Captain Joel Fox had to ‘fess up and spill the names of the cagey SCA donors behind a Republican Party smear campaign, but he still hasn’t turned over the contribution checks. Today’s the big day, according to Jeffrey Messing, the lawyer hired by the Maricopa County Elections Department to hold fire to the feet…
As we reported Tuesday, when you’re the Arizona State Senate majority leader, and your state is in the midst of heated budget negotiations, taking a Caribbean cruise is probably not your best course of action. Apparently some members of the Republican caucus agree. In a closed door meeting of Senate…
A California congressman has asked White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to answer to allegations that he attempted to bully our very own Governor Jan Brewer. In a scathing letter today, Congressman Darrell Issa accused Emanuel of “resorting to the playbook of the Chicago political machine” when he directed…
When we read the headline to the latest news release from the Department of Public Safety, “Officer makes a traffic stop and discovers 97 undocumented aliens inside of a refrigerated commercial trailer,” our first thought was — good thing it was refrigerated, cause it’s dang hot out. Reading further though,…
Arizona lawmakers are considering “racinos” — maybe they should figure out a way to tax a new video-game-betting Web site that’s already legal in 39 states. The Associated Press reports that BringIt.com, founded by 30-year-old Woody Levin, is preparing to end its months-long “beta” phase sometime in the next few…
Valley developer Steve Ellman must feel a bit of deja vu. Years before we broke the story about his big contribution to the SCA, Ellman knew what it was like to be under suspicion of using the Republican Party to funnel money toward a specific political candidate. “The recent revelation is…
Deputies with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office busted two undocumented workers today after a cafe owner let the employees’ secret slip. The owner of Peppersauce Cafe, Denise Kimball, “blurted out” to a table full of lawmen — including a deputy — that “her cooks and dishwashers working in the back…
We can’t tell you much more than what’s in the headline. Local PR whiz Jason Rose put an interesting, though cryptic, tweet on his Twitter account yesterday about one of his clients, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas: Major announcement from maricopa county andrew thomas quite possible in next 45 days…
With the current state of the United States economy being, well, horrifying, Mexican immigrants here are running for the border. A study released Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Center shows that the number of Mexican’s entering the United States illegally has dropped nearly 40 percent in 2009, and found that nearly…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is conducting some kind of operation in the east Valley today, though exactly what it is we’re not sure. A source we trust called us this morning to say Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s forces were engaged in another immigration/crime sweep in Chandler this morning…
New Times writer Paul Rubin’s detailed analysis earlier this month of the 2008 bust at Waterworld Safari (now Wet & Wild) demonstrates just how tough it’ll be to get a conviction against one of the company’s managers. To make this employer-sanctions case stick, prosecutors working for Maricopa County Attorney Andrew…
We asked for comment, we got comment — from the Sonoran Alliance blog, anyhow. Turns out Shane Wikfors (pictured), who runs the blog, considers church-mate Dan Saban a friend. Who knew? Wikfors slams the infamous attack ad on Saban as “disgusting.” And although the blog’s only unmasked cowboy (there’s also one unmasked cowgirl) doesn’t…
With the SCA scandal breaking wide open last week, we figured it was time to make another call to Bruce Ash, the Republican National Committeeman for Arizona. This time we got him on the phone, and as you’ll see, he helped clear up a couple of nagging questions we had…
Arizona Senator John McCain is getting credit from Merriam-Webster Inc. for the company’s inclusion of a new definition of “earmark” in the dictionary. The company recently added about 100 words to its dictionary, including “sock puppet,” “staycation,” and “zip line.” Arizona may have missed out on some of its own…
Tim Nelson Twelve attorneys and 17 support staff members at the Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard’s office will get pink slips, but not the three high-profile hires made this year by Goddard. Anne Hilby, Goddard’s spokeswoman, confirmed for New Times that among those who won’t be losing their jobs are:…
We’re not saying Captain Joel Fox is wrong about everything. Turns out he’s right on the issue of whether the SCA contributions were, in fact, “payroll deductions.” Although the reports filed by Fox say “payroll deductions,” Fox says in comments to this blog that they were actually nothing more than…
Captain Joel Fox hasn’t been honest with us. Here’s what Fox posted to our blog in February about the $105,000 contribution to the Arizona Republican Party that came from the SCA: None of the money came from Arpaio,or Hendershott or Arpaio’s campaign, or anyone associated with Arpaio’s campaign, nor did…
Just hung up from one of our trusty “Deep Throat” sources who tells us the FBI is highly interested in the Sheriff’s Command Association case. Our source says New Times articles this morning about the men behind the SCA donations were forwarded to the local FBI office. An FBI agent soon…
The revelation today that top deputies at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office were behind the shadowy SCA shows Sheriff Arpaio and his minions “aren’t willing to come out and have a fair fight,” says Arpaio’s longtime political opponent, Dan Saban. Saban (pictured) ran against Arpaio in 2008 as a Democrat and was slammed with one of the…
We sent Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio a question on Twitter about the newly uncovered SCA donors that include his top brass. No response yet. We left messages for Arpaio and his chief deputy, Dave Hendershott — one of the SCA’s top donors — but they didn’t return calls. Instead,…
Captain Joel Fox (at right) doesn’t have to worry about a $315,000 fine, but the legal woes for him and other SCA contributors may not be over. A settlement agreement between Fox and the Maricopa County Elections Department drops the main case against him, though the process of uncovering the SCA’s…
Plenty of noise has been made today about the arrest of Raphael Libardi, owner of a granite-importing business busted on suspicion of identity theft. A news release by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas calls it a “historic first.” An Associated Press article calls Libardi the “first business owner in Arizona…
