Arizonans have signed up for national healthcare to the tune of 169,178 since November 15, and time’s a-ticking for anybody else who wants coverage. Open enrollment ends February 15. The latest statistics are encouraging. Governor Doug Ducey may have called the Affordable Care Act “a monumental failure” and “one of…
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, it’s party time. Enjoy!…
A federal judge has sided with the challengers to Arizona’s denial of driver’s licenses to young immigrants shielded from deportation by Obama’s executive action. Last month, the DREAMers began obtaining their first Arizona licenses after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state to stop enforcing the ban put in place…
The Maricopa County Department of Public Health has confirmed a case of measles in the county, which is being linked to an outbreak in Disney theme parks in California. The woman with measles in Maricopa County wasn’t identified by county officials, but the woman, in her fifties, has since recovered…
Guido Puccini, the Florida man whose kidnapping last month led to his arrest as an Arizona fugitive, escaped justice for 23 years. In 1992, Puccini admitted to having sex with a young girl, molesting her repeatedly and telling her “this is what people do when they love each other,” according…
There’s a complicated legal situation at the Grand Canyon these days because a private concessionaire, Xanterra Parks and Resorts, has accused the National Park Service of mismanagement. Trying to follow the situation without an economics degree or a legal dictionary is tough so we’re going to break it down for…
A Democratic state representative is proposing mandatory body cameras on every police officer in the state, plus external reviews of any police shootings. Representative Reginald Bolding, who represents parts of Phoenix, announced the legislation yesterday in response to constituent concerns about police shootings in Arizona and elsewhere. “After having conversations…
I have a hard time believing that the immigrants we see at Home Depot are the best Mexico has to offer. Why can’t we entice more of the cream of the crop of Mexicans to come up north? (Mexico has the richest man in the world, so someone has to…
Arizona State University Police Officer Stewart Ferrin wasn’t fired as expected today, and it sounds like it’s possible he may get a reprieve. Ferrin whose high-profile, video-recorded arrest of ASU professor Ersula Ore caused a public-relations nightmare for the university, will be employed for at least a little while longer,…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has really trumpeted its new video-visitation system for jail inmates, but such systems are heavily criticized in a new report from incarceration policy researchers. According to a national look at the systems by the Prison Policy Initiative, this “technology is poorly designed, does not work…
Would it surprise you one iota if I told you that Sheriff Joe Arpaio has boasted of investigating federal Judge G. Murray Snow and his family, according to some very credible sources? I doubt it, particularly if you’ve been in Maricopa County for any length of time and have not…
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper’s live-in boyfriend of two years is a convicted sex offender under indictment for extortion in New York. After Donna Rossi, reporter for Channel 5 News, (KPHO-TV) broke the story on Monday, Cooper issued a brief statement saying she’s booted her boyfriend out and…
Some Democratic Arizona lawmakers have proposed a “yes means yes” policy at the state’s universities that would require clear consent for any sexual activity. A similar proposal was passed into law in California in an effort to combat what’s been called a growing problem of sexual assaults on college campuses…
A 75-year-old Litchfield Park woman was arrested on Monday for trying to run over a neighbor with her SUV. She admitted that she “hated” him and wanted to scare him, court records state…
Concerns about a possible bus-driver strike in Phoenix have been put to rest, now that union heads and the city’s contracted bus service have come to an agreement. A possible strike has been looming for a couple of months now, as members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 last…
In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings, I’ve heard a lot of lame talk, sometimes from very intelligent people, about how the terrorist attack on the French satirical weekly reveals the general intolerance of Islam, particularly when compared to (supposedly) enlightened Western democracies. American commentators have been emphatic on…
A 21-year-old Arizona State University student died on Saturday in a rappelling accident near the Salt River. A Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman says Katelyn Conrad died from a 150-foot fall while rappelling in an area near the Coon Bluff Recreation Area, which is a popular access point for people…
It’s no secret that Arizona has one of the nation’s highest levels of transplants, which means many people have short memories of Phoenix. Below, find 10 signs that you’ve probably lived in Phoenix longer than most:…
A Scottsdale Police Department parking lot became the arena for a dust-up today between pro-police and anti-police brutality demonstrators. We’re talking shoving, shouting, bullhorns, goose-stepping, leather-wearing cop-biker club members, plus the police chief, mayor and professor-busting college Officer Stewart Ferrin, all within a few feet of each other. See our…
A viral video of a “stoned guy” reacting to a giant bug in his front yard is helping the Arizona cannabis-legalization movement. Dave Wisniewski, chairman of Safer Arizona, made the video about two weeks ago, after spotting a large grasshopper while taking out his recycling garbage. It’s attracted more than…
It will likely take months for investigators to try to link Bryan Patrick Miller to other crimes. Miller was arrested by Phoenix police this week in the cold-case murders of two women, 22-year-old Angela Brosso and 17-year-old Melanie Bernas, who were found in and around the Arizona Canal in 1992…
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 have some disappointments. Enjoy!…
