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The case against Backpage finally reaches trial — again
Delayed by three weeks after the death of a main co-defendant, the federal prostitution-facilitation and money laundering case against former Backpage.com owners and employees is nearing opening arguments. Jury selection for the trial, set to span three months, begins Tuesday morning. Michael Lacey and James Larkin, founders of the notorious classified advertising website Backpage, denied prostitution […]
Environmentalists argue against livestock grazing in Sonoran Desert National Monument
A federal judge heard arguments Thursday for competing summary judgment motions in a fight over the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s 2020 decision to allow cattle grazing on the Sonoran Desert National Monument. The Western Watersheds Project, a nonprofit environmental group based in Idaho, sued the bureau in 2021, claiming it failed to consider the […]
Lower Colorado River water users anticipate dry 2024, deep federal cuts to usage
PHOENIX (CN) — Following one of the wettest winters in recent history, Arizona officials anticipate a dry 2024 as federal water usage cuts loom. In a joint Colorado River shortage briefing held by the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Central Arizona Project, officials analyzed current conditions in Colorado River Basin reservoirs and how […]
Lawsuit aims to reduce wild Salt River horses’ hoof print in Tonto National Forest
PHOENIX (CN) — Led by the Center for Biological Diversity, a group of conservationists sued the U.S. Forest Service on Thursday to protect a region of the Tonto National Forest from “hundreds of unowned horses” they say threaten endangered species in the area. Known as the Salt River herd, the horses live on the 20,000-acre allotment called […]
Eviction looms for Phoenix mobile home residents
The Phoenix City Council balked at an action that may have prevented hundreds of mobile home residents from being evicted in the coming months. Instead, the council voted 5-4 on Wednesday to allocate $2.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act money to an emergency mobile home displacement fund to help residents facing eviction, and to […]
‘Conspiracy theories’ still dominate Arizona Senate Elections Committee
Nearly a month after Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes released documents further disproving claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, Senate Republicans continue to make such claims in the election committee. “They didn’t find criminal fraud, something they could actually attach a criminal charge to,” Republican state Senator Sonny Borrelli said, his voice raising in […]