To cop a line from the Notorious B.I.G., “Gimme the loot! Gimme the loot!”That’s what Republican state Senate President-elect Russell Pearce might as well be saying with a recent e-mail announcing a fundraiser on January 7, 2011, just three days before Arizona’s legislative session begins. Suggested donation: $250 a pop.It’s…
As I promised in this week’s Bird column concerning state Senate President-elect Russell Pearce’s involvement with neo-Nazi J.T. Ready’s spiritual life as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, here’s the e-mail exchange between Pearce and me.To be honest, I’m surprised he replied, as he always…
Someone contacted me recently, wondering whether or not I support the death penalty. I told them I do not, but not because I think it’s such a bad idea to give the needle to those who are dead-to-rights guilty of a capital crime.Rather, I have two problems with it. First,…
For those who have kvetched about the boycott of Arizona over SB 1070, here’s an interesting riposte: Zack de la Rocha’s musicians-boycott, Soundstrike, along with other groups such as Puente, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and Presente.org, will be giving away thousands of toys and bags of groceries to…
Judge G. Murray Snow, the federal judge in the three-year-long racial profiling lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, has rejected a motion by Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s lawyers to seal videotaped depositions of Arpaio, former Chief Deputy David Hendershott and other MCSO staff. (Read the Judge’s ruling, here.) The motion…
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced today that Kevin Gerster, the former Maricopa County detention officer seen on security video punching two restrained inmates, has been charged with several crimes for his alleged misdoings while a member of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.In total, Gerster faces five counts of aggravated…
A woman who was fired by the city of Surprise after arguing against budget cuts in a public hearing is suing in federal court over the alleged violation of her free-speech rights. Megan Griego had been working as an economic development coordinator for about three years when she decided to attend a weekend budget…
Pearce tells a bigot-boy joke at a Judicial Watch panel on immigration Chalk up another racist remark from Sand Land’s neo-Nazi-hugging state Senate President-elect Russell Pearce. In D.C. to attend the oral arguments on Arizona’s employer sanctions law before the U.S. Supreme Court, he stopped by to visit his far-right wingnut…
Dream a little DREAM with me…See an update on the status of the DREAM below.The haters were defeated in the U.S. House yesterday, and the DREAM Act passed 216-198.Today, the fight goes to the U.S. Senate, where the Republicans threaten a filibuster, and the Dems lack the 60 votes to…
Time’s a wastin’, people. Hit those phones. Hit ’em hard. The DREAM Act, proposed legislation that would legalize the status of undocumented students brought here when they were young, is being discussed on the floor of the U.S. House even as I type this. A vote in both houses of…
A former deputy with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s hired to shore up operations for Surprise police attended a meeting last year in which bogus charges against a judge were cooked up, an investigative report states. After the meeting, the Superior Court judge, Gary Donahoe, was charged with bribery and hindering a prosecution…
Has tobacco titan Dimitri Rozenman, convicted earlier this year of plotting to kill his wife and her family, scored a new trial? That might be the result of Judge Kristin Hoffman’s decision to vacate judgment in the Rozenman case. Rozenman, the owner of a lucrative web of online and retail cigar outlets, was…
State Attorney General Terry Goddard will leave office without resolving the case against Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Captain Joel Fox and the shady SCA fundraising group. And that, it’s safe to say, means almost no likelihood of criminal charges – on a state level, anyway. Which would be a shame, because this scandal looked so…
The Maricopa County detention officer seen beating two inmates in the psych ward at one of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jails has not been charged with a crime — yet, the Maricopa County Superior Court announced this morning.”Charges against MCSO Detention Officer Kevin Gerster were not filed by County…
A “reckless, four-year campaign of corruption and power abuse.” That’s how retired Judge Charles E. Jones categorized the evidence against ex-County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his one-time hatchet-woman, former Deputy County Attorney Lisa Aubuchon, in probable-cause statements filed today that could lead to disbarment for both lawyers. Jones also slammed the pair’s…
Three days into her pro-DREAM Act fast outside the Phoenix office of Republican U.S. Senator John McCain, 23-year-old Dulce Juarez has a message for the ex-maverick.”You supported the DREAM Act once,” said Juarez when asked what she would tell the senator if she could. “Open your heart and support it…
A detention officer in one of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jails has resigned after being charged with assault for beating up two jail inmates.Officer Kevin Gerster, the Sheriff’s Office confirms to New Times, has resigned after being charged with assault earlier this week.Gerster, as you may recall, starred in…
The numbers have been tallied. If county officials get their way, lawsuits filed against Maricopa County over alleged wrongdoing by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas will cost taxpayers more than $13 million.Three of the lawsuits were filed in Maricopa County Superior Court on Tuesday — two…
How the not-so-mighty have fallen. According to a recent filing in his pending divorce, former minuteman leader and one-time dark horse U.S. Senate candidate Chris Simcox claims he’s eking by on $1,000 a month, and he wants his estranged wife Alena Simcox to pay him “spousal maintenance” in the amount…
In case you missed it, New Times reporter Paul Rubin was on Fox 10 last night, where he discussed the investigation into Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy Louie Puroll — and a death threat Puroll says was made against the reporter’s life. Puroll was placed on administrative leave yesterday while the…
Since our earlier post about Deputy Louie Puroll’s getting placed on administrative leave, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has given us a statement from Sheriff Paul Babeu, plus specifics on why Puroll’s under investigation.Puroll’s been placed on paid administrative leave while the office’s Internal Affairs unit investigates comments he made to New…
The fun comes about 53 seconds in The lefty blog Political Correction is pimping this video of Arizona Congressman Trent “Hoof-in-Gob” Franks on the House floor warning the American public of the “ideological commitment of this administration to weaken America.” Thing is, as dumb as that statement may be, it’s…
