Tempe City Council

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 >>

Ben Arredondo Gets a Grand Total of Zero Days in Prison in Corruption Case

After all that, a federal judge sentenced former state Representative Ben Arredondo yesterday to zero days in jail.This, less than a year after being charged with bribery, extortion, and lying to FBI agents in a ticket-bribery exchange, then eventually pleading guilty to a mail-fraud charges, relate ... 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 >>

Joe Arpaio on Keeping Warm in Stir; Plus, A.J. LaFaro's "Crazytown" Ticket Wins County GOP Leadership

It's amazing, the amount of influence I have over the Maricopa County Republican Committee. Hate to brag, but my endorsement this week of right-wing human PayDay bar A.J. LaFaro and the rest of his "crazytown" slate of candidates for MCRC leadership positions worked its evil magic at Saturday's co ... More >>

Bill Tonnesen, Contentious Tempe Developer, Aims for Immortality

Ben Arredondo Resigns From State House

State Representative Ben Arredondo has become the fourth member of the state Legislature's current class to resign because of some sort of scandal.Arredondo, who pleaded guilty to two felony charges last week, was ordered to resign from the House as part of his plea agreement.See also:-Ben Arredondo ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Pleads Guilty to Two Felonies; Plea Reveals Soon-to-Be-Former Legislator Also Ran a Bit of a Scholarship Scam

Soon-to-be-former state Representative Ben Arredondo pleaded guilty today to two felony charges, including one that wasn't even mentioned in the original indictment.Arredondo pleaded guilty to one count of "honest services mail fraud" -- related to the ticket-bribery exchange he had going on with un ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Scheduled to Plead Guilty in Bribery Case

A change-of-plea hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow in the bribery case involving state Representative Ben Arredondo, meaning he's scheduled to plead guilty.Arredondo was indicted in May on charges of bribery, fraud, attempted extortion, and making false statements for allegedly getting the tic ... More >>

Mike Williams, Lobbyist Allegedly Connected to FBI's Bust of Ben Arredondo, Is an Important Guy in Tempe

Talking Points Memo uncovered some details yesterday about the FBI allegedly using lobbyist Mike Williams as the middle-man between Tempe City Council members and a fake corporation in its bust of former city councilman and current state Representative Ben Arredondo.The question people may have is, ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Pleads Not Guilty; Judge Not Convinced of Need to Seal Evidence

State Representative Ben Arredondo pleaded not guilty (as expected) yesterday to charges of bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and making false statements.A motion to keep evidence in the case secret -- which revealed "other investigations," which are "both closed and ongoing" -- was denied.It's li ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Case: Will More Politicos Join Him With the Title of "Defendant"?

A filing submitted in federal court Wednesday in the bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and false statements case of state Representative Ben Arredondo explains that the feds don't want a bunch of information to be publicly disclosed in the case because of "other investigations," which are "both cl ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Isn't the Only One the Feds Are Looking at

If you're doing shady stuff at the City of Tempe or the Arizona Legislature, go buy a shredder, or book a ticket to Morocco or something.A filing submitted in federal court yesterday in the bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and false statements case of state Representative Ben Arredondo explains t ... More >>

Ben Arredondo, State Representative/Ex-Tempe Councilman, Hit With Federal Charges

State Representative Ben Arredondo was charged by a grand jury today with bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and false statements -- all for a few thousand dollars worth of tickets to ballgames and charity events.According to the indictment, Arredondo -- a Republican-turned-Democrat who served on t ... More >>

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman, One Time "Sucks" Censorer, Won't Seek Re-election

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman will not seek re-election.​Tempe's mayor, whom New Times persuaded to use the word "sucks" 11 times during a Tempe City Council meeting after he ruthlessly censored the word the week before, will not seek re-election.Mayor Hugh Hallman announced at a City Council meeting l ... More >>

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman Ends Ruthless Censorship of the Word "Suck" -- by Saying it 11 Times in Single City Council Meeting

TempeTempe Mayor Hugh Hallman no longer "sucks" in New Times eyes.​Say what you will about Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman, but he's a man of his word -- at least when it comes to the word "suck."In an apparent attempt to make up for his ruthless censorship of New Times'' work, the mayor said the word "s ... More >>

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman and His Ruthless Censorship of the Word "Suck"

