Officials at Payson High School in Gila County say they have some regrets about requiring female students to attend an assembly last month that featured a guest speaker who espoused abstinence. Taxpayers may have some regrets, too: The Payson Unified School District used taxpayer money to pay for the abstinence…
Dear Stoner: I was at my neighborhood “gardening” store recently and noticed an ingredient I was not familiar with: bat guano. What is that? L.L. Pot Seed Dear L.L.: The answer is poop. Bat poop, specifically. While bats may be disease-carrying flying rats with poor eyesight, their excrement is like…
Phoenix police handcuffed and arrested a woman early Wednesday morning, then found her unconscious in a transport van, with the handcuffs off and a shoelace tied around her neck. The woman, whose name was not released, had been arrested at about 1:30 a.m. on suspicion of criminal damage, domestic violence,…
“Don’t repeat our terrible mistake.” These words are delivered in extremely dour fashion by Wellington Webb, former mayor of Denver, Colorado, in a new 30-second commercial opposing Proposition 205, the measure to legalize limited recreational marijuana sales in Arizona. The proposition is clearly modeled on Colorado’s Amendment 64, which voters in that…
Earlier today, bending to public backlash and pressure from the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Center’s acting administrator, Chuck Rosenberg, formally withdrew the agency’s August 31 notice of intent to make the head-shop staple kratom a Schedule I drug along with substances that include heroin, peyote, and LSD. The…
Illegal arrests by a cult-run police force have spurred a new federal lawsuit against two polygamous towns on the Arizona-Utah border. Three businessmen who are former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints allege that officials in the rural towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, violated…
The 2016 edition of New Times’ Best of Phoenix is out now, making an argument for our status as a border town. Here’s our list of the top people and accomplishments this past year in the world of sports. Best Rookie Sensation: David Johnson It’s not as though Arizona Cardinals…
Doug Ducey received free tickets to the second annual Southwest Cannabis Conference, but event organizer Demitri Downing isn’t holding his breath for the Arizona governor to attend. Downing says he also sent complimentary passes to Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Secretary of State Michele Reagan, but they wouldn’t be shocking…
Legalizing up to an ounce of marijuana in Arizona could save taxpayers at least $1.3 million in jail booking costs alone, plus more than two man-years of police officers’ time. New Times came up with the figures by analyzing jail bookings and costs in Maricopa County, plus arrests statistics from…
The 2016 edition of New Times’ Best of Phoenix is out now, making an argument for our status as a border town. Here’s our list of the best media in our midst. Best Local to Follow on Snapchat: New Darlings While you can follow along with their adventures in the desert…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the self-proclaimed Toughest Sheriff in America, is about to find out if he’s tough enough to weather a criminal charge and still win re-election. A misdemeanor charge of contempt appears inevitable after today’s hearing in federal court in Phoenix, when officials from the Arizona U.S…
Prop 205, which would legalize marijuana in Arizona, is gaining momentum in a new poll. The poll by OH Predictive Insights, conducted September 28-30, shows an increase in support in the past month for Prop 205, and that the proposition still has a chance at passing. However, it also shows…
The 2016 edition of New Times’ Best of Phoenix is out now, making an argument for our status as a border town. Here’s a list of the best neighborhoods and architectural elements our urban landscape has to offer. Best Home Tour: Modern Phoenix Home Tour Okay, so maybe we’re a bit…
In pro sports these days, analytics are everything. Forget about what you fee in your heart or gut — if a stat can’t capture it, it’s not real. This includes how prolific teammates are at congratulating one another. At the outset of the 2015 season, a Cal-Berkeley psychology professor —…
From the hot-mic recording of Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault to the new WikiLeaks revelations about Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street speeches to last night’s bizarre 90-minute debate, it’s fair to say this weekend was a game changer in the 2016 election campaign. But as prominent Republican figures like Senator…
The Arizona Department of Health Services awarded preliminary licenses for 31 new medical-marijuana dispensaries last week, creating a lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurs and (soon) more shopping choices for patients. Most of the 747 applicants lost out on their hoped-for pot of green gold — not to mention the nonrefundable $4,000…
The 2016 edition of New Times’ Best of Phoenix is out now, making an argument for our status as a border town. Here’s our list of the best people in our midst. Best DREAMer: Erika Andiola She most certainly isn’t the only one, but Erika Andiola is this year’s best DREAMer…
A report published this past week has found that public schools in Arizona with high Latino populations have less funding and face greater challenges compared to schools that have lower proportions of Latino students. Released October 6, State of Latino Arizona 2016 finds that schools with large percentages of Latino students generally…
Dear Stoner: I’ve had a vaporizer for almost a year now and have a buttload of golden-brown vaped weed saved up. Is there anything I can do with it, or have I been wasting my energy? Nicholas Dear Nicholas: If your vaporizer isn’t turning your flower black, it might eventually…
More than 1,100 Maricopa County educators could get a salary bump next year thanks to a $60 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant, secured by the Maricopa County Education Service Agency, was one of 13 awarded nationwide as part of a federal program to improve teacher…
The 2016 edition of New Times’ Best of Phoenix is out now, featuring a series of “as told to” profiles that explore how our city’s proximity to Mexico makes it better. It’s been more than 20 years since I moved from Los Angeles to become the head of the MFA…
A Tucson tattoo model has tapped into the nationwide clown scare, grabbing media attention by creating a flyer for an alleged pro-clown event to be held October 15 in the parking lot of a Tucson bar. “Clown Lives Matter — 4th Avenue Peace Walk,” says the headline of the flyer, written…
