Savings and loan swindler Charles Keating, who died Monday in Phoenix at age 90, hated pornography. Or so he claimed. The devout Roman Catholic made a name for himself in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, and beyond, as a scourge of smut, founding an influential anti-porn organization that eventually became…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will reportedly discuss the snafu over vehicle insurance for posse vehicles in Sun City today. Meanwhile, we found out that a third posse unit has parked its vehicles, contradicting information put out previously by the Sheriff’s Office (which didn’t respond to our inquiries about the…
A March 24 memo sent by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to Valley posse organizations warns that many posse vehicles violate a 2012 policy. The memo, obtained by the Phoenix New Times this morning, came about a week before the announcement over the weekend by the Sun City West and…
Contradicting several published reports, Maricopa County Sheriff Arpaio’s office now says that no posse program was ever suspended due to an insurance “glitch.” The precise nature of the “glitch” still isn’t being explained to the public by county leadership or Sheriff Arpaio. But it seems to have something to do…
Maricopa County leaders and Sheriff Joe Arpaio are in some sort of fight over the insurance coverage of vehicles owned by posse members, but neither side is giving details. The issue, whatever it is, led to recent news stories about the Sun City posse being suspended, but now Arpaio’s office…
Members of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office posse in Sun City West and other locations were relieved of their duties and sent home over the weekend in a possible dispute over insurance. Sheriff Joe Arpaio claims this isn’t a “story” yet but may be a “big story” if he’s unable…
When it comes to the ACLU’s big civil rights case Melendres v. Arpaio, the MCSO clown car, as driven by geriatric joker Sheriff Joe Arpaio, just keeps on rollin’, despite U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow’s best efforts. In fact, Snow has called a status conference for April 3,…
Following Monday’s hearing before federal Judge G. Murray Snow, where Snow meted out a verbal shellacking to Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan, Arpaio briefly appeared outside the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse, reminding reporters that Snow’s ruling against him in Melendres v. Arpaio was under appeal…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan appeared in federal court in Phoenix Monday morning to take a verbal woodshedding from U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow. Snow was ticked over remarks Sheridan and Arpaio had made to MCSO deputies on October 18, concerning Snow’s findings and…
U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow’s recent order spanking Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his chief deputy, Jerry Sheridan, mainly dealt with Sheridan and Arpaio’s contempt for Snow’s ruling in the ACLU’s big civil rights lawsuit, Melendres v. Arpaio. Snow has ordered that both Sheridan and Arpaio be present Monday,…
The Glendale Police Department today released video of MCSO Deputy Sean Pearce’s December 16, car crash, which killed 63-year-old Glendale resident John Harding. A local businesswoman provided the video to police, and there are two angles. The first is from the southbound side of North 59th Avenue and shows Harding’s…
Neither Sheriff Joe Arpaio nor his Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan have been playing by the rules federal Judge G. Murray Snow laid down in the ACLU’s big racial profiling lawsuit Melendres v. Arpaio. And Judge Snow is not amused. That’s the gist of a 17-page order issued Monday by Snow,…
MCSO Deputy Sean Pearce was clocked at 81 mph just seconds before a December 16 crash that killed Glendale resident John Edward Harding, 63. Pearce was traveling north on North 59th Avenue a little after 1 p.m. in an unmarked black Chevy Tahoe when he collided with Harding’s Nissan Cube,…
Lawyers for Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne have hit upon yet another less-than-ingenious strategy to save him and his outreach director, Kathleen Winn, from being found guilty of campaign finance violations and possibly fined $1.2 million. That is, to accuse FBI agent Brian Grehoski — one of the federal investigators…
***Note: Please see update at bottom of post.*** Well, let’s hope they don’t jump in, ’cause crackers get soggy when wet, but something called the White Man March may be coming to Tempe Town Lake this Saturday, March 15, at 2 p.m. I know what you’re thinking: “White Man March?…
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently made headlines when he blasted the infamous Koch brothers as “un-American” for bankrolling anti-Obamacare ads that have kept fact-checkers in clover debunking them. But criticism of the Affordable Care Act comes not just from the far-right Koch brothers It comes from the left…
When a candidate begins poaching the endorsements earned by his or her rival, consider it a sign that things are not well. You know, like Captain Queeg playing with his ball bearings in The Caine Mutiny. Last week, shortly after Mark Brnovich’s campaign sent out an announcement that state Representative…
Former Arizona Attorney General investigator Meg Hinchey today settled her claim against the state, Attorney General Tom Horne, and Horne chief deputy Rick Bistrow for nearly $100,000. Hinchey filed suit in January 2013, claiming Horne and Bistrow retaliated against her in response to her blowing the whistle to the FBI…
A former member of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s posse was arrested by MCSO deputies on child-pornography charges.According to the Sheriff’s Office, 73-year-old Roger Byg was a posse member in the old-folks community of Sun City and even had served on the posse’s board before resigning early last year. MCSO’s computer crimes…
A humorous brief to the U.S. Supreme Court filed last week invokes Stephen Colbert’s concept of “truthiness” in a defense of the right to tell fibs about elected leaders. Penned by lawyer Ilya Shapiro on behalf of the Cato Institute and satirist P.J. O’Rourke, the amicus brief, written to defend…
After a week of allowing voters in Congressional District 9 believe that she didn’t want to serve them any more, Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema has finally made a Sherman-esque statement about the prospect of running in CD 7, where Congressman Ed Pastor recently announced he would not seek re-election. The following…
Update: Sadly, since this list was published, Sinema has decided not to commit political seppuku and parachute into CD 7. Sigh. Looks like we may have her to kick around a la Dick Nixon for a while longer. One week after Democratic Congressman Ed Pastor announced that he would not…
