Tonto National Forest

Bryan Teague Pleads Guilty to Starting 5,220-Acre Fire in Tonto Forest With Propane Tank; Faces Potential Jail Sentence

Bryan Teague of Peoria pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts related to the 5,220-acre wild fire he caused last August in the Tonto National Forest by putting a propane tank in a campfire. Teague, 56, faces the possibility of up to six months in prison, a $5,000 fine and five years of probation on e ... More >>

Valley Woman's Dog Shot in the Snout by Forest Service Officer

Shannon Liska says her pitbull Trax didn't deserve to be shot by a U.S. Forest Service officer while on a camping trip in March. Shannon Liska's 2-year-old pitbull still has a bullet shard in its snout. The dog is now toothless on one side of his mouth, and doesn't have enough jaw bone lef ... More >>

Steven Shiflet Gets Probation for Starting Sunflower Fire With "Incendiary Shotgun Shell"

Steven Craig Shiflet, the Mesa resident who admitted to starting the near-18,000-acre Sunflower Fire in the Tonto National Forest last year with an "incendiary shotgun shell," was sentenced Monday to probation.Shiflet fired the shell during a bachelor party in the desert near Sycamore Creek on May 1 ... More >>

Bryan Teague, Accused of Starting 5,000-Acre Fire in Tonto Forest With Propane Tank, Set for April 8 Bench Trial

A three-day bench trial has been scheduled for Bryan Teague, the Peoria man who authorities say admitted to starting last summer's "Mistake Peak" fire with a propane tank. Despite his admission, Teague has pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanor charges: carelessly placing or throwing a substance t ... More >>

Bryan Teague Got Off Easy in 2011 Firearms Case, Started 5,220-Acre Fire in Tonto Forest Months Later

Bryan Teague of Peoria, the suspect in a 5,220-acre wildland fire east of the Valley in August, has been thrown in prison several times for his persistent drinking and driving since 2000. Being a prohibited possessor, he wasn't allowed to own or carry a firearm when he wandered around 29th Avenue a ... More >>

Bryan Teague of Peoria Accused of Starting 5,220-Acre "Mistake Peak Fire" With Propane Tank in Tonto National Forest

Putting a propane tank in a campfire turns out to be an even stupider idea than we thought. After Bryan J. Teague of Peoria put a 16-ounce tank in a campfire on August 8 while on an off-roading trip in the Tonto National Forest, the predictable explosion sparked the 5,220-acre "Mistake Peak Fire," ... More >>

Steven Craig Shiflet Started Sunflower Fire in Arizona by Firing "Incendiary Shotgun Shell" During Bachelor Party in Desert, Records Say

Steven Craig Shiflet of Mesa has been charged with three misdemeanor counts in connection with starting the 18,000-acre Sunflower Fire in the Tonto National Forest, records show. The records, first dug up by www.smokinggun.com, reveal that Shiflet managed to start the blaze by firing an "incendiary ... More >>

Bears Are Acting Like A-Holes in the Tonto National Forest

There have been only 10 documented bear attacks in Arizona since 1990.Three of those have come in the last month.A Tempe man hanging out at the Ponderosa Campground in the Tonto National Forest was the third person attacked by a bear this month, after the bear went into his tent around 5 a.m. yester ... More >>

Arizona's Sunflower Fire Continues Burning in Tonto National Forest (Photos)

Wildfire season started early in Arizona this year. There are currently four wildfires burning throughout the state, the largest of which is the Sunflower Fire, burning about 20 miles south of Payson in the Tonto National Forest. Phoenix New Times freelance photographer Andrew Pielage made the tre ... More >>

Cloud Nothings at Crescent Ballroom, 2/28/12

Cloud Nothings Crescent Ballroom Tuesday, February 28 When I spoke with Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings, he said he had never been intimidated by extensive touring, high-profile shows, or recording Attack on Memory, the band's latest record, with punk purist Steve Albini. The band's excellent set ... More >>

Cycle: Rolling and Climbing Along Bush Highway and Usery Pass

Deep in the east Valley, between the Superstitions and Saguaro Lake in the shadows of the Four Peaks, a ribbon of rolling roadway known as Bush Highway cuts through the desert.Meandering along the banks of the Salt River, this stretch of tarmac unwinds through undulating terrain lined with saguaros ... More >>

Phoenix Music Heads to Tortilla Flat

Dead Body Found in Burning Truck at Tonto National Forest

Gila County Sheriff's Office An unidentified dead body was found in this truck after fire officials extinguished a blaze that burned it to a crisp.​When authorities from the U.S. Forest Service and Arizona Department of Public Safety responded to a report of a fire off a Forest Service road ... More >>

