Twenty Gilbert police officers, some in masks and riot gear, stormed a home last week after receiving a tip that the owner was in possession of an ounce of marijuana. The homeowner, Ross Taylor, is a card-carrying patient under Arizona’s new medical-marijuana law, which allows people to qualify to possess up to…
As firefighters continue to battle the Wallow fire in eastern Arizona, the starter of half of the monstrous 2002 Rodeo-Chedeski fire is scheduled to be released from prison tomorrow. Leonard Gregg, an Apache who lived in Cibecue, admitted he’d started two fires — Rodeo and Pine. The former wildland…
In preparation for his upcoming discipline hearing this fall, former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has submitted grand jury transcripts from his failed prosecutions of two County Supervisors. Because of secrecy rules about the doings of grand juries, the State Bar’s presiding disciplinary judge, William O’Neil, ordered the documents regarding Supervisors…
Two likely very unhappy campers are getting questioned today in connection with a campfire left burning on May 29 that apparently started the largest wildfire in Arizona history. Media reports state that the feds aren’t releasing names, nor have they arrested anyone. Meanwhile, the nearly half-million-acre Wallow fire is…
The Mormon church announced last week that it advocates a type of amnesty for illegal immigrants who “square themselves with the law and continue to work” in the United States. The statement, published on the church’s website, also takes aim at harsh anti-illegal-immigrant laws like those passed in Arizona and…
Harrison Prather, whose company recently sold a $230,000 “protection dog” to a Scottsdale man, says, in his 36 years in the business, not one of his animals has bit a family member. We spent some time chatting with the CEO and Founder and Harrison K-9 in South Carolina yesterday, following our somewhat snarky blog…
Would-be marijuana dispensary owners and their lawyers filed lawsuits today in an attempt to reverse Governor Jan Brewer’s attack on a voter-approved law. Last month, Brewer directed state Attorney General Tom Horne to file a federal lawsuit against the new law, which voters narrowly passed in the November election. Horne admitted to…
In the “they-must-have-too-much-money” department, the New York Times reports that a debt-collection exec with homes in Arizona and Minnesota paid $230,000 for a family guard dog. “Julia” spent three tough years of training in Germany and lived with the family of the training company’s vice-president before moving in with bill…
Phoenix firm iCloud Communications filed an iLawsuit against Apple last week, alleging the computing giant stole its iName.Apple apparently thinks it has the right to the name, judging by the way it’s been marketing the new iCloud service as a free feature of its operating system, iOS5. Apple’s iCloud “stores…
Caffe Boa restaurants in Tempe and Ahwatukee have different owners and different menus, but similar health inspection failures. This sorry coincidence came to our attention in a recent report by the Maricopa County Environmental Services department, which revealed that the popular bistro on Mill Avenue — owned by Jay and Christine Wisniewski — received a “no award” rating…
An extraordinary collection of crystals and minerals alleged to have been illegally moved from Sedona to Phoenix last year has returned to Seattle following a lawsuit settlement. Gary Midzor, the man who bought the collection once appraised at $25 million for $1 as part of a real estate deal, now wants the public to know…
With half of Arizona homes worth far less than the mortgages owed on them, some homeowners may be secretly wishing the wildfires would pay their property a visit. We ran that idea past a couple of real estate agents today, and both agreed it makes sense. “A fire could be a blessing in disguise…
New Times’ lawsuit over the 2007 arrest of its founders on bogus charges can proceed — but only against a local lawyer who served as a special prosecutor, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today. In a 2-1 opinion, the Ninth Circuit backed up a lower court’s decision that New Times can’t…
Greer lost six structures last night to the still-growing Wallow fire, but weather conditions are expected to improve today for firefighters.A U.S. Forest Service spokesman said the blaze, for now, is holding to its eastern borders.”It did push into some structures last night, but we were able to push it…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio learned today that shredding evidence doesn’t always come cheap:A federal judge ordered the sheriff’s office to pay $94,000 in legal fees related to a 2009 record-destroying spree carried out by Arpaio’s anti-illegal-immigrant squads.Lawyers in a federal suit that accuses Arpaio’s shop of racial profiling argued…
NASA satellite photos released today show just how much of Arizona’s precious forests are being lost to fire. Remarkably, for fires this big, there have been no reported deaths or injuries. We saw something about burn injuries while Web-surfing for fire news, but that story was about a worker at a…
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne discussed a plan to launch legal action against the state’s medical marijuana law during a January sit-down meeting with the law’s biggest opponent. Carolyn Short, who led last year’s unsuccessful campaign to defeat Proposition 203, refers to the meeting in a February 16 letter to state Department of Health…
The Cronkite News Service issued a lengthy correction to a students’ article about Arizona sentencing guidelines, but the misinformation persists on the Internet. The May 18 article, which was widely published throughout the state and elsewhere, told readers about the sad case of Candita Gottsponer, a Flagstaff woman with a record for…
President Obama’s hoping to secure votes from illegal immigrants by fighting an Arizona law that requires proof of citizenship at the polls, says Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne. The Obama Administration filed an amicus brief on Friday with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in preparation for more hearings on a…
A San Diego police report shows that Fabian Cota, president of the Mesa Police Association, was trying to protect the honor of a female friend before being handcuffed and hauled off to a drunk tank. Cota, who’s currently on disciplinary probation with Mesa PD, as we reported earlier today, presented a danger to…
Javier Fabian Cota, president of the Mesa Police Association, spent four hours in a drunk tank over the weekend following a run-in with cops in San Diego’s Gaslamp district. We reached Sergeant Cota, who also serves as a vice president of the state Arizona Police Association, on the phone…
Governor Jan Brewer followed through today on her threat to attack Arizona’s voter-approved medical marijuana law, but advocates of democracy are fighting back. Numerous defendants have signed on to oppose Brewer’s suit, including the backers of Prop 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association. The American Civil Liberties Union will cover the…
