Tempe police arrested a man who allegedly shot one man, assaulted another, and attempted to rob them both. About 9 p.m. Wednesday night, 23-year-old Ruben Vierra went to the door of the victims’ Mission Springs Apartment at 1311 W. Baseline Road in Tempe and knocked on the door, cops say…
State Senate President Bob Burns ousted two of his Republican colleagues from their leadership postions Wednesday, after the pair attempted to sabotage a bipartisan budget agreement the Legislature reached Monday. Senators Thayer Verschoor and Pamela Gorman got the boot from Burns after they voted against him in the rules committee,…
Josh Bernstein of Channel 15 [KNXV-TV] reported a story over the weekend that seems to be pushed heavily by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and doesn’t deliver the goods on Mary Rose Wilcox. But it comes close. Wilcox, [pictured], one of five County Supervisors and a longtime political opponent of…
The fans have spoken, and they have declared that the Arizona Diamondbacks’ budding slugger Mark Reynolds will not represent the National League in next week’s All-Star Game in St. Louis. Instead, it will be Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino filling the NL rosters’ final spot. Between the time the All-Star…
Here’s our leaked list of news-side people let go in the current round of Arizona Republic layoffs, which are part of a nationwide Gannett reduction: Laura McBride, Jennifer Johnson, Dave Lumia, Ralph Zubiate, Heather Wells [copy editor], Jeremie Lederman, Bobby Boos, Theresa Cano, David Proffitt [City…
A Henry, Tennessee man drove his mule-pulled wagon 1,774 across the United States, reaching his destination in Phoenix last week.John McComsey says on his Web site it was his dream for retirement to take the leisurely cross-country trip to the Arizona home of one of his relatives. But he also…
More than half a billion years ago, life on Earth wasn’t very interesting. No cats, dog, people, dinosaurs — not even plants.What did the landscape look like back then? Endless miles of green “pioneer vegetation,” say according to researchers at Arizona State University and the University of California, Riverside.The scientists…
With the halfway point of the baseball season mercifully upon us, let’s sum up, shall we? It ain’t pretty. Going into the final series of the D-Backs’ miserable first half (tonight through Sunday against the Florida Marlins at Chase Field), the homeboys — picked by many preseason prognosticators to win…
Arizona has used only three percent of the $12 million in federal stimulus funds the state received for housing, according to a government oversight report released Wednesday. The same report shows the state hasn’t spent any of its educations funds, but has already spent 96 percent of its stimulus Medicaid…
Why is it that ever since the U.S./California let you people immigrate, tunnel, weasel, or whatever into this country that nothing good has happened and/or come from it? California’s welfare program is burdened with low-life Hispanics. The prison system is 70 percent Hispanic, 45 percent gang-based. Real estate values have…
YES, DEAR Martin sees the light: Finally, New Times gets it right. Dear and the Headlights are, indeed, the most important band in Phoenix, and I dare say they will become one of the most important bands in the nation. Your article was very interesting, though I would have preferred…
For more than a month now, I’ve been waiting for the court to unseal key documents in the Phoenix Police Department’s investigation into one of its own, former homicide detective David Barnes. I was hoping the paperwork would answer some questions: What does the department — which executed a search…
Russell Pearce, the powerful East Valley lawmaker, had this to say to the New York Times in June 2008: “It’s about time and it’s great. It’s kind of like the shot fired at Concord in the Revolutionary War, the shot heard around the world.” State Senator Pearce was referring to…
Remember just a couple of months ago, when Sheriff Joe was saying he “welcomed” a Justice Department probe into the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, telling the press he intended to cooperate fully with any investigation, and saying explicitly that, “We have nothing to hide”? Now Joe’s squirming like a stuck…
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: Up on the Sun: Shepard Fairey, Artist Behind Obama “HOPE” Poster, Tied To The Edge 103.9’s New…
Plenty of noise has been made today about the arrest of Raphael Libardi, owner of a granite-importing business busted on suspicion of identity theft. A news release by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas calls it a “historic first.” An Associated Press article calls Libardi the “first business owner in Arizona…
A nightmare nurse who allegedly stabbed and beat an elderly couple he was hired to care for will be charged with attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault, and armed robbery, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office says. In late June, Benny Peralta allegedly attacked the elderly couple in the midst of their…
This just in from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Phoenix:Brian Roehrich, the 40-year-old former owner of Sugar Daddy’s, Dos Gringos, Trailer Park, and Joe’s Apartment bars, has been sentenced to two years for tax evasion. He’s supposed to turn himself in by September 9. Roehrich had a system at his…
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed four bills today to restore much of the roughly $600 million cut from education programs in the Legislature’s initial budget proposal, which she vetoed. Monday, after an exhaustive special session, the Legislature passed a new budget to appease the irritated executive, and re-include her pricey passion projects…
The Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians sued the federal government this week in an attempt to stop logging in a burned area north of the Grand Canyon. The feds want to sell 9,114 acres of Kaibab National Forest that was burned in the 2006 Warm Fire…
The “other” guys came up big Wednesday afternoon for the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 6-2 win and series sweep over the San Diego Padres. The D-Backs’ “big guys” — Justin Upton, Mark Reynolds, and Stephen Drew — went 1-for-12 against Padres pitchers, so it was up to Gerardo Parra, little-used…
A private eye hired by the Recording Industry Association of America called the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for help with pirated movies, leading to the arrests of two illegal immigrants.Two women in their 20s, Karina Romero-Figueroa, 24 and Judith Romero-Figueroa, [both pictured below], were busted at “the Mercado” near U.S…
