Valley police have been practicing their driving skills in a video-game-like simulator on loan from the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.Tolleson’s officers were required to train on the machine a couple of weeks ago, says the West Valley View. It’s housed in a 42-foot trailer that gets hauled…

This is what you a call a non-apology apology.U.S. Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano lashed out at the Canadian media yesterday, still ticked that people noticed a factual mistake she made last month while speaking about the 9/11 attacks. You might hear an apology in her statements to CTV –…

  Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas (right) has decided it’s okay to prosecute “super-speeders” caught by freeway speed cameras, reversing a decision he made in March.  And leadfoot state Republican Party director Brett Mecum (see police mugshot below) is one of the first to be charged. Thomas stated two months ago that…

The two people who died in a helicopter crash in the northwest Valley on Friday worked for the Peoria Police Department. Michael Gauchat, 41, had been a police officer with the department since 1990. Donna Collum, 45, had been with the city of Peoria since 2000, working first in the…

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard filed a motion Tuesday afternoon to have his lawsuit against the owners of the Tucson Citizen dismissed because it wouldn’t accomplish anything. Goddard had already failed last week to convince a judge that he should force the owners, Gannett and Lee Enterprises, to keep publishing…

  We just read a letter from a reader outraged at an upcoming five-day conference for federal employees being held this August at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge luxury resort hotel. We can see why she’s ticked. The government is going to borrow 46 cents of every dollar it spends…

How bad is pancreatic cancer? Ninety percent of people who find out they have it die within a year. And the pancreas isn’t even a brand-name digestive organ, like the kidney or liver. The ghastly statistic is one reason the gene-science gurus at TGen in Phoenix are major recipients in $74 million of gifts being distributed…

Phoenix police reported today that Mike Tyson’s 4-year-old daughter, Exodus, who was found “unresponsive” Sunday after choking on a treadmill cord, died this morning at 11:45 a.m. Police so far have termed the incident a “tragic accident.” The call to police about a child not breathing came in at 10:34…

  The death of a mother during or just after childbirth, like that of Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin’s wife, Kerry, is a relatively rare occurence these days, compared to most of human history. Still, the problem remains “significant,” says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The United States had an…

  Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin’s wife of 13 years died this morning while giving birth to the couple’s son. State House Speaker Kirk Adams announced the tragic news on the House floor, “his voice breaking,” according to the Arizona Republic. KTAR (92.3 FM) news also has the story, complete with a…

  The U.S. Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is seeking a supervisor and agents to operate a recently approved investigation office in Phoenix. The news, (first reported in the Arizona Daily Sun yesterday), comes after about two years of talks for such an office. ICE has offices in Phoenix, Tucson, Douglas, Nogales,…

  The rumor mill had Janet Napolitano as a potential Supreme Court justice nominee, but President Barack Obama today announced Sonia Sotomayor was his choice. Looks like the former Arizona governor will have to to slog it out with border-reform activists and angry conservatives for a while longer as Homeland Security secretary…

  “Blood” in the streets. Scorched landscapes of foreclosed homes. Snarky bidding wars among investors. This  is the Phoenix metro area readers of the New York Times knew over the weekend. In case you missed it, “Amid Rubble of Housing Bust, One City Bigins a New Frenzy,” is a breezy but fun romp…

  Statistics that showed Arizona had a seat belt usage rate of more than 95 percent a few years ago were probably bogus, says Alberto Gutier, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. Gutier, who was fired by Governor Janet Napolitano as highway office director in 2003, was reappointed…

  Peoria police will man a DUI checkpoint at the entrance to Lake Pleasant on Castle Hot Springs Road on Monday, and Tempe will host a DUI task force. The enforcement efforts are aimed at reducing vehicle collisions on what is considered “one of the most deadly holidays for motorists,”…

Terry Goddard says the presence of a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office patrol car near his Phoenix home Friday morning made his family “uncomfortable.” “This is not typical, and it made my wife and son uncomfortable,” the attorney general said in a prepared statement. “I hope the deputy was engaged in…

Mark Flatten, an investigative reporter with the East Valley Tribune for more than 20 years, is leaving the newspaper on June 5 to start work as an investigator for the Goldwater Institute.Flatten helped the newspaper on many of its biggest stories and won numerous awards over the years. According to…

A former Maricopa County jail inmate who was stripped to his underwear and felt up by a female guard-in-training during a search did not have his rights violated, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. Charles Byrd, who was convicted of trafficking in stolen goods, was in the…