Violence in Mexico seems to be increasing, with wars between drug gangs claiming a record 12,456 lives from January to November of this year, a top Mexican official said today. All told, said Mexican Attorney General Arturo Chavez, 30,196 people have died in the drug wars since President Felipe Calderon…
An airport-based agent with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Atlanta, Georgia, believed he was shipping drug money and illegal guns to Mexican cartel members in Arizona, officials said Thursday. Agent Devon Samuels, 45, was among 13 people arrested today on suspicion of a multitude of crimes, including taking payoffs from — and providing…
A retired judge has resigned his volunteer post from an Appellate Court panel charged with reviewing applications for the state’s latest Indepedent Redistricting Commission. Louis Araneta, a former Maricopa County Superior Court judge, sent his resignation letter to the state Supreme Court’s chief justice, saying he regretted his comments were “misinterpreted.” We’re…
A 60-year drought, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since medieval times, may be in store for the Southwest this century, University of Arizona researchers report. A summary of scientific findings published yesterday by the U of A doesn’t spell out the precise cause-and-effect process for the potential calamity, making the prediction…
Lone Wolf Trading Company, a Glendale gun store, leads a top-12 list by the Washington Post of traced crime-scene guns recovered in Mexico. The Post conducted its own Wikileaks-like expose, apparently, defying a 2003 federal law that’s supposed to keep the names of gun dealers hidden from the public. Two other Arizona stores…
A local doctor of psychiatry and internal medicine plans to petition the state to allow post-traumatic-stress disorder as a qualifying ailment for marijuana under Proposition 203. In a draft petition, (see below), Dr. Sue Sisley of St. Joseph’s Hospital points out that some research shows pot is incredibly beneficial for…
The husband of a woman killed in a wrong-way crash on the Loop 101 freeway on Thursday had been worried about the safety of her and their children just prior to the crash, officials said. The Glendale woman, Patricia Evans, was killed along with her 6-year-old son in the collision, which occurred just after 8 p.m. on the…
A woman who was fired by the city of Surprise after arguing against budget cuts in a public hearing is suing in federal court over the alleged violation of her free-speech rights. Megan Griego had been working as an economic development coordinator for about three years when she decided to attend a weekend budget…
You’re free to go — but we’ll keep your money. That’s the position of Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard on the failed case of Mario de la Fuente Manriquez, a Mexican media millionaire accused of organized crime. Manriquez was arrested and charged earlier this year with 19 counts of money laundering, assisting…
A former deputy with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s hired to shore up operations for Surprise police attended a meeting last year in which bogus charges against a judge were cooked up, an investigative report states. After the meeting, the Superior Court judge, Gary Donahoe, was charged with bribery and hindering a prosecution…
Andrew Thomas, Lisa Aubuchon and Rachel Alexander, all late of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, were the key figures in a damning 76-page disciplinary report released yesterday. They’re the ones who stand to lose their law licenses. But if you just scanned the report by out-of-state investigator John Gleason, you might have missed a few interesting…
State Attorney General Terry Goddard will leave office without resolving the case against Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Captain Joel Fox and the shady SCA fundraising group. And that, it’s safe to say, means almost no likelihood of criminal charges – on a state level, anyway. Which would be a shame, because this scandal looked so…
State prosecutors today moved to drop criminal charges against Mario de la Fuente Manriquez, former CEO of his father’s Mexican media empire.The motion to dismiss charges of money laundering, assisting a criminal syndicate, conspiracy and fraud is a major win for Manriquez, who’s fought the allegations since his arrest earlier…
For the next few months, Arizona lawyers can assist the needs of marijuana businesses without any repercussions from the State Bar. In a recent news release, the Bar noted that it hasn’t taken any official stance on legal work related to Proposition 203, despite public comments by its ethics attorney about…
Maybe tailing the investigator for the Arizona State Supreme Court was a bad idea. A probable-cause panelist for the state high court, spurred by a report from investigator John Gleason, has ordered disciplinary procedures to begin against former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his former deputy, Lisa Aubuchon. In a 76-page report presented…
El Portal, the downtown Phoenix restaurant owned by Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and her husband, Earl, is apparently closed. We’re still waiting for Supervisor Wilcox to return our call, but notations on the county’s restaurant inspection site tell the story…
In Arizona, you can ride a motorcycle without a helmet, conceal a handgun, and buy an AK-47. And soon, if you qualify, you’ll be able to smoke a big, fat doobie. Legally. Proposition 203, the state’s new medical-marijuana law, passed by the slimmest of margins once all the votes from…
Some people have it all together. Like the guy who robbed a Wells Fargo bank today near Power and Broadway roads in Mesa. He keeps organized with a zip-up black binder. Yep, that’s his little, black revolver in there. Mesa cops say the man pulled a note out of the binder…
Claudia Washburn will serve between six months and two-and-a-half years in prison for providing money to her infamous escapee son, John McCluskey. The sentencing range is part of the plea deal the Payson resident accepted today in court, says the state Attorney General’s office. In August, authorities say, Washburn, 68, sent cash…
The mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, AC Wharton, declared yesterday that he wants to spend $200,000 to improve his city’s image — the same way Phoenix did. As part of an effort to boost the southern town’s “brand,” Wharton’s been raising private funds to hire Arthesia, a California-based advertising company. “He…
Saturday’s bee attack on Camelback Mountain occurred on Hart Route, the notorious spot where a climber died six years ago in a similar mishap, a fire department official confirmed today.Several news outlets covered the story over the weekend, but none shared the name of the climbing route. We found Saturday’s…
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will “definitely” still pursue a 22-year-old, $7.5 million restitution case against former gold mogul Sherman Unkefer, an official told us last week. Since our last update about Unkefer in August, the Arizona Court of Appeals remanded the case back to the trial courts. In other…
