Laura Devany, a spokeswoman for state Senate Republicans, just won the Arizona Capitol Times “Best Government PR Person” award. She’d better sharpen her resume. The last two people picked for the award by Capitol Times readers, also both spokesman for Republican lawmakers, were fired from their posts. Nick Simonetta, a…
Holy bank robbery, Batman! (Or maybe it should be hole-y). Cops and the FBI are looking for a robber with above-average planning skills who forced the employees of a Peoria bank to open a cash vault. On Tuesday morning, the man broke into a Christian bookstore right next to the Chase Bank at 8978 W…
Public schools send some disabled kids to private schools — but parents can’t do the same thing with state money, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled today. The state’s high court struck down two voucher programs that intended to give a combined $5 million in taxpayer funds to private schools chosen by parents…
A hotly disputed pro-labor-union bill that looked like it was heading for passage after Democratic gains in the 2008 election was essentially killed today by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. New Times first told our readers about this proposed federal law in our feature story on the local fight between a labor union and the Bashas’…
Though most identity theft victims don’t have it too hard, others get put through the wringer. Witness the case of Marc and Rachel Griffith, a Washington couple dealing with the electronic mess made by a suspect who was arrested today by Phoenix police. Marc Griffith nearly gave up his dream…
Governor Jan Brewer insisted on relocating a campaign fundraiser this week to distance herself — both figuratively and physically — from a key figure in a 2000 state subsidy scandal. Brewer could have anticipated problems with this one. The Wednesday fundraiser was to be held in the Paradise Valley home of Nathan…
“The victim in this case thought he was doing some people a favor.”
The daily newspaper industry seems to be violently ill, if not on its death bed, judging by the onslaught of furloughs, layoffs and shutdowns. But coming to the rescue is a Democratic senator from Maryland, Benjamin Cardin (pictured), who today introduced a bill that would allow newspapers to operate as…
Every journalist loves a good leak, and Gannett’s got enough of them to keep a whole Web site afloat. We told you about Gannett’s latest round of furloughs yesterday (okay, that was after the Gannett-owned newspaper published its own an Associated Press article — but azcentral buried it). Today, an…
There were certainly no surprises from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office yesterday during a legislative hearing on unserved felony and misdemeanor warrants. Back in November of 2007, Paul Chagolla, then the spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, told the Scottsdale Times that talk of unserved warrants:…appeared to be designed…
Three high-profile Arizonans are finalists for the “Time 100,” Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of the year. They are: *Stephenie Meyer, Gilbert resident and author of the popular novel, Twilight. Read about Meyer in New Times’ 2007 feature story about her. *Danica Patrick, the short-but-sweet Indy…
Arizona Supreme Court Justice Ruth McGregor announced today that she would leave office and retire at the end of June to spend more time with her family. McGregor, a 1974 graduate of the Arizona State University College of Law, has a solid reputation in the legal community and a long history of community service…
One employee of the Arizona Republic noted wryly in a Facebook status update that he was at home on a mandated, unpaid leave when news came of a second round of Gannett furloughs. The new mandate requires most of Gannett’s 41,000 employees — including those at the state’s largest newspaper and Channel…
Lawyers in a major lawsuit that sought better conditions for Maricopa County Jail inmates want the county to reimburse their $1.4 million in fees since a judge ruled in their favor. In October, U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake ordered the county to allow pretrial inmates to take their prescribed medications, to give…
With so much county news going on, we had temporarily overlooked this fascinating tidbit: Dave Hendershott Thomas Irvine, the lawyer hired by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to help backhoe the rift between top county leaders, has been appointed as co-counsel to assist in the county’s defense of a major lawsuit…
Lisa Gopalan heard several stories of alleged racial profiling while working for the Arizona branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and now she’s got one about herself. The former office manager and spokesperson for CAIR-AZ was pulled over by Gilbert police and arrested last month on suspicion of driving while impaired,…
Laying off 40 percent of the employees at the East Valley Tribune wasn’t enough for Freedom Communications, the local paper’s Orange County parent company. The Trib’s publisher, Julie Moreno, announced this morning that remaining employees must take five days of unpaid leave between April 1 and June 30, says an article on…
A case of a Phoenix gun dealer whose sales were allegedly tied to Mexican drug cartels fell apart yesterday after a judge decided the state didn’t have enough evidence. The prosecution of George Iknadosian, (at right), of Glendale, had been heavily promoted to the news media by authorities who wanted to…
President Obama is giving Air Force One another workout with his second schlep to the Valley in four months. Obama plans on giving the spring commencement address to about 8,000 Arizona State University students at 7 p.m. on May 13. More people will see the celeb-president than during his visit…
With thousands out of work, Golfland Entertainment Centers will likely host a good-sized crowd at its Saturday job fair for seasonal workers. But, to quote from a New Times headline this week, applicants better have their papers in order. If you’ll recall, Golfland was the site of a safari-hunt for…
As we’ve noted, the number of riders on the new Metro light rail system can be seen as either a train half-empty or half-full. There’s no debate, however, on the idea that ridership should keep increasing. But now, Valley Metro has cast doubt on light rail’s ability to hit…
Just got word that the cease-and-desist motion filed by Maricopa County Andrew Thomas to stop the county from taking over civil litigation matters has failed. Superior Court Judge Donald Daughton rejected the motion. As we were the first to report on Monday, the county Board of Supervisors voted to…
