White House Obama was all hat, no cattle in Texas this afternoon. Barack Obama delivered a speech on immigration this afternoon in Texas, focusing on what comprehensive immigration reform must look like if it ever passes. Then, as if aiming to prove the entire address a charade, Obama called on…
stwnewspress.com Almost-mayor and still-convict Christopher LinderWe’re not sure which bit of news is worse for the townspeople of Pawnee, Oklahoma — the fact that the state of Arizona effectively banned their newly elected mayor from taking office or that voters there picked a marijuana-transporting, drive-by-shooting convict as their mayor in the first…
Governor Jan Brewer announced yesterday that she and Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne plan to ask the Supreme Court to lift an injunction that has prevented several parts of Senate Bill 1070, Arizona’s controversial immigration law, from taking effect.Last month, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reverse a federal…
Michael Salman can’t seem to beat City Hall, and now hopes to be elected to it. The Phoenix pastor has been fighting the city of Phoenix for three years over the right to hold worship services under a backyard structure he and his parishioners built. His home has been raided twice…
Councilman Claude Mattox called out two of his opponents in the Phoenix mayor’s race for “quitting” the City Council before the end of their terms.Former Councilwoman Peggy Neely resigned her District 2 seat in April to run for mayor — as required by Arizona’s resign-to-run law. Former Councilman Greg Stanton…
Add another name to the list of Phoenix politicos who want to run the town: Jennifer Wright.Wright, a Phoenix attorney and longtime member of the Tea Party, joins Lobbyists Wes Gullett, Councilman Claude Mattox, Libertarian Thane Eichenauer, and former Phoenix City Council members Peggy Neely and Greg Stanton.Wright plans to…
Governor Jan Brewer announced this morning that she and Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne plan to ask the Supreme Court to lift an injunction that has prevented several parts of Senate Bill 1070, Arizona’s controversial immigration law, from taking effect — and that’s just fine with Arizona’s Democratic Party.”We agree…
Salon Memo to legislators: son niños. They’re children. The Department of Justice mailed out a gentle reminder to school districts across the country over the weekend advising that undocumented students are, in fact, entitled to attend primary and secondary schools in America without getting hassled. It comes in the…
AT&T has turned to federal court to make Phoenix approve a cell-phone tower that the company says is needed to fix a dead-air zone on the Piestewa Freeway. A complaint filed by the company last week in U.S. District Court claims that Phoenix’s Board of Adjustment erred by denying a use permit for the planned…
For nearly a year, Phoenix city-bus drivers have been going to work without an official contract with Veolia Transportation, the French company awarded a $385 million contract to operate those buses. The drivers’ contract expired on June 30, 2010, and while there have been a few contract extensions, the on…
The Phoenix City Council appointed Bryan Jeffries today as an interim representative for District 2. He fills the seat left vacant by Councilwoman Peggy Neely, who resigned to run for mayor.Jeffries was one of four candidates vying for the interim appointment, and has indicated that he does plan to run…
A group of doctors in town for their annual meeting held a press conference in front of the Arizona statehouse today to declare their opposition to anti-immigration legislation, particularly proposed bills mandating doctors ask their patients for immigration papers. New York Doctor Christina Gonzalez emceed the event, declaring the group…
DeeDee Blase, Arizona’s Republican immigration activist, has a message for the Tea Party: “Move aside, the Tequila Party is here,” she said at an afternoon press conference. The Tequila Party is a non-partisan voter-registration outfit designed to increase Latino political participation across the country. Blase announced at today’s event that…
While Governor Jan Brewer is pretty sure she can run for a third term (which she can’t), her camp is already cooking up some wild explanations to let it happen.Brewer’s spokesman Matthew Benson tells New Times that folks inside the governor’s office believe that the law stopping her from running…
Governor Jan Brewer is trying to weasel her way into a third term as governor by calling the Arizona term-limit law “ambiguous.”Brewer is convinced that she can legally be governor for another term, even though the Arizona Constitution says she cannot.The governor seems to think that since she took over…
Despite that it’s unclear whether Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will be physically able to run for the Senate seat getting vacated by Senator Jon Kyl, she already leads every Republican in the field — at least according to the somewhat left-wing pollsters at Public Policy Polling.PPP released the results of a…
politisite.com A poll of 623 Arizona voters released today reflects a couple things — almost nobody likes Donald Trump, and most people would prefer Sarah Palin not move here. In the poll — from Public Policy Polling — opinions are recorded about possible GOP nominees for the 2012 presidential election,…
Leave it to facts and statistics to blow holes in stereotypes that have been widely accepted by racists everywhere.According to a recent report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Mexicans work more than anyone else on the face of the Earth. As a friend asked, “even the Japanese?”…
Cronkite News Christian Lira: an undocumented student whose scholarship is running out. State Republicans can pat themselves on the back: fewer undocumented students are getting educated. Which is what constitutes success in the Arizona Legislature. In spring 2007, there were 1,524 undocumented students in Arizona’s public universities. That number dwindled…
Greg Stanton today turned in petitions with more than 3,000 signatures nominating him as a candidate in the upcoming mayor’s race.While the signatures will go through a vetting process to make sure they are all valid and come from registered voters, Stanton essentially is the first horse officially in the race.Signatures will…
Citizens for Phoenix, a coalition of neighborhood leaders, is sponsoring a mayoral debate on May 3 at the Phoenix Theatre, 100 E. McDowell Road. It is expected to be the first debate with all five mayoral candidates in attendance. Thane Eichenauer, Phoenix lobbyist Wes Gullett, Councilman Claude Mattox, former Councilwoman…
Governor Jan Brewer vetoed Senate Bill 1322, a measure that would have required the state’s large cities, namely Phoenix and Tucson, to open up certain city services to competitive bids from private companies. Brewer said it was “riddled with shortcomings””It’s a good victory for now,” says Luis Schmidt, vice president of AFSCME (American…
