Behind the year’s most shocking indictment — 118 criminal counts filed last month against Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley — is a bizarre tale of a land deal turned ugly, a $360 million jury verdict reduced to nothing, and a political fundraiser hosted by one of the Valley’s most influential…
New Times has an immediate opening for a full-time staff writer. We’re looking for a journalist with sharp investigative skills who understands the difference between magazine-style reporting and the hurried fact-finding of daily newspaper reporting. If your copy is as much a pleasure to read as it is well researched,…
We understand that in the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. Worry not! We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Valley Fever: Charles Barkley Sweats DUI Arrest in Unflattering Mug Shot Local…
A Valley resident who’s responsible for putting a man behind bars on an attempted child molesting charge says he’s not the “pimp” that cops have made him out to be.As Our blog post provoked a profanity-laden response from a Phoenix apartment manager, Chris Johnson, (not pictured — just to be…
Mirror, mirror on the wall…who’s the worst sheriff of them all? Snort.Though this will come as no shock to denizens of cactus country, The New York Times’ editorial blog — The Board — today dubbed our corrupt top constable, “America’s Worst Sheriff.” Noting Joe Arpaio’s recent foray in to trash…
If you know anything about Mormons, it’s that they typically avoid coffee and other products with caffeine. Yet many Mormons recognize that caffeine isn’t exactly heroin, and there appears to be a healthy debate within the Church of Latter Day Saints over the use of the drug. In the wake…
Few people look good in a police mug shot, but this must be one of the worst sides of Sir Charles Barkley ever seen.In a story covered extensively today by the national media, Barkley was arrested last night in Old Town Scottsdale on suspicion of DUI after he allegedly ran a…
Demonstrators marching at Thomas and Central in Phoenix. When I got word that End the War Coalition, Code Pink, Women in Black, and other lefty, peacenik groups would be holding a vigil at Thomas and Central calling for an end to Israel’s attack on Hamas in Gaza, I was skeptical…
Do we still have to call him “Sir?” Charles Barkley, former Suns player and legendary local resident, gets busted for DUI. What’s a misleading story in the New York Times worth? About $27 million, if you’re Washington D.C. Vicki Iseman, and you’ve been accused of a possible affair with Arizona…
If these two were around today in P-town, the knuckledraggin’ KTAR-types’d shoot ’em on sight: Keith Haring (above) and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Ah, let the provincialism roll like a mighty wave of something brown through our benighted Valley, where every time someone hacks a loogie or lets fly an air biscuit…
We understand that in the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. Worry not! We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Valley Fever: Rapper DMX Pleads Guilty to Animal Cruelty and Other Charges Phoenix…
Uh-oh. The light rail system has been operating with passengers for just four days and it’s already been involved in a vehicle collision. That doesn’t seem to bode well for the on-street system, which logged another minor accident earlier this month during its test phase. Whether the accident rate will…
You may have heard about Scottsdale resident Danica Patrick today, because it’s big news when hot, young female race car drivers get speeding tickets. We were going to pass along this tidbit to you with little more than a smokin’ picture of Danica, 26, (at left) from her official Web site. Then we…
Courtesy of the Sergeant Tommy Thompson, public information officer for the Phoenix Police Department, we bring you this warm holiday tale. Thompson did such a fine job writing this one up, we’ll pass it along as is: MEDIA ADVISORY Last night and today a story has been running in the…
His life on the run finished for now, DMX pleaded guilty to a charge of animal cruelty today, finally ‘fessing up to the fact that he treated his dogs poorly. As reports from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office show, DMX — whose real name is Earl Simmons — left a veritable kennel…
State Treasurer Dean Martin just put out a helpful list of New Year’s resolutions that anyone could use to keep their finances in check — especially state lawmakers. State budget watchdogs like Martin and others have been sounding the alarm, but outgoing Governor Janet Napolitano and a fiscally irresponsible state Legislature…
Separated at birth? According to economist Paul Krugman, it’s possible. Will soon-to-be Arizona Governor Jan Brewer repeat the mistakes of Republicans in the midst of the Great Depression, specifically those of President Herbert Hoover?It seems likely. With a GOP-led legislature intent on “starving the beast,” as they call state government,…
We remember Glendale cop Matt Brown as one of the better public information officers. Brown always was straight-forward and responsive, and had a sense of humor. Even when was in a hurry, all you had to do was mention Ohio State football and he’d suddenly find all the time in the world to chat. …
I remember him mentioning a few names: Chuck Kelly, Sam Stanton, and Andy Hall immediately come to mind. Zipser — who had been a star at the Gazette before Mike Lacey recruited him for what became a very successful, if mercurial stint here — also mentioned Al Sitter, whom I…
The Boston Celtics bought themselves an NBA Championship in 2007-08. The Los Angeles Lakers nearly stole one by snookering away the rights to All-Star forward Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies last February 1 for the NBA equivalent of nothing. Oh, Memphis Coach Marc Iavaroni, a former Suns assistant, called…
The Phoenix Suns played all but nine minutes of Monday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder without Steve Nash, and the team seemed to pick up steam after its floor leader went to the locker room with back spasms. Even if it was against the team with the worst…
Disneyland Phoenix: Valley residents continue to swarm onto light rail for fun, bumping elbows with weekday commuters. Hopeful patients praise the opening of a chain hospital in Goodyear designed to care for people with cancer. The Republican Party’s grooming Congressman Jeff “No Earmarks” Flake as a future contender for governor…
