A crowd of Phoenicians chanting “We reject racism!” descended on Governor Doug Ducey’s office today after he pledged to resist President Barack Obama’s plans to resettle thousands of refugees in Arizona over the next year. “We can not sit idly in our offices safe and sound while xenophobia and racism…
Following attacks in Paris that left at least 129 people dead, Arizona U.S. Senator John McCain is calling for an international coalition — which includes at least 10,000 American troops — to fight the Islamic State on the ground in the Middle East. “We can win, we should win, and…
Discovering a huge lack of understanding about the needs of undocumented college students, two Arizona State University students formed a program three years ago to educate campus leaders, staff, and faculty about such challenges and about ways to help. Jesus Cisneros and Davier Rodriguez formed DREAMzone in 2012 with the…
With drones becoming increasingly popular, metro Phoenix cities are scrambling to figure out how to regulate the unmanned aerial vehicles. Phoenix, Glendale, and Paradise Valley all are considering drone laws that would limit the use of aerial recordings and restrict flights over certain parts of their individual cities. But because drone…
As new information continues to surface about the six coordinated terrorist attacks that killed at least 129 people in Paris last Friday, Governor Doug Ducey joined a growing group of state leaders in announcing that he was calling for a temporary stop to all refugee placements in Arizona. In a…
Congressman Ruben Gallego is Arizona’s latest elected official to throw his weight behind a presidential candidate — he announced this morning that he officially endorses former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for president. Citing “a sea change in how Americans view progressive issues,” and a desire to continue the…
Did Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s infamous Seattle investigation begin with a billionaire intent on revenge against his ex-wife? And was this wealthy individual drawn to Arpaio as part of the paranoid atmosphere that swirled around Arpaio’s investigation of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate? To judge from audio files recently entered into…
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona has launched a new cell phone app aimed at helping average civilians record inappropriate law enforcement activity and then safely and properly disseminate it to experts at the ACLU. The Mobile Justice AZ app has three major features: record, witness, and report. The…
As testimony in Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s contempt trial wrapped up Friday morning in federal court, Judge G. Murray Snow offered an ominous warning for those not named as defendants in the civil case. Arpaio, his Chief Deputy and three other current and former Arpaio henchmen face allegations of civil contempt…
Grand Canyon University announced today that it is reversing a long-standing policy and will now extend equal health and employment benefits to its same-sex married employees. The decision comes after months of public and media scrutiny, and a promise by GCU president Brian Mueller to revisit the official policy. In…
When Tempe City Councilman Kolby Granville posted a note on his Facebook wall lamenting the fact that Bikini Beans Espresso —the coffeeshop staffed with attractive bikini-clad women — was opening a location in Tempe, he had no idea his comment was controversial, let alone that would inspire an overwhelming backlash…
Will the real Mike Zullo please stand up? By noon Thursday, Zullo had invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination nearly 220 times while being questioned by plaintiffs counsel Stanley Young, during Day 19 of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s seemingly never-ending contempt trial. Through much of it, Zullo looked perturbed, angry…
Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson told Arizonans that if elected president, he would seal the entire U.S.-Mexico border with a double-fenced wall within a year of taking office. His statement came in response to a question asked during a live half-hour telephone town hall meeting: “How practically and quickly can…
Law enforcement agents with the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office are on the lookout for an adult male accused of stalking two young teenage girls and exposing himself to a third in San Tan Valley. A statement from the PCSO describes the man as about 5-feet-8-inches tall, weighing 200 pounds, white…
Former Arizona Wildcats basketball star Michael Wright was murdered this week in Brooklyn, New York, police say. The New York City Police Department says officers found his lifeless body Tuesday morning sprawled out under trash bags in the backseat of his white SUV. His skull was severely fractured, and the…
If you were worried that the Democrats’ second presidential debate will infringe on your fun weekend plans, we’re here to help, because as everyone knows, politics and drinking games are a great combination. Here are the details: the two-hour debate starts at 7 and will be co-hosted by CBS News,…
Hours after Phoenix police Officer Richard Tucker was released from jail for a domestic-violence charge against his wife, he was arrested again and booked into jail on eight counts of alleged sexual exploitation of a minor over whom he had partial custody, police say. The timeline of events is a…
Someone call Guinness Book of World Records: Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Cold Case Posse commander Mike Zullo may have a claim. In federal court Tuesday, during what likely is the last week of testimony in Arpaio’s civil contempt trial before U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow, Zullo invoked his Fifth Amendment…
It was January 2, 1999, and 9-year-old Kimber Biggs and her 11-year-old sister were playing in the street in their Mesa neighborhood while waiting for the ice-cream truck. After a while, Kimber got cold and went inside for her jacket; her sister stayed to wait, clutching the quarters she got…
A big crowd of fast-food workers and their supporters marched through downtown Phoenix Tuesday afternoon demanding a $15-an-hour minimum wage and union rights. “In today’s economy and with the cost of living, $15 an hour is the bare minimum needed to get by,” said Gilbert Romero, one of the organizers…
Immigration advocates used words like “frustrated” to describe their reaction to the news that a federal appeals court has dealt another setback to President Barack Obama’s plan to shield millions from deportation. In a 2-1 ruling issued Monday night, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to uphold a…
In what is increasingly looking like a tit-for-tat game of politics, mere days after Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva formally introduced federal legislation declaring 1.7 million acres around the Grand Canyon a national monument, his colleague, Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, introduced another piece of legislation intended to undermine it. In a…
