Bruce Jacobs By Ray Stern Right-wing ranter Bruce Jacobs from 550 am (KFYI) is in hot water with the Phoenix Police. The PD just put out a press release saying Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris will be hosting a press conference at 4 p.m. today to respond to statements Jacobs…

By Ray Stern Republican Congressman Trent Franks didn’t mince words when Joe Dana from Channel 12 (KPNX) asked him about the immigration sweeps Sheriff Joe Arpaio conducted last week in Surprise, which is part of Trent’s Congressional turf. “I think that our focus should not be upon going after people…

By Ray Stern About 1,700 fugitive illegal immigrants from the Phoenix area were eligible for a three-week voluntary deportation pilot program that’s ending today. Only one turned himself in. A guy from Estonia. Nationwide, a whopping total of eight people took advantage of the program. Only one was from Mexico,…

By Ray Stern Just about every news outlet in town has covered the pathetic case of Arizona Republic reporter Eugene Scott, who’s accused of leaving his 1-year-old Puggle in his hot SUV at the Chandler Fashion Center. Except for the Arizona Republic. A search for the story on the Republic’s…

Manuel Nieto Jr., Manuel Nieto Sr. and Velia Meraz By Ray Stern Two Phoenix siblings who claim in an ACLU lawsuit that they were racially profiled and harassed by Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies both have criminal records. As Manuel Nieto Jr. and Velia Meraz explained to me on Tuesday, their…

By Ray Stern Pacts signed recently by top law enforcers in Arizona and Mexico seem to be a good step in boosting the crime-fighting cooperation efforts of both countries. After all, as the Tucson Citizen noted in an opinion column on Sunday, “people and drugs flow illegally from Mexico into…

By Ray Stern You probably know by now that a couple of good old boys from Georgia are claiming to have found Bigfoot. Besides making a huge media splash nationally, a quick Web search shows the story’s being featured locally in the Arizona Republic, Tucson’s Daily Star, and local TV…

By Ray Stern A front page story in the Arizona Republic today told us all about Christa Parra, the 27-year-old Latina from Phoenix who’s becoming a nun. Yet the paper didn’t mention Sarah Cieplinski or Jessica Wrigley, two other local women in their early 20s taking their final vows this…

By Ray Stern Want to know how to find the Ellis-Shackelford house (pictured above), the “only intact mansion along the downtown portion of Central Avenue?” This colorful map and accompanying key allows computer users to find many such historic sites in downtown Phoenix. It’s somewhat addictive — zooming in on…

By Ray Stern Within a few short years, accidents like the one that happened to Ashley Mortensen last night will be less common. Just as breakaway steering columns, safety glass and even rear-view mirrors were once seen as optional safety measures, backup-safety technology is poised to become standard on all…

By Ray Stern This is a scene from an impressive mountain rescue on Camelback Mountain, shot by KTVK-Channel 3’s news chopper. It was the most dramatic of three rescues on the mountain in just the last two weeks. One of the great things about Camelback is that you can have…

A Sheriff’s Office deputy gives a citation to a Hispanic man during an April “crime sweep” in Guadalupe By Ray Stern The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Friday that an investigator from the agency had called employees at the East Valley Tribune last month, after the newspaper had published a…

Dr. Ross Lavatter, accused of helping run the largest prostitution ring in state history By Ray Stern It’s been two days since Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced that “big name clients” were among the suspected johns of an alleged prostitution ring busted this week. Another newspaper article quotes authorities…

By Ray Stern As many savvy readers know, the scrappy East Valley Tribune published a five-day series in mid-July that really socked it to Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his illegal immigration enforcement efforts. The Sheriff’s Office appeared stunned by the whole series and has never issued any formal response to…

By Ray Stern The Bashas’ grocery store chain still hasn’t presented any direct proof that union workers planted expired baby formula on store shelves, but a showdown over the issue now seems assured. Last week, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Douglas Rayes ruled that the defamation lawsuit brought by Bashas’…

By Ray Stern Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas went out of his way to try to connect New Times to the announcement of the local bust of a large prostitution ring. Chloe Magouliotis, Kursta Luna and Kari Fager, who were among those arrested in connection with an alleged prostitution ring…

Sylvia Stocking and Matthew Skaggs By Ray Stern The couple pictured above not only allowed their 2-year-old daughter to ingest marijuana, police say, but exposed the kid to “horrendously unhealthy” conditions inside their El Mirage home. Bill Louis, El Mirage’s assistant police chief, says the home barely had any furnishings…

By Ray Stern Fewer Maricopa County residents had babies in 2007 than the year before — the first such decline in 15 years. I know what you’re thinking — the cause must be all those pregnant illegal immigrants being scared out of the Valley by mean old Sheriff Joe. But…

Rather than admit to either incompetence or political tricks in this bogus investigation, Arpaio decided to print a lie about what that “investigation” supposedly revealed.

Phil Gordon By Ray Stern After Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon accused Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s deputies of racial profiling in an April 4 letter to the U.S. Attorney General, Arpaio “ordered an immediate investigation” into the charge, according to a Sheriff’s Office press release. The newly released report on…

By Ray Stern A Phoenix man is sitting in jail today on suspicion of touching, grabbing, and possibly trying to kidnap or molest a dozen young girls in recent weeks. His name is Robert Jesse Payan, 28. But police don’t want you to see who he is yet. They haven’t…