Here are some quotes from speakers at today’s medical marijuana hearing about the proposed regulations. The entire speech of each individual isn’t represented. We’re not trying to record all the thank-yous to DHS (of which there are many), just the parts we found interesting (and what we could catch.) When…
It’s standing-room only here at the state-sponsored public hearing on medical marijuana at Arizona State University. Looks like at least 400 people showed up, cramming into all the chairs and lining up along the back wall of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law’s Great Hall in Tempe. This is just…
Dr. Ed Suter, a Mesa-based physician, says a physical exam should not be required before a doctor provides someone with a recommendation for medical marijuana. Andrew Myers, spokesman for the Prop 203 campaign, thinks that hopeful owners of marijuana dispensaries should have to prove they have at least $200,000 in…
The East Valley Tribune will increase its Sunday circulation from 100,000 to 150,000, says its new owner, Randy Miller.The East Valley Tribune will boast a “much bigger presence” in the community next month when it boosts Sunday circulation from 100,000 to 150,000, says the paper’s owner, Randy Miller.In an un-bylined…
Reporters and ad execs from the war-torn East Valley Tribune will be moving to a Tempe address next month — and out of the funky old building that’s housed a newspaper for 55 years. In a way, the move will mark the final destruction of the old Mesa Tribune, which published its…
Montana’s State House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly yesterday to repeal that state’s 2004 voter-approved medical marijuana initiative The repeal bill still needs to go before the State Senate — and faces possible veto by Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat. But the vote, even though it fell sharply along party…
Back in December, medical marijuana foes Bill Montgomery and Sheila Polk, county attorneys for Maricopa and Yavapai, respectively, quietly explored whether or not Proposition 203 could be declared unconstitutional. An e-mail sent to the Arizona Department of Health Services on December 6, signed by both Montgomery and Polk, implies that…
When Sheila Polk, Yavapai County Attorney, considered what former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio were doing back in 2009, Nazi Germany came to mind. At least, that’s the implication in an article in this month’s American Bar Association magazine. Polk’s now-famous letter in December of 2009 publicly condemning…
A woman who was dragged into a Chandler construction site by a stranger and raped in 2004 is “elated” that her attacker has finally been captured, Chandler police say. As we reported earlier today, the arrest of California transient Santos Basilio O’Dell, 32, came about after his DNA was matched…
Arizona looks like a potential deadbeat to the world-famous Moody’s credit-rating service. Citing concerns over a sales-tax increase set to expire in mid-2013 and a budget that relies on the federal government to make changes caused Moody’s to downgrade Arizona’s outlook this week from “stable” to “negative.” Moody’s affirmed…
A California man forced to give up some DNA after violating a protective order last year revealed a dark secret, prosecutors say: He’s responsible for a 2004 rape and robbery in Chandler. Santos Basilio O’Dell, 32, was ordered to stop harassing his wife in 2009, and he violated that order…
State Representative Steve Farley, D-Tucson, plans to amend his proposed 300 percent tax on medical marijuana, lowering the tax rate to 100 percent of the retail cost. The amendment, which hasn’t yet been posted online, also details where the new revenue would go. Farley’s assistant tells New Times that the…
A rare and endangered ocelot was sighted in southern Arizona this week — and, believe it or not, the Arizona Game and Fish Department didn’t capture and kill the animal. As few animal lovers will soon forget, Game and Fish euthanized a magnificent specimen of a jaguar, “Macho B,” after mistakenly concluding that the big…
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has nearly become a household name across the country following his emotional, public statements that talk radio and “vitriol” spurred the January 8 Tucson massacre. Right-wingers were driven to a frenzy by the implication that their side’s rhetoric somehow caused Jared Loughner to shoot 20 people. A campaign to…
Right to free speech: Canceled.At least, it is for Joe Miller, a former Mohave County probation officer who believes that marijuana should be legalized.As the Huffington Post reports today, Miller was fired on December 10th for being one of 32 people who signed a letter by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition…
Andrew Thomas, former Maricopa County Attorney, aspires to be one of the wealthiest ex-politicians in the United States, it would seem by his latest legal claim.The Arizona Republic reports that Thomas has filed a $23.5 million claim against the state, on top of the $23.5 million claim he already filed…
Lewis Paul Larkin, the elected county assessor from Pinal County, was arrested on suspicion of DUI last night following a citizen’s complaint to a county Web site. Here’s what the complaint said: The Pinal County Assessor frequents the Kokopelli Moon Saloon everyday (Monday – Fri) around 3 p.m. until around 5…
A plan to oversee medical marijuana cultivation centers in Oakland drew fire from the feds last week — yet the plan is similar to that being developed in Arizona. The way we read it, the February 1 letter from Melinda Haag, U.S. Attorney for California’s Northern District, (see below), to…
Our blog post yesterday about the ABC News “investigation” in Tucson brought up some of the same concerns that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio mentioned in a letter today to the national news outlet. Even if the teeth of SB 1070 hadn’t been pulled by a federal judge, it’s…
The real conspiracy was on the other side.Former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his lackey, Lisa Aubuchon, while alleging high crimes and conspiracies against county leaders, were conspiring criminally among themselves and Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s minions, says a formal complaint filed by the Arizona State Bar.Even a casual observer…
An upcoming episode of an ABC News show features patrons of a Tucson eatery coming to the rescue of Hispanics getting grilled by a “gringo” security guard who wants to see their “papers.” The “What Would You Do” episode, judging from an accompanying article on ABC’s Web site, sounds more…
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu’s office has finished an investigation into alleged misconduct by high-ranking Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office employees, says a spokesman for Babeu. Allegations in an internal memo penned by by Deputy Chief Frank Munnell, which surfaced in September, zeroed in on Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s chief deputy, David Hendershott, but also mentioned Captain Joel Fox, of SCA infamy, and…