April 29 In Blogs: Arpaio, Follow Friday, Meat Puppets, Kolsch, and Tonto National Forest

​​​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:

Missing Man With Autism Found Alive and Well Near Roosevelt Lake. No Word on Pet Pooch

Steven DeMarlie​Good news: 44-year-old Steven Michael DeMarlie,  reported missing yesterday by his wife, was found alive and well in the Tonto National Forest near Roosevelt Lake, the Chandler Police Department announced this afternoon.According to Chandler P.D. spokesman Detective Fran ... More >>

On the Trail of the Elusive Apache Burger

Rec Yourself

Hit the Salt River this holiday weekend

Fool's Gold: Prospectors Have Looked for the Lost Dutchman's Gold for a Century, But Jesse Capen Figured He Could Find It. He Probably Died Trying.

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

Hot Links: Forest Squatters, MSCO Officer Busted, and SkySong

​Dunlap Avenue reopened this morning, after being closed for 12 hours following a serious accident involving a Phoenix fire truck. The truck was near I-17 and Dunlap, en route to a fire, with lights flashing and sirens blaring, when a car heading north on the frontage road plowed into it. The truc ... More >>

Booty Call

Buccaneers shanghai the Salt

El Tour de Phoenix

Globe High School censors its student newspaper

Letters From Hell

Robert Comer wrote to New Times from prison for years, predicting recently that his soul would be in the real hell "soon enough"

Mistressed Out

Mine is no longer ours

Roll With It

Bike Week pumps up the Valley

Bye Bye Birdie

An endangered bird is thriving in the dry bottom of Roosevelt Lake. Too bad it's in the way of water for Phoenix.

Letters

From the week of May 24, 2001

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf Man?

Cave Creek rabble-rouser-cum-newspaper-publisher Don Sorchych has the town running scared

Best Way to Enjoy a Hummer

Desert Storm Hummer Tours
480-922-0020

Ranch Handout

Quit fiddling around with Spur Cross Ranch's owners, and condemn the land

A Grave Error

The Bureau of Indian Affairs stonewalls its desecration of a prehistoric Native American burial site

Forest Chump

The Treasure of Spur Cross Ranch

Saving Private Interests

John McCain says he wants to save Spur Cross Ranch. Has he really gone Green, or is he just scrounging for greenbacks from a Cincinnati fat cat?

Deborah Ham's Unfinished Business

The battle against a mine loses its leader

Cleaning the Creek

A mining company mucks out its own mess at Pinto Creek

Flashes

Sticking By His Guns

ccused conspirator Charles Knight talks about his days in the Viper Militia, why he's fighting the government's case against him, and how he fell in love with fellow defendant Donna Williams

Carlota Complaints

Tribes allege that archaeological and burial sites on mine grounds are being violated

Time to Burn

Is the Lone Fire a preview of California-style infernos to come?

Crime Me a River

A Salt River rafter rides a torrent of legal and financial troubles

Pic Hits for the week

NO MINER CONSIDERATION

A CANADIAN MINING COMPANY WANTS TO DIG A 300-ACRE HOLE BEHIND DONNA GOODALE'S HOUSE. ALTHOUGH MOST ALL OF THE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES INVOLVED THINK IT'S A TERRIBLE IDEA, THEY MAY NOT BE ABLE TO STOP THE EXCAVATION.

BONES OF CONTENTION

THE LAW REQUIRES THE REBURIAL OF INDIAN REMAINS. SO WHY ARE THERE STILL 700 SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET?

THE MAN IN THE MAZEPIMA LEADER IVAN MAKIL SEEMS MOST ADEPT AT MAKING DEALS AND MAKING ENEMIES

THE LION STING

GAME AND FISH INVESTIGATORS STALKED THE MOST NOTORIOUS MOUNTAIN LION HUNTER IN THE STATE. HE TURNED OUT TO BE A HIRED GUN FOR RANCHERS, AND HE'D KILLED 18 CATS.

LAWYERS, GUNS AND PUBLICITY

THE COUNTY ATTORNEY'S HARD-LINE POLICY ON GUN CASES HAS GOTTEN HIM GOOD PRESS. IT'S ALSO CLOGGED THE COURTS, COST A LOT OF MONEY AND NEEDLESSLY IMPRISONED FIRST OFFENDERS.

BURNING QUESTIONSWHY WOULD ANYONE SET FIRE TO ARIZONA'S SCENIC LANDSCAPE?

A FATAL CAE OF GOLD FEVER

FRED SCHRADER WOULDN'T PULL THE TRIGGER IF HIS LIFE DEPENDED ON IT. UNFORTUNATELY IT DID.