Top Five Most-Read Phoenix News Stories of the Week

In case you missed any news action this week, we've got you covered.

Here's our recap of the most-read news stories of the week:

5.) Tom Horne's Complaint Against Mark Brnovich's Judge Wife Rejected

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has a fierce following among certain women. In fact, the guy's got a whole cadre of gals willing to do his bidding, a veritable Praetorian Guard of political hatchet-ladies.

Kathleen Winn, Horne's outreach director and co-defendant in his campaign finance case, comes to mind. A die-hard Horne loyalist, I guess you could say she's the captain of Horne's Praetorian Guard.

One Horne partisan from Pinal County is Teresa Ottesen Binder, whom I met at a cocktail-party/fundraiser for the AG that I crashed back in May.

Binder struck me as a nice enough person, though like most in Horne's ever-dwindling camp, she seemed completely incapable of explaining her support for a sleaze like Horne.

See also: Tom Horne's Complaint Against Mark Brnovich's Judge Wife Rejected

The Phoenix-area housing market has slumped for nearly a year now, according to the latest real estate report from the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at Arizona State University.

"Demand has been much weaker since July 2013 and as yet shows little to no sign of recovery," the report states. "Activity by first time home buyers remains stubbornly and unusually low and is not compensating for the large reduction in investor buying that prevailed until July last year."

We asked Michael Orr, the director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice, what he thinks it's going to take to end this 11-month-long slump.

See also: Phoenix-Area Housing Market in a Nearly Yearlong Slump

Emmy-nominated actress Laverne Cox came to Phoenix to speak on behalf of Monica Jones, a transgender Phoenix student convicted on charges of manifesting prostitution in April.

Cox, Jones, and Jones' attorneys all claim that the Phoenix city ordinance under which Jones was arrested is unconstitutional and discriminatory. Jones' attorneys filed an appeal of her conviction this week.

See also: Orange Is the New Black Actress Laverne Cox Speaks Against Phoenix Prostitution Ordinance

A Mesa police officer has been indicted on three felony sex-crime offenses, all of which allegedly occurred while he was on duty.

Justin Cherry, 34, is charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual molestation of a child.

See also: Mesa Cop Charged with Sex Crimes in the Line of Duty

At some Arizona high schools, the powers that be decided not to choose some tired old mascot like the Bears or Eagles.

Instead, some high schools decided to branch out and pick something different, and years later, they've landed on New Times' list of the 10 worst high school mascots in Arizona.

See also: 10 Worst High School Mascots in Arizona

Send feedback and tips to the author. Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.