Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio sure knows when not to put out a press release.Like when he’s going to be testifying in a forum easily accessible by the public about something he’d rather not be talking about.Like right now.Arpaio’s on the stand in a proceeding this morning at the Maricopa…
Jerry Brice of Phoenix has spent half of his life in prison.Lately, he hasn’t been trying too hard to stay out.The ex-con was found last week in a Phoenix apartment complex parking lot allegedly threatening someone with a semi-automatic he shouldn’t have had.After a 1993 conviction for attempted murder, Brice…
A 30-year-old man who broke his neck at the Skypark Trampoline Park in Phoenix last Thursday has died. Captain Scott Walker of the Phoenix Fire Department confirmed this morning that the victim, who’s name still hasn’t been released, died Sunday at a local hospital. Witnesses say the man had jumped…
No happy hours at topless clubs for you — not if State Rep. Steve Court, R-Mesa, has his way.Court, the Legislature’s majority leader, introduced a bill today that targets strip clubs and other adult-oriented businesses with a ban on alcohol and private rooms. The proposed law also aims to regulate…
A 30-year-old man was rushed to a hospital Thursday evening after a serious accident while jumping at the newly opened Skypark Indoor Trampoline Park in Phoenix’s Arcadia neighborhood.”He was not breathing and had no pulse,” says Captain Scott Walker of the Phoenix Fire Department.Walker expects to get an update on…
Jerald Newman, the grandpa whose bloody arrest at a Walmart on Black Friday made national headlines, hasn’t yet been charged on allegations of shoplifting and resisting arrest.Buckeye police Lieutenant Jared Griffiths tells New Times that his agency did submit the charges to prosecutors. But the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office sent…
Sorry, Lisa Aubuchon.Yesterday, we published a blog post stating — incorrectly, it turns out — that Aubuchon had filed a motion to stay her appeal to get her job back as a Maricopa deputy county attorney. We compounded the mistake by suggesting Aubuchon thought she might be disbarred when a…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s office demands — again — that the federal government turn over more proof of its claim that the office has practiced routine racial profiling. In a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Justice today (see below), a private attorney hired by the sheriff’s office says…
Activist Randy Parraz led a disruptive walkout on Tuesday at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting in protest of board policy and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. As they left noisily, Parraz and his supporters claimed that they’d been promised a chance to speak after each segment of the meeting and…
Followers of the highs and lows of Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act should enjoy the newly released transcript of the federal court hearing that ended Governor Jan Brewer’s anti-pot lawsuit.The January 4 dismissal of Brewer’s lawsuit, which was clearly intended to thwart a new medical marijuana law, came after a December…
Independent lawyers for the State Bar of Arizona again recommend disbarment for former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, referring to his arguments with words like “absurd.”Thomas’ former sidekick, Lisa Aubuchon, should also be stripped of her law license, says the 37-page reply (see below) to the former prosecutors’ closing argument…
The first state-authorized medical marijuana dispensaries will likely open in Arizona this summer, said Will Humble, director of the state Department of Health Services.Humble, addressing TV viewers minutes ago on Channel 8’s (KAET-TV) Horizon news show, said his agency would be awarding the first licenses by mid-June.”If someone was really…
Fred Knadler, the Phoenix businessman accused of planning to kill his wife, praises Sheriff Joe Arpaio and rails about crime caused by “illegals” in a letter he sent to the county last month.Sounding very much like the bigots whose letters were referenced in a recent federal report on racial profiling…
Pulmonary Associates, with 15 doctors and six Valley locations, focuses on modern treatment techniques and claims on its Web site to be “in the forefront of our field.”But when asked about the effects of smoking marijuana on lungs, not one of those doctors returned New Times’ repeated calls.Nor was the…
The Dysart Unified School District has been slapped with a lawsuit by a local evangelical group over a policy that bans the distribution of fliers with a religious message.Dysart, which serves Surprise and El Mirage, allows other community groups to pass out fliers to students while unconstitutionally discriminating against religious…
One of the options being considered by the City of Phoenix to ease traffic jams in the parking lot near Camelback Mountain’s Echo Canyon trailhead is to eliminate parking there entirely. If that happened, a new parking lot with 232 spaces could be created where 44th Street curves east to…
Arizona needs to start up the 2010 Medical Marijuana Act as voters intended, but without several of the rules designed to restrict dispensary applicants, a judge has ordered.Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Richard Gama ruled on the Compassion First, LLC, lawsuit yesterday, noting that voters wanted the Act implemented 120…
Jennifer Schuerman, the daughter of Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley’s secretary, will appear on the Dr. Drew “Lifechangers” Show today to talk about her recovery after a stroke.Schuerman was celebrating her 21st birthday in Las Vegas when an undiagnosed hole in her heart allowed a blood clot to pass through…
Despite starting with a great quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the closing argument released today in the discipline case against former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas isn’t a fun read.The 91-page document filed with the Arizona State Bar, which brought the case against Thomas, trots out the…
Roger Garfield, the former antiques dealer who shot and killed an unarmed homeless man in 2006, has been released from prison and granted a new trial based on a change in self-defense laws. As we explained in our March 11, 2010 article, Shoot to Kill, the prosecution of Garfield for…
Nationwide Vision and Scottsdale optometrist Melodie Nannenga can see clearly now — the lawsuit’s gone.Nannenga, who worked at Nationwide office from 2006 to 2008, filed a federal complaint in November alleging sexual harassment and retaliation.She claimed that after a regional manager made unwelcome advances and comments, she requested and received…
Problems with the Indian justice system will be discussed by a federally mandated advisory panel this week at the Talking Stick Hotel on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.Law enforcement on Native American lands, from arrest to sentencing, remains unequal and less effective than that found in non-Indian jurisdictions, despite…
