Euthanizing 55 dogs with guns on a rural Arizona property was the right decision for the circumstances, says the director of public health services for Navajo County. Dr. Wade Kartchner tells New Times this morning that the dogs, which were living in filth with their human masters on a rural…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio followed up on his earlier tweet about a jail lockdown, now stating on his Twitter account that “inmates are planning to assault each other on a large scale.” He refers to a news release prepared by his staff [maybe you’ll have better luck opening it than we’re having right…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has locked down the county’s jails to unspecified “racial tension.” Usually, Arpaio’s tweets are more personal in nature, but this actual news. Since the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t bother to update its news releases in a timely fashion, Twitter’s even better than his public relations staff…
We just heard from a reader whose friend — a Maricopa County employee — was visited in the last few days by deputies from the Sheriff’s Office. The employee told them she didn’t want to talk, and they went away, our source says. The anonymous reader says the county’s finance…
The Town of Paradise Valley is reimbursing more than 1,000 motorists who were ticketed by a red-light camera with a hair trigger, but some people who took driving classes still get short-changed. The camera, installed by Redflex for the town in the intersection of Tatum and McDonald, was actually working just fine. But the yellow…
A 42-year-old Peoria police officer with two years on the job shot at a berserk man who pointed a rifle at him last night, cops say. All police will say about the suspect so far is that he’s a 23-year-old Peoria resident. Calls began coming in about him at about 11:45…
A trio of Valley stories this morning from Courthouse News Service: * The failed deal to build a fancier spring-training ballpark in Goodyear has blossomed into a lawsuit. The moneybag behind the deal, M&I Marshall Ilsley Bank, wants Goodyear to get the ballpark up and runnning, pay $10 million in…
A Nevada company that provides cash and credit advances to casinos has been barred from doing business in Arizona because it “defrauded banks” and misleads regulators. Global Cash Access has about 20 Arizona Indian casinos as clients, providing 5 percent of its total revenues. But, says the Las Vegas Sun,…
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin wrote up a piece on Robert J. Maynard Jr. after recent post about him, covering some of the highlights of his sketchy past and uncovering some new info. One interesting factoid: Maynard’s father, local optometrist Robert J. Maynard Sr., reversed earlier statements about his son’s apparent identity…
An amateur Cuban boxer was stopped from appearing in an ESPN-televised fight in Arizona tonight because of problems obtaining a work visa. Erislandy Lara was scheduled to fight at the Desert Diamond Casino in southern Arizona, but found out Wednesday his paperwork wouldn’t be completed in time for him to…
An illegal immigrant who was drunk when he smashed into a Phoenix police car last year, killing Officer Shane Figueroa, was sentenced today to 16 years in prison. Salvador Vivas-Diaz, 50, turned left in front of Figueroa’s cruiser on October 25, 2008, in the intersection of 19th Avenue and Roeser…
What a scammer! Timothy Keay Isaac, 47, pleaded guilty today in federal court to a slew of charges related to his illicit company, which brought into the country a Chinese Viagra-like drug without prescriptions. But this is the part that bugs us: In 2006, Isaac applied for disability benefits from…
In surfing around the Internet for our recent posts on Scottsdale’s Liberty League International, we came upon a remarkably similar outfit — also in Arizona — called Life Path Unlimited. Life Path gives a “mailing address” of 37555 North Hum Road in Carefree. Our two cents: It’s another ripoff. Like…
A lost flash drive full of kiddie porn led to the arrest of a 63-year-old man for suspected exploitation of a minor.The Tempe police case began when an employee at Tempe Marketplace picked up the flash drive on May 28 in the parking lot behind Harkins Theatres. He brought it…
Three Subway restaurant employees thwarted a robbery yesterday by simply walking away from the wanna-be gangsta trying to hold them up. The unusual incident began just before 11 p.m. last night at the eatery, 450 S. Sossaman, when a dude with black tape on his face piercing came in and…
We’ve heard of night putting with the daughter of the dean, but “DUI goggle putting” is a new one. Seems like cops really know how to have a good time when not in uniform.The gimmicky golf hole is actually “everybody’s favorite” during the annual Phoenix Police Crime Lab charity golf…
This is a report we would have run through snopes.com but for the source: A woman allowed a car to hit her in a parking lot by sticking out her butt as it backed up, then claimed she was injured, Chandler cops say. The entire incident was captured on a…
Benny Peralta’s a caring guy who helps the elderly. Until they piss him off. The 46-year-old became enraged while getting fired yesterday by his employer, a woman who had hired him to assist with her disabled, 62-year-old husband, Phoenix police say. As the husband sat in his wheelchair, Peralta snatched the family…
Another high-profile hire for Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard: He’s just made Tim Nelson (pictured), former candidate for Maricopa County Attorney, his chief deputy. Goddard’s office sent a news release out about this a few minutes ago. No doubt, Chewie over at Sonoran Alliance is banging out another missive about…
The U.S. Supreme Court decision to declare a strip-search of an Arizona student unconstitutional also “announces the safest place to secrete contraband at school,” says Justice Clarence Thomas. Just stick those drugs in your skivvies. Don’t you love when a government official makes things clear for the public? You know,…
A Phoenix-based company that sells “health supplements” has been ordered to pay $1 million in penalties for jerking around customers who tried to get refunds. Central Coast Nutraceuticals, owned by Graham Gibson of Phoenix, also must pay $375,000 in restitution and legal fees, says the Arizona Attorney General’s office. According to…
Okay, there are a few things about Ruth McClung we like right off the bat: She’s a rock climber. She likes the Beatles. She paints flowers. But, c’mon. Raul Grijalva isn’t even going to break a sweat. McClung’s running for Congress against Grijalva, a four-time incumbent Democrat from Congressional District…
