By Ray Stern There’s your typical, garden-variety USA-style violence. Even worse, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas seems to imply in his latest press release, is the dreaded “Latin America-Style violence.” But like the propaganda Thomas put forth in a recent public service announcement, Thomas’ attempt to capitalize shamelessly on the…
By Stephen Lemons Nik Richie posts john names (he says) in Desert Divas bust. You won’t believe who’s listed. (Update: Richie’s taken them down. Was the story bogus, Nik?) Old Man McCain takes lead over Obama in new poll. (Yikes!) Arizona tax revenues in the dumps. Cards clobber the 49ers…
C’mon, Jesse, rock the boa, for old times’ sake… Do the reporters who pen the Political Insider column for the Arizona Republic know how to use Google? Does their editor? I wonder this after reading this Sunday’s edition of the Insider. The column talks up the fact that the former…
By Ray Stern Terri, no! That cherubic face. The mommy image. The craft show. It all makes me wonder: What’s a nice, local gal like Terri Ouellette doing making commercials for a scoundrel like Kevin Trudeau? Ouellette has made a name for herself over the years as the self-fashioned “Craft…
More effective than a bucketful of Sominex… A colossal yawn. That’s what a CSPAN cameraman caught one of the GOP delegates in the middle of last night during John McCain’s speech, and it pretty much summed up my experience watching it. A real snoozer. I could barely keep from flipping…
By Ray Stern How much thought should I put into this blog? Should I publish every newly formed or silly thought rattling around in my brain? If I did, I’d be approaching the experiment of “live blogging” that’s been gracing a dim corner of the Arizona Republic/Channel 12 (KPNX) news…
By Amy Silverman They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but maybe not this time. Remember a local new wave/punk band from the 80s called Liquid Visual? Then the name George Maestri might ring a bell. We hear his sister, Jane Smith, was a fairly well-known performance artist/amateur…
A kid looks to see what all the fuss is about. Photo by Jonathan McNamara By Sarah Fenske Naked children! That shocking topic is the subject of ASU photography professor Betsy Schneider’s work. It was also the subject of New Times’ profile of Schneider, which ran August 14. As writer…
By Stephen Lemons Who da man? Nik Richie is drunk driver Hooman Karamian. McCain gives his big speech. Faithful roar, the rest of us snooze. Heart fires off cease and desist letter to McCain/Palin over Barracuda rip-off. Arizona bishops pray for passage of gay marriage ban. Pima’s Popes of Pot…
Since Huffington Post published the story a couple of days ago of McCain’s Veep choice Sarah Palin’s association with the Assemblies of God church in Wasilla, Alaska, nearly 750,000 people have read the item, and presumably watched the video of Palin at the church she attended for many years, giving…
By Ray Stern As predicted in this blog, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office decided Deputy Jesus Cosme did not commit racial profiling in a traffic stop described by the East Valley Tribune. Oddly, the Tribune still hasn’t written about the investigation of Cosme, which was sparked by the Trib’s own…
Does the Guv secretly heart Sarah Palin, or does she just have hoof-in-mouth disease? What the hell is wrong with Janet Napolitano? The woman has a cushy job where she doesn’t have to lift a pinky, and for nearly six years, she’s mostly maintained a stunning record of boredom and…
By Ray Stern As New Times reported yesterday, when Republicans in Maricopa County saw Andrew Thomas’ name on Tuesday’s ballot, nearly 18 percent chose not to vote for County Attorney. But Dan Saban, Democratic candidate for Maricopa County sheriff, convinced an even smaller fraction of his own party to vote…
By Stephen Lemons Sarah “Peyton Place” Palin blasts Obama, trumpets her small town roots. Mayor Mary Manross refuses to concede in Scottsdale, runoff in the offing. CD5 Republicans still waiting to see who takes on Harry Mitchell. D-Backs slice up St. Lou. Previews of Stanford at ASU, Cards at San…
David Braid doesn’t look like a gangster. A pilot for US Airways, Braid has the friendly demeanor and wholesome blondness common to many Midwesterners — it’s no surprise to learn that he hails from Michigan. Now living in Mesa, the 46-year-old seems about as nice, and low-key, as they come…
MONKEY BUSINESS Thanks, new reader: I am new to the area and had never even heard of your paper before someone told me about your story concerning a chimp and a diabetic lady (“Felonious Monk,” Paul Rubin, August 21). They live about three miles from me. I laughed a lot at…
During the memorial slide show, but before the actual service began at Stacey Pawlowski’s funeral, a lobbyist leaned over and handed his business card to a city councilman. “Call me. I want to talk to you about your campaign,” he said. The councilman nodded, and everyone in earshot tittered, because…
All is apparently not well with two Arizona physicians, both subjects of recent New Times stories. One doctor, a plastic surgeon named Elliott Schmerler, is under investigation by the state’s homeopathic medical board, for performing surgeries not allowed by his license. And Michael Mahl, a medical doctor and admitted addict,…
I’m an illegal alien. Got here on a tourist visa and stayed for a job. My gabacho employer knows about it and doesn’t give a crap. I don’t apologize about it, as ever since I can remember, the U.S. has meddled around other countries’ business as if it owns the…
Watch it and weep, Mesa Republicans ignored this info about Pearce and so much more. Nearly 70 percent of Republican primary voters in LD18 were unconcerned with Russell Pearce playing patty-cake with a neo-Nazi. Indeed, that neo-Nazi, the now infamous J.T. Ready, told me he voted for Pearce and still…
By Ray Stern Nearly 18 percent of Republican voters in Tuesday’s primary election chose to vote for nobody instead of incumbent Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Such “undervotes” always turn up in races with just one name on the ballot, but not in the same quantity. In this case, a…
8 for 2008: Last night’s primary gives us eight reasons why the AZ electorate is even stupider than previously thought By Sarah Fenske The results are in! Last night’s primary settled a lot of hot political races. Now we know that it’ll be Tim Nelson who takes on Maricopa County…
