News

People are settling into the idea that Janet Napolitano will leave the state to become the nation’s Homeland Security boss — it looks like a sure thing, as long as the FBI doesn’t dig up anything too interesting about her during the intense vetting process. Local and regional media continue…

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: Twilight: the Early Show at Tempe Marketplace South Park Episode…

Gary Karpin, the mouthy disbarred attorney-divorce mediator whose illegal courthouse antics cost his “clients” thousands of dollars and untold heartache, was sentenced on Friday afternoon to almost 16 years in prison. A courtroom packed mostly with the con artist’s victims listened intently as Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Warren Granville…

Hot Topic is selling Twilight shwag, but the homemade fashions were much more popular this morning at Tempe Marketplace. The crowd for the 10:30 movie was strictly 30 and over (except for the toddlers and babies eager moms hauled along — hey, this was local author Stephenie Meyers’ crowd, The…

It’s really bothersome to watch whiny little twerps succeed, and it’s been a bitter pill seeing New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning get mad props after bordering on bust for his first three seasons. Super Bowl XLII MVP? Ooh, that burned…

Times are tough for Republicans, (nationally, anyway). While the Web site for the Democratic National Committee Democrats offers contributors nothing but a T-shirt in return for a donation, the Republicans have a whole online store dedicated to overpriced, tax-deductible gifts for supporters…

However well they might do this year, your Sunnies are a team on the decline; Nash and Shaq are AARP members by NBA standards. Portland’s either the league’s team of tomorrow, or its biggest bust. And which way the Blazers go depends on the bum foot of presumed superstar Greg…

Scott Coles with his second wife, Ashley Scott Coles’ family will auction off the deceased millionaire’s fine art and memorabilia collection on December 16 — at the same mansion where Coles took his life last June. Coles death shook the Phoenix business community this past year. He left behind three…

Last night’s episode of the popular animated show South Park, titled “The Ungroundable,” riffed on the popularity of local author Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books, while simultaneously taking a jab at Scottsdale.

Yesterday, we reported that Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O’Neal had an account on Twitter, a social networking site where users post updates about their activities. Now Shaq, along with Phoenix Suns Digital Media & Research Director A. Jo. Martin are giving away Suns tickets via Twitter, and Shaq has actually requested to meet certain Twitter users in person.

The Christian college infamous for its long-running ban on interracial dating put out a lengthy and seemingly heartfelt apology on Thursday for its bigoted past policies. Nowhere in the apology, though, does the university mention anything about its current bigoted policies toward gays. We guess that in Arizona, where the…

Fifteen months ago, a small business owner named Mickey Gutier got a call from a lawyer in New York City. The lawyer represented a company seeking permission to use some names that Gutier had trademarked for his Phoenix-based startup men’s cosmetic’s company in 2005: XY Skin Care and XY Cosmetics…

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas seeks to have an amended lawsuit by New Times against the county dismissed and force the newspaper to pay attorneys’ fees. New Times sued the county earlier this year following the arrest of its founders Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey (pictured left and right above),…

Club Cabo is the kind of nightclub that makes Mexicans feel at home, so to speak. With thumping Spanish-language and world music, plus bilingual employees, the downtown Mesa club has served the Hispanic community for years — including the community’s undocumented immigrant partiers. In an interesting twist, the crowd seems…

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is knocking on New Times’ door again. Investigators from the MCSO’s Special Victims Unit contacted staff writer Stephen Lemons following Thursday’s arrest of activist Jarrett Maupin II. The detectives asked that Lemons come to MCSO offices for questioning about what the former mayoral candidate and…

Earth to Suns Coach Terry Porter: Shaq’s an old man. You can’t play down to his level. After last night’s drubbing by the Los Angeles Lakers, we almost missed departed (for the New York Knicks) Coach Mike D’Antoni. Hey, we said almost. The jury’s still out on whether Porter’s a…

That maniac you saw a running a red light might have been Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. In a public confession, Gordon admits he ran a red light at the corner of 7th Street and Northern recently, netting him a photo enforcement ticket. Talk about transparency in government. Other news highlights:…

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: Key Witness at Mormon Murder Trial Still on Stand Sonoran…

The nightmare of the 1991 massacre at a Phoenix Buddhist temple resurfaced today after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction of the triggerman in the slayings, Jonathan Doody (pictured above with his lawyer). The Associated Press reports that the appeals court judges found Doody’s 1991 confession was…

Jarrett Maupin, a former candidate for Phoenix mayor, was arrested and booked into jail today by deputies from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Details are scant at this point, but a news release (reprinted below) put out by the Sheriff’s Office says Maupin is accused of lying to sheriff’s investigators…