Ersula Ore, the Arizona State University assistant professor whose controversial, videotaped arrest last year was perceived widely as possible police brutality, has missed her deadline to sue the university. Ore submitted a $2 million notice of claim to her employer back in January that accused officials — including Stewart Ferrin,…
Revenge is a dish best served on video, as a short, helmet-cam film from a Yuma road-rage incident shows. In the video, which has gone viral with more than five million views on YouTube since being uploaded on Sunday, a motorcyclist gets punched in the head by an angry, middle-aged man…
Arizona State University Professor Matthew Whitaker has withdrawn his company’s six-digit, diversity-training contract from the Phoenix Police Department following his demotion for plagiarism. The Phoenix City Council approved the $268,000 contract with Whitaker’s company, Whitaker Group, LLC, in a 4-0 vote on May 13. Officials said at the time that…
Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio wants a diversity-training program for police canceled following news that the professor in charge of the program, Matthew Whitaker, has been demoted for plagiarism. As New Times reported on Friday, Arizona State University officials demoted Whitaker to associate professor and made him co-director of the…
Popular Arizona State University professor Matthew Whitaker has been demoted in the aftermath of his second plagiarism scandal, just weeks after he won a $268,000 no-bid contract to teach Phoenix police about “cultural consciousness.” In a recent email to ASU faculty, Interim University Provost Mark Searle states that “significant issues”…
Tempe police officers were required to attend a workshop recently on “privilege” to help them better understand their own biases. Content for the classes came from a workshop series developed by Arizona State University’s Project Humanities program. Called “Perils and Perks of Privilege,” the workshops were held in communities across…
An inadequate setup for a rappel anchor led to the 125-foot, fatal fall of Arizona State University student Katelyn Conrad in January, a newly released report shows. The tragic incident, like the rappelling deaths of a Phoenix firefighter and a 15-year-old boy at Camelback Mountain last August, could also have…
If Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker gets himself elected president next year, he might remember that Arizona Governor Doug Ducey hired one of his friends. It’s possible that the connection between Scott Walker and Sue Black — the new State Parks Department executive director — is a key reason Ducey appointed…
The Arizona Department of Gaming and Phoenix police raided a Phoenix Internet cafe on Wednesday, arresting the manager in connection with an illegal gambling operation. Bradley John Babinski, Jr., 28, was arrested after 1 p.m. yesterday following an investigation of the Netclix Internet Cafe at 3575 North Dunlap Avenue in…
A group of news agencies have banded together to try to force disclosure of now-sealed records related to the Phoenix man being held in the Garland, Texas attack. Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., (publisher of the Arizona Republic), Channel 5 (KPHO-TV), Channel 12 (KPNX-TV) and Channel 15 (KNXV-TV) filed suit today in…
Friday’s guilty plea by Cave Creek resident Karen Finley, ex-CEO of the photo-enforcement company Redflex, has many people wondering: Who, if anyone, did Finley bribe in Arizona? Redflex Traffic Systems, which is based in Phoenix as a subsidiary of Australia’s Redflex Holdings company, has had numerous contracts with Arizona municipalities…
Jamie Votaw, the co-owner of a cleaning company that hired undocumented immigrants in the 2000s, was sentenced last week in federal court to five years’ probation and ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution. Court records show that her husband, Joel Votaw, the company’s CEO, was equally culpable for the crime. But…
Karen Finley, former CEO of the Phoenix-based Redflex Traffic Systems, pleaded guilty today in federal court to an eight-year bribery-and-fraud scheme that helped the company retain photo-enforcement contracts with two Ohio cities. Finley, 55, of Cave Creek, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Terence P. Kemp of the Southern District…
After five years of legal medical-marijuana in Arizona, health department officials say this week they have no evidence that marijuana has been the cause of any death in the state. Nor can the same officials present to the public any supporting evidence behind a 2013 study that claims the deaths…
The former head of security for the Rockbar in Scottsdale has been arrested in connection with a June 3 video of a man caught urinating through a mail slot. David Azari, 30, was arrested at 9:25 a.m. on Thursday and booked on suspicion of misdemeanor criminal damage, disorderly conduct, urinating…
Phoenix Parks and Recreation officials are helping out hikers who seek peace and quiet at Camelback Mountain with a new sign asking people to limit their amplified music. Other new signs warns of an impending crackdown on after-dark hiking. A city ordinance has long banned the use of amplified music…
At the end of the week, we bring you a roundup of visitors to the Fourth Avenue Jail in downtown Phoenix. To be considered for Mugshots of the Week, get arrested, strike a pose, and we’ll take care of the rest. This week: Too cool 10) Booked on suspicion of:…
Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, the 43-year-old suspect accused of helping carry out last month’s terrorist attack in Garland, Texas, worked several months ago at the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix cleaning carpets, New Times has learned. Kareem was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on charges that he…
All charges have been dropped in the child-abuse case against a Liberian couple who blamed their 8-year-old daughter for being gang-raped. The 2009 Phoenix incident made international headlines and sparked fresh commentary about Liberia’s alleged sub-culture of rape, which evolved during the West African nation’s civil war from 1989 to…
Kristen Keogh, former Fox 10 News reporter and Arizona Coyotes cheerleader, was one of new state Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s more, um, interesting, hires. Brnovich, a Republican with a quirky history and personality, (as covered by fellow New Times writer Stephen Lemons in a February feature article), chose Keogh as…
In November, New Times reported that the $2 billion Solana solar plant near Gila Bend had produced only two-thirds of its advertised electricity output. Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that the plant is producing only “half” of the expected output. New Times talked to Arizona Public Service…
For years, Arizona authorities have been telling poker enthusiast John Schnaubelt that he can’t host poker tournaments that include cash prizes for the winners. The same authorities have no intention of hindering the upcoming U.S. Open Chess Champion — an event that’s older than the state — even though it…
