The $2 billion Solana concentrated solar plant in the desert near Gila Bend is off to a slow start, producing less electricity than it might in the future. Now in operation for slightly more than one year, Solana has delivered about two-thirds of the annual amount of electricity expected to…
A pair of southern Arizona residents have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Border Patrol, claiming the agency is stifling its attempts to monitor and protest a Border Patrol checkpoint in their town. Peter Ragan and Leesa Jacobson are members of a community organization called People Helping People, which, among…
Truck driver Brian Knoll was under the influence of pain medication and showed no remorse after causing a deadly five-car freeway crash Wednesday morning, officials say. Knoll’s Freightliner — fully loaded with a trailer full of pavers — was traveling north on Interstate 17 about 6:45 a.m. when it plowed…
A week after David Garcia conceded to Diane Douglas, a campaign to recall the state’s new schools chief already is well under way. The effort is led by Anthony Espinoza, a public school teacher, and Max Goshert, an aquatic safety instructor with the Red Cross. The two had discussed their…
UPDATE November 21: Now that the president has outlined his plan, the Migration Policy Institute estimates 136,000 people in Arizona will be shielded from deportation. That includes 97,000 parents, and an additional 39,000 people who will be eligible for the expanded provisions of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)…
Why do Mexicans and gabachos resemble each other so much? Both are very conservative about sex, marriage, and family. Both are very Christian, either Catholic or Protestant. Both keep similar attitudes toward immigrants. Both are very patriotic or nationalistic. Both deal with the same social issues like high rates of…
President Obama is going to outline the details of his executive action dealing with immigration tomorrow evening. “Tomorrow night I’m going to be announcing here from the White House, some steps that I can take to start fixing our broken immigration,” Obama said in a video released on Facebook…
Billy Benjamin Hayes Jr., 39, is one of the state’s most vocal marijuana activists. Few people welcomed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act when voters passed it in 2010 more than Hayes. The lanky father of three is a marijuana enthusiast, a grower for nearly his whole life who imbibes regularly,…
I rarely look to politicians for common sense, but I thought Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery had stumbled onto some at a press conference in September, when he addressed the situation at the Green Acre Dog Boarding facility in Gilbert. Montgomery explained that he’d just received the voluminous results of…
The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT civil-rights organization, today released its grades of LGBT equality at nearly 1,000 of the nation’s largest corporations, including several in Arizona. While more than 300 companies across the country earned a perfect score for the LGBT-related policies they have in place, none of those…
A passenger on a flight out of Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport tried to check luggage containing 92 pounds of marijuana, according to the TSA. A TSA spokesman says the Phoenix Police Department was contacted once agents made the discovery. According to court documents obtained by New Times, 39-year-old Lauretta Blanton…
Arizona is one of 14 states where the population of unauthorized immigrants decreased from 2009 to 2012, according to data released today by the Pew Research Center. According to the organization’s analysis, Arizona’s unauthorized immigrant population dropped from around 350,000 people to 300,000 people. Only New York and California had…
The suicide of Phoenix police officer Craig Tiger has city management taking a look at its policies and training regarding post-traumatic stress disorder issues. City Manager Ed Zuercher has announced the assembly of a panel to review the city’s policies, at the request of the police unions, which have blasted…
The unions that represent Phoenix police officers are ready to get rid of Phoenix Police Chief Daniel Garcia. The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) and the Phoenix Police Sergeants and Lieutenants Association (PPSLA) announced today that they’re going to hold votes of no confidence against Garcia. The unions have had…
A study released this week argues that the legalization of same-sex marriage–and through it, the increased number of same-sex weddings–will bring an additional $54 million to Arizona’s economy each year. The study, conducted by the personal finance group NerdWallet, also found that same-sex marriage would bring more than $2.5 billion…
During a November 4 settlement conference before Judge Joseph Welty, presiding criminal judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, Welty described in stark terms the situation faced by former minuteman leader Chris Simcox. Charged with multiple counts of child molestation involving two little girls, one his own daughter, he can…
Maricopa County Bill Montgomery was dealt another loss yesterday in his bid to keep alive Arizona’s Proposition 100, the 2006 law that denies bail to undocumented immigrants accused of many crimes in the state. Last month, a panel of judges from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found the…
Talk about a small world: In this 2006 C-SPAN clip, Kyl heralds the indictment of Doug Ducey’s money-laundering uncle, William “Billy” Scott Governor-elect Doug Ducey’s recent announcement that former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl will chair his transition committee offers a delicious mix of irony and hypocrisy. See, while he was…
The penultimate race in this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season was held Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, where Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag. New Times was there to get the fans’ reactions on the important issues, like how to have a proper tailgate party, and who was in…
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’re certain our inmates have…
Reports that President Obama soon will announce drastic changes to the country’s immigration policies won’t stop a protest against the administration’s current policies. Obama’s plan, as reported by the New York Times, potentially could shield several million people from deportation, but an organizer with the Puente Human Rights Movement tells…
In southern Arizona’s Second Congressional District, Republican Martha McSally has claimed victory over Democratic Congressman Ron Barber, as a count of all the ballots has put McSally up 161 votes on Barber. “All ballots are now counted and the voters have made their choice,” McSally said in a statement. “We…
