Captain Joel Fox of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office wants to appeal his $315,000 fine for making an illegal donation in the name of the mysterious “Sheriff’s Command Association.” Fox filed a request for a hearing and informal settlement conference yesterday, New Times has learned. See below for a link…
The county power struggle continues as Maricopa County Supervisors announce plans to retain former County Attorney Rick Romley as a bulwark against current County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Which side are you rooting for? Fabian Cota, head of the Mesa police union, is under investigation for what you might call a police senior moment: He’s accused of leaving…
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors can tell an elected county official how much money to spend each year, but aren’t supposed to dictate how the money is spent. Yet that’s exactly what the supervisors are trying to do at the County Treasurer’s office, says the treasurer, Charles “Hos” Hoskins…
David Spade doesn’t forget his roots. The former Valley resident cut a $100,000 check today to fund the purchase of new rifles for the Phoenix Police Department. In a news release, (reprinted below), police say Spade “had been made aware” of a program — covered in a previous Valley Fever blog post –…
Maryland teens reportedly have found a new use for a speed-camera program launched last year in that state’s Montgomery County. According to an online “exclusive” in the Montgomery County Sentinel newspaper, high school students in the area came up with a game called speed-camera “pimping” to send photo-enforcement tickets to teachers or…
Rapper DMX was flown back to Phoenix and booked into the Maricopa County Jail following his brief escapade as a fugitive in Florida. Seen here in his latest booking photo, DMX — who’s real name is Earl Simmons — looks downright unhappy to be back in the filthy jail run by Sheriff Joe Arpaio. According…
The Mexican government can’t figure out how to stop thugs from killing and kidnapping citizens. No wonder so many people want to flee the country. Still, there’s no competing with the cycle of violence in the Middle East where Israel is threatening a large strike against the Hamas-rule Gaza Strip. Closer to home, we’re worried…
Dave Pratt, former “Morning Mayor” of KUPD (97.9 FM), has “parted ways” with the country music station that employed him for five years. Judging from Pratt’s property tax statement, it may have been a bad time to lose his job. The legendary local DJ missed a deadline last month to pay…
The Maricopa County Attorney’s office has charged Arizona State Senator John Huppenthal with misdemeanor theft and altering or destroying political signs. As New Times pointed out when it covered this case last month, Huppenthal claims he had permission from a property owner to remove a political sign critical of him…
The Shaq went toy shopping recently at the Scottsdale Pavilions, an event labeled “breaking news” by the shopping center’s PR folks. While we appreciate the enterprising nature of Scottsdale Pavilions to drum up business with this “news,” we don’t usually fall for such commercial cheese. But the pictures submitted by the Pavilions did…
Charles “Hos” Hoskins, Maricopa County treasurer, has sued the county supervisors over computer issues and told them to pound sand recently when they asked for ideas on budget cuts. Now, all of a sudden, his daughter, Robin Hoskins, is being touted by county attorney Andrew Thomas as a “courageous” court employee who wants…
Honeywell’s Glendale manufacturing plant is about to begin work on parts for a spacesuit planned to be used in future explorations on the moon. NASA announced in June it had awarded a contract to a Houston company, Oceaneering International, to design and build two types of spacesuits. One will be made for…
Incoming! Governor Janet Napolitano lobs new union rule at state as she packs bags for Washington D.C. job. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office can’t seem to follow the law on public records, and it’s costing taxpayers more money. Illegal garden: At a Mesa home, cops raid a large pot-growing operation…
If you don’t believe Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas when he says the judge appointed to hear the Don Stapley criminal case is biased, maybe you’ll believe the experts he rounded up. Thomas submitted affidavits to the county Superior Court today by the experts, consisting of two judges, an attorney…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told the Business Journal this afternoon that Barack Obama won’t stop him from targeting illegal immigrants. Arpaio vowed to continue his sweeps and raids against illegal immigrants, despite expected pressure by Obama and his pick for U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder. And, he says, another…
Most conspiracy theories are so ridiculous, it’s hard to choose which are the least plausible or which faces the higher mountain of opposing evidence. Some seem within the realm of the possible, such as the ones that surround the assassination of JFK, the Pearl Harbor attack or the murder of Princess Di. Others, like…
The Arizona Republic has analyzed the distribution of new Border Patrol agents and come to the conclusion that our state is getting screwed. Janet Napolitano has one foot in Washington D.C. and one hand on a pen in Arizona as she prepares to sign an executive order she thinks the new Republican administration needs. In the “fascinating-but-disgusting” category,…
As noted in our recent blog post, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ office was told recently to provide the Superior Court by Monday with evidence that a judge is too biased against Thomas to hear the case of criminally indicted County Supervisor Don Stapley. Thomas couldn’t wait till Monday. He put out a news release today to continue his…
Well, we won’t have Paul Chagolla to kick around any more. The sometimes pleasant, often rude spokesman of six years for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been transferred to oversee the sheriff office’s training division. We knew something was up when we found out Chagolla had been promoted to deputy…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio always has plenty of juicy stories ready for the media. He recently announced he’ll start charging inmates for meals and his deputies made a couple more arrests in the case of illegal immigrants working for Golfland. But far more interesting is the way Arpaio is letting…
Scottsdale contractor Michael Campbell is going public over a dispute with one of his clients, a dentistry firm for which he recently built offices. It’s the kind of squabble over money and contracts that fills Maricopa County courts every day — in fact, Campbell filed a lawsuit last week against the…
It’s not just newspapers having a hard time — the liberal New York Observer is shutting down a dozen of its spin-off news Web sites, including Politicker AZ. The scrappy Web site popped up just in time for the election season this year, adding its own flavor of reporting to the local Internet…
