Certain parts of a new law placing restrictions on abortions were blocked by a judge in Maricopa Superior Court late yesterday afternoon.Planned Parenthood introduced the lawsuit earlier this month, after the bill was signed by Governor Jan Brewer.The law includes provisions that require women wait 24 hours between their initial in-person visit and…
A distraught homeowner was killed by police after he fired shots at officers from inside his home. The man, whose name has not been released, was reportedly upset that his home — near 31st avenue and Bell Road — had been sold at auction, and had fired shots at the…
For bloggers, Trent Franks is the gift that keeps on giving… Obama-must-die-preacher Steven Anderson of Tempe’s Faithful Word Baptist Church and Congressman Trent Franks, unofficial Robert Mitchum lookalike, should really get together at a pizza buffet one of these days for lunch. They have so much in common. Here’s what their…
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: Trent Franks Reinserts Foot-in-Mouth Over Wing-Nut Birther Insanity Up on the Sun: Eye Candy (and…
Migrant deaths in the Arizona desert have spiked 20 percent in fiscal year 2009, according to statistics from the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector. Border Patrol agents found 191 bodies in the desert between October 1, 2008 and the end of August. During the same time period the year before, there were 159 deaths…
Governor Jan and the Brew Crew have ordered all state agencies to present her with a plan to cut each agency’s budget by 15 percent.Brewer is calling the move only an “exercise.” She’s giving the agencies until October 9 to explain to her the most efficient way to cut some…
About two weeks ago, Chandler police arrested a pastor for having sex with a 14-year-old girl in his congregation.Police say 25-year-old Josh O’Bannion admitted to having sex with the girl at least three times over the the last few months, while serving as youth pastor at the Christ Life Church in…
The idea of guns in a bar sounds about as stupid, unbelievable, and flat-out dangerous as Snakes on a Plane. Somehow, this is not some cheesy Sam Jackson movie riddled with F-bombs and stupid plot lines, this is what reality has become in Arizona.As New Times reported in July, the Arizona…
It’s likely to be the hottest ticket in town: Oral arguments on the CityNorth case at the Arizona Supreme Court, scheduled for tomorrow morning.Now, you might think we’re being sarcastic — who wants to watch a court hearing? much less a Supreme Court hearing on a civil case? — but…
At a breakfast with the Chandler Chamber of Commerce this morning, Arizona State University President Michael Crow told members, “We want to be physically present in Chandler.”Remember a few months ago, when Crow was talking about having to shut down two of ASU’s campuses as a result of cuts to…
We’ve tracked the bleatings of Trent Franks, a Republican congressman who represents the northwest part of Arizona (including Kingman and Lake Havasu), for years, ever since Hall of Fame crackpot guv Ev Mecham appointed the guy to head the Governor’s Office for Children back in 1987. Franks, the pasty-faced dude…
Talking to Tom Horne about test scores is like questioning a suspect in a murder. He gets nervous, defensive, and passes blame to anyone who controls his budget. As if the AIMS test is the ultimate barometer for his success. What boosts test scores? Money, obviously. So when President Obama suggested…
University of Arizona authorities are in the process of dropping charges against two students ticketed for drawing on the campus with chalk earlier this week. As part of a student rally, 24-year old Jacob Miller and 10 others drew pictures and messages to protest budget cuts on Thursday. Among their…
In a court appearance yesterday, a 10-year-old Liberian boy accused in the gang rape of an 8-year-old girl cried as his teacher testified that he was a bad student. During the court appearance, Toya Abrams, the boy’s second-grade teacher at Camelview Elementary School in Phoenix, told a judge that the…
Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi will be named WNBA MVP today. Taurasi, who leads the Mercury into the WNBA finals series against the Indiana Fever at US Airways Center tonight, has averaged more than 20 points per game this season…Mesa police arrested ASU student Karla Jauregui on Sunday. Jauregui is…
From Dave Weigel of The Washington Independent: Watch Franks touch his tonsils with his big toe for the camera while kinda-sorta disavowing birtherism… Allow me to be the first to call on Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona to prove his U.S. citizenship — and citizenship in the human race — by presenting…
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: Riverside’s Neo-Nazi (National Socialist Movement) Demo: A Preview of Phoenix, November 7? Up on the…
Phoenix is home to the highest-scoring basketball team, on a per-minute basis, in North America — and it’s not the Suns. If it were, maybe Valley sports fans would give a crap. As it is, most are probably unaware that, without a doubt, the Phoenix Mercury women’s basketball team is the…
Naui’s footage from Saturday’s neo-Nazi demo in Riverside, CA shows that even 12 NSM members can mean trouble, if the cops aren’t on their game. About a dozen neo-Nazis from the National Socialist Movement got run out of Riverside,CA on the proverbial hot rail on Saturday. The swastika-lickers were protesting illegal…
Four operators of the Valley’s fledgling light-rail system and at least one supervisor will see their positions eliminated by next Friday, documents show.Two other supervisor positions, which are currently unfilled, will also be eliminated.The layoffs were ordered by Valley Metro Rail and announced in a letter to ACI, the Boston-based…
Image: Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Don Stapley, in the mug shot taken last week from jail Talk of handcuffing and charges “filed” can be heard on an audio recording made during last week’s arrest of Don Stapley, one of five members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Scroll down for a…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office found two dead bodies in the desert Southwest of Gila Bend that they believe are the remains of Mexican nationals trying to enter the country illegally.The bodies were said to be “heavily decomposed.”Deputies say the bodies were found by “Angels in the Desert,” a church group that patrols…
