Jolly Old Saint Nick must’ve been in an especially giving mood, as that mythical gift-giving elf dropped off a couple primo presents for the Phoenix Suns on Christmas morning: Not only did they get Leandro Barbosa into the starting lineup, but also a heartily lopsided home court victory over the…
A fire broke out at the Boeing plant in Mesa early this morning. Believed to be caused by a generator, the fire was quickly contained by firefighters and a sprinkler system. No injuries were reported…The Phoenix Fire Department may be cutting some programs to avoid laying off firefighters. The department could be…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas have defiled our town square with hanging corpses: five county supervisors, four superior court judges, two county administrators, three attorneys, an entire law firm, and (everywhere) Mexicans. All of this occurred in a single month, December 2009, when the two lawmen…
Lawyers for the plaintiffs in the big Melendres vs. Arpaio racial profiling lawsuit fired another salvo at the MCSO on Wednesday. In the latest bid for sanctions against the MCSO, attorneys from the firm of Steptoe & Johnson, lead counsel in the case, argued that the MCSO has persistently destroyed…
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas wants approval of his special prosecutors, now that the state Supreme Court has denied a request to stay the prosecution of Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe. We’re hearing this from Thomas’ office, which put out a news release today concerning the decision and two motions…
Wanted. New Times has an immediate opening for an editorial administrative assistant (35 hours per week). This position is perfect for an organized self-starter who derives satisfaction from handling multiple tasks and working independently on long-term projects. Ideal candidates will have a college degree, administrative experience, excellent communication, computer, grammar,…
Can you recommend a solid, accessible history of California and Arizona so I can learn what really happened when the U.S. gobbled Aztlán? La Chica Confundida The holistic classic in this genre of Rodolfu Acuña’s Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, but it’s a bit pricey, a problem that the…
Driving down Central Avenue a few weeks ago, I found myself listening to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” That’s not so strange. They must play that song a zillion times during KEZ’s month of “continuous Christmas music,” and I’m almost always tuned in. What is strange is that I…
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe could not be more different from Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Donahoe is as sober as, well, a judge and has exactly zero media savvy. The bellicose Arpaio lives for media “events.” Donahoe, who is the county’s criminal presiding judge, is nearing retirement. When the…
FEELING PINK A sad state of affairs: It has come to this! We are so desperate in Maricopa County that we are calling on the president of the United States to step in and stop obvious violations of civil and human rights by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff…
In the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Feathered Bastard: Nativist Violence: “Angry Jim” and the Hatred and Bigotry He Represents Up on the Sun:…
Global warming threatens to sink Santa’s workshop and push reindeer toward extinction, a renowned climatologist tells New Times. As we’ve read in recent months, climate change could melt the ice cap at the North Pole during the summer in 10 to 20 years, according to some estimates. Scientists aren’t sure…
You can color us very, very surprised.We publicly predicted earlier this morning that Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas will oppose Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Rebecca Berch’s decision to appoint a “special master” to sort through the craziness in this county.Turns out, we were wrong.In an email, Thomas’ special assistant…
It’s either the most appalling lack of judgment we’ve ever seen — or the most amazing show of confidence in one’s ultimate vindication.Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, who faces 36 felony counts for failing to disclose loans from the nonprofit Chicanos Por La Causa, even as that agency received…
If you’re willing to pay the price, all sorts of high-priced machinery can be yours at the Barrett-Jackson luxury auctions in Scottsdale — and at the 2010 auction, buyers will be able to bid on a little piece of rock n’ roll history. Barrett-Jackson announced today that Buddy Holly’s 1958 Chevy Impala is on…
You would probably think the newsroom at a college newspaper would be a fairly non-confrontational environment — a few stories about how much the latest tuition increase sucks, a professor winning some award, and how much the basketball team needs a new coach. This is apparently not the case at…
A few hunters in the high country had a Stand By Me moment Sunday night, while in the mountains about 50 miles east of Prescott — they found a badly decomposed dead body. Police are trying to identify the body, but given the condition it was in when it was found, the…
We wouldn’t wish this job on our worst enemy.Seeking to somehow manage the chaos that has engulfed the justice system in Maricopa County — what with the county’s presiding criminal court judge facing bizarre charges, a host of judges accused of being part of a “criminal enterprise,” and lawsuits on top…
Governor Jan Brewer is having a little trouble convincing people to pony up the cash she needs to qualify for public money to fund her 2010 gubernatorial campaign. Brewer is running under the state’s clean election system, which means she will be given public money to fund her campaign, but…
Why do local nativists feel emboldened and increasingly willing to express themselves violently? Well, it’s no coincidence that most local nativists are rabid supporters of Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio’s tactics and rhetoric play to the nativists. He green-lights their hatred of Mexican immigrants, and with his own lawless behavior gives…
The purpose of a mug shot is to get a visual idea of what a suspect in a crime looks like, in order to identify him in the future. That being said, unless 25-year-old Albert Allen Evans walks around all day looking like he just got kicked in the crotch,…
The Arizona Cardinals clinched the division last week with a sloppy win over the dismal Detroit Lions — winning a second, consecutive post-season appearance. Woo-hoo. However, if the Cards head into the playoffs acting like they have the last two weeks, it will probably be a pretty short post-season ride…
