thinks they're not.The DCCC reportedly is cutting the advertising budgets ... More >>

AFL-CIO Won't Help Arizona's Democratic Congressional Races; Money and Ads Going to Other States

  ​You've probably heard the predictions by now: Democrats are going to be scarcer in Congress this November. The number of potential seats lost could be high, but there's only so much money to go around to help them campaign. The AFL-CIO, typically a stalwart money source for Democrats, ... More >>

Get Out!: Arizona and America Join Joe Arpaio in Rushing to Inquire: Are Your Papers in Order?

Hot Links: Loop 202, Andre Leteve, and Sedona Cliff Diving

​Three teenage boys are suspects in a string of Mesa fires. Fire crews responded to six fires within an hour on Sunday, including one inside a vacant home. The teens, two aged 13 and one age 17, were questioned for several hours and booked into the Southeast Juvenile Facility in Mesa on suspicion ... More >>

Sarah Palin Unveils Congressional Hit List in Response to Healthcare; Three Arizona Members of Congress in the Cross Hairs

www.politicalmotivation.com​ After the controversial healthcare bill became yesterday morning, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin unveiled her political hit list of the members of Congress she hopes to see voted out of office in November.In the Palin-ator's cross hairs are ... More >>

Harry Mitchell Would Get the Boot if He Votes for Obama Healthcare Plan, Conservative Poll Claims

​ Congressman Harry Mitchell may want to think twice before giving the Obama healthcare bill the thumbs up because a new poll suggests that, if he does, voters in his district will give him the heave-ho come November. Harry shouldn't start packin' his bags just yet -- the poll was funded by th ... More >>

Harry Mitchell Retirement Party Scheduled for January 26; We're Pretty Sure the Party Wasn't Harry's Idea

​John Shaddegg's not the only one with a retirement party in his near future, Congressman Harry Mitchell's got one coming, too -- only as far as we know, Mitchell has no plans to retire.It turns out that Mitchell's Republican opponent, Dr. Chris Salvino, will be hosting the party on the congressma ... More >>

Buy Local Starting Today and Save Moolah

Simply Bread's fabulous challah.​Today is the infamous Black Friday, and even if you're not braving the Wal-Mart madness or the bumper cars of a mall parking lot today, you've likely got shopping on the brain. What auspicious timing for Local First Arizona to introduce Buy Local W ... More >>

Arizona Republic Gives Sal DiCiccio a Free Pass on South Mountain Freeway

​Wow.We've been known to scratch our heads at the Arizona Republic's unwillingness to call a spade a spade -- or even refer to said spade with a polite euphemism. But a recent editorial in the paper's Ahwatukee community edition may take the cake as the daily's most misguided, misleading, and ... More >>

Cabin Fever: Camp Creek’s Cabin Owners Say the New District Ranger Is Driving Them Out

Councilman Sal DiCiccio Could Make a Mint if a Freeway Extension Goes Through – But His Neighborhood Hates the Idea

Billionaires for Wealthcare Befuddle Far Right Wackjobs On Healthcare Reform

The billionaires join ranks with the Obama-haters in this new Dennis Gilman video. In the tradition of Michael Moore and the stunts he regularly pulled in his TV show The Awful Truth (and continues to pull in his films), come the Billionaires for Wealthcare, a crew of wannabe-Warren Buffets w ... More >>

Espresso Pundit Blog Trying to Go "Professional;" Former Lawmaker Seeks Subscribers

Image: www.espressopundit.com One of former lawmaker Greg Patterson's schticks on his blog, Espresso Pundit, has been to bash daily newspapers. Now he wants to be one -- or an online version, anyway.The popular local blogger is shilling for subscribers on his Web site, saying he'll produce a new cyb ... More >>

Jeff Hatch-Miller Named State Lottery Director

Former state legislator and corporation commission member Jeff Hatch-Miller has been appointed director of the Arizona Lottery. (Click here for a MS Word version of the news release from Governor Jan Brewer's office). Hatch-Miller replaces Art Macias, who had in the position since 2005.Hatch-Miller' ... More >>

Hot Links: Protesters Welcome New Chairman of County Supervisors; Harry Mitchell Says No to Pay Raises; Buckeye Cop Fired After Speaking Out on Safety Issues

Protesters against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio welcomed the new chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Max Wilson, in the hopes of getting some quality time with the board at a public meeting. Harry Mitchell doesn't need no stinkin' raise, and he doesn't want others in Congres ... More >>

Roger Clyne Delivers Solid Show At Frustrating Light Rail Debut

Valley Metro pulled out all the stops for yesterday's debut of the 20-mile light rail system we've been writing about all month. They had parties scheduled at pretty much every stop on the line -- though, honestly, I'm not sure there was anything beyond an unmanned purple tent full of fliers at the ... More >>

Dems Push Into Corporation Commission; Congressional Incumbents to Retain Seats

The Bird joins the anti-Arpaio siege at Wells Fargo, postmortems the Pearce- Gibbons race, and knocks Napolitano for defending Sarah Palin

Hot Links: Palin wows GOPers, Manross trails in Scottsdale, and Cindy McCain likes sex, um, ed.

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman isn’t afraid to step on a few toes as he waltzes into his second term

A Real Nowhere Man

Clintonmania

Chop Jock

Letters From the Issue of Thursday, September 7, 2006

Juicy Taco Hell

The Cards sure played like wimps last year, but essentially naming their stadium Pussy Park?!

Letters From the Issue of Thursday, May 4, 2006

Slow-Motion Nightmare

Former state senator Harry Mitchell's clueless about what exactly he'll do if elected to Congress

Death of Cool

As Phoenix considers how to revitalize its downtown, leaders should note how Tempe murdered Mill Avenue's soul

Letters

From the week of June 21, 2001

Tube Talks

3-D Vision

Spaced Out in Tempe

Tempe Arts Center's 11-year home and exhibit space was razed this month. In the '80s, TAC was Tempe's brightest cultural light; now its future is looking dim.

FLASHES

TEMPE'S SHORE THINGTHE CITY IS DAMMED DETERMINED TO HAVE WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT