Following my column this week regarding the Associated Press’ flubbed piece on the sentences received by 13 anti-SB 1070 protesters arrested outside the Fourth Avenue Jail on July 29, 2010, attorney Antonio Bustamante, one of the lawyers for the defendants, wrote the AP asking for a correction or retraction of…

With the November 8 recall election advancing on him like an out-of-control semi, state Senate President Russell Pearce is attempting to morph himself into an honorable man, a practical politician and rehabilitator of Arizona’s economic fortunes, all in a lame attempt to spare himself from the wrath of the voters.This…

The Arizona Supreme Court has granted a review of the legal challenge filed by attorney Lisa Hauser to the recall of state Senate President Russell Pearce, aka, Ross v. Bennett.Both sides in the case had petitioned for the Supremes to rule on the matter. Today the court issued the following…

First off, I wish to commend Shane Wikfors of the Sonoran Alliance blog for removing an article by the Sonoran News’ Linda Bentley claiming “massive voter registration fraud” in the petitions recalling state Senate President Russell Pearce.I raised the issue with Wikfors during a back and forth in the comments…

Though I try to avoid watching the PBS Horizon clown table for fear that I’ll pull an Elvis on my TV set, folks tip me off whenever smarmy local hack Howie Fischer says something dumb, which is nearly every week. So, sometimes I am forced to watch it online. (Sigh.)What kills me…

It’s always amusing when wingnuts try to grow a conscience. Like a beard on an alligator, you know it’s fake from jump.That’s why I cracked a smile today while perusing far-right wing blog Sonoran Alliance, where moral relativist-in-charge Shane Wikfors is demanding an apology from Carolyn Cooper, a supporter of…

Olivia Cortes, who has filed to run as a candidate in the Legislative District 18 recall election apparently has campaign signs up in Mesa, possibly in violation of state law.This report comes in via Robert McDonald, Jr., a former contender for the LD 18 Senate seat, now held by state…

Arizona has earned itself the moniker of “the most racist state in the nation” for a reason. Not a day goes by that its public officials fail to concoct some new, bigoted outrage as manna for Sand Land’s wingnut masses.The outrage du jour? Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne is suing…

Amazing. According to Christine Zielonka, the Mesa official in charge of code compliance, the pro-Pearce group Citizens Who Oppose the Pearce Recall, is refusing to remove the illegal signs posted all over Mesa, despite a city order and the threat that city workers will collect them after Monday if they…

Stupid is as stupid does. Not only has Matt Tolman, the real-estate rocket scientist behind the scurrilous pro-Pearce signs all over Mesa (signs the city has ordered him to remove because they are unlawful), been dumb enough to post a photo of his daughter’s rear-end on his public Facebook page, now…

Though I figured Matt Tolman’s dirty tricks eventually would backfire on the Pearce camp, I had no idea the blowback would come so quickly or from such an official source.Tolman is the chairman of Citizens Who Oppose the Pearce Recall, which recently posted signs in Legislative District 18 bearing false…

In the interest of lambasting a dead horse till it’s tender enough to feed to a pigeon, I present the following e-mail string, unedited by me, save to put the electronic missives in order from first to last. As you’ll see, reader Michael Wells engaged in some participatory journalism by corresponding with wacky…

So far, the Sonoran News’ editor/publisher Don Sorchych and his flunky scribe Linda “Wrong Way” Bentley continue to stonewall on correcting, retracting or apologizing for their misreporting and sinister insinuations concerning Mesa resident and American citizen Benita Lantigua.This would be simple to do, and it would be the right thing…

Commander Rich Burden, discussing the merits of drinking, then drivingAs District IV Commander, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Rich Burden oversees areas of Anthem, Cave Creek, Carefree, New River, and Desert Foothills.Over the years, he has earned a measure of infamy for dogging longtime Arpaio foes Jim Cozzolino and Tom…

Citizens for a Better Arizona, the committee that has forced a recall of state Senate President Russell Pearce, has announced a fundraiser for this Thursday, August 25, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the law offices of Snow and Carpio, 55 E. Thomas Road, in Phoenix.Randy Parraz, co-founder of…

State Senate President Russell Pearce has always adopted the role of a John Wayne-esque tough guy who can handle himself.Indeed, in a June 2010 piece by Gary Nelson for the Arizona Republic entitled, “Iron will drives Pearce, agenda,” Pearce was full of bravado concerning reported threats on his person and…

Today’s news that the West Memphis Three — Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin — have been freed from prison in Arkansas after agreeing to an extraordinary plea deal, should give hope to all those falsely accused and imprisoned, including those in Arizona’s prisons.Since these three men were tried…

Four hundred clams. That’s what some lobbyists may have paid to attend a fundraiser held for embattled state Senate President Russell Pearce Wednesday night at Alexi’s Grill in Phoenix.By my estimation, there were about 30 or 40 attendees at the height of the action. If they all paid to get…

Though he has until September 9 to do so, Mesa Republican Jerry Lewis will file signatures with the Arizona Secretary of State tomorrow to place his name on the November 8 recall ballot in Legislative District 18.To formally square off against state Senate President Russell Pearce, Lewis needs 621 qualified…