Whatever happened out there in the desert, the case is closed for a Border Patrol agent accused of shooting an illegal immigrant in cold blood. The agent, who says he was attacked with a rock, won’t face another trial for the alleged crime. John McCain’s political future may be in…
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: Tattooed White Supremacist Suspect Recently Finished 10-Year Prison Sentence Ninth…
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard will reveal details tomorrow of the break-up of a large smuggling syndicate thanks to the work of several law enforcement agencies (but not the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office). While Sheriff Joe Arpaio was rousting corn vendors and trying to one-up Mesa Police Chief George Gascon, Phoenix police,…
Dave Hendershott, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s right-hand man, may have improperly tried to influence county Superior Court staff in the case against Supervisor Don Stapley, a letter sent to Hendershott today from the court’s attorney states. The accusation comes as part of an ongoing squabble over a request for the e-mails of of…
FIRE’s video of its December 4 “ICE raid.”Check the graphic at the end. FIRE melts ICE, get it? Well, here’s a man bites dog story, if there ever was one. Seems that on December 4, several orange jumpsuit-clad members of FIRE, which stands for “Flagstaff Immigrant Rights Enforcement,” delivered a…
We wrote about Viva Leroy Nash, the character shown below, a few weeks ago. Mainly, we took a hard look at his case because, at 93, he’s the oldest man on death row in the United States. We pointed out that, despite being sentenced way back in 1983 to die, Mr. Nash never…
With a face full of tattoos like these, you’re looking for trouble no matter where you go. Which made us wonder when we saw this picture of suspected white supremacist stabber Chad Kerns that Phoenix police e-mailed yesterday to the news media: Where does this guy hang out? Okay, maybe he could go to…
Murdering little kids is one crime that everyone likes to get tough on. That’s why it’s so satisfying to see the tough sentence in the case of Christopher Langin, (the loser pictured at left), who beat to death a three-year-old girl with disabilities. With natural life plus 27 years, he’ll never see…
Just got off the phone with Scottsdale Presiding Judge B. Monte Morgan about the wording of his court’s photo-enforcement tickets, which we took issue with yesterday in this blog. As we discussed previously, we think the wording on the summons makes it seem like ignoring the ticket will definitely result…
Roy Warden addresses the troops, all six of ’em…I confess, I’m drawn to the deep and abiding weirdness of the nativist movement for the same reason I watch televangelists, bird-dog neo-Nazis, and listen to on-air wackjobs like Michael Savage or Glenn Beck. Freaks are fascinating, let’s be honest. Or, to…
Down three players, the Phoenix Suns played toe to toe with the Los Angeles Lakers for four quarters before losing 115-110 at Staples Center. With the usual assortment of show-biz types in attendance Wednesday night, the Suns, with just eight players available, looked much better against the powerful Lakers than they had in…
Never trust a guy who’s got a swastika tattooed on his forehead: Phoenix cops arrest four suspected white supremacists after two hate crime attacks. Steve Nash says he’s “emotionally drained” following the Suns’ trade of Raja Bell and Boris Diaw for Jason Richardson of the Charlotte Bobcats. This is news you…
FIRING WEEG Whenever this canary contemplates the difference between state Republicans and Democrats, he harks back to a famous episode from the original Star Trek series, entitled Mirror, Mirror. In it, Captain James T. Kirk and others are inadvertently transported to a mirror universe, where the egalitarian U.S.S. Enterprise is…
>Many times, as I cross the border into the U.S., I see bald cholos buying images (posters, blankets, baby bibs) of Al Pacino in Scarface. Where does such an obsession for this ugly Cuban come from? Is Tony Montana replacing la Virgencita de Guadalupe in cholos’ living rooms across America?…
EIGHT BALL Eight is still better than most TV: You’ve got to be kidding (“Behind the Eight Ball,” Sarah Fenske, November 27): “With myriad options — the Food Channel and the Travel Channel and the History Channel and more — why would anyone come to public television for cultural programming?”…
The world’s pettiest law enforcement duo is at it again. Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas have socked Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley with 118 felony counts for — gasp! — failing to fill out paperwork properly. I’m not exaggerating. The 39-page indictment issued against Stapley last week…
New Times has an immediate opening for a full-time staff writer. We’re looking for a journalist with sharp investigative skills who understands the difference between magazine-style reporting and the hurried fact-finding of daily newspaper reporting. If your copy is as much a pleasure to read as it is well researched,…
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’s Photo Enforcement Tickets Lie About Consequences of Failing to RespondSky…
Finally, the Suns got rid of tentative Boris Diaw — then they threw in defensive-minded Raja Bell for good mearure. At least, these were the name players the team jettisoned to acquire talented two-guard Jason Richardson (pictured after a dunk) from the Charlotte Bobcats. The 6-foot-6 Richardson is a far better offensive player than either Bell…
Here’s one way to get people to pay their photo enforcement tickets or waive their right to proper service: Lie. That’s what the Scottsdale City Court does in tickets generated from its municipal system, which operates speed and red light cameras. As savvy readers know, especially if they’ve read our work…
Let’s cut to the chase on Wednesday’s testimony at Doug Grant’s first-degree murder trial in downtown Phoenix: Grant (pictured) certainly has some major issues, or we (and a slew of national media types) probably wouldn’t be sitting in court watching this proceeding slowly unfold. But key prosecution witness Chad White, a physician…
Barrett Marson, spokesman for outgoing Arizona House Speaker Jim Weiers, says in an e-mailed farewell that he’ll look back fondly on his four years dealing with the “jackals” in the media, some of whom he may have even enjoyed getting to know. Friends and acquaintances of Marson’s know he’s just joshing…
