Oscar Vazquez, who grew up in Arizona as an undocumented immigrant and went on to serve in the U.S. Army, was a special guest at President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address Tuesday night. He sat in the guest box of First Lady Michelle Obama along with 22…
Hours before President Barack Obama was scheduled to deliver his final State of the Union Address, one of the president’s most vocal national critics, Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, endorsed the man who arguably is Obama’s biggest critic: Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. In a statement released today, Gosar says he…
As soon as the family and friends of 34-year-old Tempe resident Sean Mould learned that he had been fatally shot in the abdomen by a police officer for allegedly wielding a pocket knife, they were skeptical of the officer’s story. Multiple family members told New Times in the days after…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office conducted an untimely and unfair probe of a fatal crash caused by Sean Pearce, a county hearing officer ruled, resulting in further leniency for the deputy. Pearce, son of recalled state Senator Russell Pearce, an Arpaio crony, avoided criminal charges in the 2013 crash with…
Qualified Arizonans legally bought and consumed more than 19 tons of medical-marijuana products in 2015, spending about $215 million. The Arizona Department of Health Services keeps a running total of dispensary sales and released its December report this week, allowing New Times to calculate last year’s totals. The DHS released…
Striking Phoenix bus drivers admit that they’re starting to worry about how the strike is affecting their lives, but they say they’re not willing to give up. “Even though I don’t have money, I couldn’t face my fellow workers knowing I let them down,” said Vanessa Washington, a driver and…
Under the first sunny skies Phoenix has seen in about a week, hundreds of people marked the opening day of the 2016 Arizona legislative session with a giant rally outside the state capitol building. Some carried large colorful signs and wore tee-shirts for their cause du jour, while other marched…
You could call it the end of an era. The woman who for the past 23 years has served as Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s top flack, spin guru Lisa Allen, is resigning from the MCSO effective February 2. In an e-mail exchange with New Times, Allen confirmed her resignation, saying she’s…
Get the popcorn ready because mere days after a physical fight broke out between rival Arizona “patriots” at the site of an armed militia takeover in Burns, Oregon, both sides are back at it, continuously accusing the other of, as one man put it, “bull-crap,” and of instigating the pettiness…
Tony Bouie, the former NFL player appointed by Governor Doug Ducey to run the Arizona Lottery, is making numerous changes to his agency that he thinks will be beneficial. One of them is a new training program to make sure employees don’t violate the law on using state vehicles —…
Among Arizona’s biggest cities, Phoenix, Tempe, and Tucson are doing the best job protecting the rights of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender communities, according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The nonprofit advocacy group, which puts out an annual index rating cities’ LGBT policies on…
The smell of marijuana was ubiquitous at The Errl Cup over the weekend in Tempe. Patients came to Tempe from around the state to sample flower and concentrates from local dispensaries and caregivers, to enjoy live music and an onsite glass-blowing demonstration, and to see awards presented for best products…
Yell if you love photo-radar cameras! (Crickets.) Anyone driving around metro Phoenix has been caught by surprise by these speed cameras. We’re here to help, by identifying the worst speed traps in the Valley of the Sun. 10.) Near Phoenix Schools According to documents on the city’s website, police use…
Arizona Senator John Kavanagh, a former officer with the New York Police Department and ardent pro-law enforcement advocate, filed a bill this week that critics say is patently unconstitutional and just another example of how Kavanagh “panders to the cops.” Senate Bill 1054 would restrict the public’s ability to record…
It seems there’s trouble in paradise. A physical fight broke out recently at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge between two groups of Arizona-based “patriots.” The scuffle, for which one man allegedly landed in the hospital with injuries, appears to have been part of a turf war over media attention. Many details…
Frank Antenori, a former Republican whip for the Arizona State Senate, has been charged with illegal hunting on Fort Huachuca property. The military base, home the U.S. Army Intelligence Center, encompasses about 76,000 acres of desert near Sierra Vista. Antenori was charged federally with the Arizona crime of taking wildlife…
Mikel Weisser, new National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws state director, plans to rebuild Arizona’s fractured NORML in anticipation of a vote to legalize pot for adult use in November. “I’m committed to making marijuana legalization my life’s work,” Weisser said. A former high school history teacher, Weisser…
You’ve got your camo, AR-15 and night-vision goggles ready, and you’re eager to join your fellow patriots up at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, where former Phoenix resident Ammon Bundy and his armed crew of bohunks have taken control of a federal compound, in a bid to force the feds into turning…
Arizona Senator John McCain appears to have taken a break from blasting President Barack Obama’s recent executive order on gun control to go down everyone’s favorite conspiracy theory rabbit hole: The birther debate. Shortly after Republican frontrunner Donald Trump openly questioned Ted Cruz’s citizenship and suggested the Texas Senator — Trump’s…
Bad news for Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s ex-executive chief Brian Sands, and more of the same for Joe. On Tuesday, federal Judge G. Murray Snow denied a motion by Sands for summary judgment in the ongoing civil contempt case against himself, Arpaio, Arpaio’s chief deputy Jerry Sheridan, and two other Arpaio…
Arizona gun shops are making a killing in sales following President Barack Obama’s new plan to curb the use of some firearms. This week, Obama announced executive actions to limit gun violence, which includes expanding background checks for buyers and requiring small sellers at gun shows and online to keep…
Sean Pearce had his two-week suspension slashed to one week in a 2013 crash that killed a citizen while the Maricopa County deputy was speeding in an unmarked vehicle without lights or sirens. Pearce, son of recalled state Senator Russell Pearce, already has avoided criminal charges in the crash. He…
