By Nick R. Martin | January 19th, 2010 | 11:20 am | Comments
Randy Miller
The Colorado man who wants to buy the East Valley Tribune newspaper in Mesa has expanded his offer to include its two local sister papers.
The Ahwatukee Foothills News in Phoenix and the Daily News-Sun in Sun City are now part of newspaperman Randy Miller’s offer to buy the Pulitzer Prize-winning Tribune from its bankrupt parent company, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.
Representatives from the parent, Freedom Communications, told employees about the larger deal this morning during simultaneous staff meetings at the papers, the sources said.
By Nick R. Martin | January 10th, 2010 | 4:07 pm | Comments
Robert Robb
A close aide to Maricopa County’s chief prosecutor, Andrew Thomas, says the Arizona Republic’s recent criticism of his boss and Sheriff Joe Arpaio amounts to “editorial jihad.”
Special assistant county attorney Barnett Lotstein made the angry comments in a letter to the editor published in today’s Republic.
Thomas and Arpaio have come under sharp scrutiny by many of the newspaper’s columnists and editorial writers in recent weeks because they have launched more than a dozen criminal investigations into their critics and political foes. Thomas has even called for investigations into fellow prosecutors who have written letters to the editor criticizing him.
But it was a column by the Republic’s Robert Robb that really set off Thomas’ aide this time around.
By Nick R. Martin | January 8th, 2010 | 12:45 pm | Comments
A pair of bomb threats shut down part of Maricopa County’s main courthouse this morning, about five weeks after a string of similar threats disrupted the local justice system over several days.
Two separate threats were made to one of the court’s main towers, known as the East Court Building, sometime after it opened this morning, according to the court’s highest ranking judge, Barbara Rodriguez Mundell.
By Nick R. Martin | January 7th, 2010 | 6:24 pm | Comments
A federal grand jury is examining possible criminal charges against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, according to reports by two Phoenix television stations.
KPHO (Channel 5) and KPNX (Channel 12) both reported during their evening broadcasts that a grand jury is looking into accusations that Arpaio has abused his law enforcement power with criminal investigations of critics and political foes. The sheriff’s No. 2 man, Chief Deputy David Hendershott, is also targeted in the investigation, KPNX reported.
The stations said two of Maricopa County’s top appointed officials, County Manager David Smith and County Budget Director Sandi Wilson, received subpoenas to appear before the grand jury next week.
By Nick R. Martin | January 5th, 2010 | 11:35 pm | Comments
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe will get to breathe a little easier for the next couple of months.
A judge in neighboring Pinal County today put a temporary halt to the criminal case against him by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Arizona Republic reported. The case is now on hold until the state Supreme Court decides whether to toss the charges for good.
Thomas and Arpaio have accused Donahoe, one of the most powerful judges in Maricopa County, of obstructing justice and taking bribes because he ruled against them in cases earlier this year.
By Nick R. Martin | December 31st, 2009 | 11:42 pm | Comments
Chris Coppola
Though the fate of the struggling East Valley Tribune remains uncertain, one thing became clear on Thursday: Any future the Mesa newspaper has will be without its head editor, Chris Coppola.
The longtime Tribune newsman announced he will step down Jan. 8 to take a job as a suburban editor at the Arizona Republic.
The New Year’s Eve announcement marked the end of an especially turbulent year for the newspaper, one in which it laid off half its staff, brought home a Pulitzer Prize and narrowly staved off closure.
By Nick R. Martin | December 27th, 2009 | 1:15 pm | Comments
Christmas Eve came and went, but the potential deal to save the East Valley Tribune did not materialize as expected.
Earlier this month, a spokesman for the Mesa newspaper’s parent, Freedom Communications, said Dec. 24 would likely be the day the company would tell a federal bankruptcy court about the deal it hopes to strike with a Colorado businessman wanting to buy the Tribune.
But late Thursday, after nothing had been filed with the court, company spokeswoman Maya Pogoda said attorneys “have not finalized the agreement” with hopeful buyer Randy Miller.
By Nick R. Martin | December 24th, 2009 | 4:09 pm | Comments
James Walsh
Sheila Polk
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas called for investigations into the chief prosecutors of two neighboring counties on Thursday because they publicly criticized him and Sheriff Joe Arpaio earlier this week.
Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk and Pinal County Attorney James Walsh sent separate letters to the Arizona Republic, criticizing what they called “abuses of power” by Thomas and his close ally, Arpaio.
Polk, a Republican who described herself as a passionate believer in limited government, accused the two men of “totalitarianism” and said they have become “a threat to the entire criminal-justice system” because of a series of a investigations they have launched against their foes.
In recent weeks, Thomas and Arpaio have announced more than a dozen criminal investigations into public officials who have criticized them in the past. The pair has said their fellow Maricopa County officials are engaging in a massive conspiracy to obstruct justice and limit their power. The investigations have resulted in criminal charges against two elected officials and a judge.
Now, Thomas wants a former state Supreme Court justice to investigate his neighboring prosecutors as part of what he calls “an orchestrated campaign to pressure law enforcement in Maricopa County to drop charges against influential criminal defendants and suspects.”
By Nick R. Martin | December 22nd, 2009 | 10:32 am | Comments
A woman holds up a sign Monday outside of Maricopa County’s main courthouse as part of a large protest against prosecutor Andrew Thomas. Photo by Nick R. Martin
In his political campaigns, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has fashioned himself as a man of law, a prosecutor offering no tolerance to those who step past certain boundaries.
But on Monday, hundreds of lawyers gathered in front of the county’s main courthouse in downtown Phoenix to tell Thomas they believe he has crossed a line himself with his an ongoing war against some of the area’s most-powerful judges.
In recent weeks, the prosecutor has launched criminal investigations or leveled felony charges against several Superior Court judges, mostly for decisions they made from the bench.
“By your very conduct, Mr. Thomas, you have become a threat to the rule of law and to the very Constitution you swore to uphold,” attorney Tom Ryan shouted into the microphone, raising cheers and applause from the crowd. “You have made yourself a domestic enemy to our Constitution.”
By Nick R. Martin | December 20th, 2009 | 10:52 pm | Comments
Randy Miller
When Colorado businessman Randy Miller traveled to Mesa last week, he acted very much like the man who would soon be in charge of the Pulitzer Prize-winning East Valley Tribune.
He toured its facilities. He introduced himself to the staff. He even handed out job applications across the building, telling employees to reapply for positions under his Thirteenth Street Media company, which hopes to take over the paper early next year.
But Miller’s plans appear to be presumptuous. The reality is that Miller has a long way to go – and possibly competition to fight off – before he can expect to be called “boss” at the newspaper that was slated to be shut down before he offered to buy it last month.
And in fact, there is still a chance Miller won’t buy the East Valley Tribune at all – because in the end, the decision will be up to someone else entirely.
