Steve Gallardo, the lone Democrat on the five-member Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, says federal oversight of county elections is needed after last month’s voting debacle. He may right – but one glaring reason the county may need federal oversight of its elections because of the lack of county oversight…
Rob McElwain has a system. He scours his neighborhood for materials, delivers them home, paints, and finally, he protests. On most weekdays, the tall, lanky 61-year-old — in jeans, his hair sun-bleached white and pulled back into a ponytail — stands on First Avenue in front of the Wells Fargo…
For the first time his decades long political career, U.S. Senator John McCain says he’ll skip the National Republican Convention in Cleveland this July because he needs “to campaign for reelection,” CNN is reporting. McCain is in the middle of tough election battle against Ann Kirkpatrick, the Democrat trying to…
Small-magnitude aftershocks are expected by the Arizona Geologic Survey following a swarm of mini-quakes in northwestern Arizona that began in late March. No damage was reported from any of the earthquakes, but there were more than 42 of them starting on March 28, according to the Arizona Geological Survey. The…
A new citizens’ initiative launched last week aims to help solar-power companies and customers by guaranteeing lucrative power-purchase rates for six years. But don’t expect a clear, sunny picture of the facts during what is sure to be a nasty fight in the next several months — the truth is…
Ivonne Salazar wants to get a better-paying job so she can help her 18-year-old daughter, who’ll be attending Arizona State University this fall, pay for college expenses. But Salazar’s job opportunities are limited because she is undocumented. She has been living in Arizona without legal status for 23 years. The…
Should 1.7 million acres of land around the Grand Canyon be designated a national monument? It’s certainly a topic of hot debate in Arizona. Supporters of the monument say it will permanently protect an ecologically fragile and historically significant area from uranium mining, while those opposing the plan say it’s…
A string of dark-money organizations with ties to the billionaire Koch brothers is helping Arizona politicians and special-interest groups fight the popular Grand Canyon National Heritage Monument proposal, tax documents show. The money trail begins with a conservative political advocacy organization funded in part by Charles and David Koch and…
Arizona has marijuana on the brain — and no wonder: The state has one of the country’s biggest medical-marijuana programs, it may approve an adult-use legalization initiative at the ballot in November, and it shares a border with one of the world’s biggest producers of cannabis. Here’s a roundup of…
Arizona and Maricopa County officials violated federal law and the Constitution with bad legislation and the bungled March 22 election, a group of voters and the Democratic Party allege in a lawsuit filed today. The anticipated lawsuit, which the Democratic National Committee said this week would be forthcoming, blasts the…
The U.S. Senate race in Arizona between Republican incumbent John McCain and Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick has reached a new milestone: For the first time since Kirkpatrick announced she was challenging McCain, polls show the two candidates tied at 48 percent. For months Kirkpatrick has been slowly catching up to McCain,…
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,…
