State Senator Lori Klein, R-Anthem, likely lied in a recent statement about pointing a loaded gun at Arizona Republic reporter Richard Ruelas, in our humble opinion. In response to heavy criticism, Klein now claims the reporter moved into her sights as she held the gun for him to see, its…
One of the defining moments of the latest war on medical marijuana in Arizona came last month when Gilbert SWAT officers raided the home of a patient suspected of having a single ounce of weed. Ross Taylor’s not only a bona fide, card-holding patient under the law, he also is…
As every gun owner should know, the Number One rule of handling firearms is to never point a gun at anything you don’t want to destroy. Arizona State Senator Lori Klein, R-Anthem, violated that rule in a big way during a recent interview with Arizona Republic reporter Richard Ruelas. In an article…
A Buckeye trailer manufacturing firm and its owner were ordered by a federal judge to pay $30,000 in fines and received two years’ probation for hiring undocumented workers. Richard Taylor and his company, Arizona Trailer Manufacturing, was convicted in U.S. District Court and sentenced on Wednesday. Dennis Burke, Arizona U.S. Attorney and Matt Allen, special agent in…
Governor Jan Brewer held a ceremonial signing in her office on Thursday for a new law that strikes the “R-word” from state statutes.When it takes affect on September 30, the law will replace “mentally retarded,” “retardation” and “crippled” in state code with gentler phrases like “children with intellectual disabilities,” “physically…
Online bookselling giant Amazon.com has three distribution facilities in Phoenix and is planning a fourth. Despite the massive movement of sold books through Arizona, Amazon — like most other online retailers — neither collects from its customers nor pays, according to the state, any state sales tax.That’s one of the…
A school bus aide for the Washington Elementary School District was arrested yesterday on suspicion of molesting an 11-year-old special needs student.Andres Mendoza, 70, was booked into jail in connection with 30 counts of child molesting and six counts of sexual conduct with a minor.Mendoza’s an aide on the bus…
The July 5 dust storm was among the most “significant” ever seen by National Weather Service experts who have been in the Valley 30 years, according to a new online report.Everything you wanted to know about the meteorology of the storm that sand-blasted the Valley on Tuesday is contained in…
Collin DeWitt, Gilbert Town Manager, stands behind his city’s decision to create a shorter work week and says the “four-10” schedule will save money and help customers.DeWitt returned our phone message from yesterday, (which we left after an assistant town manager failed to get back to us), to answer questions…
Governor Jan Brewer is using a supposed threat to state workers as a “pretext” for thwarting the will of voters, say advocates of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act in a court action filed today. The American Civil Liberties Union makes that case in a court motion filed today in the…
Governor Jan Brewer today celebrates the arrival of Amazon.com’s fourth major facility in Arizona today, yet the state’s revenue department calls the company a tax cheat.Brewer and the online bookseller’s representatives are touting the estimated 3,000 jobs created by the company’s other three Phoenix locations, including a 1.2 million square-foot…
A Gilbert town official recently sent us an e-mail with a “signature” at the bottom that read: “Beginning July 11, 2011, Gilbert will offer extended customer service hours for most Town services, of 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Thursday…” In government-speak, though, “extended” hours also means a lot…
A Phoenix man who allegedly shined a laser at a police helicopter was arrested with the help, naturally, of the pilots. The chopper had been flying in the area of 2300 W. Port Royal Lane, south of Greenway Road, at about 10:20 p.m. when the flyboys noticed someone shining a…
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s heralded announcement this morning in Nogales of a new border strategy that targets drug-smuggling sounds suspicious.Like one more chapter in America’s failed Drug War.Make that the world’s failed drug war. Perhaps the former Arizona governor has no time to read in her highfalutin D.C…
After the storm like the one the Valley had last night and all the wildfires, you’d think Arizona was one giant dust bowl.You’d be wrong.Despite “exceptional,” bone-dry conditions in the southeastern part of the state, the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Web site shows that some parts of western Arizona are…
An ongoing drought in the southeastern part of Arizona, which has seen little rainfall in recent months, made last night’s dust storm “exceptional,” an official with the National Weather Service says.”This came from a thunderstorm complex not far from Tucson,” says Phoenix NWS meteorologist Ken Waters. “That area hasn’t had…
To former Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza, union is a four-letter word.Rimsza, mayor from 1994 to 2004, wrote a letter for one mayoral candidate that blasts three others who he claims are preferred by “out of control” union bosses. Rimsza believes that “Greg Stanton, Claude Mattox, and Wes Gullett all have…
Ten retired Scottsdale police officers are suing in federal court over tens of thousands in medical-leave pay they claim to have been shorted.The employees include: former Scottsdale police public information officer Sam Bailey; Bill Zeller (who once made the news for arresting a Scottsdale high school student because he disobeyed…
[jump] Visibility as low as 50 feet. Muddy rain. Powdery stuff on teeth, in lungs. Blacked-out neighborhoods — until you got close enough to see that the lights really were on.Tonight’s dust storm was dustier than the typical Arizona haboob, with fine particles just hanging in the air even during…
A six-month internal investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office that resulted in two of Arpaio’s top men being fired will cost the county up to $102,000.The amount is considerably higher than the $46,000 we heard it would cost earlier this year.The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is expected to…
Three Maricopa County employees are heading to mediation talks on Monday with the possibility of settlements in their multi-million-dollar claims against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas.This will be the first round of what are sure to be other mediation talks — and potentially quick and lucrative…
Black people continue to be unemployed at twice the rate of whites in the United States, and various studies show that racism, rather than other factors, is likely the cause.The pattern has been consistent statistically for about 60 years, notes D.C.-based reporter and writer Andy Kroll in an eye-opening article…
