A debate between Congressional District 9 candidates essentially turned into a half-hour infomercial for Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema, as Republican candidate Wendy Rogers skipped the event. “This candidate forum is not a debate,” Rogers spokesman James Harris explains in a statement to New Times. “Typically, a debate is something hosted by…
Are Muslims the new Mexicans? Turn on the TV, check out Twitter or make the mistake of listening to AM radio, and you’re almost guaranteed to get a red hot blast of Islamophobia. Even folks as enlightened as HBO’s Bill Maher are suggesting that there is something intrinsically wrong with…
Courts across Maricopa County issued nearly 300 wedding licenses on Friday, the first day of legal gay marriage in the state of Arizona. Aaron Nash, a spokesman for the Clerk of the Superior Court, tells New TImes that three times as many marriage licenses were issued on Friday than on…
In a festive and history-making scene, some of the first legal same-sex weddings in Arizona took place today next to a government building in downtown Phoenix. The small plaza at 6th Avenue and Jackson Street east of the Maricopa County Clerk of the Superior Court Customer Service Center is normally…
Religious leaders from around the Valley gathered today in the courtyard outside the Maricopa County Superior Court Clerk’s Office, holding signs that read: “We stand ready to MARRY YOU!” The faith leaders volunteered to perform the county’s first same-sex marriages through a campaign organized by Why Marriage Matters Arizona, an…
Attorney General Tom Horne has given the green-light for same-sex marriage in Arizona, saying that the first ceremony could be completed before lunchtime today. Horne insisted he disagreed with the federal judge’s ruling that ordered an end to enforcing Arizona’s laws against same-sex marriage. However, given recent court decisions, Horne…
UPDATE 11:14 a.m.: Same-sex marriage is now legal in Arizona. Click here to read the latest updates. A federal judge declared Arizona’s laws against same-sex marriage unconstitutional and issued an order prohibiting officials from enforcing those laws. However, there’s currently one person standing between same-sex couples and Arizona marriage licenses…
The widow of a man who died after an encounter with Phoenix police was at Phoenix City Hall Thursday with a group of supporters demanding to know more about the man’s death. Balantine Mbegbu, a 65-year-old Phoenix resident, died on October 6 after being tased by a Phoenix police officer…
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. There’s a reality TV show called Ink…
Sean Quaid was just another Arizona gun owner on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he became a hero. Police say Quaid thwarted a bank robbery in north Phoenix on Wednesday by first swiping the keys out of the robbers’ getaway vehicle, then shooting one of the thugs who carjacked a pickup truck…
Arizona State University’s athletics department issued a message to fans to “discourage” the use of face paint at school events. This comes just days after some students started an uproar over the use of black face-paint by students at a recent football game in which students were encouraged to wear…
A grand jury has indicted the four principal suspects, including the son of Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, in the deaths of more than 20 dogs at a Gilbert dog-boarding facility. Austin Flake, his wife, Logan, and the owners of the facility, Jesse Todd and MaLeisa Hughes, now face multiple felony…
Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Ducey’s spokeswoman, Melissa DeLaney, declined to comment Tuesday when I contacted her regarding this week’s cover story on Ducey’s hailing from an infamous Toledo organized crime family. But Wednesday, she gave a statement to the Arizona Republic’s Laurie Roberts, and I’m glad she did, because she…
Obamacare has been blamed for a lot of things, but blaming the health care law on the passage of a supposedly anti-gay law is one we haven’t heard before. Yet, that’s what Republican Congressional Candidate Andy Tobin declared in a debate this week with Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, as the…
Dear Mexican: I’ve heard that the Tijuana donkey show featuring a female whore is not real other than the fact that they do bring out a donkey and do some simulation for people who are drunk. Down-Low Loco Dear Gabacho: You’re right. And after months of research, the Mexican can…
Arizona’s Proposition 100, the 2006 law that denies bail to undocumented immigrants accused of many crimes in the state, will no longer be in effect in the near future. A panel of judges from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found the voter-approved law unconstitutional, as a violation of…
John Hauskins, the award-winning transportation chief for Maricopa County, has been ousted from his job following a series of wide-ranging misconduct allegations. Hauskins, also the county engineer, submitted a letter of intent to retire from his position on October 9, two days after he was put on paid administrative leave…
A Fountain Hills teacher is fighting back after she claims she was wrongfully terminated for defending a student against racist bullying. Pamela Aister, a 70-year-old fourth-grade teacher, was fired this fall because of an incident that allegedly occurred at Four Peaks Elementary School in Fountain Hills in May. Aister had…
An ex-state trooper who was fired in 2009 after a rocky affair with the state Department of Public Safety director’s daughter is running for Maricopa County Justice of the Peace. Candidate Geoffrey Jacobs is seeking the position in the northwest Valley’s Hassayampa district court, one of 26 county Justice Courts…
In the fifth and final gubernatorial debate yesterday between Republican Doug Ducey and Democrat Fred DuVal, Ducey apparently walked back on his commitment to eliminating the state’s income tax. After DuVal attacked Ducey’s plan to get rid of the income tax, Ducey replied that, “No one’s talked about eliminating the…
The all-American image that Doug Ducey projects, one which helped him win the primary and may help him win the general election, belies a family tree that includes two generations of his mother’s family’s involvement in organized crime.
A proposed settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of 33,000 Arizona prisoners would bring about major healthcare reforms to the state prison system. The lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Prison Law Office over the conditions at Arizona’s prisons was set to go to…
