The sexual misconduct trial of former Catholic priest Dale Fushek is “cut off at the knees” after a judge rules he has the right to five separate trials for his six charges. Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley reportedly will leave to coach the Kansas City Chiefs — that could be…
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: Tense Testimony Tendered In Mormon Murder Trial Janet Napolitano “Finessing…
We warned you that the Phoenix City Council’s selection of a replacement for departing Councilman Greg Stanton (pictured) was no done deal — but even we didn’t realize just how popular this position would be. Minutes before the official day’s-end deadline, workers at the city clerk’s office told us they’d received applications…
KTAR’s reporting that Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas called Arpaio’s jail segregation of undocumented Hispanics “unconstitutional” in a press conference today. Apparently, Thomas cleared the statement with the “male” in the Arpaio-Thomas relationship, and there are no hard feelings between the two.”I have taken the consistent position that racial and…
Hate to tease you like that, but a last-minute switcheroo in the courtroom today means that the hearing on the case between Maricopa County Andrew Thomas and Maricopa County has been put off. Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio — the two politicians who are suing the county — didn’t show up (they…
Ever since Janet Napolitano’s nomination to be director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, some liberals and immigrant rights activists have held out hope that Napolitano would rein in the excesses of the department’s 287(g) program and its worksite enforcement raids. The New York Times trumpeted her as “the…
Janet Napolitano, our former governor and current Homeland Security secretary, is taking heat from a think-tank that accuses her of making the federal government’s crackdown of illegal immigrants even more efficient.In an article that clearly takes issue with Napolitano’s directives in her first weeks as boss of Homeland Security, Americas…
A fight turned into a “small-scale riot” involving 200 to 300 people just outside South Mountain High School on Wednesday, police say.Though a spokesman quoted in the Arizona Republic today says only about 40 or 50 people were involved and that it “probably looked even worse than it was,” a…
It looks like Round Two of the lawsuit between Maricopa County and the Maricopa County Attorney’s office begins today.An “order to show cause” has been issued in the case, and we understand it’s likely Andrew Thomas has been ordered to appear for a hearing at 1:30 p.m. (Thomas could send…
Prosecutor Juan Martinez tried to paint murder defendant Doug Grant’s current wife Hilary as a co-conspiring, manipulative, slutty, cold-blooded, gold-digging, backstabbing floozy during hours of tense testimony Wednesday. Doug Grant, a onetime nutritionist for the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks, is accused of killing another of his wives, Faylene (that’s the…
It’s past time for the Suns to panic. But they can’t muster up enough energy to even care whether another sub-.500 team blows them out. Pride? Apparently they have none. Is it that they hate Coach Terry Porter, he of the long practices, clich’ed press conferences, and tough-guy persona? Because they can’t really be this…
Size matters: Arizona’s Republican senators are both pushing for an alternative to Obama’s stimulus package. Napolitano called him “Chicken Little” when he made the prediction that the state was going to run out of money, but now State Treasurer Dean Martin is sounding an optimistic note, declaring Arizona’s economy will…
I can’t tell you how disappointed I’ve been these past few days, as a U.S. citizen and ciudadano mexicano, how I’ve been seeing more and more stories about los narcos and how the Mexican government keeps getting screwed over in newspapers. I think that you should dedicate a whole article…
PILOT ERROR I don’t want to ever be on his flights: After reading this article, it makes a person wonder what’s necessary to stop a pilot from making a serious mistake. I don’t agree with lying as a form of justification, but I do think that these attendants did the…
DEAD DIAPER BLUES This funky finch could hardly believe his feathered ears. On the other end of the horn was New Times reader Rose Hartman, a neighbor of none other than William Windsor, Phoenix’s own beloved “Baby Man,” whom New Times profiled in a 2005 cover story of the same…
On a recent December Sunday, on a still street nestled against Camelback Mountain, a party is in full swing at the L. Ron Hubbard House. It’s meant to be a holiday open house, to show off the stunning renovation of the simple brick dwelling where Hubbard founded Scientology a half-century…
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: Sheriff’s Captain Argues Mysterious Donors to Republican Party Not a…
We live in two Americas: Joe Arpaio’s medieval Maricopa County, where barbarism reigns, and our corrupt top cop parades hundreds of Hispanics through the streets in chains, like captives taken in some feudal conflict from faded memory. And then there’s Barack Obama’s America, one of enlightenment, and the rule of…
Yvonne Wingett, who writes the Political Insider column for the Arizona Republic, reports this afternoon that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is requesting e-mails and other public records from all five county supervisors and 31 county employees under the state’s public records law. The meaning of the records request isn’t clear,…
As one way to deal with a huge revenue shortfall, the City of Phoenix will shorten hours beginning March 2 at all of its library branches. About half of the 15 branch libraries will no longer be open on Sundays. Victoria Welch, city spokeswoman for the library system, tells us the reduced schedule comes at…
As promised right here on Valley Fever, we’ve got a portion of MCSO Captain Joel Fox’s interview after his pre-hearing this afternoon. …
Captain Joel Fox of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office continued to play martyr during an administrative hearing on Wednesday, still unwilling to give up the names of the people behind a $105,000 campaign donation to the Republican Party that has been deemed illegal. Today’s hearing, which we told you about…
