LifeLock, the scandal-plagued, anti-identify-theft company based in Tempe, has been ordered to pay $100 million and agree for violating terms of a 2010 settlement agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The company, which charges customers a monthly fee for services it claims can protect against the crime of identity…
Uber is offering free rides to new customers in Arizona this holiday season to cut down on DUI crashes, it was announced today. The company joined with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in announcing the program. County Attorney Bill Montgomery said he wants “to leverage Uber’s innovative ride-sharing model to…
Michael Botticelli, President Barack Obama’s new Drug Czar, said on 60 Minutes that he doesn’t believe in cannabis legalization, deeming it “bad public health policy.” The hypocrisy meter is off the charts on this one: Botticelli works for Obama, who is destined to go down as the greatest marijuana president of…
Is Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery the only local politician in the state who spends the public’s money promoting himself — or he just the only one honest enough to admit it? According to a five-year-old state law, local governments are supposed to report what their elected officials spend on…
A wealthy Tempe attorney has been sentenced to five years’ probation, forced to give up hundreds of thousands of dollars, and stripped of the right to practice law — all because he stole money he didn’t need.
Diane Douglas’ assault case against State School Board President Greg Miller has been slapped down by Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery. Douglas, the Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction who Miller once called “unqualified for the job,” claimed that the board president assaulted her on August 24 at a board meeting…
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey says he wants state agencies to make everything they do more efficient and that his office will issue scorecards next year to measure their efforts. Ducey began ramping up the state’s Government Transformation Office after taking office in January, calling the project his “Lean Transformation Initiative.”…
About one-third of the top positions for Arizona state agencies received a boost in pay for 2015, with many of Governor Doug Ducey’s new hires now getting paid substantially more than their predecessors. Arizona state employees received no general base-pay increase for 2015, and nationally, Americans saw wages increase by…
Detective Sean Pearce has been disciplined following an internal investigation for his role in an on-the-job crash that killed a citizen, but the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office refuses to elaborate further on the action. Brandon Jones, a spokesman for Sheriff Joe Arpaio, says details may be released when Pearce —…
Abengoa, the Spanish company that built the expansive $2 billion concentrated solar plant near Gila Bend, is broke and headed toward a possible bankruptcy filing. It’s the latest solar scandal for the Obama administration, which picked Abengoa for billions in lucrative loan guarantees. This week, Abengoa filed in Spain for…
Arizona voters are split nearly 50-50 on adult-use marijuana legalization, according to a new poll showing the need for supporters to work together if they want to end pot prohibition next year. Overall, 49 percent of voters support and 51 percent oppose the idea of “recreational” marijuana legalization, says the poll…
A Democratic “dark-money” group finally registered with the state as a political committee to avoid getting slapped with a contempt charge, the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office announced today. Problems for the group, the Committee for Justice and Fairness, began when it ran TV ads in 2010 attacking then-Attorney General…
Elizabeth Ferszt, an Arizona State University English instructor, writes in a recent blog post how a small dose of THC edibles reduced to her to babbling, convulsing mess one afternoon a few weeks ago in Los Angeles. The short, dramatic narrative is peppered with information she researched afterward and concoudes…
Tempe police hit the social-media jackpot today with a clever meme based on the true tale of a guy who may now regret going that extra mile for his girlfriend. “CHIVALRY,” reads the caption of a picture of a white, four-door pickup truck in the parking lot of the Tempe…
Researchers in Phoenix have found genes identified with Broken-Heart Syndrome, a severe heart condition that appears during times of intense stress. The discovery could lead to better treatments for patients who are at risk for the problem, officially known as stress-induced cardiomyopathy, (SIC), say scientists at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix…
A new video from the Great American Petting Zoo shows Gusgus the goat playing at his new home on a Texas ranch following his brief kidnapping earlier this month. The adorable, fuzzy goat was stolen from the Arizona State Fair at 1826 West McDowell Road on November 4. How the thief…
Questions by New Times about statistics related to marijuana and driving have caused Arizona officials to make changes to state traffic-accident reports. New check-boxes referencing marijuana will be added to accident forms, possibly as soon as next year, says Alberto Gutier, director of the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety…
No open-meeting violation occurred over an order to place anti-abortion stickers in Gilbert Public Schools’ biology textbooks in August, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office ruled. However, the school district’s governing board was set to receive mandatory training last night on Arizona’s Open Meeting Law at a special session because of…
The nation has seen six years of legal medical or recreational marijuana use in 23 states and Washington, D.C., not to mention decades of widespread illegal use, but experts still have no real idea whether the drug poses any significant danger. What is certain is that marijuana is the second…
Following a terrorist attack in Paris, a jumbo-jet bombing in the Middle East, and threats by ISIS to take their battle to the American homeland, it may not be the best time to cut back on airport security. But controversial brain scientist Peter Steinmetz and some friends held signs and…
A Chandler medical-marijuana lawyer’s license could go up in smoke in a State Bar of Arizona discipline case that involves accusations of shady deals, backstabbing her own clients, and making a dishonest grab for tainted cash. The allegations of ethical misconduct, conflict of interest and lying appear in an explosive…
Despite Governor Doug Ducey’s intended ban on Syrian refugees, Arizona’s actually been one of the friendliest states to refugees in the United States for the last 40 years. Since 1975, 74,453 refugees arrived in Arizona, according to the Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program. A 2010 article in the New York Times…