Attention Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman: censorship "sucks." ​The word "suck" is apparently too offensive for Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman to utter -- at least in the middle of a city council meeting.At last night's meeting of the Tempe City Council, Hallman presented two Phoenix New Times "Best of Phoenix ... More >>

Augustus Shaw, Candidate for State Legislature, Ran Afoul of Campaign Rules in Tempe

  ​Augustus Shaw, a Republican running for State Legislature, failed to close out a political action committee he started when he ran for Tempe City Council in 2004, officials say. Because of state campaign-finance laws, Shaw should have either terminated the PAC or filed finan ... More >>

Crazy Day For Arizona Dems; Burton-Cahill Retires from Senate, Schapira to Run For Senate, and Tempe Republican Ben Arredondo's Now a Donkey

Phoenix New Times (From left) Tempe City Councilman Ben Arredondo, Representative Ed Ableser, Representative David Schapira, and Senator Meg Burton-Cahill​ The Democratic Party is mixing things up a bit. At a press conference this afternoon, state Senator Meg Burton-Cahill announced sh ... More >>

Tempe's 'Fresh & Easy' Mystery

Remember all those eager reports in the news last fall ballyhooing the arrival of a Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market just a mile from downtown Tempe? The grocery chain was applying to the Tempe City Council for a liquor license. It sounded delightful, but more than six months later the building ... More >>

Tattoo Parlor License Revocation by Tempe Ruled Unlawful; City Considering Its Next Move

Poster from the Prestons' Mesa tattoo shopFollowing a court order, the Tempe City Council will discuss at its meeting tonight what to do next with a the case of a tattoo parlor that had its business license revoked after neighbors complained it might make the area seem seedy.The Tempe City Attorney' ... More >>

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

The Devil Went Down to Phoenix

. . . will it be any better than downtown Tempe?

Emergency Brake

The state tries to halt out-of-control ambulance contracts — but cities might have the last word

Letters From the Issue of Thursday, June 15, 2006

Slow-Motion Nightmare

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

Phoenix Means Well

The feathered fiend bombs a naive national homeless advocate, then woodpecks haughty City Hall suits and clueless condo yups in Tempe

Neil, We Hardly Knew Ye

Neil Giuliano bids adieu to Tempe mayordom

The Mouth That Should've Roared

Because Hugh Hallman went suddenly silent, Tempe wound up losing the Cardinals and the Fiesta Bowl

Another One Bites the Dust

Nita's, the queen of Tempe's music scene, shuts her doors

Letters

Letters from the week of January 8, 2004

Deathbed Conversion

Nita's holy-rolling opposition changes its tune — but its sermon stays the same

Just Plain Cuckoo

What was the Audubon Society thinking when it named a pro-development Republican to head its new statewide effort?

Letters

From the week of August 23, 2001

Letters

From the week of October 19

What a Butte!

Developers and anti-growth activists want a piece of Tempe's mythical mountain

Flashes 04-06-2000

Flashes

Flashes

Flashes

Crusty Crackdown

Tempe City Council primed to pass new "sidewalk squatting" law

Code Blues

A Tempe activist wins the first round in a civic skirmish to soften the city's innovative rental-housing rules. But look for a new and improved version later this year, after landlords and tenants forge a compromise code.

An Exercise in Utility

Jim Irvin is poised to give the GOP a Corporation Commission majority for the first time in a decade. If that happens, Democratic activist Barbara Sherman and her mentor, Commission chairman Renz Jennings, will both wind up losers.

Lines of Power

Mesa residents claim a Tempe councilwoman's home is being spared from high-tension lines--at their expense

Flashes

OUTLETS of Hostility

Egoconsumed developers, lobbyists, flacks, detectives and lawyers generate fear and loathing a la Barbarians at the Gate. The reason? Two proposed outlet malls the Valley doesn't really need.

GIVE A HOOT. OR TWO.

FOULING THE POOL

TEMPE WANTS TO RUIN A WORLD-CLASS SWIMMING FACILITY. ASU SAYS, "GO AHEAD."

VENERABLE VULNERABLE

CITY OF TEMPE DOES LITTLE TO PROTECT A PRIZE LANDMARK

THE OBJECT OF THEIR DESIRE

WOULD-BE POWER COUPLE TOM AND LINDA RAWLES WANT VOTES MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE

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