Three foreign nationals arrested in Arizona last week are accused of hiding their past membership in an Iran-trained Iraqi militia. A 10-count federal indictment filed on February 18 states that Hadi Assi Mubarak and his two sons, Haidar Hadi Assi Mubarak and Ali Hadi Mubarak, (a.k.a. Jihad Hadi Mubarak), failed…
For nine years running, state senators Steve Farley and Andy Biggs have been duking it out over a ban on texting while driving. Farley, who’s authored a proposal annually since 2007, insists that Arizona needs a law to pressure people to quit texting behind the wheel — a habit that’s…
Despite Arizona having some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, abortion is still on the minds of lawmakers. The Arizona Senate on Thursday passed a bill, Senate Bill 1318, to prevent health insurance coverage of abortion if the coverage was purchased through the Affordable Care Act. Jodi…
My, how the canine crazies will howl. Actually, they’re howling already, because on Thursday, Austin and Logan Flake, the son and daughter-in-law of U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, submitted a notice of claim to Maricopa County and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, demanding $8 million for their wrongful indictment in last year’s Green…
Everything you’ve heard about teen gangs is wrong. That’s the basic conclusion of a new study from Arizona State University. “You think gang and you think ‘boys in the hood’, urban, minority boys living in bad neighborhoods,” said Gary Sweeten, an associate professor of criminology and co-author of the report,…
Mark Brnovich wants to put the brakes on driver’s licenses for Arizona’s Dreamers. The newly elected Arizona attorney general launched an appeal today to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, hoping to overturn an order last month that forces compliance with President Obama’s executive action on immigration…
Arizona has carried out some of the most high-profile, newsworthy or just plain messed-up executions in the country.
At the end of the week, we bring you a roundup of visitors to the desert’s own Fourth Avenue Jail. To be considered for our Maricopa County mugshots of the week, get arrested, strike a pose, and we’ll take care of the rest. This week, we’ve got some real signature…
Three new videos of the arrest of Ersula Ore have surfaced, showing different perspectives of the infamous take-down and allowing viewers to hear the concern of witnesses. Arizona State University released the videos following a public-records request by New Times. Last week, ASU Officer Stewart Ferrin resigned, allowing the university…
Big-time reforms are in store for Arizona prisons after a federal judge approved a settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of 34,000 prisoners in the state. The lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Prison Law Office over the conditions at Arizona’s prisons was set…
An effort is under way by Arizona lawmakers to ban the state’s implementation of the controversial Common Core curriculum in schools. Arizona’s House Education Committee voted Wednesday to approve such a ban, and, of course, such a ban was the cornerstone of the campaign run by newly elected Superintendent of…
As you’ve said before, Mexicans lack education. Why do they? Why don’t they care that a high school education is not enough in the 21st century? I see exceptions to the rule, but the rule seems to be “No More School After High School.” I don’t get it. Educated Gabacho Misquote…
Esther Escalante has the chaste presence of a church lady, which, in fact, she is. Her husband is pastor at Phoenix Tabernacle in South Phoenix. The Tabernacle is a Pentecostal church that mixes hellfire with live music (including an accordian played in a way that would have terrified Lawrence Welk)…
Arizona lawmakers are currently considering a proposal that would significantly lower the price of a speeding ticket for some speeders. The proposal, House Bill 2662, would expand the use of one of Arizona’s odder laws, which is the ban on the “waste of finite resources,” which comes with a ticket…
Chris Simcox, former minuteman leader and alleged child molester, is looking to test that old saw about how any defendant who acts as his own attorney “has a fool for a client.” According to a February 12 filing in Maricopa County Superior Court, Simcox wants to fire his public defenders…
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas isn’t immediately escalating the feud she caused by attempting to fire two employees of the Arizona Board of Education last week. Douglas’ move was overturned by Governor Doug Ducey last week, as Ducey said legal counsel advised him Douglas didn’t have the power…
A federal judge in Texas may have temporarily blocked President Obama’s executive order that shields more people from deportation, but local pro-immigration forces are unfazed. Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego joined state lawmakers and immigrant-rights groups at the Arizona Capitol today to tell people who are eligible for Obama’s deferred-action program…
An Arizona State University professor and his family are being targeted by white supremacists and neo-Nazis over a controversial class he’s teaching called U.S. Race Theory and the Problem of Whiteness. Lee Bebout, an associate professor of English at ASU, has faced fierce criticism after Fox News anchor Elizabeth Hasselbeck…
Arizona State University Police Officer Stewart Ferrin resigned on Monday, about nine months after video of his violent arrest of a black professor went viral. Although ASU officials had said previously that Ferrin’s arrest of Ersula Ore on May 20 was proper, they flip-flopped when the public weighed in following…
Arizona’s top health official will step down March 3 after 23 years with the state. Will Humble submitted his resignation to Governor Doug Ducey on Friday. “This has been an awesome job,” he wrote Monday on the Arizona Department of Health Services Director’s Blog. However, he continued, “Careers have a…
A group looking to recall Arizona schools chief Diane Douglas is hoping that her latest controversy is going to propel their campaign into the spotlight. Douglas attempted to fire two employees of the state’s Board of Education in her bid to follow through on a campaign promise of ridding the…
The outbreak of measles in Arizona is likely over. Health officials counted seven confirmed cases of measles in Arizona stemming from the outbreak at Disneyland late last year and have been waiting over the past three weeks to determine whether anyone else developed measles. It can take up to 21…
