Advocates for transgender rights set the Internet afire with rage this weekend after Mesa police identified a 24-year-old transgender man who was shot and killed by police as a woman. Kayden Clarke, named by police and, subsequently, the media (Including New Times), as Danielle Jacobs, started asking friends and family to…
Two Mesa police officers who shot and killed a 24-year-old woman with Asperger’s syndrome have been placed on administrative leave while officials investigate, it was announced today. “We don’t know at this point why they made the decision to go lethal,” police spokesman Esteban Flores told reporters. Three officers went…
Don’t freak out, but the Zika virus is more than likely headed to Arizona. So far, about 30 cases have been reported in the United States, but all but one (an unlucky Texan who appears to have contracted the disease through sexual intercourse with her infected husband) were travelers who…
Four conservation groups are joining forces to sue the U.S. Forest Service over a policy that allows hunters in the Kaibab National Forest to drive motorized vehicles cross-country to retrieve felled elk and bison. In the lawsuit, the activist groups, including the Sierra Club, the Wild Earth Guardians, the Wildland…
Arizona legislators have made a name for themselves nationally with their creative, seemingly endless ideas for expanding access to firearms (including, this year, a proposal to offer tax credit to those who obtain a license to carry a concealed weapon). But there are also a few bills on the table…
Prominent Latino leaders, including a U.S. Congressman from Arizona, are stumping for presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders in an effort to build support among minorities. Tucson U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva joined Nevada Congresswoman Lucy Flores and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, a Cook County commissioner in Chicago, on a conference call recruiting Latino…
The U.S. Forest Service recently backed off plans to round up and auction off a popular herd of horses that runs free along the Salt River following months of fervent public protest. But the horses’ future remains uncertain because the issue that prompted the removal order remains: the herd doesn’t…
The First Amendment crusaders who got an Arizona law banning revenge porn shut down in 2014 aren’t endorsing the Legislature’s latest attempt to address the issue. But, Will Gona, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, which sued the state over the law along with a coalition…
An Arizona State University professor well-known for his work on African-American history and race relations has agreed to resign following accusations that he plagiarized parts of his latest book. Matthew Whitaker will step down as co-director of ASU’s Center for Race and Democracy immediately, but he will stay on the…
Among Arizona’s biggest cities, Phoenix, Tempe, and Tucson are doing the best job protecting the rights of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender communities, according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The nonprofit advocacy group, which puts out an annual index rating cities’ LGBT policies on…
Mesa hip-hop artist Mohamad Tokko was frustrated with Donald Trump’s bluster about how all Muslims are potential terrorists who should be barred from entering the United States — so he wrote a song for the GOP presidential candidate. “Tryna slander, defame us,” he raps in his latest video. “Terrorism ain’t…
President Barack Obama announced a series of executive actions to fight gun violence today by, among other things, attempting to clamp down on unlicensed firearms dealers who exploit an exception for hobbyists and collectors in order to avoid having to run criminal background checks on customers. Legally, anyone who is…
As President Barak Obama is poised to issue an executive order tightening firearm regulations this week, critics are berating him for attempting to bypass Congress, which has repeatedly rebuffed reform efforts But some Arizona gun supporters suspect the president’s scheme is even sneakier. Alan Korwin, a Scottsdale author who has…
As immigration enforcement officials prepare to round up and deport about 15,000 undocumented immigrants, a network of Arizona faith leaders are mobilizing to shield families. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is finalizing plans, but, according to an article published just before Christmas by the Washington Post’s Jerry Markon and David…
Breaking news, guys. After three harrowing days spent mewing for help, a cat stuck atop a Phoenix power pole has been rescued. Well, actually, the Salt River Project employee dispatched to rescue it scared it — , so it ran down the pole on it’s own, said Kathleen Mascarenas, an…
The Arizona Department of Corrections has agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging that it failed to provide a safe work environment for a teacher who was raped while administering a GED test at a state prison. The teacher, who was the subject of a New Times cover story in July,…
In the four months since Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Abdelfattah’s moved from Cairo to Phoenix, he’s had to navigate through all the typical culture shocks, such as new food and new social norms. But perhaps the most jarring thing he’s had to come to terms with is the recent surge in…
Will you live a long life? Or die young? That may depend, in part, on your neighborhood. People who live in South Phoenix’s 85004 zip code, for example, have an average life expectancy of 71, according to a new study. But just 12 miles away in Scottsdale’s 85258 zip code…
Arizona is the second worst state in the country at addressing mental-health issues, according to a new study from the nonprofit Mental Health America. To determine the ranking, Mental Health America analyzed the prevalence of mental illness in each state and the District of Columbia using statistics on adults and…
Simon Kunesh arrives at his physical therapy appointment hanging from his mother’s neck, arms locked, swinging back and forth like a pendulum. She’s prying at his fingers, trying to put him down, but he stubbornly has retracted his long, spindly legs and flexed his feet to avoid touching the floor…
A life-size Pac-Man game, a nightclub on wheels, jazz-playing robots — these are just a few projects that U.S. Senator Jeff Flake says taxpayers wasted their money on this year. In a snarky new report, “Wastebook 2015: May the Farce Be With You,” the junior senator from Arizona calls a…
There have been 15 mass shootings in Arizona since 2013. This is according to Mass Shooting Tracker, a crowd-sourced database that media heavy-hitters like Vox and the Washington Post have cited since a heavily armed couple opened fire Wednesday at a service center for the disabled in San Bernardino, California,…
