By Jonathan McNamara It’s amazing what people will do with vegetables these days. For the past five years, Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek has been cutting mazes through corn fields in the likenesses of celebrities including Larry King, Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno. Whose face would be temporarily etched into…
By John Dickerson The National Commission on Correctional Health Care, or NCCHC, has revoked the accreditation of all Maricopa County jails. The decision is a huge blow to Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the county – as this was the jails’ only third-party accreditation. Among other causes, the NCCHC found Arpaio’s…
MCSA organizer Parraz, at this morning’s press conference. At a press conference this morning in downtown Phoenix, Randy Parraz, an organizer with Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability, described his ordeal of being arrested on bogus trespassing and disorderly conduct charges yesterday after exiting a Maricopa County Board of Supervisors’…
By Stephen Lemons House nixes $700 billion bailout. McCain, Wall Street lose. Board of Supervisors critic and MCSA organizer Randy Parraz arrested by MCSO. Local racists attack Native Americans, shooting one. Scottsdale’s Dickie’s Dogs threatened again, this time with fake dynamite. Cards’ Boldin recovering after violent slam by Jets player…
You figure if The New York Times sends a scribbler to Arizona to pen a story about the race between Sheriff Joe Arpaio and challenger Dan Saban, he or she’d get it right, right? After all it’s the frickin’ New York Times we’re talking about. The Gray Lady. The veritable…
By Amy Silverman OK, so after today’s financial news, you might not be in the market for a mansion. But if you are, you’re in luck! An ad in yesterday’s Arizona Republic announced that on October 25, the “former home of Sen. John & Cindy McCain” will be auctioned. It’s…
By Jonathan McNamara Last week we asked why Phoenicians elect to stay in this dusty desert instead of heading out into the world. Check out this first entry from Phoenician and New Times reader Matt Self: I grew up in the East Valley where the land is flat and dry,…
MCSA firebrand Randy Parraz, who was arrested today outside the BOS auditorium. In what will surely be viewed as a black day for the Maricopa County Supervisors’ relations with the public, Randy Parraz, an organizer with the Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability, was arrested outside of the Supervisors’ auditorium…
By Stephen Lemons Guadalupe sues Sheriff Arpaio for trying to pull out of town. Trib op-ed argues Saban can beat Joe. Requests to local food banks up. State Dems can smell a legislative lead coming their way. Nappy knocks on doors for state House and Senate hopefuls. Cards burned badly…
Why won’t Joe debate Dan Saban? In this video, the Sheriff tells us it’s none of our business. While reporters in this town are busy feeding into the myth of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s invincibility and writing off rival Dan Saban, the anti-Joe activists out there are putting Phoenix’s Fourth Estate…
David Nahmod, the San Francisco-based blogger who was served with an Injuction of Harassment and a gag order by a judge in Surprise, Arizona (read the full story here), was denied his request to have the gag order removed at a Maricopa County Justice Court hearing on Thursday, September 25.
The now-famous photoshopped image of Palin. For some reason, I never tire of it. I haven’t cracked up like this since the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie was released. I’m talking about these parody blog posts written by the wags at the comedy Web site Something Awful after the manner…
By Jonathan McNamara Robert Pela revealed on Thursday that the freedom to pass gas without alerting his neighborhood’s gossip hounds makes living in Phoenix a worthwhile venture even if the symphony sucks. Today, two other New Times employees have stepped up to the plate to espouse their love for this…
By Stephen Lemons Cultish pastor Tony Alamo nabbed in northern Arizona by FBI. At first McCain was flakin’, now he’s headed for debate. Dowling sues Arpaio and county for $1.75M. Supes not allowing public comment in do-over meeting. Postseason hopes dashed for D-Backs. Citizen’s Denogean finds clergy who oppose gay-marriage…
The fun begins about 3:40 in… Well, if this doesn’t knock the shine off Sarah Palin’s star, I don’t know what will. In the latest YouTube video of Palin worshiping at her hometown church Wasilla Assembly of God, Palin is prayed over by a witch-hunting Kenyan pastor by the name…
By Stephen Lemons First corn vendors, then landscapers, now Sheriff’s deputies collar door makers. Real tough guys, those deps. Blows to head killed Phoenix cop, AG investigating. McLame wants out of Friday’s debate. Obama says the show must go on. Bishop declares Palin witchcraft-free in video. (Whew, that’s a relief.)…
In Jason Hill’s Phoenix, the sun never sets. His paintings of the city — a vibrant Valley National Bank framed by a glowing sky; a dazzling Financial Center with a jet jauntily speeding past — are thousand-watt, high-color beacons that send the same, simple, not-so-subliminal message: Phoenix is cool. Come…
JOE’S SONG Crackers, gimme a break: The Juan Mendoza Farias case is so typical of what has gone on repeatedly in Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jails. Somebody gets put inside for a minor crime (in the great scheme of things) — drunk driving, getting high on drugs — and winds up…
When the Housing Authority of Maricopa County began the hunt for a new executive director, it had some specifics in mind. Its hire would be running the county’s public housing program — no small task. Naturally, the ideal candidate would be educated, with at least a bachelor’s degree, and have…
It happens all the time: I’m someplace outside of Arizona, I mention that I live here most of the year, and the Phoenix-bashing commences. “Oh, no! Phoenix!” moaned Dennis, the first time I met him. Dennis owns Parkside Vintage, an amazing antiques store I always visit when I’m in Warren,…
What is an anchor baby? I am a 45-year-old male born in the U.S.A. My mother was born in ex-Yugoslavia (now Serbia), and my father was also born in ex-Yugoslavia (now Croatia). My father arrived to this country via a green card about four years before I was born and…
BAAAAD SHEPHERD Allow this avian to wow Christian and heathen alike with a little preachifyin’, thus demonstrating that The Bird’s days of forced Sunday school as a wee peeper were not totally in vain. Please turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11, and follow…
