A few women at the state Capitol invited Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce into their daily lives to show him what a few hundred dollars a week from unemployment benefits can buy.Carla Mannes, one of the women at a press conference held by Citizens for a Better Arizona, explained that a…
America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff” conducted another of his signature illegal-immigrant roundups this morning, this time at the Old Spaghetti Factory in central Phoenix.Maricopa County’s corrupt top-cop was targeting seven suspected illegal immigrants following an eight-month investigation. Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s boys in beige only nabbed three of the targets, who were…
Extending unemployment benefits to around 15,000 Arizonans still looking for work should be a no-brainer, assuming the wingnuts at the state Capitol had a pound of gray matter among ’em.It’s federal money that’s pumped into the state’s struggling economy, which according to the most recent numbers still suffers a 9.3…
New Times’ lawsuit over the 2007 arrest of its founders on bogus charges can proceed — but only against a local lawyer who served as a special prosecutor, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today. In a 2-1 opinion, the Ninth Circuit backed up a lower court’s decision that New Times can’t…
Get your calculators out… In less than 24 hours, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office — under the leadership of America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff,” Joe Arpaio — has cost county taxpayers nearly $750,000 in settlements or judgments stemming from lawsuits filed against the sheriff.The latest: yesterday’s $94,000 judgment in favor of…
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved a $650,00 payout to the family of a 33-year-old man killed by a motorist who was “pursued recklessly and in violation of law at high speeds by” a Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy.The board approved the payout unanimously. In September of 2007, sheriff’s deputies…
I feel a little like the Arizona Republic’s Clay Thompson in discussing this issue, raised via e-mail by someone involved in the effort to recall state Senate President Russell Pearce. But here goes.Some have suggested that Pearce, who proclaims himself to be a great patriot, has been in violation of…
Massachusetts is now the third state to opt out of a federal immigration program that helps identify illegal immigrants and turn them over to federal officials.Governor Deval Patrick called it quits on the program, referred to as Secure Communities, about a week after New York did so. Illinois was the first…
The Arizona Republic reported yesterday that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is likely to dole out a cool $650,000 in taxpayer coin to the family of a 33-year-old man killed by a motorist who was “pursued recklessly and in violation of law at high speeds by” a Maricopa County…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio took great offense yesterday to our asking other heads of local law enforcement agencies whether they feel comfortable working with America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff” — what with the recent cartel infiltrations and federal investigations, and all.The MCSO was recently infiltrated by a Mexican drug cartel…
Don’t mention how the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office was infiltrated by a Mexican drug cartel to Sheriff Joe Arpaio — unless, of course, you want to watch him hijack a press conference, go off about a few “bad apples,” and take a shot at the Phoenix Police Department.Arpaio — along…
Recently obtained statistics from the Phoenix Police Department show that hate crime in Arizona’s most populous city continues its upward trend, with a 17.4 percent jump in bias incidents from 2009 to 2010.The PPD reported 115 such incidents in 2009. In 2010, there were 135.The gain is at least smaller…
Mexican icon, Vicente Fernandez, is getting heat from the Phoenix-based human rights group Puente for accepting a 3-year contract with Budweiser, the leading beer for Hensley & Co., owned by Cindy Hensley McCain, wife of U.S. Senator John McCain.Some Valley Latinos have been boycotting Budweiser since the passage of Senate Bill…
The widow of a man beaten to death by his Aryan-hating cellmate last year in a jail operated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio has filed a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office alleging that deputies altered jail records that warned of a potential conflict between the two inmates.Wietse Ten Boden,…
Pearce Blames “Far Left Anarchists” for Recall: MyFoxPHOENIX.comAs State Senate President Russell Pearce spews falsehoods about the recall effort and throws temper tantrums on national TV, that effort grinds inexorably on toward its ultimate conclusion: a recall election in either November or March.The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office has today…
America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff” is finally cooperating with the federal government in its investigation into discrimination practices within his office — but only thanks to months of litigation. The United States Department of Justice announced this afternoon that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has entered a “court-enforceable” agreement with the…
America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff,” has been ordered to turn over an unredacted copy of the damning report on the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation into his office to a judge for review.The MCSO released the 1,022-page report and more than 20,000 supporting documents in April, much of which was blacked…
Four of the seven Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office employees suspected of having ties to a drug-and human-smuggling operation have been cleared of any criminal conduct following an investigation conducted by an outside agency.The four unidentified employees have returned to work, and now face an internal investigation.No other officers are being…
With the ouster of now-former Executive Director of the Arizona Republican Party Brett Mecum, Thayer Verschoor, a veteran of the Arizona Legislature and short-lived communications director for the AZ GOP, is getting a promotion.Sources tell New Times Verschoor has been slated to take over for Mecum as executive director of…
Russell Pearce, have a heapin’ helping of freshly baked humble pie.Citizens for a Better Arizona, the group spearheading the effort to recall the powerful state Senate President, made history today, turning in 18,315 signatures to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, more than double the 7,756 signatures required by law…
A Phoenix man who claims polio caused severe paralysis on one side of his body is suing the Phoenix Police Department because three officers severely beat him after they claimed he ran from them.In a complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, Refugio Rodriquez says the officers’ claim that he…
The New Times cover story this week, “Joe Knows,” shows that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio knew about — and was a driving force behind — corruption that has plagued his office for years.See the article here.Records show that Arpaio knew the MCSO was using money intended for jail upkeep…
