The Arizona Department of Health Services continues to spend big bucks to keep serious diseases from being listed as qualifying ailments under the state’s medical-marijuana program. In its latest effort, the department has spent tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars — which comes from medical-marijuana patients — trying to…
A Mesa man, who according to police went by the online alter ego “Zel the Wolf”on the digital art-sharing site DeviantArt.com, was arrested this week for alleged online sexual contact with two 12-year-old girls and for bestiality. Mesa police say Aaron Thomas Usery, 21, engaged in virtual sexual relationships with…
From the moment Tracy Elise, head priestess and founder of the Phoenix Goddess Temple, was arrested and accused of running of a brothel, she began saying that her legal case was about religious freedom, not prostitution. The authorities, meanwhile, maintained just the opposite: “This is no more a church than…
Hikers and people working outdoors could be better protected against venomous snakes in the future by packing along a bite-treatment product now under development at the University of Arizona. While still a long way from store shelves, the treatment’s already showing signs that it could be a life-saving breakthrough. The…
One Tempe community has found a novel way of dealing with pet poop — testing doggie DNA. The Residences at Fountainhead, which has been open for a year, has been policing pet owners, requiring residents who move into the community to have their dogs’ mouth swabbed for DNA testing. Then,…
Gilbert Police have filed aggravated-assault charges against a veteran who announced intentions in March to sue the department for using excessive force while attempting to calm him down during a post-traumatic stress disorder breakdown. Police are accusing Kyle Cardenas, seeking $20 million to settle his lawsuit, of “intentionally, knowingly, or…
Tracy Elise thinks we have a sex problem in Arizona. As someone who has studied ancient sex practices for more than two decades and served as the head priestess at a Tantric temple in Phoenix, she should know. She thinks we don’t talk about sex and orgasms enough, and that…
For months now, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have engaged in a back-and-forth battle over immigration. This was again in full display this week, with both campaigns attacking their opponent’s record on the issue. The Sanders team held a conference call with reporters to blast Clinton for opposing a plan…
Stranded with her dog on a remote plateau in the Fort Apache Indian Reservation after her vehicle ran out of fuel, 72-year-old Ann Rodgers realized she’d need every survival technique she knew. It turns out she knows quite a few. The lithe, blond Tucson resident ate desert plants, drank from…
An Arizona citizens’ initiative campaign to legalize marijuana announced today that it has reached 200,000 signatures — more than needed to make November’s ballot. But the campaign is shooting for far more than it needs, at least 225,000 signatures, in case some invalidated.. “Voters want to have their say on…
It’s no secret that Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar thinks the proposed Grand Canyon National Heritage Monument is part of a conspiracy put forth by “radical environmentalists” to “lock up 1.7 million acres of land” and kill local business, but if a three-hour event he hosted this week is any indication,…
House Speaker David Gowan today dropped the requirement that reporters must sign a background-check form to receive House floor privileges. The decision came under intense pressure from media outlets, and also followed New Times’ article that revealed that the form wasn’t really required to perform the sort of background checks that…
More than one-quarter of working-age Arizona residents attended college but didn’t finish, a new report states. The percentage of Arizona residents between the ages of 25 and 64 who went to college but didn’t complete their degree is nearly 26 percent. That’s higher than the national average of 21.5 percent,…
According to a recent poll performed by Sheriff Paul Babeu’s hired hand, a plurality of likely GOP voters in Arizona’s First Congressional District apparently don’t care about the various allegations swirling about the sheriff’s use of RICO funds. Nor do these reputedly conservative voters — about 35.7 percent of the poll…
For all those Arizonans out there worried about voter suppression during the presidential preference vote, rest assured that a local activist with a history of taking on problematic elections is trying to get to the bottom of what happened here. John Brakey, co-founder of AUDIT-AZ (Americans United for Democracy, Integrity,…
The Arizona Senate approved a bill Monday that would make it a state crime to take, harass, kill, or otherwise interfere with a herd of horses that runs free along the Salt River. The bill passed 27-2, with one senator not voting. House Bill 2340 already prevailed in the House…
The Arizona Department of Public Safety said today it won’t take part in background checks on reporters for the state House of Representatives, raising key questions about the controversial process. Without help from law enforcement, House staff would be relegated to searching court sites and Google, same as any member…
For nearly 90 minutes on stage at Phoenix’s Comerica Theater on Sunday night, comedian/commentator Bill Maher ripped into Republicans, religion, Islam, the Catholic Church and male sexual hypocrisy, but he saved special venom for presidential contender Donald Trump and his followers. Calling Trump “that douchebag from Queens,” Maher derided the…
With all the drama surrounding last month’s presidential preference election in Arizona, it can be hard to remember there are other powerful political seats up for grabs in November, but according to the latest political polls and election experts, the Senate race between John McCain and Ann Kirkpatrick is just…
Arizona’s got marijuana on the brain — and no wonder: The state has one of the country’s biggest medical-marijuana programs, it has at least one potential adult-use legalization initiative likely to appear on November’s ballot, and it shares a border with one of the world’s biggest producers of cannabis. Here’s…
High above the bustle of Phoenix traffic, atop the Maricopa County Administration Building, a female peregrine falcon guards a pile of new eggs. Her partner has soared off (presumably to hunt) so she’s alone in the nest, shifting her weight from foot to foot as she surveys the city with…
When the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a permanent injunction last week blocking former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s executive order denying driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants with work permits, it started to feel like deja vu. As Congress continues to stall on comprehensive reform, more and more states…
