A ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use in Arizona is going to be filed this afternoon. The campaign, backed by the Marijuana Policy Project, needs to gather about 150,000 signatures by June 2016 to get the issue on the ballot in November 2016…
Wacko bigot preacher Brother Dean Saxton and a crew of fellow jerks harass the mosque in Tempe I hate giving morons free publicity, but sometimes it’s necessary to spotlight the stupid as a sort of public service. Such is the case with Tucson’s notorious “slut-shaming” street preacher Brother Dean Saxton,…
At the end of the week, we bring you a roundup of visitors to the desert’s own Fourth Avenue Jail. To be considered for our Maricopa County mugshots of the week, get arrested, strike a pose, and we’ll take care of the rest. This week, we look into the hobbies…
A man who fatally shot a tenant on his father’s property in Mesa this weekend was arrested Wednesday after recanting his story about shooting the man in self-defense. According to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, 39-year-old Scott Stradling initially told deputies that he had tased and shot Bill Harrison, who’d…
Phoenix just got one step closer to suing the FAA over last year’s flight-path changes at Sky Harbor Airport. Mayor Greg Stanton said the city could file as lawsuit as early as May 1. “I have always said throughout this process that we would reserve litigation as a last resort…
Inside the McDonald’s at 1205 South Rural Road in Tempe, dinner guests sipped on soft drinks, munched on burgers, and surfed Facebook on their laptops. Outside, 600 protesters lapped up against the building, plastering signs to the windows and yelling, “Keep your burgers! Keep your fries! We want wages supersized!”…
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey yesterday held a ceremonial bill signing for legislation that provides a new tax break for certain religious groups. Ducey had previously been quiet on the controversial legislation that he signed in late March. The bill, backed by the Center for Arizona Policy, was vetoed by Governor…
Do Mexicans know that if just one of their grandparents was born in Spain, they could emigrate immediately not just to Spain, but also any other country in the European Union? I know this is not an option for a lot of Mexicans, but it certainly seems like a better…
The thieves approached the house under the cover of darkness, sneaking behind the two-bedroom dwelling in Chandler rented by Arizona State University student Zachary Rowe. Rowe, 25, was a pre-law major in his final year as an undergrad. He lived alone with his dog, Chloe, and apparently was watching TV…
The majority of federal and state dollars spent on Arizona anti-poverty programs go — not to the unemployed — but to college professors, home-healthcare nurses, child-care specialists, and other low-wage workers. According to a new University of California, Berkeley study, 57 percent of the $6,596 million the federal government spent…
Arizona lawmakers this year proposed a lot of changes to the state’s driving laws, though only a few of them actually made the cut. Below, check out seven changes to Arizona’s driving laws that could affect you:…
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, is celebrating Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jails. Of course, PETA’s not celebrating the jails for its treatment of human beings, but for how Arpaio’s compassionate to animals for implementing a vegan diet at the jails. Never mind the photo at…
It’s official: the final portion of $2.5 million requested by a small group of dedicated city/county officials, along with the Valley of the Sun United Way, to fund rapid re-housing vouchers for 250 homeless men and women received unanimous approval Tuesday by the Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority. The group…
Twelve Tucson activists who used their bodies to block two busloads of undocumented immigrants headed to expedited deportation proceedings in 2013 have been convicted of obstructing a highway and causing a public nuisance. Pima County Justice of the Peace Susan Bacal is expected to dole out sentences in July. The…
Arizona cities and towns will not be able to ban or tax plastic bags. Governor Doug Ducey has signed Senate Bill 1241, which declares that regulation of plastic bags is a matter of statewide concern and thus not subject to regulation by local authorities. Some states and cities around the…
A Department of Public Safety officer who taught other cops to spot substance-impaired drivers resigned several months after he was arrested for a drunken rampage in Tennessee — where he was attending a national conference on highway safety. Timothy Merrill was arrested on April 29, 2014 for assault, vandalism, and…
Republican Senator John McCain again may face a primary challenge from the right. State Senator Kelli Ward of Lake Havasu City sent an e-mail to supporters saying she’s going to “test the waters” to see if she can drum up enough support to be a viable challenger to McCain. “As…
Larry Klayman, a lawyer who claimed he’d been defamed by two newspapers, including Phoenix New Times, lost his case in a recent ruling by a Florida federal judge. Quoting frequently from Alice in Wonderland, U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway concluded in her 34-page decision that Klayman’s case failed to…
Raul Castro, Arizona’s first and only Hispanic governor, died last week at the age of 98. Several years ago, New Times’ Stephen Lemons went down to Nogales to interview the former governor and U.S. diplomat at his home. The video above is essentially the highlight reel of that interview, as…
Infamous boyfriend-killer Jodi Arias was sentenced today to spend the rest of her natural life in prison for the 2008 slaying of Travis Alexander. The sentence handed down by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens comes after two juries deadlocked on whether Arias deserved a death sentence. Stephens could…
“I don’t know what’s going on,” said Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio after police busted into a squalid Wittman mobile home Wednesday to find 54 dogs and 18 cats crawling over urine-stained furniture. One striped cat, nestled inside an old, cardboard produce box, was nursing three Chihuahua puppies. Another lay…
Three people were shot early this morning in a drive-by shooting in Phoenix. According to Phoenix police, the three adults shot were hospitalized, but are expected to survive. Though police haven’t tracked down the shooter, Phoenix Police Sergeant Trent Crump tells New Times the victims know him…
