The Reverend Jarrett Maupin was dragged away in handcuffs by Tempe police Monday morning during a nonviolent protest of police shootings that closed down both sides of Mill Avenue Bridge for about an hour. Maupin had just finished leading a small but vocal crowd of about 50 to 75 to…
The Reverend Jarrett Maupin catches a lot of flak for leading protests of police shootings in greater Phoenix. But nature abhors a vacuum. And love him or loathe him, Maupin remains the point man for direct action in the Valley, keeping the pressure on law-enforcement agencies with marches and demonstrations…
When Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is under oath, in a deposition or during a trial, he invariably describes his management style in Reaganesque terms, asserting that he delegates the responsibilities of his office to underlings. This allows Arpaio to pass the proverbial buck to subordinates, keeping the sheriff insulated,…
Republican Congressman Matt Salmon is teaming up with a liberal Democrat colleague to save the popular pain-relieving plant known as kratom from the government’s blacklist. Salmon, who will retire from representing Arizona’s Fifth Congressional District in January, has co-authored a letter with progressive Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, asking the U.S. Drug…
Like a cancerous tumor that defies radiation therapy, section 2b of Senate Bill 1070 — Arizona’s infamous immigration law — remains on the books, despite a settlement announced Thursday in a six year-old lawsuit brought against the State of Arizona by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil-rights groups. As part…
If you want a guaranteed spit-take, take a gulp of coffee while watching Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s first campaign commercial of the general election, which just began running on local TV stations. It opens with images of brown and black men in orange jumpsuits with a faceless narrator, explaining, “Some cities…
Phoenix Democrat Joe Downs easily has the coolest campaign pledge of this election cycle. “If you elect me county treasurer,” he promises in a recent YouTube video, “Russell Pearce is fired on Day One.” For those new to school, the 35-year-old Downs is referring to former state Senate President Russell…
Maricopa Strong, a recently-formed independent expenditure committee with a Phoenix address, has been sending anti-Sheriff Joe Arpaio mailers to Republicans in Maricopa County over the last couple of weeks. According to sources with knowledge of the committee, Maricopa Strong is the creation of BerlinRosen a liberal political consulting firm with…
The Log Cabin Republicans are accusing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee of bullying their pal Sheriff Paul Babeu, and they want it to stop, like, right now. Yep, the nation’s pre-eminent gay GOP organization is seriously peeved that, the day after Babeu emerged victorious from the August 30 Republican primary…
Delusion is a powerful force. After all, life is often bleak — and obsessively pondering that bleakness can incapacitate one’s ability to endure. Take this idea that rolls around every four years among local Democrats — and, often, folks who don’t have to live here — that this political cycle…
Former Phoenix police officer Sergio Virgillo remembers the point of no return for what should have been a routine call to a trailer park in South Phoenix, when fellow cop Richard Chrisman took his Glock 22 and pressed it so hard against the temple of Daniel Rodriguez that it bent Rodriguez’s head to one side. Chrisman and Rodriguez had been “going at it…
Winter has come early for Sheriff Joe Arpaio, with a hard snowfall in August. Late Friday afternoon, federal Judge G. Murray Snow issued his long-awaited ruling on possible criminal contempt charges for Arpaio, his Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan, the MCSO’s former Professional Standards Bureau Captain Steve Bailey, and ex-Arpaio attorney…
By all accounts local rapper Jose “Low Key” Hernandez was both talented and generous during his short time on Earth. According to his family, Hernandez spent Christmas Day 2015 with his friends, handing out blankets to the homeless and toys to kids as part of the charitable organization he founded,…
If you’re a Republican, you know things are bad when Democrats throw you a lifejacket by attacking your opponent. Democratic Congresswoman and U.S. Senate hopeful Ann Kirkpatrick and the über-liberal, pro-choice advocacy group Emily’s List recently stuck their noses in the Arizona GOP primary for Senate in support of Kelli…
Muslim-bashing conspiracy theorist John Guandolo must reckon that Arizona’s cop shops are lined with gold. In June, New Times reported that a 2014 visit to the Valley by Guandolo and a couple of fellow anti-Islam lecturers for a one-day “training” session hosted by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office cost the county about…
For a hardcore anti-immigrant like Sheriff Paul Babeu, who refers to the undocumented simply as “illegals,” the support of pro-“illegals” former Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe might seem odd. But Kolbe and Babeu share a great deal when it comes to their personal histories — far beyond the fact that both men…
U.S. Senator John McCain’s GOP primary race against Kelli Ward resembles a sumo wrestler sitting on a walnut, with Ward in the role of walnut. McCain has out-fundraised Ward by more than eight to one. A recent poll by the Phoenix firm Data Orbital shows McCain with a commanding, 21-point…
A right-wing Internet radio host and conspiracy theorist has released a recording purported to be a propaganda radio broadcast of U..S. Senator John McCain while he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Rick Wiles, a Florida-based Christian minister who bills himself on his Internet webcast TruNews as the “end…
Campaigns for justice of the peace are about as “down ballot” as you get in politics, but the GOP primary race for Moon Valley JP will be one to keep an eye on, mainly because of the stark choice voters face in that district. On the one hand, there is…
In the latest episode of that uniquely Arizona political soap opera, The Shameless and the Stupid, and hot off her “Someone Please Pay Attention to Me” tour of the media tents at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has endorsed Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu in the…
Andy Biggs probably wishes he never stopped by a recent Legislative District 16 meeting in Mesa, where he reportedly picked a fight with his fellow Republican state legislator, Rep. Kelly Townsend. The fallout from their verbal donnybrook has encouraged others to go public with grievances against the departing state senate president,…
If there’s one single quality that former U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Wendy Rogers has in spades, it’s moxie. One of six hopefuls in the GOP primary for the open seat in Arizona’s First Congressional District, Rogers came out swinging from day one of her campaign, bloodying the nose of…
