Do you live under a rock? No, right? So you’re aware that Monday night, September 26, brings the first of three presidential debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The event is already being billed the most-watched television event in U.S. history, which, given the complete and total lack of uncertainty…
Republican vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence largely sidestepped politics at a low-key question-and-answer session at a Mesa megachurch on Thursday, choosing instead to focus on more personal matters. Before a crowd of about 900 people at Living Word Bible Church, the Indiana governor described Republican running mate Donald Trump as a…
The Solana Generating Station — the large concentrated-solar plant near Gila Bend — was knocked out by a microburst for a few days in late July and won’t generate power normally for months, a new report reveals. The severe problem comes on top of generally poor performance from the $2…
The number of undocumented immigrants living in Arizona has slightly increased over the past few years, while the number nationwide has remained relatively the same, according to a new Pew Research Center study. In 2014, the year for which the most recent numbers are available, there were 325,000 undocumented immigrants living in…
When Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is under oath, in a deposition or during a trial, he invariably describes his management style in Reaganesque terms, asserting that he delegates the responsibilities of his office to underlings. This allows Arpaio to pass the proverbial buck to subordinates, keeping the sheriff insulated,…
Hickman’s Family Farms’ Tonapah egg ranch stinks — in a literal sense. And that, a group of downwind residents argue, should preclude the farm’s vice president of sales, Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman, from having a say in the county’s air-quality control. Hickman was appointed to the five-member Maricopa County Board of Supervisors…
Despite an Arizona Supreme Court opinion and sensational news articles, Arizona parents and caregivers can rest easy: Nobody’s going to be charged with child molesting just for changing a baby’s diaper. But the fear is real — and so is the embarrassment Arizona is once again facing nationally because of poor…
In an era of hyperpartisan debate, it’s feels rare for an issue to generate broad consensus or cut across political, geographic, and demographic lines. But apparently the Grand Canyon, one of the country’s oldest and most iconic national parks, is that issue. According to a new bipartisan poll released this…
A street preacher infamous for condemning yoga pants and tramping around the University of Arizona campus hollering “You Deserve Rape” was arrested Tuesday after allegedly kicking a woman in the chest. Dean Saxton, a Christian who calls himself Brother Dean, was booked into the Pima County Jail, charged with misdemeanor assault,…
Republican Congressman Matt Salmon is teaming up with a liberal Democrat colleague to save the popular pain-relieving plant known as kratom from the government’s blacklist. Salmon, who will retire from representing Arizona’s Fifth Congressional District in January, has co-authored a letter with progressive Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, asking the U.S. Drug…
Mayor John Suthers of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is an outspoken opponent of marijuana legalization — but even he doesn’t support Arizona’s felony-possession law. Suthers — also a former Colorado Attorney General — came to Arizona this week to denounce Prop 205 on behalf of the opposition group Arizonans for Responsible…
It’s no secret that Arizona is getting its first swim-with-the-dolphins (SWTD) entertainment center in the very near future, and it’s no secret that the plan is incredibly controversial: Dolphins in the desert?!? Sounds crazy, right? Ever since New Times first wrote about #DolphinFreeAZ, the large and loud movement to stop the Mexican…
Demitri Downing, a former prosecutor and the son of Arizona Rep. Ted Downing (D-Tucson), wants to make the recently renamed Marijuana Industry Trade Association a strong voice for the growing number of Arizona cannabis businesses. The industry has been loosely organized since its inception in 2012, but now needs a…
Governor Doug Ducey’s work to defeat marijuana legalization in Arizona has included a lot of behind-the-scenes fundraising, including a pricey propaganda talk set for Tuesday at a posh hotel. Ducey’s the headlining special guest for the expensive “roundtable discussion” and reception that begins at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the…
In commemoration of the recent fifth anniversary of the massive police raid on the Phoenix Goddess Temple, founder Tracy Elise has delivered a special recorded message to her supporters from Perryville Women’s Prison, where she’s serving a 4.5-year sentence for an array of prostitution-related charges. “It may appear to everyone that we have…
Dear Stoner: Why are all you potheads so gung-ho about the benefits of smoking weed? I smoke it from time to time, but I don’t tell my friends to light up a joint instead of visiting the doctor. It’s pot, not magic beans. Grinding Gary Dear Gary: Magic buds, maybe…
The Arizona Department of Transportation has 138,000 loyal followers on Twitter. Mostly, they provide, y’know, street closures and traffic alerts. But, boy howdy, this past Wednesday at 5:44 p.m., all who were paying attention were rewarded after a La-Z-Boy fell off…something, and came to rest in the middle of southbound Route 101 near…
Christine Jones conceded the Arizona Congressional District Five primary election to Republican competitor Andy Biggs on Friday after a judge announced the results of the election recount. Biggs, the current State Senate President, won the contest 25,244 votes to Jones’s 25,217 — a difference of 27 votes. He’s all-but certain to…
Like a cancerous tumor that defies radiation therapy, section 2b of Senate Bill 1070 — Arizona’s infamous immigration law — remains on the books, despite a settlement announced Thursday in a six year-old lawsuit brought against the State of Arizona by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil-rights groups. As part…
The rumblings of Internet rumormongers notwithstanding, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management isn’t gearing up to euthanize 44,000 wild horses and 1,000 burros. But just to make sure, several dozen horse lovers mobbed the agency’s downtown Phoenix office Thursday, trotting a fuzzy stuffed horse up and down Washington Avenue and…
Rose Mofford, who stepped into office as Arizona’s first woman governor in 1988, passed away this morning at the age of 94. Mofford was one of Arizona’s best-liked former governors, owing both to her short time in office and her warm and open personality. Born and raised in the mining…
At a meeting of nine passionate mountain bikers on Wednesday evening under a ramada in Papago Park, emotions flared over the creation of a new, five-kilometer fitness trail that’s ruined their normal biking experience. Hearing that city officials insist other park users like the new trail, one quipped: “Who?” The…
