Governor Doug Ducey plans to move forward immediately on recommendations from a task force that he created to clear a backlog of rape kits that have gone untested for years. Released in a report on Monday, the Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit Task Force’s recommendations include passing legislation to require that…
From the hot-mic recording of Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault to the new WikiLeaks revelations about Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street speeches to last night’s bizarre 90-minute debate, it’s fair to say this weekend was a game changer in the 2016 election campaign. But as prominent Republican figures like Senator…
In this year’s presidential election, some are saying the Republican-tilting state of Arizona could go Democrat for the first time in two decades — and that Latino voters will play a key role in whether that happens. Latinos make up 22 percent of Arizona’s eligible voters, and most lean Democratic. They usually…
“When people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over — and you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it.” That was Donald Trump, speaking at…
An Arizona employer is stiffing a small-business owner on a completed job, affecting dozens of low-income employees. Sounds like the kind of greedhead Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families is targeting with its campaign to raise the minimum wage, right? Wrong — the employer is Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy…
More than 10,000 people schlepped to the Prescott Valley Events Center Tuesday to see Donald Trump in the flesh. Fans started lining up for the rally — Trump’s sixth appearance in Arizona — at 9 p.m. Monday. There wasn’t enough room inside, so several thousand watched the Republican presidential nominee…
La edición de 2016 Lo Mejor de Phoenix del New Times ya está disponible, con una serie de ensayos que exploran cómo nuestra proximidad a México hace que este sea un lugar mejor para vivir. Muy a menudo hablamos de ciudades fronterizas como si la geografía fuera todo lo que…
It was quite a public-relations coup for that dinosaur of daily newspapers, the Arizona Republic. Last week, it seemed as though everyone in the country was talking about how a “conservative newspaper” or a “conservative editorial board” had endorsed a Democrat for president for the first time in its 126-year…
Despite public outcry and two congressional letters asking for a delay to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s proposed ban on the herbal remedy kratom, the DEA remains poised to make the head-shop staple a Schedule I drug, adding it to the same category of illicit substances as heroin, LSD, and…
Churches aren’t supposed to endorse federal candidates, but it’s easy to see from a recent political screed which way a Tempe Catholic church pastor wants his flock to vote. Pastor John Bonavitacola, leader of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Tempe, doesn’t refer to the candidates by name in his…
Do you live under a rock? No, right? So you’re aware that Monday night, September 26, brings the first of three presidential debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The event is already being billed the most-watched television event in U.S. history, which, given the complete and total lack of uncertainty…
Republican vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence largely sidestepped politics at a low-key question-and-answer session at a Mesa megachurch on Thursday, choosing instead to focus on more personal matters. Before a crowd of about 900 people at Living Word Bible Church, the Indiana governor described Republican running mate Donald Trump as a…
The number of undocumented immigrants living in Arizona has slightly increased over the past few years, while the number nationwide has remained relatively the same, according to a new Pew Research Center study. In 2014, the year for which the most recent numbers are available, there were 325,000 undocumented immigrants living in…
In an era of hyperpartisan debate, it’s feels rare for an issue to generate broad consensus or cut across political, geographic, and demographic lines. But apparently the Grand Canyon, one of the country’s oldest and most iconic national parks, is that issue. According to a new bipartisan poll released this…
In commemoration of the recent fifth anniversary of the massive police raid on the Phoenix Goddess Temple, founder Tracy Elise has delivered a special recorded message to her supporters from Perryville Women’s Prison, where she’s serving a 4.5-year sentence for an array of prostitution-related charges. “It may appear to everyone that we have…
Christine Jones conceded the Arizona Congressional District Five primary election to Republican competitor Andy Biggs on Friday after a judge announced the results of the election recount. Biggs, the current State Senate President, won the contest 25,244 votes to Jones’s 25,217 — a difference of 27 votes. He’s all-but certain to…
Like a cancerous tumor that defies radiation therapy, section 2b of Senate Bill 1070 — Arizona’s infamous immigration law — remains on the books, despite a settlement announced Thursday in a six year-old lawsuit brought against the State of Arizona by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil-rights groups. As part…
Rose Mofford, who stepped into office as Arizona’s first woman governor in 1988, passed away this morning at the age of 94. Mofford was one of Arizona’s best-liked former governors, owing both to her short time in office and her warm and open personality. Born and raised in the mining…
A new five-kilometer fitness trail in Papago Park is drawing outrage from mountain bikers and others who worry the treasured slice of desert in the city has been needlessly ravaged. After spending $323,000 on the trail without first holding a public hearing, the city is now considering changes following complaints…
Is Senator John McCain trying to deceive Latino voters by pandering to them in Spanish? According to a new television ad from McCain’s Democratic rival, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, the answer is a resounding yes. In the ad, which begins airing today on nine different Spanish-language television stations in Phoenix and…
There was a moment during Donald Trump’s rambling and free-associative speech at Fountain Hills back on March 19 that seemed to sum up his appeal to a certain stripe of Arizonan. “They just approved a budget, which is a disaster, the omnibus, they call it the omnibus budget,” he said…
When employees of the Arizona Department of Economic Security turn on their computers in the morning, the first thing they see is an inspirational video, often made fresh daily. “Man, I wear this cowboy hat, I have flashbacks. I thought I was riding a mechanical bull,” DES Director Tim Jeffries…
