The director of the Arizona Department of Economic Security, Tim Jeffries, plans to take roughly 200 letters from pious DES employees to a popular religious site in France later this month. Jeffries requested the letters in an April 10 email about the trip he sent to the state agency’s…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is taking some heat this afternoon by social-media users who think he went way too far in mentioning drug use by musician Prince, who died on Thursday at age 57. Arpaio’s known for making politically incorrect remarks and discriminating against Latinos, but he’s even ticked…
An Arizona Department of Economic Security worker cracked under the strain of an abusive boss, admitting herself to a psychiatric ward and talked of wanting to “shoot someone,” the agency says. When the DES Office of Inspector General investigated, witnesses corroborated the employee’s story of verbal and physical abuse, and…
Veterans with post-traumatic-stress disorder will soon be able to take part in cannabis study in Arizona and Colorado after recent approval by the Drug Enforcement Agency. The study will be conducted by the California-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) with embattled Arizona Dr. Sue Sisley, fired from the University…
Arizonans could reject “recreational marijuana” on the ballot this November, according to a poll released on this week by a group that opposes the measure. Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, led by Seth Leibsohn and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, commissioned the poll from Data Orbital, a company run by…
If the news releases posted on Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office website are supposed to represent what Joe Arpaio’s shop is doing lately, these must be the agency’s dog days. After 20 years of dog-and-pony shows from Arpaio, the intense focus on dogs has gotten to a ridiculous point. Something has…
Steve Gallardo, the lone Democrat on the five-member Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, says federal oversight of county elections is needed after last month’s voting debacle. He may right – but one glaring reason the county may need federal oversight of its elections because of the lack of county oversight…
Small-magnitude aftershocks are expected by the Arizona Geologic Survey following a swarm of mini-quakes in northwestern Arizona that began in late March. No damage was reported from any of the earthquakes, but there were more than 42 of them starting on March 28, according to the Arizona Geological Survey. The…
A new citizens’ initiative launched last week aims to help solar-power companies and customers by guaranteeing lucrative power-purchase rates for six years. But don’t expect a clear, sunny picture of the facts during what is sure to be a nasty fight in the next several months — the truth is…
Arizona has marijuana on the brain — and no wonder: The state has one of the country’s biggest medical-marijuana programs, it may approve an adult-use legalization initiative at the ballot in November, and it shares a border with one of the world’s biggest producers of cannabis. Here’s a roundup of…
Arizona and Maricopa County officials violated federal law and the Constitution with bad legislation and the bungled March 22 election, a group of voters and the Democratic Party allege in a lawsuit filed today. The anticipated lawsuit, which the Democratic National Committee said this week would be forthcoming, blasts the…
The Arizona Department of Health Services continues to spend big bucks to keep serious diseases from being listed as qualifying ailments under the state’s medical-marijuana program. In its latest effort, the department has spent tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars — which comes from medical-marijuana patients — trying to…
Hikers and people working outdoors could be better protected against venomous snakes in the future by packing along a bite-treatment product now under development at the University of Arizona. While still a long way from store shelves, the treatment’s already showing signs that it could be a life-saving breakthrough. The…
Stranded with her dog on a remote plateau in the Fort Apache Indian Reservation after her vehicle ran out of fuel, 72-year-old Ann Rodgers realized she’d need every survival technique she knew. It turns out she knows quite a few. The lithe, blond Tucson resident ate desert plants, drank from…
An Arizona citizens’ initiative campaign to legalize marijuana announced today that it has reached 200,000 signatures — more than needed to make November’s ballot. But the campaign is shooting for far more than it needs, at least 225,000 signatures, in case some invalidated.. “Voters want to have their say on…
House Speaker David Gowan today dropped the requirement that reporters must sign a background-check form to receive House floor privileges. The decision came under intense pressure from media outlets, and also followed New Times’ article that revealed that the form wasn’t really required to perform the sort of background checks that…
The Arizona Department of Public Safety said today it won’t take part in background checks on reporters for the state House of Representatives, raising key questions about the controversial process. Without help from law enforcement, House staff would be relegated to searching court sites and Google, same as any member…
Arizona’s got marijuana on the brain — and no wonder: The state has one of the country’s biggest medical-marijuana programs, it has at least one potential adult-use legalization initiative likely to appear on November’s ballot, and it shares a border with one of the world’s biggest producers of cannabis. Here’s…
Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the country, still is believed to be on the loose, 15 years after he allegedly slaughtered his wife and two kids before blowing up his Scottsdale home. On Friday, the week before Fisher turns 55, the FBI and Scottsdale police released…
Missed your chance to vent to about the chaos and delays of last month’s Presidential Preference Election in Arizona? Then head out to one of three public hearings in the Phoenix area starting on Monday and give Arizona Secretary of State Michelle Reagan a piece of your mind. She and…
The Scottsdale Police Department may be stating the obvious with its new public-safety campaign, but the cops are warning teens that unsupervised prom parties in hotel rooms are prime places to drink and do drugs. It’s called “We’re Coming to the Party!” — the “we” being Scottsdale police. And it’s…
News reporters were banned from the floor of the Arizona House of Representatives on Thursday in a move that many considered linked to negative coverage of House Speaker David Gowan. Whether or not Gowan retaliated against a single reporter by targeting them all, the new edict forced the news media…
