Here's the director of parks and recreation in Prescott, Arizona (pink suit) telling college student/artistic person Kristin Anthony (brown-haired woman on the right) why she had to stop work on her senior project—a community park bench and mosaic created by park users under Anthony's supervision. It's because some of the symbols people have chosen to decorate the bench with are "un-traditional" and therefore unacceptable.
Jared Lee Loughner returned to court today, where authorities established that the accused mass murderer is still insane. According to a government psychiatrist, Loughner believes he killed Gabrielle Giffords, has "several imaginary friends," and lost TV privileges because he thought the tube was sending him messages. When doctors informed him that he is insane, he was reportedly "devastated." [NYT, images via AP]
There's a rumor going around Arizona about a black fellow claiming to be president, and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, is going to get to the bottom of it—even if it gets him tons of press kills him.
A Phoenix man became trapped inside his SUV on Thursday after he lost control of the vehicle, causing it to roll over and strike a utility pole. In the process, the driver rear-ended another vehicle driven by a man named George Lindell, who later described the events to local Fox affiliate KSAZ-TV in this amazing interview that you must watch immediately. After all, "Reality hits you hard, bro." [MyFoxPhoenix; Thanks to Mike Byhoff for the tip]
What new, irritating things have recently gone down in the fire-soaked hell fields of America's anti-best state, Arizona? It's always important to check in, in case, say, Steven Seagal is riding a tank en route to a chicken/puppy massacre. The latest news doesn't involve any murder, thank goodness. Only the possible collapse of the Republican primary schedule. Hooray!
The closed-minded law enforcement officers of Arizona say the Phoenix Goddess Temple, a place where people donate money in exchange for sexo-spiritual religious services, is a brothel and not a church. Such mislabeling offends the sensibilities of Alex Averill, aka Zander, one of 18 people arrested in a recent raid.
The massive power blackout that caused some 5 million people in Arizona, California and Mexico to lose electricity was apparently triggered by one person in Arizona. An Arizona Public Service Company worker "remov[ed] a piece of monitoring equipment," which set off a chain reaction across the region, according to the AP. More from APS:
After voting to extend health care benefits to same-sex partners of Arizona state employees in 2008, the legislature passed another law in 2009 rescinding the offer. Today the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that not offering same-sex partners the same benefits as opposite-sex partners (can we call them Bizarro World partners?) violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
Arizona has, like, no money. Should it raise taxes? Cut services? Or—wait—what about this: Charge people $25 a head to visit friends and family members in its overcrowded jails?
Republicans in Pima County, Ariz., where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head eight months ago, had a brilliant idea for a fundraiser: Let's raffle off a gun! Who cares if it's the same brand as the gun used in the Giffords shooting?
The Tea Party's very own Sheriff Joe Arpaio — famous for his pink panty fetish and for leading a department full of human traffickers — on Wednesday night met with "more than 325 people" (!) who fear that Barack Obama will try to run on 2012 ballots in Arizona's Maricopa County using a fake birth certificate. Oh yes.
Phoenix, Arizona was enveloped by a giant dust storm on Thursday afternoon, marking the third time a haboob has hit the city in two months. The wall of dust caused the city's sky to turn brown, its power lines to fall down, and its transportation systems to slow to a halt. But it also made possible this amazing time-lapse video of the storm's approach. [YouTube, AP]
The Arizona Tea Party constituents who helped reelect John McCain last year are shocked, shocked to hear that he would then go on to make fun of them, by calling them "hobbits" on the Senate floor, immediately after starting his new term.
A Phoenix man accidentally blew his dick off in a supermarket parking lot, after he tucked his girlfriend's "pink pistol in the waistband of his pants." According to a stone-faced police officer on the scene in this ABC15 report, the gun then accidentally discharged, sending a bullet directly through his penis and through his left leg.
