News

Blair Parker has escaped the 30-year minimum mandatory sentence his wife received last year for starving their three children on a strict “vegan” diet.

Whenever I have an immigration debate with my Chicano hermanos who support open borders and get angry at any type of immigration control, they don’t seem to understand the basic laws of economics, such as the fact that migrant workers who pick fruit, work in construction, and do other blue-collar…

Hugh Hallman and Sandra Day O’Connor are dancing. It is not exactly elegant — not yet. This is only their first rehearsal, and song-and-dance routines do not come together without sweat. And both Hallman and O’Connor are clearly sweating this. It is not every day that a guy gets to…

RAY OF HOPE Who else can they victimize?: New Times’ coverage of this latest public-records outrage by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his goons is full-of-irony great! As is the bravery of “140-pound” pit bull reporter Ray Stern. Sarah Fenske’s column got it right about Nazi-thug deputies who think…

 MR. PITIFUL Why, The Bird’s never seen Sheriff Joe Arpaio lookin’ so used up and beat as he appeared at the Barnes & Noble in Surprise during a recent Saturday-afternoon book-signing for Joe’s Law, which was ripped a new one by the Taloned One’s stenographer the other day (“America’s Meanest…

By Paul Rubin Abigail Rose Minor was just 34 months old when–according to police, prosecutors and a trial jury–her father locked her into a tox box, where she suffocated after apparently struggling to free herself for minutes. The investigation into little Abbey’s horrific death became part of our 2006 series,…

By Ray Stern Gerald Richard, Democratic candidate for Maricopa County Attorney (pictured), today released a list of people endorsing him that included Paul Charlton, former U.S. Attorney in Arizona. Charlton was famously fired by the Bush Administration in 2006 along with several other top federal prosecutors in what appeared a…

By Ray Stern Blogs are buzzing about the Bush Administration’s faux pax in hiring scandal-plagued former NAU president Owen Cargol as the first chancellor of the American University in Iraq. According to this article on www.insidehighered.com, nobody appears to have performed a Google search on Cargol when he was hired…

It’s been nearly a year since New Times columnist Sarah Fenske reported on the brouhaha over the Men’s Grill at our own Phoenix Country Club. (Her recent update’s here. And here.) That other paper, the New York Times, has finally taken note of the controversy…

By Jonathan McNamara June, named after the Roman Goddess Juno, has once again retreated into the ether leaving us to revel in a month’s worth of stories and slide shows. Click for the month in photos…

Can’t Stop the Serenity: 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 28, at Chandler Cinemas; Can’t Stop the Serenity. By Clay McNear The TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for seven seasons and totaled 144 episodes. I double-sourced and tripled-checked, ’cause we’re dealing with the Buffyverse, a subset of the…

By Paul Rubin We were sad to learn about the death a few days ago of Bob Eger, a veteran local sportswriter and author who was known to everyone he worked with and wrote about as a consummate professional and genuine nice guy. Egs, as his pals called him, covered…

What do you think would happen if U.S. citizens could buy land and set up businesses in Mexico as easily as Mexicans do in the U.S.? Might that be a boost to the Mexican economy? I know there are provisions in the Mexican Constitution that prevent this, but what is…

Wanna see for yourself how buzz-worthy Agwa de Bolivia Coca Leaf Liqueur is? Try it straight or mixed at one of these Valley clubs. Homme 138 W. Camelback Rd. 602-234-3023 www.hommelounge.com Jay’s Cocktails 3208 W. Indian School Rd. 602-242-1150 www.members.cox.net/jayscocktails Shady’s 2701 E. Indian School Rd. 602-956-8998 TT Roadhouse 2915…

You don’t have to stick to the “Bolivian Kiss Ritual” (biting a lime and then taking a shot) to get your Agwa kicks. We dug up dozens of drink recipes. Here’s a handful of our favorites: Agwa Bloody Mary Mix 1.5 ounces of Agwa, 3 ounces of tomato juice, three…

It was all love from the mostly alter kocker crowd of Sheriff Joe supporters at the Barnes & Noble near Pima and Shea in Scottsdale, with Arpaio addressing the seated senior citizens before signing copies of his book Joe’s Law: America’s Toughest Sheriff Takes on Illegal Immigration, Drugs and Everything Else…

Andrew Thomas is in trouble. Facing a series of probes from the State Bar of Arizona, the county attorney has resorted to fighting back by crying “conspiracy.” He’s got experts opining that the Bar is on a witch hunt; he’s managed to dupe the Arizona Republic into running editorials that…

COOKED MEDIUM People want to believe; that’s their fault: I really enjoyed the story on Phoenix’s very own Medium. I thought Megan Irwin captured the essence of a woman who very much wants her hocus-pocus to be taken seriously (“Allison DuBois Unmasked,” June 12). It doesn’t exactly surprise anybody who…

It’s a muggy Sunday night in mid-June, and Robyn Milton is celebrating her 30th birthday (for the eighth time) with a party in the backyard of a pal’s north Phoenix home. She’s about to liven up the party for her guests. “Hey, my friend brought this stuff,” she says. “And…