Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego is pushing for the government to allow young people who were brought to the country illegally as children to serve in the military. Gallego plans to do this by offering an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act encouraging the Department of Defense to allow people…
Why do Mexicans make up such glaringly obvious lies? Like this galán who had his sister call me and said it was really him, with a cold. Or my friend who pretends to be traveling around the world but is really sending e-mails from his mother’s home computer. Or the…
Adrian Cruz, the child-raping ice cream peddler who escaped from MCSO custody in 2009, is back behind bars, no thanks to Sheriff Joe. Mexican police, tipped off by the U.S. Marshals Service that Cruz was in Valle de Bravo, a small municipality about 90 miles west of Mexico City, nabbed…
A Yavapai County-based anti-substance-abuse coalition fighting marijuana legalization has decided to be more honest about who supports it. Following our blog post last week that mentioned MATFORCE’s screwed-up billboard and outdated “About Us” page, the group removed the names of most of its alleged supporters. MATFORCE began years ago with…
Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner is entering a diversion program that would result in charges being dismissed if she successfully completes the program. Griner was arrested just last week along with fiancée and fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson after a physical fight at the couple’s house in Goodyear. A Goodyear…
A small group of undocumented immigrants who hope to attend Arizona State University and their allies canvassed the school’s Tempe campus Tuesday passing out fliers and drumming up public support for allowing students who came to the United States as children to pay resident tuition rates. “We’re here to fight…
For the first time in more than a decade, the percentage of Arizona kindergartners getting exempted from vaccinations by their parents actually went down. The Arizona Department of Health Services reports this week that 4.6 percent of the state’s kindergartners this year haven’t been vaccinated due to a parent’s personal…
Arizona is “leaning friendly” in the U.S. Army’s multi-state, two-month “Jade Helm 15” exercise, but that doesn’t stop some conspiracy theorists from worrying. “This spells trouble, if you ask me,” an anonymous e-mailer wrote us a few days ago. “This ‘drill’ may become active at some point, declaring martial law…
National media coverage of Arizona’s toughest-talking sheriff’s contempt trial paints a subdued portrait of Joe Arpaio, infamous for his ruthless opposition to illegal immigration, describing him as a “quiet, almost deferential,” “humble and weary retiree.” While some suggest the personality flip may signal the fall of a hero for the…
A jury found Jerice Hunter guilty Monday of murdering her 5-year-old daughter, Jhessye Shockley, in 2011. Hunter was the one to report Jhessye missing to police and even went to the state Capitol to bash police for not finding the girl. “I really think they should take the focus off…
While Sheriff Joe Arpaio was testifying in federal court last week in his civil contempt trial, there’s been movement in another lawsuit that could cause more trouble for Arpaio and taxpayers. Last January, as part of Arpaio’s crusade to arrest unauthorized immigrants in workplace raids, the Sheriff’s Office actually went…
Deputy Sean Pearce was ineligible for defensive-driving class because his speeding ticket involved a fatality, a Glendale judge found earlier this month. Pearce, a Maricopa County Sheriff’s office detective and son of recalled state lawmaker Russell Pearce, had been going 81 mph in a 40-mph-zone while tracking a murder suspect…
Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher has sent a strongly worded letter to the FAA, admonishing the agency for falsely characterizing its intent to work with the city and correct the noise problems associated with last year’s flight-path changes at Sky Harbor Airport. “I regret to say that the FAA has…
Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego is sounding the horn on the significant amount of debt faced by students after they graduate from college. “You should be able to go to a public university and graduate debt-free or as nearly debt-free as possible,” Gallego said this morning at his office in Phoenix…
“Arizona [Governor Doug Ducey] may hate the environment, but that doesn’t mean YOU have to!” That’s the message behind the reusable Doug DoucheBAG campaign. Conceived by Stacey Champion of Rogue Green — a Valley-based environmental group — and designed by one her friends, these canvas bags were a big “F…
A group of geology enthusiasts are rallying the public after the governor vetoed a bill that would have reopened the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum, which has been shuttered since 2011. Senate Bill 1200, sponsored by Senator Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), passed nearly unanimously in both the Senate and the House…
Last week, we showed you the most popular states that Arizona’s transplants come from. This week, we’ll show you where native Arizonans have moved:…
Here’s my pick for the most ridiculous quote from MCSO Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan’s testimony in federal court Friday, during day-four of his and Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s civil contempt trial in downtown Phoenix: “It depends on how you define, `investigated your wife,'” said Sheridan, his face redder than a pack…
Channel 12 News (KPNX-TV) has split off from AzCentral after a 14-year partnership, and now hopes people visit its own site. The station will clearly struggle to draw a respectable amount of traffic to its site, 12News.com, for years to come. One big help would be an immediate improvement to…
“Chemtrails” are apparently a hot political issue in Arizona. Less than a year after state Senator Kelli Ward held a community meeting in her Lake Havasu district to address concerns from her constituents that the government is poisoning people with chemicals dumped from airplanes, another politician took heat over his…
A Yavapai County anti-legalization group that claims marijuana use lowers IQ seems to be in need of an IQ boost itself. MATFORCE, a coalition of cops and business leaders led by County Attorney Sheila Polk, put up at least one billboard in the Phoenix area recently that contains an incorrect…
In my line of work, it doesn’t get much better than a federal judge’s handing your column to a public official, and getting the accused pol to confirm the column’s facts, one by one, under oath. This is what happened on day three of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s civil contempt trial,…
