Arizona House Majority Leader Steve Montenegro insists that all prayers that begin the day at the Legislature must include a reference to God. In an apparent effort to stop blasphemies, Montenegro issued a proclamation to House membership on January 27 that a prayer, which is the second order of business…
A Scottsdale firefighter accused of starting a chaotic fight while off duty, has been docked 24 hours at work but avoided a criminal record following a deferred-prosecution deal. Chad Preslar, 28, was considered a primary instigator in the initial fight after police talked to witnesses and reviewed surveillance video, including…
Geocachers across Arizona are celebrating today after an executive action by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey recognized their activity and made it legal, with certain rules, on state land. Geocaching is an outdoor game that involves placing objects in small containers, marking their exact coordinates with a handheld GPS receiver, and…
New reports show the finances of an anti-marijuana group lag well behind a pro-legalization campaign. Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy (ARDP), led by Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, collected $90,095 in contributions from November 25, 2014, to December 31, 2015, according to campaign-finance reports released last week. After spending $19,000…
Two trouble-making teens from a Tempe trailer park stand accused of nearly killing passengers in two cars with rifle fire. Ivan Dominguez, 18, and an unnamed 15-year-old were arrested and booked into jail on Thursday night in connection with the crime. Detective zeroed in on the boys one day after…
Facebook shut down the pages of state-authorized medical-marijuana dispensaries this week in Colorado and elsewhere, including today in Arizona. “I don’t fully understand it, and I can’t explain it,” says J.P. Holyoak, principal of Arizona Natural Selections in Phoenix. “We got a notice this morning saying our account had been…
An unknown shooter targeted two cars randomly on a Tempe street on Wednesday night, Tempe police say, injuring no one but sparking a call to the public for information. The shootings come several months after Governor Doug Ducey famously tweeted “We got him!” following the arrest of a suspect accused…
Here, kitty, kitty! That sound you heard outside the tent while camping near Tucson? It could have been a jaguar. New wildlife-camera footage shot in the Santa Rita Mountains a few months ago shows off one of Arizona’s rarest and most beautiful mammals — Panthera onca, the native jaguar. This…
Ann Kirkpatrick is tied with John McCain in a new poll among state voters with an opinion about the upcoming U.S. Senate election. The Democratic congresswoman from Arizona’s District One still has an uphill battle, though, according to Earle de Berge, whose company, Behavior Research Center, conducts the Rocky Mountain Poll…
Andy Tobin says he’s “nervous” and “concerned” about a conflict of interest that will prevent him from voting on many major decisions as the newest Arizona Corporation Commission member. Tobin’s a Republican ex-lawmaker who served as Speaker of the House and, for a short time, director of the now-vanished state…
One thing we know about the chilly winter weather in metro Phoenix this morning. It won’t last. It’ll be 70 again before you know it — in February. Which is to say that visitors from other parts of the country will discover what the rest of us already know: It’s…
Don Harris is no longer the leader of Arizona’s largest NAACP chapter due to a sexist comment he made last week following a community meeting about six Ahwatukee teenagers’ use of a racial epithet. Harris, a local lawyer and former U.S. Marine Corps officer, had been under fire for several…
A family video of Paul Babeu soon after he became headmaster at a boarding school for troubled teens proves he knew of the perverse and abusive discipline at the school. Babeu, a former Chandler police officer and the sheriff of Pinal County since getting elected in 2008, is running for…
Don Harris, president of Arizona’s largest NAACP chapter, will find out on Monday whether he’ll be fired for saying a TV reporter had “nice tits” just after a meeting about six high school girls’ use of a racial slur. Under the hot-lamp since New Times published an article on Wednesday…
Publishing entrepreneur Steve Strickbine has purchased the East Valley Tribune and Ahwatukee Foothills News for an undisclosed price, vowing to improve the content of the semiweekly newspapers. Strickbine is the CEO of Times Media Group, which puts out the College Times, Scottsdale Airpark News, and other local print publications. He…
The president of the Maricopa County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People took heat and nearly resigned following an article in New Times about sexist comments he made about a TV reporter. The NAACP leader, Don Harris, didn’t return a voice mail. Harris got in…
Don Harris, head of the Maricopa County chapter of the NAACP, is concerned about the lack of sensitivity to black people. He was one of 40 or 50 community leaders and educators invited by the Tempe Union High School District to attend a private meeting on Tuesday about a widely…
The viral photo of six teenage girls spelling the n-word with T-shirts sparked a meeting this week of more than 40 community leaders that was closed to the public. The meeting on Tuesday afternoon over the still-hot subject of the photo, widely perceived as racist, was put together by Tempe…
Desert Vista High School students released a video to help their school following the firestorm over a photo shared widely on social media of six white students spelling the n-word with T-shirts. The video report was shot, written and produced by Thunder Media students who report on behalf of the school’s…
The former CEO of a nonprofit drug-treatment firm that contracts with Maricopa County has made a fortune off of Arizona marijuana offenders, records show. Barabara Zugor, who retired in 2014, reported earnings from TASC of $360,000 to $476,000 a year since at least 2008, online records show. In Maricopa County,…
A Maricopa County nonprofit that makes much of its money off low-level marijuana offenders would take a big financial hit if Arizona voters legalize marijuana in November. The Treatment Assessment Screening Center, better known as TASC, contracts with the county to provide six months of mandatory drug-treatment services for first-…
Six Desert Vista High School seniors caused outrage and were disciplined after a picture circulated on social media of the girls forming the n-word with letters on their shirts. Smiling and laughing as they press shoulders together to make the word, the girls seem to be proud of their spelling…
