Arizona’s “top” prosecutors on Thursday urged the public to oppose cannabis legalization, warning that diverted medical marijuana is an increasing source of the drug for teens. Problem is, these modern-day prohibitionists are cherry-picking their data from the newly released 2014 Arizona Youth Survey by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. And…
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 costume suggestions for…
Just in time for Halloween: The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry has announced that it’s changing its name to the Arizona Chamber of Economic Incompetence. Okay, not really, but it might as well. With its endorsement of Republican Doug Ducey for governor, the chamber is siding with the failed…
A coalition of Latino voter-outreach groups are projecting that Arizona’s Latino voters will clearly have more of an influence on this year’s election than they have in past years. People representing the dozen groups in One Arizona are estimating that Latino voters will account for 14 percent of the vote…
Eager customers and vendors are paying to attend November bridal and fashion events around Arizona, but the events are bogus. The scam appears to be somewhat sophisticated, with a massive online ad blitz and a professional-looking website featuring news about the supposed events. Both potential event attendees and vendors are…
The chairman of the Maricopa County Republican Party is being sued for defamation after he essentially accused a Latino voter-outreach group of voter fraud. Maricopa County GOP chairman A.J. LaFaro accused the group Citizens for a Better Arizona (CBA) of “stuffing the ballot box” at the county election headquarters, and…
Dear Mexican: Why do Mexican men think all us gabachas are like the girls in Bikini Car Wash? I am married, a conservative dresser, frankly not very good-looking at all (but I do have blond hair, so maybe that counts for something on a guy’s internal whore-o-meter) and I speak…
After it took two hours and 15 doses of lethal-injection drugs for the state to execute convicted murderer Joseph Wood in July, the state’s death penalty procedure is still in limbo. A lawsuit in federal court, filed by both current death-row prisoners and a legal group representing media organizations, challenges…
COMMENTARYDoug Ducey’s one of those guys who could make a living selling Bermuda shorts to Alaskan bush people. So it’s no surprise that he snookered Wall Street Journal writer Jason Riley, who recently traveled to Tucson to meet with the Republican gubernatorial wannabe as he campaigned in the Old Pueblo…
Canvassers from a community-engagement group falsely accused of voter fraud staged a large-scale drop-off of ballots yesterday. About 30 canvassers from Citizens for a Better Arizona brought more than 300 completed ballots to the Maricopa County Recorder and Elections Office late yesterday afternoon. The move was a direct response to…
A Phoenix police officer was arrested and booked into jail on Tuesday, accused of pulling a gun on people during an apparent road-rage incident while transporting prisoners. Jeremy Sweet, 51, has worked for the department’s Central Booking Unit for about seven years. On Monday at about noon, he was transporting…
Federal Judge G. Murray Snow, who’s presiding over the racial-profiling case against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, did not seem too happy yesterday. MCSO and Arpaio’s side of the courtroom got a talking-to from Snow yesterday at a hearing to discuss some of Arpaio’s public comments, plus the investigation surrounding…
Several Arizona Republic editorial staff members failed to land a job after being forced to reapply for a position at the state’s largest newspaper. Veteran journalists were among those who did not make the cut when the dust settled. The layoffs follow news in August that the paper’s parent company,…
A Red Mountain Tea Party event headlined by notorious anti-Islamic speaker Pamela Geller went on as planned last night despite a Muslim civil-liberties organization’s call for the event’s cancellation. The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on East Valley High School in Mesa, which hosts the Red…
Glendale firefighters cussed and made threats during an altercation in the driveway of a home on Sunday, as captured by a neighbor’s video camera. “You motherfucker. You’re fucking dead meat, bitch!” a firefighter yells at a patient in a gurney, as can be seen in the video uploaded to YouTube…
The activist group Citizens for a Better went to the state GOP headquarters in Phoenix to demand an apology after Maricopa County Republican Party chairman A.J. LaFaro accused the group of voter fraud. LaFaro drummed up nationwide controversy by implying he witnessed voter fraud when someone with Citizens for a…
The dangers of fire and explosions related to “hash oil” may be newsworthy, but Friday’s Arizona Republic story on the cannabis concentrate reads more like pro-prohibition propaganda. “Dangerous hash-oil blasts are an increasing concern,” according to the headline of the Valley & State story. A sub-head continues, “In markets with…
An Arizona state Representative who is a member of the Navajo Nation says the Washington Redskins’ name is offensive and should be changed. Just weeks after Native Americans protested in Glendale outside an Arizona Cardinals game against Washington, Democratic Representative Jamescita Peshlakai has publicly called on Arizona’s congressional delegate to…
Shanesha Taylor, the Scottsdale mom who left her kids in a hot car in March while on a job interview, has blown today’s deadline to fund trust accounts for her kids. In July, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery signed off on the deal to keep Taylor out of jail as…
The Arizona chapter of America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group is calling for the cancellation of an event tonight at a Mesa high school. Pamela Geller is scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. at East Valley High School in Mesa at an event planned by the Red Mountain Tea Party,…
UPDATE October 28, 11:25 a.m.: The above video has been updated to include exclusive video of the incident, plus an interview with one of the people arrested. Phoenix police shot protesters with pepper balls and arrested six people downtown on Saturday night. The 40 to 50 protesters who were demonstrating…
Ebola may have the nation on high alert, but the deadly virus hasn’t yet made its way to Arizona. With the late summer’s heavy flooding, locals should be more concerned about mosquito-borne diseases, officials say, especially the West Nile virus. “West Nile virus is here; we know it’s here, and…
