- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Phoenix and help keep the future of New Times free.
The Arizona Board of Education is set to return the Colorado City Unified School District to local control -- that control being by a bunch of polygamist inbreds.
The corruption and financial mismanagement of the school district was unearthed six years ago by the tenacious reporting of former New Times reporter John Dougherty and resulted in a state audit and investigation. The audit backed up Dougherty's findings, like the purchase of an unneeded $200,000 airplane, and the state put the district in receivership.
Now, according to the Associated Press, everything's just peachy. And that criminal investigation? It apparently went nowhere. Thanks, Attorney General Terry Goddard.
Sure, Fundamentalist Mormon cult leader Warren Jeffs is in jail, accused of arranging marriages and, most recently, raping girls.
But is the basic power structure the same in Colorado City? Without an ark-load of indictments, we'd have to guess "yes."
Keep Phoenix New Times Free... Since we started Phoenix New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Phoenix with no paywalls.
