John Pickens, campus police chief for Arizona State University, is leaving his position earlier than expected after the video of a professor’s arrest created a firestorm of criticism. As first reported Thursday in the Integrity Report, a blog by an “anonymous coalition of people associated with the ASU Police Department,”…
Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake have announced plans to introduce a bill in an attempt to deal with the influx of unaccompanied children from Central America arriving at the border.Generally, the bill would make it easier to turn around the children and send them home, but the legislation also…
Of the 30 largest cities in the United States, Phoenix had the nation’s largest decrease in home ownership from 2000 to 2012.The nearly 8 percentage-point drop in home ownership in Phoenix over that time-span was only rivaled by the 7.1 percentage-point drop in Philadelphia, according to a report released by…
Fred DuVal, the presumptive Democratic nominee in Arizona’s gubernatorial race, has joined the chorus of politicians — many of them Republicans — in calling for President Obama to visit the border.DuVal certainly isn’t the only Democrat calling on Obama to make this border visit in the wake of the influx…
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 introduce the goon squad. Enjoy…
Every day seems to be a bad news day lately for Attorney General Tom Horne.Yesterday, it was that Horne’s going to be investigated for allegations that he had employees doing his campaign work on state time. Today, it’s Governor Jan Brewer endorsing Horne’s opponent in the Republican primary, Mark Brnovich…
Today in Found at the Border: Elmo is for the birds.More specifically, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say a California couple attempted to smuggle a pair of parrots into Arizona from Mexico, by cramming the birds inside a stuffed Elmo doll…
The fatality rate on Arizona’s rural roads is among the highest in the nation.According to the Road Information Program (TRIP), Arizona’s fatality rate for drivers on rural roads is the nation’s seventh highest, and more than double the fatality rate on all other roads…
Phoenix’s average high temperature during the summer is projected to reach more than 114 degrees by the year 2100.The current average high temperature in Phoenix is just below 104 degrees…
I noticed that Mexican people don’t generally smoke. Don’t get me wrong — I’m not condoning smoking, but it’s interesting to see how some groups do or do not smoke, and I have yet to see a Mexican person smoke cigarettes. Does the tobacco industry not target Latinos? Fulminating Fumador…
The three-day disappearance of Eric Fernandes, a Seattle hiker who died on Camelback Mountain in May, attracted national attention — and second-guessing. Fernandes could have done more to avoid a bad situation from the beginning, to be sure. But the quality of the search for him also was criticized —…
Sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder can begin obtaining medical marijuana legally under Arizona law as soon as January. Will Humble, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, announced the decision today in his blog. PTSD patients and medical-cannabis advocates have been expecting a decision since last month, when state…
Arizona State University police confirmed this afternoon that Officer Stewart Ferrin is still on leave and under investigation despite Ersula Ore’s guilty plea this morning. ASU media-relations director Sharon Keeler still hasn’t returned our morning message, but we just checked with ASU Police Chief John Pickens’ office, and his assistant…
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Attorney General Tom Horne is under investigation.The Secretary of State’s Office found probable cause that Horne violated several campaign-finance laws, as a result of former Horne staffer Sarah Beattie’s complaint, which essentially alleged that Horne had employees doing his campaign work on…
The oven-like heat of the late-May afternoon stunned the young Seattle man when he stepped outside of his car. In the parking lot of the Glendale motel, Eric Fernandes, 23, put his hand near the grill of his red Pontiac Grand Prix. “Dad, I think the car’s overheating,” he blurted…
Ersula Ore, the Arizona State University assistant professor whose arrest video went viral, has pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor resisting arrest. Commissioner Julie Mata set Ore’s sentencing for August 1 at 8:30 a.m…
Arizona, already a state known for strict anti-abortion measures, is still among the states imposing new restrictions in 2014.The Center for Reproductive Rights released a comparison of new abortion-related laws passed by states in 2014, and judged Arizona as one of 10 states where legislators have passed big anti-abortion measures…
The American Civil Liberties Union and other immigrant-rights groups are suing the federal government in a bid to get legal representation for the thousands of Central American migrant children who’ve been arriving at the United States’ southern border.”In court, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) will be represented by a…
We’re at that point of the year where some people won’t stop complaining about the heat until October.Believe it or not, there are plenty of places where the summer season is much more miserable than it is in Phoenix. Check out 10 prime examples:…
Disgraced legal professionals Lisa Aubuchon and Rachel Alexander hope to avoid paying the cost of their disciplinary proceedings with a fresh lawsuit they filed last week. The civil complaint filed on July 2 is yet another piece of fallout from the “unholy collaboration” of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and…
An increasing number of Arizonans are living in high-poverty neighborhoods, according to a new Census Bureau report.About one-quarter of Americans live in what the Census Bureau calls “poverty areas,” and in Arizona, more than one-third of people live in such areas…
I’m supposed to be off this week, using vacation time I don’t normally use. But to quote Al Pacino in The Godfather, Part III, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” See, I happened to spot an item on Tucson Weekly’s website by writer David…
