In an era of hyperpartisan debate, it’s feels rare for an issue to generate broad consensus or cut across political, geographic, and demographic lines. But apparently the Grand Canyon, one of the country’s oldest and most iconic national parks, is that issue. According to a new bipartisan poll released this…
A street preacher infamous for condemning yoga pants and tramping around the University of Arizona campus hollering “You Deserve Rape” was arrested Tuesday after allegedly kicking a woman in the chest. Dean Saxton, a Christian who calls himself Brother Dean, was booked into the Pima County Jail, charged with misdemeanor assault,…
Republican Congressman Matt Salmon is teaming up with a liberal Democrat colleague to save the popular pain-relieving plant known as kratom from the government’s blacklist. Salmon, who will retire from representing Arizona’s Fifth Congressional District in January, has co-authored a letter with progressive Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, asking the U.S. Drug…
Mayor John Suthers of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is an outspoken opponent of marijuana legalization — but even he doesn’t support Arizona’s felony-possession law. Suthers — also a former Colorado Attorney General — came to Arizona this week to denounce Prop 205 on behalf of the opposition group Arizonans for Responsible…
It’s no secret that Arizona is getting its first swim-with-the-dolphins (SWTD) entertainment center in the very near future, and it’s no secret that the plan is incredibly controversial: Dolphins in the desert?!? Sounds crazy, right? Ever since New Times first wrote about #DolphinFreeAZ, the large and loud movement to stop the Mexican…
Demitri Downing, a former prosecutor and the son of Arizona Rep. Ted Downing (D-Tucson), wants to make the recently renamed Marijuana Industry Trade Association a strong voice for the growing number of Arizona cannabis businesses. The industry has been loosely organized since its inception in 2012, but now needs a…
Governor Doug Ducey’s work to defeat marijuana legalization in Arizona has included a lot of behind-the-scenes fundraising, including a pricey propaganda talk set for Tuesday at a posh hotel. Ducey’s the headlining special guest for the expensive “roundtable discussion” and reception that begins at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the…
In commemoration of the recent fifth anniversary of the massive police raid on the Phoenix Goddess Temple, founder Tracy Elise has delivered a special recorded message to her supporters from Perryville Women’s Prison, where she’s serving a 4.5-year sentence for an array of prostitution-related charges. “It may appear to everyone that we have…
Dear Stoner: Why are all you potheads so gung-ho about the benefits of smoking weed? I smoke it from time to time, but I don’t tell my friends to light up a joint instead of visiting the doctor. It’s pot, not magic beans. Grinding Gary Dear Gary: Magic buds, maybe…
The Arizona Department of Transportation has 138,000 loyal followers on Twitter. Mostly, they provide, y’know, street closures and traffic alerts. But, boy howdy, this past Wednesday at 5:44 p.m., all who were paying attention were rewarded after a La-Z-Boy fell off…something, and came to rest in the middle of southbound Route 101 near…
Christine Jones conceded the Arizona Congressional District Five primary election to Republican competitor Andy Biggs on Friday after a judge announced the results of the election recount. Biggs, the current State Senate President, won the contest 25,244 votes to Jones’s 25,217 — a difference of 27 votes. He’s all-but certain to…
Like a cancerous tumor that defies radiation therapy, section 2b of Senate Bill 1070 — Arizona’s infamous immigration law — remains on the books, despite a settlement announced Thursday in a six year-old lawsuit brought against the State of Arizona by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil-rights groups. As part…
The rumblings of Internet rumormongers notwithstanding, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management isn’t gearing up to euthanize 44,000 wild horses and 1,000 burros. But just to make sure, several dozen horse lovers mobbed the agency’s downtown Phoenix office Thursday, trotting a fuzzy stuffed horse up and down Washington Avenue and…
Rose Mofford, who stepped into office as Arizona’s first woman governor in 1988, passed away this morning at the age of 94. Mofford was one of Arizona’s best-liked former governors, owing both to her short time in office and her warm and open personality. Born and raised in the mining…
At a meeting of nine passionate mountain bikers on Wednesday evening under a ramada in Papago Park, emotions flared over the creation of a new, five-kilometer fitness trail that’s ruined their normal biking experience. Hearing that city officials insist other park users like the new trail, one quipped: “Who?” The…
As a quadriplegic who relies on a wheelchair to get around, Phil Pangrazio doesn’t know whether to applaud or condemn a new advocacy group that is patrolling Phoenix parking lots, taking a measuring tape to their handicap-accessible spaces, and suing businesses that don’t comply with the standards outlined in the…
A new five-kilometer fitness trail in Papago Park is drawing outrage from mountain bikers and others who worry the treasured slice of desert in the city has been needlessly ravaged. After spending $323,000 on the trail without first holding a public hearing, the city is now considering changes following complaints…
Is Senator John McCain trying to deceive Latino voters by pandering to them in Spanish? According to a new television ad from McCain’s Democratic rival, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, the answer is a resounding yes. In the ad, which begins airing today on nine different Spanish-language television stations in Phoenix and…
If you want a guaranteed spit-take, take a gulp of coffee while watching Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s first campaign commercial of the general election, which just began running on local TV stations. It opens with images of brown and black men in orange jumpsuits with a faceless narrator, explaining, “Some cities…
There was a moment during Donald Trump’s rambling and free-associative speech at Fountain Hills back on March 19 that seemed to sum up his appeal to a certain stripe of Arizonan. “They just approved a budget, which is a disaster, the omnibus, they call it the omnibus budget,” he said…
When employees of the Arizona Department of Economic Security turn on their computers in the morning, the first thing they see is an inspirational video, often made fresh daily. “Man, I wear this cowboy hat, I have flashbacks. I thought I was riding a mechanical bull,” DES Director Tim Jeffries…
Phoenix Democrat Joe Downs easily has the coolest campaign pledge of this election cycle. “If you elect me county treasurer,” he promises in a recent YouTube video, “Russell Pearce is fired on Day One.” For those new to school, the 35-year-old Downs is referring to former state Senate President Russell…
