Arizona’s sentencing laws are so tough that a woman recently served two years in prison for her first DUI because of a previous conviction for possession of marijuana. The disturbing news can be found in a May 23 article by a journalism student about the need for smarter sentencing guidelines in Arizona. The story was first published…
Trying to deflect the blame for the decisions he made isn’t working out so well for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Our cover story this week, Joe Knew, describes how documents and his own current and former staff members put Arpaio squarely in the loop. His retired chief financial officer says…
The effort by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and state Attorney General Tom Horne to steamroll voters in their attempted quashing of the new medical marijuana law won’t work — not entirely, anyway. Qualified patients can possess up to two-and-a-half ounces of weed legally in Arizona since the passage of Prop 203 –…
Soon after becoming head of the Maricopa Anti-Corruption Enforcement team under Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Bill Knight became aware of severe ethical problems with the unit. A career cop who’d been in narcotics, homicide, and other divisions at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Chief Knight suddenly found himself in the…
Governor Jan Brewer ought to just come out and admit it: She’s thwarting the will of voters who approved Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act in November. Her frontal assault on the law, announced yesterday, is buttressed by her bias against the concept of medical marijuana — an opinion she made clear before voters narrowly approved Proposition 203. As we reported…
Qikai “Ben” Chen, a former math teacher at Scottsdale’s Basis Charter School, pleaded not guilty today to a felony charge of child abuse. The arraignment comes after a second arrest for Chen following an indictment, and also after his former employer gave the alleged child-beater the boot. Chen, if…
Arizona leaders are preparing to ask to the feds to put a halt to Arizona’s medical marijuana program. *UPDATE: Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne says no dispensary permits will be issued until a federal court rules on the legality of the program. He’s not sure how long that could take.*…
Ssshhh… Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery seem to be on a secret mission. He’s scheduled to appear at a fundraiser tomorrow for himself hosted by lawyer Mark Goldman and featuring an appearance by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, (whom Montgomery apparently thinks is sort of daffy.) Obviously, this can’t be a simple…
Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley has escaped a second criminal case leveled at him by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Gila County Attorney Daisy Flores has decided not to charge Stapley for his alleged wrongdoing in a case that new records show was manufactured in part for…
Bill Newell, formerly the head of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms bureau in Phoenix, is among several top ATF officials who have been reassigned following a “gunwalking” scandal. Newell has been replaced by former Detroit Special Agent in Charge Tom Brandon. The scandal involves an operation called “Fast and Furious,” in which…
Len Munsil, a conservative activist who ran against former Governor Janet Napolitano in 2006, was once investigated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s corrupt anti-corruption unit. In the “Trifecta case,” as it was called by Arpaio’s minions on the Maricopa Anti-Corruption Enforcement team, Munsil was investigated for supposed improprieties stemming from the 2006 race. The…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s under attack by crazy “big government libs” and needs your support. This according to the bizarre worldview of Rob Haney, chair of the Maricopa County Republican Party. He feels so bad for Sheriff Joe Arpaio and three other conservative leaders who have taken criticism lately that…
A top aide to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio doesn’t believe his boss was “out of the loop” of information in his own office. The opinion by Deputy Chief Paul Chagolla, made to investigators probing the misconduct allegations of some of Arpaio’s other top men, fuels the idea that Arpaio knew…
Members of the Arizona Tea Party have firmly rejected the idea of the state’s new Tea Party license plates. The plates symbolize big government and seem counter to Tea Party principles, a spokesman for a local Tea Party group told the Huffington Post today. You’d think the tea-baggers would have…
A kitchen manager at Desert Canyon Golf Club in Fountain Hills was fired — twice — because he complained that female workers were being sexually harassed, says a federal complaint. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the suit (see below) yesterday, demanding that the club’s parent company, Golf International, stop illegally…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio won’t say whether one of his deputy chiefs, Paul Chagolla, deserves to be investigated for allegedly threatening an Arizona Republic reporter two years ago. Arpaio would only tell us yesterday that “it’s not over” — a reference to the still-unfolding scandal of mismanagement and allegedly…
Ben Bethel, owner of the Clarendon Hotel, has withdrawn his name as a would-be candidate for the Phoenix City Council’s District 7, blaming our blog post from yesterday about his 1996 drug convictions. “I’ve decided that sensational journalism will win out over my efforts to make this a better city,…
Money problems have forced a fresh round of week-long furloughs at the Arizona Republic. Publisher John Zidich announced the mandatory, unpaid week off for most employees in an e-mail today published on Gannett Blog: “This decision was extremely difficult but made necessary by a challenging second quarter,” Zidich wrote. “In April, a limited…
A new Arizona law that limits the ability of labor unions to harass employers with picketing and defamation has drawn a federal complaint by two local unions. The United Food and Commerical Workers Local 99 and the Local Union No. 469 of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting…
The party’s over for a Tennessee crook who spent some of her embezzled millions on a spectacular Sweet 15 party for her daughter. Leslie Janous, who also goes by Leslie Gibbs, pleaded guilty in February to stealing at least $4.5 million from her employer, Scancarbon, Inc., a precious metals firm in Knoxville. She was…
Michael Salman can’t seem to beat City Hall, and now hopes to be elected to it. The Phoenix pastor has been fighting the city of Phoenix for three years over the right to hold worship services under a backyard structure he and his parishioners built. His home has been raided twice…
Want to make sure the whole world finds out about your drug-dealing past? Run for political office. If Ben Bethel, owner of the Clarendon Hotel, hadn’t filed paperwork to run for the Phoenix City Council’s District 7 seat, we’d never have known or cared about his past convictions. Now, having discovered his secret during a quickie background search…
