It was only a matter of time until Jon Ritzheimer — the ex-Marine, anti-Islamist Arizonan holed up in a federal building in Oregon — inspired his own hashtag. Yesterday the world watched #VanillaISIS, #YallQaeda, and #YeeHawd take off on Twitter, and today we have a new one: #DaddySworeAnOath. This hashtag,…
Arizona’s infamous anti-Islam leader, Jon Ritzheimer, is hunkered down with a about a dozen other armed “patriots” in buildings on a federal wildlife refuge as part of an armed protest against the federal government. He’s been in Harney County, a rural ranching area in eastern Oregon, for at least a…
More fools in Phoenix have pointed lasers at aircraft than in any other city in the United States so far this year, the Federal Aviation Administration statistics show. There have been 170 reported events here in 2015 — nearly double the 93 incidents from last year — making Phoenix first in…
As immigration enforcement officials prepare to round up and deport about 15,000 undocumented immigrants, a network of Arizona faith leaders are mobilizing to shield families. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is finalizing plans, but, according to an article published just before Christmas by the Washington Post’s Jerry Markon and David…
Did John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign purposefully darken Barack Obama’s skin in advertisements to capitalize on negative racial stereotypes? It appears so, concludes a new study published in the research journal Public Opinion Quarterly. Playing off past studies showing that darker skin and “Afrocentric” facial features trigger “the part of…
In the last decade, the rate of Arizona teens and young adults who have died from drug overdoses has more than doubled. The statistic comes from a new study by the Trust for America’s Health, which looked at the fatal drug overdose rates among people ages 12-25 throughout the country…
In the four months since Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Abdelfattah’s moved from Cairo to Phoenix, he’s had to navigate through all the typical culture shocks, such as new food and new social norms. But perhaps the most jarring thing he’s had to come to terms with is the recent surge in…
Arizona’s Public Integrity Alliance, a conservative nonprofit group largely made up of East Valley Republicans, has helped topple former state Attorney General Tom Horne, targeted the slimy political maneuverings of former state Senate President Russell Pearce and his bumbling brother Lester, and put pressure on ex-Arizona Corporation Commission Chair Susan…
If there was any question about whether Senator John McCain would endorse Republican front-runner Donald Trump now that his long-time BFF Lindsey Graham dropped out of the race, the answer is loud and clear: absolutely not. In the latest back and forth between McCain and Trump, the Arizona Senator called…
Well, 2015 was an exciting year! From the horrific murder-suicide in Tempe Town Lake to the anti-Islam protests and the Salt River Horse drama, Arizona produced quite a few headline-grabbing stories. So get ready to go down memory lane because here’s our roundup of the ones that will always remind…
Two days after comedian Tina Fey reprised her role as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live, the former Alaska governor and one-time vice presidential hopeful shot back with her own impersonation of Fey. Palin plays “Lynn Melon,” a la Fey’s Liz Lemon from theTV show 30 Rock, in a fake…
“We’re not going to let them get away with it,” is the message Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton has for a group of Arizona state legislators trying to defund Planned Parenthood. “This is the sort of same old tired playbook we’ve seen nationally from Republicans,’ Clinton’s Director of Women’s Outreach,…
Who says all the good fights happen on Black Friday? With Christmas less than a week away, the benevolent spirit of the season failed to stop a fight from breaking out during a Saturday morning protest at a Phoenix shopping center shared by a Home Depot and a Walmart, near…
Come shop at Walmart and Home Depot, stay for the fisticuffs. That could be the pitch for the shopping center at 37nd Street and Thomas Road in Phoenix, where each chain has a store. Its parking lot has recently been the site of angry confrontations between heavily-armed nativists and a…
One day after filing a response to Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s petition seeking her removal from office, Arizona Corporation Commission Chairwoman Susan Bitter Smith resigned from the powerful regulatory body, effective January 4. In a statement issued today, Bitter Smith, a Republican, defended herself against allegations of a conflict of…
Sometimes it’s hard to tell a master from his students – or a celebrity from his fan boys. While at the Donald Trump rally in Mesa yesterday, a lot of one-liners could be heard from his supporters that sounded as though they came straight from the Republican front-runner’s mouth. So…
The Phoenix City Council voted to approve a city Municipal ID card, which would allow undocumented immigrants and other disenfranchised individuals to obtain proof of identification. The ID card will permit citizens, who have trouble getting a state driver’s license or ID card, the ability to easily obtain city services…
In many ways, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s rally today in Mesa felt a lot like the one he did in Phoenix earlier this year – just on steroids. The message was the same: “We’re going to stop illegal immigration, we’re going to take back trade, take back jobs… We’re…
Uber is offering free rides to new customers in Arizona this holiday season to cut down on DUI crashes, it was announced today. The company joined with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in announcing the program. County Attorney Bill Montgomery said he wants “to leverage Uber’s innovative ride-sharing model to…
Following the damning revelation that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security doesn’t check the social media history of visa applicants as a matter of policy, Arizona Senator John McCain is introducing legislation to change that – albeit with more than a few slights at the president. “Following the tragedy in…
Is Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery the only local politician in the state who spends the public’s money promoting himself — or he just the only one honest enough to admit it? According to a five-year-old state law, local governments are supposed to report what their elected officials spend on…
It’s official: Donald Trump will be in Mesa Wednesday for his second campaign even in metro Phoenix this year. And like his rally in Phoenix this past July, his presence looks set to draw hundreds of protesters. “Donald Trump is coming to Phoenix for a second time, and we don’t want…
