The mood at the courtroom hearing was light.Maricopa County Judge Edward Burke cracked jokes about Augustus Shaw’s lack of hair, Shaw smiled and waved to the man hired to spy on his family.But the weirdest part had to be the very subject of the hearing itself — an absurd attempt…
Anyone hip to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Twitter page knows that his birthday was “ruined” last weekend with the news that he was uninvited to speak at a convention of guide dog users.As crushed as the sheriff seems to be after getting the boot from the convention, we just…
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may have let the cat out of the bag when it comes to the federal government’s apparent plans to sue Arizona over the state’s controversial, new immigration law.In an unscripted interview with an Ecuadorian television station today, Clinton says the Justice Department — at…
Augustus Shaw, a Republican running for State Legislature, failed to close out a political action committee he started when he ran for Tempe City Council in 2004, officials say. Because of state campaign-finance laws, Shaw should have either terminated the PAC or filed finance reports each a year. Because he’s done neither since…
Augustus Shaw is a legendary name around these parts, but not because of the ethics-bending Tempe HOA attorney who’s candidacy for the State House has been challenged. We’re not sure that the “original” Shaw, who died in a Saguaro Lake boating accident in 1977, would be all that proud of…
According to a recent national survey, if you’re gay, opposing Arizona’s controversial, new immigration law is very in right now. The survey, released earlier this week by Harris Interactive, finds that gays, lesbians, transgenders, and bisexuals oppose the new law in much higher numbers than heterosexuals…
We got word yesterday that as U.S. Senate hopeful Rodney Glassman hits the campaign trail with his snazzy, new, Arizona flag lapel pin, one of his opponents in the Democratic primary will be contributing to the Huffington Post. U.S. Senate candidate, and former New Times columnist, John Dougherty announced that as…
The nominating petitions for Jose “Joe” Penalosa, a Republican challenger to incumbent Democrat Ed Pastor in Congressional District 4, won’t be tossed, a judge has ruled. An elections complaint filed last week against Penalosa alleged that he didn’t live within the boundaries of CD4, that one of his petition circulators…
Tom Horne, Arizona’s superintendent of schools and candidate for state attorney general, is standing by his comments that terrorism is no longer a problem in Israel after they built — in the words of Senator John McCain — a “danged fence.”At a Tea Party rally earlier this month — in a…
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon is center-stage in highlighting the evils of SB 1070. He has become a champion to many in the Latino community for publicly condemning the misguided law that makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to be in Arizona.And he’s milking it.On Sunday, Gordon received a standing ovation…
In a political move only newsworthy because of its high-level of tackiness, U.S. Senate hopeful Rodney Glassman actually put out a press release last night to make an announcement regarding his campaign wardrobe: In addition to the U.S. flag lapel pin he wears, he will begin wearing one of the Arizona flag. Stop the presses!…
Lisa Hauser, an attorney for Governor Jan Brewer, blasted Arizona’s Citizens Clean Elections Commission after its members refused to take further action on matching funds for this year’s election cycle.In a tense, two-minute speech, Hauser blasted the commission for “turning your backs on participating candidates.” She also questioned the commission’s…
On the heels of saying he’s contemplating dropping out of the race, residentially challenged Republican State House candidate Augustus Shaw now says he’ll stay in the fight. We’re not sure why he’s bothering — it certainly appears he tried to pull a fast one on voters by claiming he lives…
HOA lawyer Augustus Shaw tells New Times today that he’s “strongly considering” dropping his run for the State House following an official complaint that he doesn’t live in the right legislative district.Shaw, a Republican, wants to represent District 17 in Tempe, but the complaint alleges that he actually lives in south…
The feds are finally getting serious about folks like Evelio Padilla-Ortega. Padilla-Ortega served just six years in a Mexican prison for a 1988 murder he committed in California, then snuck back into the United States. The Mexican national, now 47, was caught by U.S. authorities in 2003 and deported. The…
On Wednesday, both the Chicago City Council and the San Jose City Council approved resolutions that call for a quasi-boycott Arizona. Unlike other cities that have opted to boycott Arizona in retaliation for SB 1070, the San Jose and Chicago boycotts don’t end any current contracts the cities have with…
Following our post today about Augustus Shaw, who’s running for the State Legislature, a reader pointed us to an Arizona Guardian article published today that spells even more trouble for the ethically challenged HOA lawyer. Shaw lied about where he lives in official election documents, according to the law firm…
Augustus Shaw IV, a Republican candidate for state representative in Tempe’s District 17, has been disciplined twice by the State Bar and was scolded by a judge in 2006 for his aggressive tactics as an HOA lawyer. The case, easily findable with a Google search for Shaw’s name, spurred a Maricopa Superior Court judge to write in…
Yesterday, disgraced, former Washington D.C. lobbyist Jack Abramoff was released from the Maryland prison he’s called home since 2006. Simultaneously, Senator John McCain and his opponent in the GOP Senate primary, J.D. Hayworth, are bickering over which of the two is more of a lobbyist. As you’re probably aware — and…
The Chicago City Council passed a resolution today urging city departments not to sign any new contracts with Arizona companies because of SB1070. The resolution, which passed on a 46-2 vote, doesn’t have any real teeth or affect current contracts. An existing contract with Redflex that brought in $48 million…
With the latest leg of the John McCain/J.D. Hayworth saga focusing on which of the two is more of a lobbyist, it seems only fitting that one of the most scandalous lobbyists in history just got released from prison.Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Washington D.C. lobbyist who many credit with Hayworth’s failed re-election…
We checked in yesterday with Tom Horne, the state Superintendent of Schools running in the Republican primary for Arizona Attorney General against former Maricopa County Andrew Thomas.As we pointed out in this blog post, Horne is surely one of the big winners in yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to block Clean…
