Following the NFL draft, the Arizona Cardinals have released three players: running back Edgerrin James, cornerback Rod Hood, and linebacker Travis LaBoy…Arizona Representative Robert Meza has resigned from the board of Chicanos por la Causa to focus on creating a nonprofit organization for educational assistance. Meza had been a financial…
We understand that in the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. Worry not! We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Valley Fever: Scottsdale Community College Journalism Director Declares Victory in Student Newspaper…
Another day, another diss. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors can’t seem to communicate with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. In a letter to County Attorney Andrew Thomas (see below), Max Wilson, the chairman of the board, repeats his earlier offer to have Thomas call him to discuss mediation of…
Souring relations between Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris (pictured at right) and members of the department’s union were the source of a squabble at a City Council committee meeting today. As KTAR news (92.3 FM) reports, union president Mark Spencer and other union members wanted to tell a council sub-committee…
Jarrett Maupin II pleaded guilty today to a felony count of making a false statement to a federal law enforcement agent. Prosecutors are recommending probation for the former candidate for Phoenix mayor; his sentencing is scheduled for late July. U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell has the final word on…
A story today in the Arizona Republic touts the fact that the paper’s Sunday circulation rose a tiny .2 percent, but leaves out a significant drop in daily circulation: Sunday circulation for The Arizona Republic increased slightly for the most recent six-month period, helping the newspaper join the ranks of…
A Glendale man will serve more than four years in a federal prison for his role scamming investors in Valley medical facilities, while one of his associates from Surprise will serve a year and a half. The scheme also involved several other men, two of whom are scheduled to be…
Teachers who excel among their peers ought to be rewarded with high pay, says a new report by the Goldwater Institute.The paper sets the tone by kicking off with a quote from New York Times columnist Bob Herbert. After praising “diligent” teachers, Herbert notes:But there are many, many others who…
The swine flu situation in Arizona hasn’t changed much since yesterday’s post, except for a stockpiling of antiviral medications.Officials are telling Tucson media that Arizona still hasn’t reported any cases, and neither has the Mexican state that borders us, Sonora. Nobody’s been detained at the international border. Governor Jan Brewer…
Where the right-wing meets the sick and surreal. That’s my succinct definition of Arizona. Every day in this state, one’s faith in humanity is challenged when it comes to the subject of immigration. I half expect to awake each morn and find Russell Pearce’s recipe for parboiled immigrant infant in…
The Maricopa Community College District Governing Board seems to have backed down on plans to research how to take control of student newspapers. The board, which oversees the county’s popular community colleges, makes no mention of the newspaper issue on the agenda for this evening’s meeting. Julie Knapp, director of…
If only. That’s the phrase on a lot of D-Backs’ fans minds as the painful first month of the 2009 season nears its close. If only Brandon Webb wasn’t going to be out for at least six more weeks. If only Arizona could manufacture a consistent stream of runs per…
The largest water park in the state, Wet ‘n’ Wild Phoenix, is scheduled to open in mid-June. The $30 million, 35-acre park includes 30 slides and a coaster called Maximum Velocity. The park replaces the WaterWorld Safari park in north Phoenix…In Tucson, Reina Irene Gonzales was sentenced to two 22-year…
Zack talks about Arpaio and 287(g) with artist Ernesto Yerena I’ll give you two reasons why demonstrators will be marching May 2 in Phoenix from the Wells Fargo building downtown — where Sheriff Arpaio maintains two floors of pricey executive offices — to Joe’s Estrella Jail, a hellhole that’s home…
We understand that in the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. Worry not! We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Valley Fever: Swine Flu: Arizona on the Lookout for “Inevitable” Cases of…
Video footage of an MCSO arrest and search during Friday’s sweep The sheriff’s recent two-day anti-immigration sweep in Avondale was disastrous on so many levels. The MCSO’s own press release states that “200 deputies and volunteer posse members” were mobilized for the operation, which would make 400 men total, assuming the…
Stating cheesily that, “Wolverine wouldn’t stand for bootlegged copies of his new movie and neither do we,” Maricopa County Andrew Thomas announced several recent digital piracy prosecutions involving the upcoming movie. That’s actually the funniest damned thing we’ve ever read from Thomas, who’s usually all prim and proper. He must…
A swarm of bees attacked a New River family barbecue Sunday evening, possibly stinging one man hundreds of times. Fifteen people and a dog were stung repeatedly — the guy stung the most went to the hospital. The dog “took the brunt of it,” according to the Daisy Mountain Fire…
Pumpkinville was a small town in the desert, misnamed for local buffalo gourds that grew in the area. Then a local Englishman, drunk on “red-eye whiskey,” invented a new name that better described the community being built on top of long-abandoned Indian dwellings: Phoenix. The tale of P-town’s christening’s just one…
Channel 10 news (KSAZ-TV) aired a jailhouse interview last week with Chad Kerns, the tattooed white supremacist accused of stabbing a black man at a Walgreen’s store. Without ever getting too specific, Kerns says he was at the scene of the crime with other suspects but didn’t assault anyone. Kerns,…
State troopers last week caught up to a local ex-con wanted for alleged weapons violations who had eluded capture on April 13. Angel Valenzuela had vowed to shoot at anyone trying to take him back to prison, but it didn’t turn out that way. Detectives with the Arizona Department of Public Safety figured out…
US Airways announced today it will relax ticketing policies for passengers scheduled this week to fly to, from, or through a slew of cities in Mexico. The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that American Airlines is making a similar move. The Phoenix-based airline’s Web site says passengers scheduled for…
