A filing submitted in federal court Wednesday in the bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and false statements case of state Representative Ben Arredondo explains that the feds don’t want a bunch of information to be publicly disclosed in the case because of “other investigations,” which are “both closed and ongoing.”Who or…
If you’re doing shady stuff at the City of Tempe or the Arizona Legislature, go buy a shredder, or book a ticket to Morocco or something.A filing submitted in federal court yesterday in the bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and false statements case of state Representative Ben Arredondo explains that the…
Congressman Trent Franks — the “self-appointed Mayor” of Washington D.C., as an area advocacy group calls him — didn’t really want to meet with his new-found “constituents.”As you may recall, a group called “DC Vote” isn’t quite pleased Franks — the Arizona Congressman — is taking it upon himself to…
We’re not even through the 2012 election season, but let’s talk 2014.Secretary of State Ken Bennett was the highlight of Arizona news this week, after taking up the request of “birthers” to ask the State of Hawaii to verify President Obama’s birth certificate.The end to that was not so controversial…
Is GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney a businessman? Or is he really a unicorn? At the time of this post, more than 17,000 people would like Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett to find out.In response to the 1,200 “birthers” who asked Bennett to verify with the state of Hawaii…
Believe it or not (the “birthers” still won’t), President Obama was born in Hawaii, according to the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General.Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett’s appears to have convinced the State of Hawaii to “verify” the president’s birth certificate, and as has been the case since 1961…
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Wil Cardon’s trailing fellow Republican Jeff Flake by 22 points in the latest poll of the primary race for the seat being opened by Senator Jon Kyl, and believe it or not, that’s good news for Cardon.After getting four percent of support in a poll in…
For the second time in as many years, Governor Jan Brewer’s starting the rumor that she can run for a third term.The main problem with that would be the Arizona Constitution, which has a section intended to prevent governors from getting a third term.The argument from Brewer’s camp is that…
Just over a year after stating she could probably run for a third term as governor if she wanted to, Governor Jan Brewer did it again.Again, Brewer and her staff point to the section of the Arizona Constitution intended to prevent governors from getting a third term to justify the…
Last week, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett raised some eyebrows after saying he’s not a “birther,” but due to constituent concerns, he’s just checking with Hawaii to make sure President Obama wasn’t born in Kenya.”They have yet to respond,” Bennett’s spokesman Matthew Roberts told New Times.Turns out, officials in…
Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett just found out the reason why you’re putting yourself in a difficult position when you appeal to “birthers” — people are going to think you’re a “birther.”After people caught on to the fact that Bennett told the “birthers” that he was taking the “extra…
Arizona Congressman Trent Franks’ work for his constituents currently includes pushing a bill for (of course) tighter abortion regulations.Problem is, the Arizona Congressman’s bill only applies to D.C., as Congress has supreme authority over the city’s laws, and Franks has taken it upon himself to tell the District what its…
Mark Mitchell’s going to be the new Tempe mayor.According to the unofficial results, Mitchell beat Michael Monti by 139 votes, and the City of Tempe put out an announcement declaring Mitchell as the winner.Election officials still haven’t finished counting write-in votes or the three votes cast by people who didn’t…
UPDATE: “Mr. Bennett wrote that email,” Bennett’s spokesman Matt Roberts says. “With respect to the story, a constituent requested him to request a verification in lieu of certified copy. They have yet to respond.”Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who just recently filed the paperwork for an exploratory committee in…
Who knew we’d have to post that video for two different Arizona House members this year?It didn’t take long after the news broke that Republican-turned-Democratic state Representative Ben Arredondo was indicted on federal charges including bribery, fraud, and attempted extortion for Senate Democratic Leader David Schapira to tell him to…
How’s this for irony in literature:A state summer-reading list’s Web link to a site about George Orwell states that accessing the page may result in “malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent.” Orwellian, no? But instead of the pervasive government that Orwell deemed “Big Brother” in his famous…
State Representative Ben Arredondo was charged by a grand jury today with bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and false statements — all for a few thousand dollars worth of tickets to ballgames and charity events.According to the indictment, Arredondo — a Republican-turned-Democrat who served on the Tempe City Council for 16…
In what’s sort of a running joke since then-congressional candidate Ben Quayle released his goober-ish campaign ad saying “Barack Obama is the worst president in history,” Quayle has an update on his stance.Quayle actually had to defend the video ad after people got a little pissy about it, but he…
The relentless attacks on Mark Mitchell seem to have worked out in Michael Monti’s favor in the race for Tempe mayor, as Monti was up by one point after people hit the ballot box yesterday.There still are some votes left to count — provisional ballots and people who brought their…
Every now and then, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer raises her lips from the conservative feeding trough and spits something out.Last year, she halted the passage of a bill that would have required presidential candidates to prove they were eligible for the post before their names would have been placed on…
Our colleague Monica Alonzo reported late last week that Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu’s dropping his congressional bid, which might not exactly come as a surprise.What may come as a surprise is his explanation why he’s dropping out of the race, which happens to exclude anything about the abuse-of-power allegations…
The battle between supporters of Tempe mayoral candidates Mark Mitchell and Michael Monti over whether “your” public employees can endorse people in campaign signs seemed to end with City Manager Charlie Meyer’s ruling that it was all pretty much OK.That question apparently has not been completely answered, thanks to a…
