It seems as though America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff” can’t live without hearing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in his jails this holiday season.Sheriff Joe, despite being sued six times in the past two years for doing so, will again force inmates in the county jails to listen to Christmas carols…
[jump] “What the State Bar ultimately chooses to do, if anything, is almost certainly out of our hands. That is as it should be. In fact, I think almost all of us would agree that the process and rules to which the county attorney and all of us are subject…
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Phoenix and Tucson rounded up nearly $800,000 worth of bootleg clothing last week, including more than $8,000 worth of phony football jerseys, as part of a national campaign called “Operation Holiday Hoax.”Two weeks before Christmas? Talk about bah, humbug.”Operation ‘Holiday Hoax’ struck the counterfeiters…
Jim Belanger, a Phoenix lawyer who specializes in working white-collar crime cases with the firm of Coppersmith, Schermer and Brockelman, sent the following E-mail to many of his brethren. The subject line reads: Do you believe in Andy Thomas? “On December 21, 1946, the United States Supreme Court reversed the conviction of…
Deputies seized general computer equipment at Chicanos Por La Causa’s Phoenix headquarters, in addition to paperwork related to an indicted County Supervisor, records show. Search warrant returns reviewed by New Times back up claims by the social service agency’s representatives of a fishing expedition by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office…
Redflex, the company responsible for the widely unpopular speed-cameras that, um, patrol Valley roads, has banned guns in its downtown Phoenix offices — probably not a bad decision considering the company is in the business of pissing off motorists on a daily basis.However, unless Redflex has a killer margarita recipe, or…
Nightline’s piece on our corrupt top constable runs tonight — you know, the one ABC was working on when they sent Nightline talking head Martin Bashir to Phoenix to cover one of Arpaio’s anti-immigrant sweeps last month. The speculation at the time was that Arpaio had coordinated the sweep with the aim of providing…
On October 2, Valley Fever featured a post about rapper Lil Wayne’s latest brush with the law. In the comment section of the post, fans and critics voiced their opinions on the matter, and it seems the majority of Lil Wayne fans may have learned the English language by reading graffiti…
Deputies with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office paid visits to at least seven rank-and-file county employees over the weekend, attempting to question them about the court tower project, county spending, and other topics apparently somehow connected to the sheriff’s wide-ranging “corruption” probe. That investigation has already resulted in indictments for two county…
A group of business fat-cats in Naples, Florida, are hosting a private reception this afternoon in what is the state of Florida’s latest push to rob Mesa of Chicago Cubs spring training. The reception is hosted by big-wigs from Fifth Avenue Advisors and Esmark Inc. — two companies leading the charge to bring…
When the Arizona Cardinals take the field tonight, the team has a chance to do something it hasn’t done in 34 years — win two consecutive division titles. Standing in their way — the lackluster but troublesome San Francisco 49ers. The two teams have met 36 times, with the Niners winning…
21 turnovers were the culprits in the Phoenix Suns’ 105-99 road loss to the Denver Nuggets, a night after they’d stunned the second-best team in the Eastern Conference, the Orlando Magic,106-103 at US Airways Center. Aside from the outcomes, the games were almost identical. The Suns ran up big leads (19 points in…
Despite being millions of dollars in debt, Valley governments are giving some employees hefty bonuses. At least three Valley cities — Mesa, Phoenix, and Glendale — will pay out more than $18 million in combined bonuses, despite expectations that there will be more layoffs in the coming year…Today is considered the busiest day of…
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: Dennis Burke Admits There’s “a Problem” with Joe Arpaio’s Rampage, Source Says the U.S. Attorney’s…
The squabble between Maricopa County officials took yet another turn today as deputies raided the offices of a local computer firm, looking for evidence of fraud and other crimes. For close followers of the circus acts that pass for county news these days, you’ll need another branch for the flow…
Chicanos Por La Causa officials and their supporters held a press conference today to blast the MCSO’s recent day-long raid on CPLC’s headquarters in Phoenix. CPLC CEO Edmundo Hidalgo and attorney Danny Ortega, Board Chair of the National Council of La Raza, were joined by the leaders of organizations such…
The sale of the East Valley Tribune to 13th Street Media, the publisher of the weekly Tucson Explorer newspaper, won’t be finalized until after the first of the year. However, the Valley’s Pulitzer-winning, semi-daily paper and its Web site will continue past a December 31 deadline announced last month, says Bob Emmers, spokesman for California-based Freedom Communications,…
In the past, criminal street gangs have used names that strike fear in the hearts of their rivals. The Bloods, the Crips, the Jets, the Sharks — all have an intimidating connotation.As for Scottsdale’s latest group of thugs — busted today as part of the Department of Public Safety’s “Operation…
Though I didn’t make Dennis Burke’s swearing in as the new U.S. Attorney for Arizona yesterday, I did make the after-party — a reception at the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine in downtown Phoenix. The reception, sponsored by Congressman Ed Pastor and Phoenix political consultant Ronnie Lopez, was attended by…
Arizona Republican Party Executive Director Brett Mecum is “creepy around women,” according to a complaint filed with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.A criminal complaint, dredged up by the Yellow Sheet, was filed against Mecum last month, and it claims he used voter registration records to find a woman’s address and crash…
The Arizona Court of Appeals has jumped into the middle of the so-called corruption probe that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas have been attempting to escalate this week.A three-judge panel of the court issued an order this morning halting Arpaio and Thomas from any attempt…
The Goldwater Institute claims that a lawsuit it filed against the city of Tempe has forced changes in the deal between the city and a British developer to build an aquarium at the Arizona Mills Mall.The folks at Goldwater felt the city was giving unfair incentives to Sea Life, a…
