CASTRO THE FIGHTER The Bird winged his way down to Nogales the other day to meet with Arizona’s only Mexican-born governor, Raul Castro. Sand Land newbies, who know the Grand Canyon State as a reservoir of hatred and discrimination toward anyone brown, may figure this finch finally has gone Froot…
Two years ago, a 28-year-old postal worker named Bryant Wilkerson was hit by a drunk driver, a teenage girl who’d been partying with her friends all day on the Salt River and had the blood alcohol content to prove it. That day, Wilkerson’s life changed forever, but not in the…
As I reported in last week’s Bird column, Guadalupe’s lickspittle Mayor Frankie Montiel has invited Sheriff Joe back to his square-mile town for Thursday’s town council meeting, and perhaps a meal of Mexican seafood. Arpaio’s return comes one year after the MCSO ran roughshod over that town in an anti-immigrant sweep,…
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: Peoria Bank Robber Cuts Hole In Wall, Surprises Bank Employees…
Here’s quick way to pay some bills: Buy one of the new CA$H4 tickets from the Arizona State Lottery that go on sale this Sunday, match four numbers and collect your $10,000. Just four lousy numbers — that’s a probability of one in 10,000, right? Well, it’s harder than…
Poor AIG. All it wanted was a few good bailout dollars, but taxpayers can’t seem to understand why it’s crucial for employees to attend lavish conferences and receive jackpot bonuses. It’s the company people like to kick around, so it fits that AIG is spending $100 million on an advertising deal with…
Laura Devany, a spokeswoman for state Senate Republicans, just won the Arizona Capitol Times “Best Government PR Person” award. She’d better sharpen her resume. The last two people picked for the award by Capitol Times readers, also both spokesman for Republican lawmakers, were fired from their posts. Nick Simonetta, a…
What the hell has gotten into Prensa Hispana, the Spanish language freebie you always see in racks at Mexican restaurants and grocery stores? In today’s March 25th edition, and teased on the cover, is a full-page puff piece on MCSO Deputy Chief Paul Chagolla, the much-despised former flack for Sheriff…
Holy bank robbery, Batman! (Or maybe it should be hole-y). Cops and the FBI are looking for a robber with above-average planning skills who forced the employees of a Peoria bank to open a cash vault. On Tuesday morning, the man broke into a Christian bookstore right next to the Chase Bank at 8978 W…
Public schools send some disabled kids to private schools — but parents can’t do the same thing with state money, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled today. The state’s high court struck down two voucher programs that intended to give a combined $5 million in taxpayer funds to private schools chosen by parents…
Hey, Suns fans. Steve Nash and company have you exactly where they want you after its epic 118-115 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Only three games behind the Dallas Mavericks, all hopeful and stuff, and ready to Sharpie-in that eighth and final playoff position in the West…
Smile, you’re on hidden spy-cam: An anti-abortion group called Live Action is criticizing Planned Parenthood’s legal duties to report sexual abuse of minors, after an adult woman posed as a 15 year-old girl at a Planned Parenthood location in Phoenix and said she was pregnant by an older man. The…
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:”Fatal Femme” Pleads Guilty in 2005 Murder; Woman Admitted to Pulling…
Doug Grant sits in the Maricopa County Jail tonight, the consequence of a deeply flawed life and the vagaries of the criminal-justice system. A 12-person jury convicted the one-time Phoenix Suns nutritionist of manslaughter in the death of his wife Faylene. It was the least serious (though definitely nothing…
A hotly disputed pro-labor-union bill that looked like it was heading for passage after Democratic gains in the 2008 election was essentially killed today by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. New Times first told our readers about this proposed federal law in our feature story on the local fight between a labor union and the Bashas’…
Though most identity theft victims don’t have it too hard, others get put through the wringer. Witness the case of Marc and Rachel Griffith, a Washington couple dealing with the electronic mess made by a suspect who was arrested today by Phoenix police. Marc Griffith nearly gave up his dream…
Governor Jan Brewer insisted on relocating a campaign fundraiser this week to distance herself — both figuratively and physically — from a key figure in a 2000 state subsidy scandal. Brewer could have anticipated problems with this one. The Wednesday fundraiser was to be held in the Paradise Valley home of Nathan…
Sports nutritionist Doug Grant was convicted of manslaughter in the bathtub-drowning death of his wife, Faylene, by a Maricopa County Superior Court jury a few minutes ago. The so-called Mormon murder case (Doug and Faylene Grant, pictured, were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) went to…
“The victim in this case thought he was doing some people a favor.”
The daily newspaper industry seems to be violently ill, if not on its death bed, judging by the onslaught of furloughs, layoffs and shutdowns. But coming to the rescue is a Democratic senator from Maryland, Benjamin Cardin (pictured), who today introduced a bill that would allow newspapers to operate as…
Every journalist loves a good leak, and Gannett’s got enough of them to keep a whole Web site afloat. We told you about Gannett’s latest round of furloughs yesterday (okay, that was after the Gannett-owned newspaper published its own an Associated Press article — but azcentral buried it). Today, an…
There were certainly no surprises from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office yesterday during a legislative hearing on unserved felony and misdemeanor warrants. Back in November of 2007, Paul Chagolla, then the spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, told the Scottsdale Times that talk of unserved warrants:…appeared to be designed…
