Mayor Greg Stanton briefly spoke with President Barack Obama when he arrived in Phoenix to speak about the U.S. housing market. Along with a welcome, a handshake and a half-hug, Stanton had a letter for Obama written by a local Dreamer — Antonio (Tony) Valdovinos. The letter thanked the president…
Buses were back on the road today in the East Valley and portions of South Phoenix after union leaders reached a compromise with First Transit executives. The four-day strike ended, in part, after company officials agreed during a 32-hour session with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 to eliminate from the…
Among the FBI’s Most Wanted are individuals from Arizona (or with ties to the state) who have evaded authorities for decades in cases involving child porn, the sexual assault and sodomy of children and defrauding the public out of millions of dollars. Suspects featured here are presumed innocent — until…
Phoenix City Manager David Cavazos announced on Thursday that he is calling it quits in Phoenix. Cavazos, the first Latino to serve as city manager, has brokered a deal to become the next city manager in Santa Ana, a community in Orange County with about 300,000 residents…
It appeared just moments before midnight that a bus-driver strike expected to affect thousands of Valley bus passengers had been averted. But no go. A last-minute deal fell through, says Bob Bean, a union leader of the Amalgamated Transit Union representing East Valley bus operators…
We came across an interesting story at trivalleycentral.com about a “friend” of Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu and his minions getting hired to a swell-paying job — even though he’d been placed on the county’s “do not hire” list. Reporter Adam Guab wrote that Manuel Vega, 24, was on that…
Over the weekend, someone dropped off a dog at a Florence animal shelter with a chain-link collar wrapped so tight, and for so long, around the dog’s neck that its skin was growing around the metal. The dog will stay in a foster home until she heals up, and then…
Equality Arizona is endorsing efforts to let voters decide whether to keep a recently approved law that makes sweeping changes to the election process. Protect Your Right to Vote, a political committee, is backing the referendum of HB 2305, a law opponents say suppresses voters ability to get on the…
Welcome to another installment of Most Wanted — New Times’ weekly post featuring scofflaws, including suspects in robberies, homicides and assault cases, sex offenders who’ve absconded, and even “dead beat” parents who aren’t shelling out court-ordered child support. Suspects featured here are presumed innocent — until a judge or jury…
It’s official — the U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into “Redneck Day,” a day of school-sanctioned festivities at Queen Creek High School that included a student wearing a Confederate flag like a cape. The Reverend Jarrett Maupin, who filed a complaint against the school district over the…
Welcome to Most Wanted — New Times’ weekly post featuring scofflaws, including suspects in robberies, homicides and assault cases, sex offenders who’ve absconded, and even deadbeat parents who aren’t shelling out court-ordered child support. Suspects featured here are presumed innocent — until a judge or jury says otherwise…
If you want to cast a ballot for the Phoenix City Council district elections on August 27, you gotta register to vote by July 29. Seats are up for grabs in districts 2, 4, 6, and 8, and only residents living within those districts will be eligible to vote for…
The locksmith worked nervously on the backdoor lock of a small white church in El Mirage. Behind him, anxiously waiting in the blistering heat, were a dozen church members and volunteers who’d been forced out of its congregation by former Pastor Guadalupe “Lupe” Davila. They say they all were victims…
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a liberal-leaning watchdog group, released a report today naming the worst governors in the nation — and not surprisingly, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer made the Top Ten. Good ol’ Brewer isn’t one to disappoint. Although she didn’t rise to level of “ringmaster”…
Federal officials arrested Richelle Elexsis Pallanes and Hector Machuca in El Mirage for their alleged role in smuggling nearly 26 kilos of cocaine from Mexico into the Valley, according to a criminal complaint filed in Arizona’s federal district court. On July 2, federal agents served a search warrant at 12903…
The locksmith worked nervously trying to pick the lock on the back door of a small white church in downtown El Mirage. On Monday morning, anxiously waiting for the locksmith in the blistering heat, were about a dozen people who had been forced away from that congregation by its pastor,…
Just in time for a round of political debates and candidate forums — including one tonight — an anonymous letter to the Arizona State Bar Association has prompted an investigation of Lawrence Robinson, a candidate in the race for a District 8 seat on the Phoenix City Council. (Chicanos Por…
Guadalupe Davila Jr. isn’t standing at the pulpit of his small church in El Mirage preaching to the congregation about living a godly life. He isn’t inside the baptismal font, waist-deep in water and immersing new members and cleansing them of their sins. And he’s not at the church’s learning…
Can someone get Councilman Sal DiCiccio a towel? The District 6 representative is dripping in irony after his latest call for “significant reforms” at Phoenix City Hall, including “ending lobbyist nepotism and implementing policies to end personal ties between elected officials and their staffs.”…
U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell has shot down the State of Arizona’s contention that the state’s gaming compact bans new casinos in the Phoenix area.The ruling delivers the Tohono O’odham Nation yet another legal victory in their four-year battle to build a resort-style casino in the West Valley…
Bank robberies seem so blasé these days — the creepy man walking into the bank, handing a note to a teller demanding money, and taking off before cops arrive.But so much more goes into it: what to wear, how to conceal your face, and how to haul away your loot…
Cheryl Chase, who represents District Two on the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, recognized Deputy Andrew Goode with a certificate of achievement for devoting many hours of community service to help troubled youth and families in crisis. We’ve got a call in to Chase’s office for specifics on Goode’s community…
