Cops, firefighters and “public transit personnel” would be exempted in Tucson’s proposed ban on texting and driving. The Tucson City Council will take public comments on the proposed ordinance at a hearing on Tuesday, then vote on it. Says a Tucson TV station, the law would take effect immediately.Of course…
Under Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act, motorists with state-issued pot cards can legally transport a small amount of “medicine” in their vehicles — but not on tribal lands.And those Native American lands include a strip of the Loop 101 freeway that runs from south of McKellips Road to the Pima Road/90th…
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who wants Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s support in his newly announced bid for Congress, had strong words for Arpaio after the 2007 arrest of officer Thomas Lovejoy. Babeu questioned Arpaio’s motives in the arrest, saying they were driven not by honest enforcement of the…
A jury will start hearing the case of Chandler police officer Thomas Lovejoy versus Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on April 17, a judge has ruled.U.S. District Judge Neil Wake, whose ruling two weeks ago in the case slammed both Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas, also ordered a…
Brahm Resnik of Channel 12 News (KPNX-TV) just tweeted that Governor Jan Brewer “indicates she will refile lawsuit to block medical marijuana law.” UPDATE: We watched Resnik’s report — looks like he got this one wrong. In his 10 p.m. broadcast, Brewer can be seen at an event talking about the medical marijuana lawsuit…
Jack Hegarty, the former No. 2 man at the Arizona Department of Public Safety until his demotion in October, has left the agency while still under internal investigation. His retirement was made effective today, DPS spokesman Bart Graves tells New Times, confirming a tip we received today about the former…
Governor Jan Brewer and her legal counsel will study today’s dismissal of her lawsuit against the medical marijuana law while keeping a ban on dispensaries, a spokesman says.Brewer, with the help of state Attorney General Tom Horne, filed the federal complaint back in May, claiming a letter by a former…
A federal judge today tossed Governor Jan Brewer’s lawsuit against the state’s Medical Marijuana Act, saying in her ruling that the state’s complaint wasn’t ripe.U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton dismissed the case without prejudice and invited the state to file an amended complaint to correct the flaws in their argument…
The arrest of men on suspicion of sexual misconduct with their own family members makes for a journalistic conundrum: Name the suspect, and you’ve all but identified the victim.Local media was presented with this challenge yesterday — twice. Court records show that two men — Jose Alfredo Rivera of Glendale…
Jose Alfredo Rivera of Glendale and Bruce Allan Branscom of Mesa likely don’t know each other, but they’ve got something in common:Both were arrested on New Year’s Day for allegedly molesting 12-year-old girls.The situations are separate, but also shockingly similar. The suspects knew the victims in both cases.Branscom’s a 28-year-old…
Tempe residents who live near the Union Pacific rail line just north of Tempe will sleep easier this year after a “quiet zone” program takes effect later this month.Chandler and Phoenix are among the Valley cities that already have such programs, under which the railroad agrees that train operators will…
Omitting the Libertarian and Green parties as options to check on Arizona’s new voter registration forms is unfair and has already led to confusion, the parties say in a federal complaint.Representatives of the parties are suing state Secretary of State Ken Bennett in hopes of halting the new forms and…
Two hunters found 126 pounds of bundled pot lying in the desert near Sasabe, about a month after Border Patrol agents discovered 220 pounds of pot south of Dateland.Arizona’s desert has apparently become a treasure-hunters paradise — if your idea of treasure is tens of thousands of dollars worth of…
Arizona State University scientist Paul Davies and research technician Robert Wagner propose a sort of “why not” project in search of proof for extraterrestrial civilizations: In Acta Astronautica, an online scientific journal, they suggest inspecting new, close-up photos of Earth’s moon for signs of a visit by aliens, because artifacts on the…
Don Wilson, Andrew Thomas’ attorney in the former Maricopa County Attorney’s disciplinary proceedings, disses Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s memory and his client’s political future in a new interview.We found Wilson’s Tuesday interview with KJZZ quite comical, in places, (after learning about it from one of our sharp readers, that is). Thomas’…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office arrested five men last night on suspicion of human smuggling and conspiracy, days after a federal judge’s ruling on such investigations. Looks like Sheriff Joe Arpaio, under more pressure than ever to reform his ways, is sticking to his statement that he won’t stop his enforcement…
A Tempe man was arrested at the Arizona Grand Resort in south Phoenix on Monday afternoon in connection with an attempted rape of an employee in a restroom. Before the attack, the victim told police she saw Michael Robert Martinez, 30, hanging out near the door to the restroom, which was located…
Arrowhead Justice of the Peace Phillip Woolbright’s campaign Web site says he’s a “part-time preacher, bringing morals and ethics to the bench.”What a complete crock.The hypocritical judge/preacher was relieved of his duties today after the Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended he be suspended for 60 days for ethical misconduct. Court…
A Phoenix mom choked her 5-year-old son for playing video games and threatened him and her teenage daughter with a butcher knife on Christmas Day, police say.Jutrina Tillman, 32, who was arrested after police showed up and interviewed the terrified children, is already under investigation by Child Protective Services on…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio seems to have been stunned into silence by a federal court ruling intended to hamper his office’s ability to conduct immigration enforcement operations.U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow ruled last week in a racial-profiling lawsuit against Arpaio and the Sheriff’s Office that deputies can no…
An African-American man in Gilbert found on Saturday morning that someone had given him the Christmas Eve gift of a charred wooden cross on his lawn.On his porch was a threatening letter attached to a rock.The 43-year-old victim, who hasn’t been named by Gilbert police, reported the crime just before…
Gila Bend Mayor Ron Henry didn’t really say he was worried about Prince Harry “fornicating” in his town, a British tabloid admits. The Daily Mail published an apology and correction on December 11, after Henry took the young prince’s advice in a handwritten letter to lodge a complaint about the “ghastly British media” with…
