If the feds decide to pull up their jackboots and bust state employees for administering Arizona’s medical-marijuana program, the director of the state Department of Health Services could be a target.After all, Will Humble is the boss at DHS, the state agency that will be approving applications for dispensaries and…
A 10-year-old boy shot his 12-year-old sister with a handgun by accident, Gilbert police say.Their dad is a police officer.The incident happened at about 8:30 this morning, according to a news release just put out by Gilbert police Sergeant William Balafas.Police learned of the shooting after the girl was already…
Joseph Grooms and his friend, Harold Ruggles, were each sentenced to about three years in prison for scamming Dell Computers. Dell has a great warranty program for its computer equipment — just ask Harold Ruggles of Phoenix and his friend, Joseph Grooms of Glendale.These two 20-somethings made a fortune in…
A Gilbert lawyer’s State Bar license will be suspended for 30 days because of her bad behavior as a defendant in a lawsuit.Angela Wilson-Goodman, who started her own firm in 1997, specializes in commercial litigation and “general business advice,” according to her Web site.If she gives good advice, though, she…
A 13-year-old girl whose molestation claims were ignored by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t want to pursue her case, the girl’s mother tells New Times.We’re not disclosing their names. But we mentioned the Chicago-area mother and daughter in our February 16 feature article about how Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s misguided…
Tempe’s Luna Fitness can keep its name and logo, thanks to a settlement last week in a federal trademark lawsuit against the small gym by Clif Bar, the maker of Luna Bar energy snacks.The gym’s been fighting the energy-bar giant in court for almost a year. As we reported last…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County won a lawsuit this week filed by former County Schools Superintendent Sandra Dowling over the 2005 raid of her home and subsequent prosecution.Dowling launched the lawsuit in 2009, alleging she’d been the target of a conspiracy by Arpaio and members of the Board of…
First Solar, the Tempe-based solar-panel manufacturing company, is being targeted by a class-action lawsuit alleging its principals hid negative facts to mislead investors.The federal complaint (see below) comes about a week after the company revealed that it was being investigated by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission for alleged problems with…
State Senator Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, says he’s “suspicious” that funds may have been misappropriated from another foundation run by corrupt former lawmaker Richard Miranda. Miranda, a Democrat from Tolleson who resigned abruptly on February 16 after 13 years in the Arizona Legislature, pleaded guilty March 14 to stealing $144,577 from…
Another Spring Break, another round of warnings from the State Department, your mom, and your agoraphobic friends: Don’t go to Mexico. Lo que sea. You’re going anyway (blame our flowchart). And that’s awesome.Whether this is your first time to Rocky Point or you remember what it was like to camp…
The Arizona Legislature is moving ahead with a bill that aims to take the state’s federal lands and give them to the people of Arizona, despite exactly zero chance such a plan could work.If the nation isn’t laughing at Arizona, state lawmakers obviously wouldn’t be happy.Not content to be the…
Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley announced today that he won’t be running for Congress, after all.Stapley, who has seen his share of ups and downs in his 15-year run on the five-member Board of Supervisors, filed paperwork last month to run for Arizona’s newly created Ninth Congressional District.The East Valley…
If you enjoy the pleasures of two-wheeled vehicles like we do, you know why we had goosebumps after hearing about the fatal car-bike collision on Sunday in north Scottsdale.The victim, 53-year-old Shawn McCarty, was doing everything right. He had a helmet on and was riding in a bike lane. It…
In July of 2009, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio issued a bald-faced lie to the media when he claimed the SCA scandal “has absolutely nothing to do with the Sheriff’s Office.” He knew it did. But even worse, Arpaio still hasn’t explained why he didn’t take action against his top…
Ralph Moreno, an unemployed ex-con on food stamps, is fighting with the federal government to keep $76,000 in cash seized at his west Phoenix home by FBI agents.State records show that Moreno and his wife, Wilma, of Phoenix, haven’t earned wages for at least 10 years, and that Moreno received…
Flying injured hikers from mountaintops twice in three days tested the skills of veteran rescue pilot Hunter French.This dude gets an A-plus.On March 2, the Arizona Department of Public Safety chopper pilot helped rescue a Washington hiker who’d fallen into a crevice in the Superstition Mountains.Three days earlier, French was…
Robert Sparks, the hearing officer overseeing fired sheriff’s deputy Joel Fox’s appeal, is worried that he’s out of his league in the complex case. This isn’t an average appeal for the job of an average county worker who was fired, of course — it’s about a scandal and cover-up that…
An unsigned opinion article in the conservative magazine National Review today states that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio doesn’t deserve to win re-election.The magazine has previously run articles that defended Arpaio, but the sheriff’s recent “birther” madness pushed it over the edge.That’s understandable, because the National Review has already debunked…
Since being fired as state Republican Party executive director last summer, Brett Mecum has found work as a political consultant and is helping out on state Senator Frank Antenori’s Congressional bid.Antenori’s one of several Republicans seeking to fill the seat left vacant by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who is recovering from…
Okay, we didn’t really take a press junket to Puerto Vallarta. But we apparently could have, for no more trouble than preparing an assignment letter for the Mexico city’s Tourism Board and its PR company, Latititude. Check out the letter to “journalists” below. Sounds like we can expect to soon…
Matinee Energy, a company with plans to build several large solar-power plants in Arizona, says a founder who once ran a bogus gold-mining scheme no longer has a role in the firm. Yet many questions remain about the mystery company, which reportedly has contracts with Hyundai Heavy and KEPCO KDN,…
A truckload of paperwork was filed today in the racial profiling lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office, including succinct accounts of the allegations and responses by both sides.The case involves several plaintiffs, including immigrant Jose Ortega Melendres, but was expanded in a ruling by federal judge…
