Wall Street Journal picture of Lillie McCain, a descendant of slaves owned by John McCain’s ancestors By Ray Stern As a story on the front page of the Wall Street Journal points out today, the race for the White House isn’t just between a white guy and a black guy,…
By Ray Stern Problems with apparently bogus voter registrations turned in by ACORN, a group now under investigation by the FBI for voter fraud, haven’t been a problem in Maricopa County, says Maricopa County Elections Department director Karen Osborne. Even if the group had turned in bad registrations here, Arizona’s…
By Ray Stern Here on the light-rail stop at 12th Street and Jefferson, we’ve been hearing the guttural “honk-honking” and trolley-like “ding-dinging” for a few days during test runs of the new trains, which are set to kick off operations on December 27. But let’s face it — you probably…
McCain’s “how-do-I-get-off this stage” faux pas at the end of last night’s debate resulted in what may be the silliest picture ever of a U.S. Senator or presidential candidate. The perspective almost makes it look like McCain wants to literally chew Obama’s ass, doesn’t it? The picture — this one…
DPS Medic Bruce Harrolle died Monday after being struck by helicopter rotor blades By Ray Stern The Arizona Department of Public Safety on Wednesday published a Web page dedicated to Officer Bruce Harrolle, a Valley resident who died Monday during a rescue of stranded hikers near Sedona. The site promises…
Manuel Nieto Jr., Manuel Nieto Sr. and Velia Meraz By Ray Stern A recording of a 911 call obtained by New Times reveals that some kind of altercation did, in fact, occur last spring between deputies from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and two North Phoenix siblings who allege they…
By Ray Stern The local political blog Sonoran Alliance posted an article today that claims the Arizona Republic is “censoring news” about one of its lawyers, David Bodney, (pictured), who was also editor of New Times back in 1992. The author of the article, “Pat,” didn’t feel comfortable enough with…
By Ray Stern The typical voting dilemma: Do you vote for the devil you know, or the devil you don’t know? In the case of Debra Pearson, it might be both. Before she was married on December 31, 2006, Pearson’s name was Debra Brimhall. (Here’s her wedding picture with husband…
By Ray Stern News media interest in Monday’s death of an Arizona Department of Public Safety medic shouldn’t surprise anyone. Bruce Harrolle (pictured) was the first DPS officer to die in the line of duty since 2000, and the macabre way he was killed — struck by the helicopter’s spinning…
By Ray Stern As reported last week, the East Valley Tribune (it’s called the Scottsdale Tribune in Scottsdale) plans to lay off nearly half of its work force in January, publish just four days a week and stop delivering entirely in Tempe and Scottsdale. But don’t expect the Arizona Republic…
By Ray Stern Citizens from Arizona and other states have used YouTube to help catch criminals. Now, officials with the Valleywide Silent Witness program are hoping the popularity of Google’s video-sharing Web site will pay off in leads for unsolved crimes. The non-profit organization headed up by Phoenix police Sgt…
By Ray Stern A Border Patrol checkpoint nailed Paul Newman, an Arizona Corporation Commission candidate and current Cochise County Supervisor, for driving with pot residue in his county car four years ago. According to the article by Arizona’s one-man news service, Howard Fischer, a report by Border Patrol agent Joe…
By Ray Stern Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio urges the public to trash the Valley’s two largest daily newspapers in his new campaign ad (above). Wonder if the Arizona Republic’s strongly endorsing Democrat Dan Saban, his opponent for sheriff in the upsoming election, had anything to do with this? “You…
Jim Ripley, the Trib’s executive editor, will reportedly retire in January. By Ray Stern The layoffs at the East Valley Tribune went deep, affecting some of the most prominent bylines at the paper, sources say. The most notable: Executive Editor Jim Ripley announced he will retire in January, the month…
By Ray Stern The East Valley Tribune will publish just four days a week, lose its Scottsdale and Tempe coverage and undergo massive layoffs, according to sources who just attended a meeting with the paper’s publisher. Trib publisher Julie Moreno addressed the staff at a highly anticipated (and not in…
By Ray Stern First, thank you to “John,” who posted a comment on my previous blog post today, pointing out that KFYI also had an article about the illegal immigration report that had been released by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas [pictured]. I called KFYI at about 3:30 p.m. and…
By Ray Stern Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has put together an intriguing report with lots of statistics about illegal immigration and crime. But I can’t share any details about it with you yet because 92.3 FM (KTAR) is apparently the only news outlet that’s seen the report. You know,…
By Ray Stern Middle-aged Hollywood babe Virginia Madsen wants you to know how much Botox and and voting have in common. “To Madsen, it is all about freedom of expression – whether you are in the voting booth, or the dermatologist’s office,” says a press release from a PR firm…
Alexis Estrada-Garcia of Guadalajara, Mexico, must have been surprised when the officer asked for her identification. She was just a passenger in the vehicle the officer had pulled over one evening in late February and probably did not think she was doing anything illegal. But there is a seat belt…
By Ray Stern In Phoenix, you never know when you need spray a city street with high-powered slugs from an assault rifle. That’s apparently the thinking behind the Phoenix City Council’s decision this afternoon to fund the purchase of 60 new Bushmaster rifles [similar to the one pictured here] for…
Channel 3’s Carey Pena By Ray Stern My head is still reeling after talking last week to Channel 3 news reporter Carey Pena and Andrew Thomasites Jason Rose and Barnett Lotstein. With Rose and Lotstein, confusion and spin is to be expected. Rose is the big-haired veteran political hired gun…
By Ray Stern Scottsdale police swooped down on a peaceful photo radar protest last night and arrested activist Jason Shelton [pictured] for the second time in three weeks. As one photo-radar watchdog Web site reports today, this was another “crack down on those who disagree with the city’s photo enforcement…
