An unsuccessful stadium concert hosted by the Associated Students of the University of Arizona will be costing students for years to come.The Last Smash Platinum Bash concert took place at the Arizona Stadium in Tucson and featured Jay-Z, Kelly Clarkson, Third Eye Blind, and other musical groups. According to the…
True, we’re a bit cynical about the benefits of the green movement. One reason is people like Danny Seo, who use the concept of green to make a lot of green. Sure, Seo’s a nice guy who was born on Earth Day and wants to save the planet. But what’s…
Larry Giebelhausen (right) should go into politics. The Phoenix police lieutenant lobbied his friends, fellow church members, and about anyone would listen to vote for him online in a contest hosted by Golf Digest magazine and the U.S. Open. He even got the Arizona Republic to publish an article…
Nothing like Internet humor to brighten up your Monday morning, even if it’s only about 40 watts’ worth. With that, we bring you a list straight from the Downtown Voices Coalition’s Web site, which says the list originated as a chain e-mail: How to Drive in Phoenix 1. “Phoenix “…
The most pressing question about the H1N1 “swine flu” virus now seems to be: Will the thing return this fall and kill millions?Locally, the panic has ratcheted way down, with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health declaring on Saturday that new cases of swine flu would not result in…
We’d been wondering why Robert Anglen’s byline has been scarce. Turns out the award-winning Arizona Republic reporter has been toiling away — with editor David Fritze and “data reporter” Ryan Konig — on a one-year investigation of corrupt charities and how they hide money for the nefarious purposes of their…
Worth a quick mention this morning is the post by New York Times writer Jerry Garrett in the Wheels blog about the Valley murder of a speed camera operator. It seems the murder of Douglas Georgianni can hardly avoid being deemed political: While the police have not offered a motive…
In the “where are they now?” category, a former Air Force officer and realtor who served for two years as state real estate commissioner now offers his services as a formulator of “P3” public-private partnerships.Squeezed out by the new administration, Sam Wercinski recently announced he’s joined the 17-member board of…
Renee Bahl, the new executive director of the Arizona State Parks Board, carved her name 10 years ago in a historic adobe wall at the San Rafael Ranch in Santa Cruz County. And that doesn’t sit well with one state legislator who says the act should have kept her from being selected by…
It’s unusual when a woman murders a little kid, but not unheard of. California has Melissa Huckaby, accused of raping and murdering an 8-year-old girl. And Arizona has Mercedes Howard, 29, who sentenced on Wednesday to 17.5 years in prison for abusing and killing her live-in girlfriend’s 3-year-old son. An investigation showed that Howard,…
Health officials are starting to suspect the swine flu virus first reported in Mexico won’t hurt people more than a regular flu. If officials can confirm that, the news might end the rash of recent school closures. Bob England, director of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, says data trickling in from Mexico on…
An employee with the state Department of Environmental Quality who also teaches for the University of Phoenix has been been indicted for mortgage fraud.Kailash Bhatt tried to sell the granite countertops and appliances of a foreclosed home in direct violation of the mortgage contract, says Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas…
It’s another boring day working at Fiesta Mall. What to do for excitement? If you’re Jose Gonzalez, a mall employee who’s in a peck of trouble right now, you write a scary threat on a bathroom wall: A bomb will go off at 7:34 p.m. The time sounds too precise…
Pinal County Recorder Laura Dean-Lytle’s political career is in doubt after she hired her daughter’s ex-con boyfriend and promoted him to sensitive position despite disciplinary actions and poor work performance. The employee, Albert Robbs, used his position to obtain bank account information on Pinal County residents, which he sold to…
One of former lawmaker Greg Patterson’s schticks on his blog, Espresso Pundit, has been to bash daily newspapers. Now he wants to be one — or an online version, anyway.The popular local blogger is shilling for subscribers on his Web site, saying he’ll produce a new cyber-product called the Espresso…
Goodyear’s director of engineering and his wife are arrested for child abuse after their daughter ends up with two broken legs and a broken arm. Help not wanted: The unemployment line awaits for tens of thousands of Arizonans, says a state Commerce Department report… An estimated 2,000 people are expected…
The Maricopa Medical Center and Banner Hospitals are among the health care facilities restricting visitors for the duration of the swine flu outbreak. It’s nothing dramatic — just an extension of seasonal flu guidelines put in place each year. They include: *No hospital visits at all by kids under 12…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is directing $82 million in Recovery Act Funds to Arizona water projects. The money will “create jobs, boost local economies, improve aging water and wastewater infrastructure and protect human health and the environment,” says the EPA. The money will come mostly in two big chunks: $55.3…
Image: Wikicommons Two more Valley schools will close for seven days after students were found to have swine flu, but health officials say all four known Arizona swine flu cases have been mild. (Note: This article was updated at 3:40 p.m.) The two schools are Tarwater Elementary and Hartford Sylvia Encinas Elementary schools, both…
Arizona needs a more affordable business model for its universities in the face of state budget realities, Governor Jan Brewer said this morning to the Arizona Board of Regents. In the short term, hundreds of millions of federal stimulus dollars will be used over the next couple of years to keep tuition reasonably low,…
The robot-like device standing in a gravel lot at the corner of Arizona Avenue and Buffalo is more than just a couple of surveillance cameras. The spindly contraption is really an anti-Mexican Machine, designed to discourage day laborers from hanging out in downtown Chandler. Despite the cameras’ gaze, three Hispanic men stood…
Lunchtime? In Mesa, it’s home invasion time. Just before 12:30 yesterday afternoon, two men kicked in the front door of a home near Country Club Drive and Brown, Mesa police say. Not even a knock, apparently. They tied up the woman who owned the place and “ransacked the house.” This line in…
