Matt Betzold, the 25-year-old cage fighter who lost one of his legs when he was just a kid, won his first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight Saturday night. Betzold, who’s from Payson but now lives in the Valley, lost his leg after a family friend put poison mushroom spores in his…
With the series win, the sucktastic Snakes limp past the finish line firmly in possession of the worst record in the National League West at 70-92, a full 25 games back from the playoff-bound Los Angeles Dodgers. (By comparison, the team went 90-72 during just two years ago during the…
Despite Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter finally finding their groove early in a game this WNBA finals series, the Phoenix Mercury lost game three by one point, putting them one loss away from elimination as they seek their second title. The visiting Mercury had a better showing in their game against…
All schools in the Williams Unified School District will be closed today because of a fire burning near the city. The blaze, dubbed the Twin Fire, began Friday and scorched 1,000 acres by Sunday night. About 465 fire personnel are battling the blaze…A water line broke near 11th street and…
If any pro-immigrant activists or lawyers out there labor under the illusion that ICE’s denial of street 287(g) authority to Sheriff Joe Arpaio will put a crimp in his office’s persecution of the undocumented in Maricopa County, they should’ve been listening to KTAR 92.3 FM’s Jay Lawrence show this Sunday evening. For about 20…
Sources are telling me tonight that Joe Arpaio will soon announce that he has signed a new jails agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, one that will continue to allow ICE to partner with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in identifying and removing so-called criminal aliens from MCSO custody. The agreement — supposedly under…
In the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Feathered Bastard: 2012 Survival Conference Rocks Scottsdale October 17, Teaches You to Survive Mayan Apocalypse Up on…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s political stock isn’t exactly at an all-time high here in Maricopa County, what with ongoing probes by the U.S. Department of Justice — and reportedly the F.B.I. as well –into his department, a big racial profiling lawsuit being pursued against him in federal court, and the backlash from local political…
David J. Ramirez, who was until August 31 the acting public information director for the city of Phoenix, has officially been demoted and given a $19,000 pay cut after complaints from two subordinates. The complaints focused on religious and sexual harassment. Employees allegedly complained that Ramirez talked about masturbation,…
Scottsdale-based Alcor Life Extension Foundation released an official statement this afternoon in response to claims by a former employee that the frozen head of Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams was tossed around like, well, a baseball, while lab technicians tried to hit it with a monkey wrench.”Alcor denies allegations reported…
This is not a good week for Arizona hospitals. New Times reported yesterday about a nurse allegedly defecating in a Glendale operating room, and of a dead baby found in the same hospital’s bathroom. Well, here’s more trouble to add to the list. A former Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn patient filed a lawsuit…
Yesterday, Jeb Bush came to town to offer advice to Arizona lawmakers about how to fix the ailing K-12 education system.As we reported yesterday, the most publicized recommendation that came out of the two-hour meeting was a push to change the way Arizona labels its schools from a method that…
A short series earlier this week in the Arizona Republic about the murder of a police informant contained an exquisitely horrifying detail mentioned prominently in all three stories: a brutal new use for adult diapers.As one of the accused killers, Edgar Javier Enriquez, explained in court records dug up by…
Woody Harrelson’s character Charlie Frost from the Roland Emmerich flick 2012 explains the basics of the Mayan prophecy One thing I learned recently by chatting with Dennis McClung, creator of the 2012 survivalist Web site 2012supplies.com and sponsor of the upcoming 2012 Survival Conference in Scottsdale on October 17: The apocalypse can be good…
Despite the fact that the sitting governor’s a Republican, the GOP list of Arizona gubernatorial candidates has gotten even longer.John Munger, a Tucson lawyer and former Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, filed paperwork with the Secretary of State’s office this morning to run for the state’s highest office.After his GOP…
An Arizona man rolled through Le Mars, Iowa today on his journey from Minnesota to Texas. For a trip like that, someone would probably want a reliable car, right? Not this guy. Randy Boehman has opted to make the nearly 1,000-mile trek on a mule-drawn covered wagon. Why would someone…
Nearly two years after he was arrested on drug and weapons charges, rapper Lil Wayne is set to stand trial in Yuma County. Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, was busted at a checkpoint near Yuma in January, 2008, when police found a quarter-pound of marijuana, an ounce of…
After a high-paced, high-scoring, record-breaking game one, Valley sports fans turned out at US Airways Center last night for a big disappointment in game two of the WNBA finals. To say the Phoenix Mercury, 2007 WNBA Champions and home to star shooters like league MVP Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter,…
Larry Johnson, a former executive at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, has written a book titled Frozen. In the book, Johnson writes that employees at Alcor mishandled baseball legend Ted Williams’ head, with one employee taking baseball-like swings at Williams’ frozen head with a monkey wrench…The Turf Paradise…
In the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Feathered Bastard: Outlaw Fleetwood, the “Tent City” Video by Dennis Gilman Up on the Sun: Kanye West…
What does famed movie director and convicted pedophile Roman Polanski have in common with scandalous former Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi?No, Renzi’s never been accused of having sex with a 13-year-old at Jack Nicholson’s house. What the two have in common is that when they’ve faced intense legal heat, they’ve turned to the same…
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was in town today to speak with legislative leaders about how to improve Arizona’s troubled K-12 education system.Wanna know what they came up with? Get ready to laugh, or cry…
