8 Reasons Congressional Service Sucks

Welcome to a life of mooching, meetings, and trying not to get caught making out with your aides. Imagine, in a moment of suspended disbelief, that your job pays 174 grand a year. And comes with a $1.3 million expense account. And a staff of 18 Ivy League yes-men whose…

Slide Fire Costs Approaching $10 Million

The total tab for fighting the human-caused wildfire near Sedona is nearly $10 million.According to information released this morning by the Forest Service, the cost is at $9.9 million and counting, now more than two weeks after the fire started…

Arizona’s New Abortion Rules to Stay Blocked

Arizona’s newest regulations against medicated abortion will remain blocked while the court battle continues.The court battle is over rules that were recently implemented by the state health department to comply with House Bill 2036, signed into law in 2012. A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel overturned the lower court’s…

Migrants Dropped Off at Phoenix Greyhound Are Seeking Asylum

Reports of hundreds of migrants being flown to Phoenix and released at a bus station are missing half the story — these women and children are seeking asylum in the United States.The people being released are doing so under what’s called humanitarian parole, allowing them to stay in the United…

New Times Hiring a Web Editor

Phoenix New Times has an opening for a full-time web editor. This position combines journalism with social-media marketing and analytical data management to increase the audience for New Times and improve its desktop and mobile applications. The web editor assigns and edits photo slideshows and video projects, manages a weekly…

Slide Fire Near Sedona 90 Percent Contained

The wildfire that started nearly two weeks ago near Slide Rock State Park, north of Sedona, is now 90 percent contained.According to information released by the Forest Service, the fire was about 21,200 acres yesterday, about the same size it was two days prior. Officials don’t expect the fire to…

10 Hottest Things During a Phoenix Summer

It’s June, which means it’s getting a little warm here in Phoenix.With 100-degree temperatures in our foreseeable future, we have our picks for the 10 things that seem to get the hottest during the summer:…

Slide Fire Near Sedona 75 Percent Contained

Firefighters are still making progress on the Slide Fire burning north of Sedona.The containment was at 55 percent yesterday, and 75 percent as of this morning, according to the latest update from the Forest Service. The size of the fire barely grew over yesterday, to about 21,200 acres…

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki Resigns

President Obama announced this morning that Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has resigned.Shinseki, a retired U.S. Army general, held the post since January 2009, but calls for his resignation have been coming in recently over widespread allegations of VA mismanagement, including allegations from a retired VA doctor in Phoenix that…

Legislature Creates New Department of Child Safety

Arizona’s new Department of Child Safety has been formed through a pair of bills passed by the Legislature in a special session, and signed by Governor Jan Brewer.The outline of the agency proposed last week by Brewer at the cost of $60 million is essentially what was created by legislators,…

Maricopa County Mugshots of the Week: One of a Kind

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 found some real one-of-a-kind offenders…

The American Legion Explains the Mess at the VA System in One Image

If you’ve found it difficult to get a complete picture of what’s going on with the scandals at the nation’s VA hospitals, we don’t blame you.The American Legion, a veterans service organization, created the image above explaining most of the allegations made against various VA hospitals, starting with Phoenix…

Slide Fire Costs Up to $8 Million

The effort to fight the human-caused Slide Fire burning north of Sedona has cost $8 million to this point, according to the Forest Service.At times, there have been more than 1,000 people working to contain the blaze, and planes and helicopters have been used continuously since the fire started nine…