J.P. Holyoak cuts an intense presence as he prepares to guide news media members and a couple of local state representatives through his medical-marijuana cultivation facility. He appears even more stressed than the average late-30s man with three kids should be. Standing outside the nondescript brick-and-concrete industrial building in a…
Miriam Mendiola-Martinez, an undocumented immigrant who was shackled during her pregnancy after an arrest, has lost her lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. U.S. District Judge David Campbell has ruled that Mendiola-Martinez was indeed restrained at times before and just after giving birth in 2009 but that her treatment…
Last June, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery silenced Democratic County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox with threats of possible felony charges over her potential conflicts of interest. He’s yet to issue any warning to Republican Supervisor Denny Barney, who has potential conflicts on a different matter…
Phoenix recycles garbage at less than half of the national average rate, mostly because of a lack of awareness by residents, a city official says. To reduce the amount of waste the country’s sixth-largest city sends to landfills, officials have planned a diet of smaller trash cans and educational campaigns,…
Echo Canyon Recreation Area at Camelback Mountain re-opened Wednesday morning after a yearlong closure, and excited hikers jammed the renovated parking lot. One of the main features of the redeveloped trailhead and staging area was the expansion of the lot from 66 to 135 spaces. But rangers were turning away…
It was a fine morning on the day after Christmas, crumpled gift wrap still lying in the sleepy Paradise Valley homes below as a 17-year-old climber clung desperately to a sheer rock face at Camelback Mountain. Getting to the top of this freestanding 100-foot finger of pink rock on the…
It was a fine morning on the day after Christmas, crumpled gift wrap still lying in the sleepy Paradise Valley homes below as a 17-year-old climber clung desperately to a sheer rock face at Camelback Mountain. Getting to the top of this freestanding 100-foot finger of pink rock on the…
Jerry Sheridan, chief deputy under Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, is a reasonable guy compared to the corrupt man he replaced — but he sure sucks at math. In a column that ran in the Arizona Republic’s opinion section on Monday, Sheridan claims that “Sheriff Arpaio is a fiscally responsible…
Echo Canyon Trail at Camelback Mountain is scheduled to re-open to the public on January 15 with a new trailhead, restroom facilities, and expanded parking lot. This looks like a firm date (following an “oops” moment in September). Expected temperatures in the low 70s should help make it a great…
Israel Lomeli, arrested last year for the 1998 slaying of a Phoenix teenager, has received probation and will be released from jail in March. Lomeli’s high-publicity March 2013 arrest marked the end of tragic saga for the family of victim Pete Cadriel, who disappeared without a trace in 1998. The…
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has spent $375,442 to stop Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox from receiving a $975,000 settlement and is preparing to spend more. A lawyer hired by Maricopa County will fly to and stay in San Francisco at county expense for a March 11 hearing on the…
Phoenix police counted 125 murders in 2013, two fewer than last year. The preliminary figure released today at the request of New Times shows the city hasn’t had the large reductions seen last year in many other major U.S. cities. New York City, for example, experienced 20 percent fewer homicides…
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today ordered a full-court “en banc” hearing of Arizona’s voter-approved law that denies bail to undocumented immigrants accused of serious crimes. Since the challenge to the 2006 law appeared settled after a Ninth Circuit 2-1 ruling in June, the new order is a…
Al Melvin, a state senator running for governor, apparently has never heard of snopes.com. Nor is he showing interest in debunking anything after he was flambeed by his Twitter followers over the past week and embarrassed in news articles for misquoting Abraham Lincoln…
Connie Villa killed her 13-year-old daughter with her bare hands after the girl refused to take pills like her siblings in a plan to deprive her ex-husband of the children, police say. Citing “significant progress” in the investigation of the Christmas Day mother-on-daughter smothering of Aniarael Macias, Casa Grande police…
Barry Jordan, who killed an 11-year-old girl in a 2011 red-light crash in Phoenix, has been sentenced to 23 1/2 years in the state hospital. Jordan also received a sentence on Monday of lifetime probation this week for a 2009 case in which he offered to pay a woman to…
Maybe you caught this show on Sunday, too. The Arizona Department of Public Safety confirmed reports that dozens of vehicles intentionally blocked traffic while some performed stunts on parts of two freeways…
On Wednesday, Colorado will make U.S. history when the country’s first retail marijuana stores open to all adults 21 and over. Colorado is connected to Arizona at the famed Four Corners Monument. If you already like its wonderful, camping, mountain fun, hiking, and hunting, you now have another good reason…
In case you missed any news action this week, we’ve got you covered.Here’s our recap of the most-read news stories of the week:…
The State Bar of Arizona spent $616,571 for the disciplinary proceedings related to former Maricopa County Andrew Thomas’ unethical acts. Rick DeBruhl, spokesman for the lawyers’ organization, says the State Bar came up with the final bill total today. As our previous story today on the topic of Thomas relates,…
Krysta Douglas, a Chandler group-home caregiver, took three disabled adults on an angry, wild ride in a van that injured a wheelchair-bound woman, police say. The alleged crime happened almost three months ago, but Douglas was arrested on December 26 at her home and booked into jail on suspicion of…
Andrew Thomas, Lisa Aubuchon, and Rachel Alexander have been ordered to pay back $101,294 in restitution for the cost of their disciplinary proceedings. Thomas, a former Maricopa County Attorney, and Aubuchon, his go-to deputy, were disbarred last year in high-profile proceedings that followed several years of intrigue and corruption committed…
