In case you missed any of the action on the SCA scandal as reported through several blog posts today here is a review: Dan Saban: SCA Donors had “Vested Interest” in Election Outcome; Hendershott Nixed Payroll Deductions for Union DuesJoe Arpaio’s Office Denies Involvement in SCA Despite Donations From Office’s…
The revelation today that top deputies at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office were behind the shadowy SCA shows Sheriff Arpaio and his minions “aren’t willing to come out and have a fair fight,” says Arpaio’s longtime political opponent, Dan Saban. Saban (pictured) ran against Arpaio in 2008 as a Democrat and was slammed with one of the…
Mystery writer J.A. Jance, whose best-selling novels are often set in Arizona, will host a free reading at the Burton Barr Central Library on August 1. We read one Jance book a few years back, Desert Heat, which is part of a series of novels about a female sheriff in…
In right turn for Arizona on the issue of abortion rights, Governor Jan Brewer signed legislation Monday that places new regulations on abortion, including restrictions that her predecessor, former-Governor Janet Napolitano, vetoed each time they landed on her desk. Among other stipulations, the new law says that mothers must wait 24 hours between their initial visit…
We sent Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio a question on Twitter about the newly uncovered SCA donors that include his top brass. No response yet. We left messages for Arpaio and his chief deputy, Dave Hendershott — one of the SCA’s top donors — but they didn’t return calls. Instead,…
Now we know: Chief Deputy David Hendershott and other top Sheriff’s Office brass were, in fact, regular donors to the fund that financed a scurrilous ad attacking Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s last election opponent. That’s big news.But the biggest news in today’s long-awaited campaign-finance filing from the secretive SCA committee is…
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has enacted a temporary solution to the economic crisis in the state: Try and make everyone forget it exists via — beer. On Monday, Brewer signed a bill that allows Arizona microbreweries to brew twice as much beer as they are currently permitted. At the…
So you’re sitting at a bar in Scottsdale when two testosterone-driven, Jagermeister-and-vodka filled 20-somethings start arguing over a girl, or bump into each other (the odds are good in a crowded bar) and you think, “What’s missing?” The answer, if you ask Governor Jan Brewer, is handguns. On Monday, the governor…
Gilman’s vid, reposted by naui… As I mentioned in my blog post Monday on British Holocaust denier David Irving’s recent book signing party at Jerry’s Restaurant, Phoenix videographer Dennis Gilman was present and covered the local anarchist protest of the event. I promised to post his video when it was…
Captain Joel Fox (at right) doesn’t have to worry about a $315,000 fine, but the legal woes for him and other SCA contributors may not be over. A settlement agreement between Fox and the Maricopa County Elections Department drops the main case against him, though the process of uncovering the SCA’s…
The dam has broken on the SCA story: Under threat of a $315,000 fine from the Maricopa County Elections Department, MCSO Captain Joel Fox and the SCA have filed two campaign finance reports that show high-ranking deputies under Sheriff Joe Arpaio as major contributors. The biggest bucks came from other sources, such…
Light-rail ridership dropped to its lowest level yet in June, averaging less than 30,000 boardings a day. (You can be sure unpaid boardings make up a healthy fraction of that number). Metro Light Rail and its boosters have plenty of excuses for the dwindling ridership, some of which even make…
What started as a humanitarian attempt to save lives has denigrated into a he said/she said feud that could land 13 people in jail, or fine them up to $5,000 apiece. The standoff went down Thursday, when volunteers with humanitarian groups No More Deaths and Humane Borders went to Buenas…
A medical doctor in Kingman has been charged with 14 felony counts, after an investigation revealed he regularly wrote up to as many as 100 prescriptions a day at his practice, for painkillers such as Percocet and Oxycontin. The doctor, Albert Szu Sun Yeh, also has a practice in Las…
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: David Irving’s Book Tour Hits Phoenix Diner, Anarchists Protest Gathering of Neo-Nazis New Yorker Magazine…
Police arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with a fatal DUI collision early Saturday morning. Andre Jeremy Wilkinson was driving his 2008 Nissan Titan pickup at about 4 a.m. when he slammed into the back of a 1995 Buick that was stopped at a red light at the corner…
News media covered the arrests of two suspected murderers this weekend, including one who allegedly confessed to an AM/PM store clerk. Channel 15 [KNXV-TV] has a good interview about the Tucson store clerk who chatted with Jerome Pringle, accused of killing 41-year-old Alice Saunders of Phoenix. Saunders’ body was discovered…
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon will help celebrate the “topping out” of a new, city-subsidized office tower downtown this Thursday. With the state of the Valley’s office space market, though, we couldn’t help but wonder if the festivity will include a large, neon “Vacancy” sign for the roof. Our suggestion elicits…
Loads of reporters have parachuted into Phoenix over the years to write up our power-mad top constable Sheriff Joe, and often they’ve told the easy story of the flamboyant law man who talks like a mafioso and treats county inmates worse than the hounds in his kennels. Thankfully, the New Yorker’s Bill…
Its practice is even dumber than its name. “Horse tripping,” a “sport” where “cowboys” track and literally trip a running horse, is expected to be outlawed by Governor Jan Brewer today. “Few horses survive, and it usually results in broken legs, internal damage, and death,” Phoenix Councilwoman Thelda Williams tells the Arizona…
A man with a history of mental illness went berserk after a worker at a bar smashed his vehicle’s window to help his unattended 5-month-old baby, Mesa police say. Video surveillance shows that Michael Haynes, 37, (pictured), was in RT O’Sullivan’s, 6646 East Superstition Springs Boulevard on Saturday night for…
He assures us that his skin cancer is a result of youthful recklessness, not his current lifestyle. Now he’s an old man who spends weekends hanging out by the pool and playing water volley ball. He’s also stark naked, but that’s cool because so is everyone else. This guy, who…
