Jared Diamond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, is surrounded by a few academics and fans at a wine-and-cheese reception on the north patio of Tempe Center for the Arts. It’s November 5, the weather’s gorgeous, and the dark blue of twilight reflects…
What did Arizona’s political leaders learn from the debacle over Arizona’s ethnic-cleansing legislation, Senate Bill 1070? They learned that hysteria, misinformation, and grandstanding work, as far as garnering attention, and that saying the dumbest thing you can is often surest route to getting your mug on Fox News. But wait,…
After more than 80 workplace raids carried out by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, immigrant-rights groups have teamed up on a lawsuit that seeks to put and end to the raids.The groups, including Puente Arizona, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and others,…
Florence officials continue to deny allegations of corruption and abuse of power leveled against the town by two former detectives — Walt Hunter and Jarris Varnrobinson. The two police officers, who worked as detectives with the Florence Police Department until they were fired in December 2012, filed a suit in…
A new website shows how much electricity solar, wind, and other power sources generate in Arizona on an hourly and daily basis. The Southwest Variable Energy Resource Initiative’s website allows the public to achieve a better understanding of how different generation sources mix to bring us the juice we need…
A judge has ruled that former Republican Scott Fistler be removed from the ballot for the Democratic primary in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District.Fistler changed his name to Cesar Chavez in his bid, but he didn’t end up getting kicked off because of what certainly appears like an attempt to mislead…
Phoenix is one of the least-walkable cities in America — no real surprise there.But researchers from the George Washington University School of Business have found that the potential for Phoenix to become more walkable is actually moderately high…
The day after another wildfire started north of Sedona, the Forest Service said yesterday that the size and containment of the Junipine Fire was unchanged overnight.According to the latest update from the Forest Service, released yesterday afternoon, the fire is still just 12 acres, but it’s burning very near to…
Mary Rose Wilcox finally got her million dollars from taxpayers. The only question now is how the former County Supervisor, who’s running for Congress, will spend the money…
Legally obtaining and using marijuana just got easier for patients of one Valley-based home-hospice service. Starting this month, Comprehensive Hospice and Palliative Care offers an in-house doctor who will recommend cannabis for patients who qualify under state law…
Update: One day after this blog item was published, the Superintendent formally admitted that he is the author of the posts listed below. Arizona Schools Superintendent John Huppenthal has no problemo shilling for private schools in annoying robocalls to unsuspecting citizens, but if you call him at home to ask…
Attorney General Tom Horne is asking a federal judge to disband the police department that patrols the polygamist towns of Colorado City and Hildale, on the Arizona-Utah border.Horne, in addition to all of his extracurricular activities, has been a long-time critic of the “marshal’s office,” which he claims operates “as…
The Scottsdale-based gossip website TheDirty.com, and its founder Nik Richie are no longer on the hook for a six-figure payout in a defamation lawsuit that had been won by a former NFL cheerleader.A jury awarded former high school teacher and Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader Sarah Jones $338,000 in damages as a…
Another fire has broken out around Oak Creek Canyon, north of Sedona, less than two weeks after firefighters were able to contain the 22,000 acre Slide Fire.This new fire reported yesterday afternoon, nicknamed the Junipine Fire, grew only to 12 acres as of yesterday evening…
A traffic stop in February on the southern edge of Eloy led to law enforcement discovering that marijuana smugglers had lookouts hiding in the mountains, making sure authorities didn’t come into contact with the people carrying the product.The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has just announced that sheriff’s deputies and Border…
A Glendale City Council decision to apply for nearly $800,000 from the Tohono O’odham Nation signals a major shift in the city’s relationship with the Indian community and reveals the city’s newfound perspective of the TON’s plans to build a resort-style casino in the West Valley. Council members of the…
Considering Phoenix was especially hard-hit by the housing crisis, there’s always something interesting to be found in the monthly real estate reports released by Arizona State University’s Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice.Demand for homes has been fairly low, but people spending more than $500,000 on a home appear…
Talk about what Catholics call an “occasion of sin”. . . on Friday, the MCSO announced that it had staged yet another worksite raid, this one supposedly the 83rd since Sheriff Joe Arpaio started wasting taxpayer cash on them instead after going after murderers, child rapists, gang-bangers, and other so-called…
Some Starbucks workers will be able to get a degree from Arizona State University for free.ASU and Starbucks made the joint announcement today, in an arrangement that goes beyond a typical corporate tuition-reimbursement program…
Phoenix police have made an arrest in the killing of a Catholic priest last week.Phoenix Police Sergeant Steve Martos says information on the suspect will be released later this morning…
The Phoenix native is a unique species of desert creature.Check out our field guide on the 10 best ways to identify such a person in the wild:…
In case you missed any news action this week, we’ve got you covered.Here’s our recap of the most-read news stories of the week:…
