Putting a propane tank in a campfire turns out to be an even stupider idea than we thought. After Bryan J. Teague of Peoria put a 16-ounce tank in a campfire on August 8 while on an off-roading trip in the Tonto National Forest, the predictable explosion sparked the 5,220-acre…
A lawsuit filed by activist Randy Parraz against Maricopa County following his 2008 arrest outside the Board of Supervisors Auditorium can move ahead, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Parraz was arrested on September 29, 2008, after he and members of his group, Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability, held a…
Arizona police would have the right to destroy medical marijuana seized in investigations under a proposed law — even if the police seizures were made improperly or illegally. State Senator Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, hasn’t actually introduced a bill yet at the State Capitol, apparently preferring to introduce her legislative ideas…
A new poll that shows high support by Arizona voters for medical marijuana is unlikely to be challenged by anti-pot lawmaker Representative John Kavanagh: The political consulting firm used by Kavanagh and his wife, Fountain Hills Mayor Linda Kavanagh, conducted the survey. Kavanagh still hopes to pass a bill that…
James Chaney, the owner of a Tempe medical-marijuana club that was the site of a shooting last year, was arrested today in a raid of the club and two alleged Tempe “grow houses.” In a news release that invites the media to talk to cops about the raids at, hilariously,…
Computing giant Microsoft is suing a Phoenix e-waste recycling firm in federal court, claiming that the company has been selling unauthorized copies of its software. Phoenix’s E-Waste Harvesters and its principal, Earl Campbell, have repeatedly advertised and sold refurbished computers that contain pirated copies of XP, the aging Windows operating…
The new Echo Canyon Trail alignment at Camelback Mountain will add another quarter mile to the popular Phoenix summit climb, easing an erosion-causing steep grade near the start. The renovation is just part of a $3 million project by the city of Phoenix that will be closing the trail and…
A group of medical-marijuana dispensary owners at the State Capitol yesterday afternoon urged authorities to shut down unregulated cannabis clubs. Meanwhile, up the road in a small, west Valley strip mall, medical-marijuana patients toked up openly in a “lounge” that has the look, feel, and scent of a Dutch coffeeshop…
A “truck driver” from Altar, Mexico, tried to hide reporting requirements for about $800,000 he put into an Arizona bank over nine months, court records state. Last week, the federal government seized about $82,000 from the account of the Mexican suspect, Ricardo Monteverde-Palazuelos. The action prompted the suspect and his…
A short film by a Flagstaff photographer argues against the possible destruction of the Devil’s Canyon wilderness while highlighting the area’s rich scenery and wildlife. The wilderness area, including the popular Oak Flat Campground just east of Superior, is the target of a long-planned mining proposal to tap an estimated…
John Leonardo, Arizona U.S. Attorney, released a letter to the public today that expresses support for banning certain kinds of guns and requiring background checks for all sales of firearms. Leonardo begins his letter by explaining that the “political climate for a constructive discussion about gun control appears to be…
More than five years after the Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio learned his agency had mishandled hundreds of sex-crime investigations, no one has been disciplined and a key report on the matter has yet to be released to the public. The investigation into what happened is fraught with negative implications…
Another day, another six-digit award by Maricopa County to a victim of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. This time it’s the chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Andy Kunasek, who was framed for a crime he didn’t commit as part of an apparent plan to…
An increased number of Arizona voters support the 2010 Medical Marijuana Act, and most would vote to end marijuana prohibition, a new poll shows. The poll of 600 Arizonan residents was conducted on January 9 and 10 by Public Policy Polling on behalf of the National Cannabis Industry Association. The…
Chandler just wasn’t far enough for fugitive and armed-robbery suspect Keith Kirk. Authorities tracked the man to the east Valley and had local authorities arrest him this morning in connection with the November 28 robbery in Oxford, Massachusetts.. (Not Oxford, England, as we slipped up and said previously.) Kirk, wearing…
John Kavanagh, the Republican State Representative from Fountain Hills, doesn’t want any exceptions in a proposed medical-pot repeal for patients with cancer, AIDS, or any other serious disease. Verifiable illness or not, they would be booked into jail under Arizona’s felony possession law like any of the hundreds of people…
The ultra-popular Echo Canyon Trail and its trailhead at Phoenix’s Camelback Mountain will be closed from January 28 until sometime this fall for renovations. Initial reports about the closure indicated that only the trailhead would be closed as workers built a new entrance to the mountain park, a larger parking…
Don’t you hate when you park near Mexico for a few minutes and end up with 35 pounds of weed in your car’s spare tire? That’s what Daren Rucker, 51, of Tucson says happened to him on Tuesday, according to federal court records. When Rucker pulled up at the northbound…
Conservative blogger and disgraced Arizona lawyer Rachel Alexander announced on Monday that she’d raised enough money from her right-wing readers to save the life of her cat, Buckley. But a closer look at Alexander’s previous writings shows that Buckley’s life had already been saved. Alexander just needed to pay the…
Rachel Alexander, the disgraced lawyer and blogger who helped former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas in his unethical attacks against county leaders, has been reduced to begging for cash to help her cat. She’s built a website for the 6-year-old cat, Buckley, and claims to be near a $1,750 goal…
The 2010 Arizona Medical Marijuana Act exempts qualifying patients from prosecution, but most Arizonans are still subject to arrest for felony possession of any amount of marijuana. Phoenix police alone arrest an average of about 10 people a day on suspicion of possession of marijuana. Phoenix police arrested 2,972 adults…
People who thought teens would be using marijuana more because of Arizona’s 2010 medical-pot law are wrong, a new study shows. Combined, the percentage of 8th, 10th and 12th graders who reported using marijuana at least once in their lives went from 29.9 percent before the law passed to 28.7…
