Prescott Valley Police Chief Bill Fessler released a statement over the weekend to quell rumors that he was involved in a December 22 Prescott bar fight in which a Glendale man was injured. The incident came to light after the 23-year-old victim showed up at a hospital with facial injuries,…
Authorities have taken at least two children from a west Phoenix home after arresting 40-year-old Joseph Godinez for burning his 6-year-old stepson’s arm with a cigarette. Godinez burned the kid back on May 22 at their home near 81st and West Indianoloa avenues, court records state. At school the next…
The man shot dead in a Phoenix apartment gunfight on December 20 apparently started the trouble when he tried to rob the men selling him 150 pounds of marijuana, records show. Phoenix police are seeking the public’s help in finding two suspects still outstanding from the incident, Julio Gonzalez Valenzuela,…
“A home for fleas A hive for bees A nest for birds There ain’t no words For the beauty, the splendor, the wonder Of my…” Hair! That’s the theme of today’s check on Maricopa mugshots, which seems to be the basis for this week’s votes by Internet users on MCSO’s…
Besides the announcement of plans to deploy armed posse members at schools, another Sheriff Joe Arpaio story that broke yesterday concerns his acceptance last year of an award by a confederate group. Salon, an online magazine with a national presence, published an article yesterday about the mini award ceremony in…
Totally upstaged by Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio went ahead late Thursday with an announcement for his own anti-Newtown idea: armed posse members at schools. The posse will “safeguard schools from violent predators,” Arpaio claims. He’s not asking for permission, of course — he plans…
Todd Borowksy, owner of the Skin Cabaret in Scottsdale, was cited last week in connection with leaving the scene of an accident. Borowsky, driving a red 1971 Chevy Chevelle, rear-ended an SUV at the intersection of Scottsdale and Camelback roads at about 4:30 p.m. on December 15, just after the…
Mesa police are looking for the public’s help in apprehending a panhandler who attacked an officer. Cops say the man and woman in the picture at right are known to hang out in the vicinity of Alma School Road and Main Street. The woman isn’t suspected of any crime, but…
Slate, an online magazine, and the Tucson Weekly recently published articles that claim Arizona’s “gun death” rate now exceeds the rate of vehicle deaths. The articles, spurred by the Newtown shooting, were based on a May report by the anti-gun Violence Policy Center in Washington D.C., which lists Arizona as…
Joel Fox, a former captain under Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, has lost his lawsuit against Cox Communications over the release of embarrassing emails related to a defunct criminal investigation. Fox lost his job in late 2011 as part of the fallout of what we call the “SCA Scandal” –…
Tashawn Cheatham, the 19-year-old charged with strangling a 13-year-old girl in Phoenix, pleaded not guilty today to charges of murder, arson and theft. This looks like more of a procedural “not guilty:” Police say Cheatham has already admitted to strangling Briana Naylor with a sheet before setting her home near…
A group of off-duty cops at a Prescott bar were mistaken for violent motorcycle gang members by a Glendale man who says he was assaulted by them. Prescott police talked to the 23-year-old victim at about 11 p.m. on Saturday night while he was being treated at the Yavapai Regional…
Robert A. Heinlein, author of Starship Troopers and other classics of science fiction, predicted high-efficiency solar panels in a short story published in 1940, about 14 years before the first modern panels were invented by Bell Laboratories. “Why, we could recover more than 20,000 horsepower in any city block,” blurted…
Police are seeking the public’s help in finding out who shot and killed 23-year-old Nathan Dewitt just before midnight on Christmas Day. The 1997 Ford Explorer driven by Dewitt, a national yo-yo champion, crashed into a tree off 28th Street, just south of Union Hills Drive, and rolled onto its…
Lawrence Lanier Jr. of Glendale admitted to an agent in 2009 that he had purchased hawk feathers the year before, and the feds are finally getting around to prosecuting him. A complaint was filed against Lanier Jr. on December 21st in Arizona U.S. District Court, alleging that he’d bought several…
Tom Horne, Arizona’s Attorney General, is pushing for a new law that would allow one trained official at each Arizona school to have access to a gun. See also: – Valley Fever’s 12 Most Popular Arizona News Stories of 2012 The firearm would be “locked in a secure place” until…
Sofi Collis, the 19-year-old girl from Scottsdale reported missing on Christmas Eve, returned home safely late Tuesday night, Scottsdale police say. See also: – Valley Fever’s 12 Most Popular Arizona News Stories of 2012 Collis had been reported missing after being last seen about 1 p.m., possibly on Rollerblades. She…
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is worried he’s being forced to violate federal law by implementing Arizona’s voter-approved medical-pot law. Meanwhile, President Obama said today that federal law enforcement officials have better things to do then prosecute adult use of marijuana by anyone in Colorado and Washington, considering that voters…
It’s Friday night at 10 p.m., and about a dozen people sit at two green-felt-topped tables at the Camelback Card Club when John Schnaubelt walks in. He’s a large guy in his mid-40s and would have been noticeable even if he hadn’t stared at the players and said, “Hello, ladies…
Maricopa County can’t block a medical-marijuana dispensary from opening just because of a federal prohibition on marijuana, a county judge has ruled. This is a big court ruling for the 2010 Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, and the one would-be operators of dispensaries have been waiting for. The decision by Superior…
Pinal County Attorney Elect Lando Voyles says his highly experienced pick for chief criminal deputy, Richard Wintory, will “lead from the front.” That’s going to be especially true when Wintory’s behind the wheel. A check of public records shows that Wintory appears to have racked up five traffic violations in…
Who won the Arizona half of the $588 million Powerball jackpot on Wednesday is still a mystery. But we can tell you who didn’t win: Nolan Daniels and Paul Horner. See also: Arizona Powerball Winner: Could This Be the Man Who Got Filthy Rich from the Ticket Bought in Fountain…
