There’s no fishing, swimming or boating on Arizona’s second largest lake, which has suddenly appeared in the desert about 80 miles southwest of Phoenix. It’s been 12 years since there was enough winter rainfall to swell the Gila River to the point that it creates the huge lake behind the…

Tents have gone up in flames before at Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s infamous outdoor compound. And there’s no reason to think it won’t happen again at Tent City. With virtually unlimited access to cigarettes, booze and drugs, enraged inmates could torch the tents, just like they did on October 4, 1994,…

Last fall, I uncovered serious problems with the Maricopa County Department of Elections’ handling of a September primary recount that cast a cloud over the county’s ability to conduct fair and accurate elections. My concerns have now attracted the attention of the Maricopa County Republican Committee, which is demanding that…

Yeah, he won still another term in the November general election, but there’s reason for hope that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s days in office may be numbered. This just in: A recall committee that includes several prominent defense attorneys and the founders of the political action group Mothers Against…

It’s not often that I come across a courageous state bureaucrat who’s willing to risk everything to expose high-level corruption. That is, to do the right thing. This is the tale of one such employee who was rewarded for her valor by being fired from her post as executive director…

I nearly fell off my bike on a recent cold night when I saw the agent listed on a for-sale sign in front of one of the most historic homes in Arizona — the Farmer-Goodwin mansion in Tempe. My stomach tightened, and I slowly began circling on my bike in…

The new year has done nothing to alter the idiotic behavior of too many of our local elected leaders. But before we descend into the abyss, how about this wonderful weather? Forget about all the negative adjectives used to describe the threatening storms pummeling the Valley. I’m rejoicing with every…

‘Tis the season of paybacks, desperation and fear at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is doling out promotions and sweet assignments to his supporters and harsh retribution to anyone who’s dared question his corrupt regime. The shuffling of more than 150 deputies and detention officers to new…

Here’s a fact that should be at the center of the debate over the future of the Phoenix metropolitan area, but is rarely discussed. Central Arizona has enough renewable surface water to build and sustain a metropolis of more than 10 million people, if not far more. Even with a…

Colorado City school superintendent Alvin Barlow meets me inside the hallway of the public school district’s crumbling administration building with an armed Colorado City cop at his side. Arizona’s senior school administrator is quivering with rage. He’s extremely unhappy to see me. Barlow ignores my greeting, abruptly turns and walks…

For the roughly 735,000 Arizonans and 56 million Americans who got trampled by the November 2 election, the challenge now is to follow in the footsteps of the Boston Red Sox. This is not the time to give up in despair after Senator John Kerry’s narrow defeat. It’s time to…

Twenty years ago last April, I strapped on a backpack, called my dog, walked out the door of my parents’ northern Virginia home and set my course west. Bear and I hiked a couple of miles down to Interstate 66 and hitched the first of dozens of rides that would…

Let’s face it, Joe Arpaio’s going to win re-election November 2 to his fourth term as Maricopa County sheriff. He has no serious opposition. But that doesn’t mean a legal tornado isn’t swirling around the self-proclaimed ” toughest sheriff in America,” who’s more aptly the meanest/dumbest sheriff in America. Only…

With less then three weeks before the general election, I have serious doubts that whatever “official” results the Maricopa County Elections Department posts will be an accurate reflection of what voters intended. After a week of investigating the department’s mishandling of last month’s controversial recount in the District 20 state…

I’ve got a dreadful message for thousands of young men and women trapped in the horrors of fundamentalist Mormon polygamy in a handful of remote and desolate towns north of the Grand Canyon along the Arizona-Utah border. Governor Janet Napolitano — the rising Democratic starlet who deftly portrays herself as…

Phoenix is at a crossroads in its history. No major city in the country has such an unprecedented opportunity to boldly create a 21st-century urban landscape that capitalizes on the revolutionary technology driving the modern economy while embracing its own unique geographic character. It is the merger of both place…

The canonization of Jerry Colangelo as the savior of Phoenix will continue this week as the local media stumble over themselves to heap accolades on him as he’s inducted September 10 into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Be prepared for full-page spreads in the Valley’s two major daily newspapers extolling…

Voters have a golden opportunity to throw 72-year-old Sheriff Joe Arpaio out of office in the September 7 Republican primary — an election that Independents can participate in simply by requesting a Republican ballot. This is far from a meaningless primary. Outlaw Joe is much more vulnerable in the primary…

Public support for Outlaw Joe is eroding at an astonishing rate as the September 7 Republican primary nears, with more evidence surfacing that Arpaio profited by offering cushy jail space to the wealthy and powerful. The new Jailgate developments come as an independent survey released last week by the Rocky…

We all know how Joe Arpaio serves up justice to average schmucks. He proudly shows no mercy. He subjects them to the vilest of conditions. Death and injuries often result. But it’s a different story for the rich and powerful. If you or yours are in a position to help…

If hundreds of angry phone calls and e-mails in response to my commentary on a harebrained MCSO raid in Ahwatukee are any indication of the public’s disgust, elderly Joe Arpaio may soon be the ex-sheriff of Maricopa County. Readers are livid over the bungled July 23 raid by Joe’s goons…

Justin Delfino looked out the window of his Ahwatukee home and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was shortly after noon on July 23 and several men dressed in black jeans and green shirts were getting out of an unmarked white Suburban, casually putting on flak jackets and helmets…