Free Republic

A 47-year-old man is going to prison after he was accused of fatally shooting a man in Arizona, federal officials said. Sixteen days after Clifton Nez Hamalowa was released from prison in 2020 after serving time connected to a murder charge, he shot Richard Olds to death, accoridng to a sentencing memorandum filed May 22 in district court.

The Department of Education has retracted a $37.7 million fine against Grand Canyon University after accusations of misleading tuition practices were challenged. The fine was reportedly the largest of its kind ever imposed by the Biden administration’s Education Department on any university. ... The U.S. Department of Education has retracted a $37.7 million dollar fine levied against Grand Canyon University (GCU) in Arizona following wrongful accusations that the school had misled students regarding the cost of tuition. GCU President Brian Mueller, celebrating the department’s May 16 reversal of its earlier decision, described the school as “a leader in innovation, transparency...

In the last two and a half years, eight sitting members of the House or Senate have died in office. Every time, it's been a Democrat. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, died on Wednesday at 75, after a battle with esophageal cancer. He's the third House Democrat to die in the last three months. If Democrats had gained a narrow 1 or 2-seat majority in 2024, they would have lost it by now.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge sentenced an Arizona woman on Thursday to six years in prison for using a cutting torch to damage the Dakota Access pipeline in Iowa and setting fire to pipeline equipment in three counties in 2016 and 2017. The judge also ordered Ruby Katherine Montoya, 32, to pay nearly $3.2 million in restitution together with Jessica Reznicek, a woman who helped her. Montoya pleaded guilty to conspiracy to damage an energy facility. She admitted to helping Reznicek and others damage the pipeline in several locations in Iowa. “The sentence imposed today demonstrates that...

Christopher Pelkey was killed in a road rage incident in Chandler in 2021, but last month, artificial intelligence brought him back to life during his killer’s sentencing hearing. It was the first time in Arizona judicial history — and possibly nationwide — that AI has been used to create a deceased victim’s own impact statement. The video player is currently playing an ad. Pelkey’s sister and brother-in-law used the technology to recreate his image and voice likeness to “talk” to the courtroom about his life and the day he met Gabriel Paul Horcasitas, who shot him during a confrontation near...

Laura Michelle Owens filed a paternity claim against Season 26 star Clayton Echard, who celebrated the woman's indictment: "This nightmare is over."An Arizona woman lied about becoming pregnant with "The Bachelor" Season 26 star Clayton Echard, using a fake ultrasound image and a "fabricated ... pregnancy video" to make the bogus claim, authorities said Tuesday. A seven-count indictment accuses Laura Michelle Owens, 34, of Scottsdale, of false testimony that she was pregnant by Echard, prosecutors said. From May 2023 to June 2024, "Owens altered an ultrasound image, fabricated a pregnancy video, and lied multiple times under oath," the Maricopa County...

At least three people have died and five more were wounded Sunday after multiple shooters opened fire at an Arizona restaurant, police said. The shooting at El Camarón Gigante in downtown Glendale began as a fight between "at least two groups of people" near the restaurant's stage area, Glendale police said in a statement Monday. The people involved were told to go outside, spurring another altercation, which ended in gunfire, police said. The three victims were identified only as a 17-year-old male, a 21-year-old man and a 29-year-old, police said Monday. The 17- and 29-year-old males were brothers. Wounded were...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson 🚨BREAKING: Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoes a bill ordering her and the Attorney General to enforce federal immigration laws. 12:47 PM · May 3, 2025

A sprawling fentanyl trafficking network stretching from Albuquerque to Salem, Oregon, has been shattered by federal authorities in what’s being called one of the largest operations of its kind in U.S. history. The takedown, made public this week, culminated in a massive sweep across New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Oregon. Federal agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized staggering amounts of contraband: over 4 million fentanyl pills, $4.4 million in cash, 79 pounds of meth, along with heroin, cocaine, and more than 41 firearms, according to records from the U.S. District Court in Albuquerque. At the helm of...

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) broke ground Tuesday on its third factory in Arizona, widening the Trump administration’s push to yank critical chip production out of China’s shadow, according to the Department of Commerce. The new fab — backed by some $6.6 billion in CHIPS Act grants and part of a broader $100 billion expansion pledge TSMC made in March — is slated to provide thousands of local jobs and anchor a domestic supply chain for everything from smartphones to fighter jet avionics, according to a TSMC press release “It’s the key,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said of domestic...

President Trump signed an executive order Monday that requires commercial truck drivers in the United States to be proficient in English. The text of the order acknowledges the essential role that truck drivers play in the U.S. economy and the livelihood of American people. “Every day, truckers perform the demanding and dangerous work of transporting the Nation’s goods to businesses, customers, and communities safely, reliably, and efficiently,” the order said. Trump designated English as the country’s official language in an executive order in March. In his order Monday, the president said proficiency in English should be nonnegotiable for professional drivers....

The Brief . A man is accused of arson after a Cybertruck was burned in a fire at a Tesla dealership near Sossaman Road and Southern Avenue. . The suspect was identified as 35-year-old Ian Moses. . No one was hurt in the fire.

NOGALES, AZ (AZFamily) — A now-former employee of the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) was arrested earlier this month at the state’s southern border for alleged human smuggling, in an incident that threatens to derail the nomination of Gov. Katie Hobbs’ pick to run the state agency. Joshua Castro is facing two federal charges: one felony and one misdemeanor. Further details of the arrest were laid out in a complaint filed two weeks ago by the U.S. District Attorney of Arizona. On April 9, Border Patrol agents in Nogales spotted a black Chevrolet Impala quickly leaving a known smuggling route...

Rep. Eric Swalwell’s campaign spent thousands of dollars after the election on childcare expenses for the California Democrat, raising potential ethics concerns for a lawmaker who has been accused in the past of using his campaign war chest as a "personal piggybank." According to campaign finance records, the Swalwell campaign spent at least $20,000 on "childcare" from Nov. 8, three days after the election, to March 31. The payments went to two of the Swalwell family’s longtime babysitters as well as a Washington, D.C.-area Spanish language immersion preschool where tuition is around $3,000 per month. The payments raise potential ethics...

WASHINGTON -- Four House Democratic lawmakers have traveled to El Salvador to call attention to the plight of a man the Trump administration deported to a Salvadoran prison and has refused to help return — even after the Supreme Court ruled that it was the government's duty to do so. Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Robert Garcia of California arrived in the Central American nation on Sunday to investigate the condition of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had lived in the United States for more than a decade. The Trump administration deported...

The House members are Reps. Robert Garcia, of California; Maxwell Frost, of Florida; Maxine Dexter, of Oregon; and Yassamin Ansari, of Arizona. Four House Democrats have traveled to El Salvador to, in the words of one member, remind Americans that Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran migrant who had been living in Maryland, was wrongfully deported to his home country. “While Donald Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held illegally in El Salvador after being wrongfully deported,” said California Rep. Robert Garcia, one of the four. “That is why we’re here – to...

Democrat Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed the ICE Act, which would have mandated state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal officials to facilitate deportations. The legislation, Senate Bill 1164, aimed to have local authorities assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement with identification, detainment, and deportation of illegal aliens. Additionally, the bill barred any town or city from declaring “Sanctuary” policies that would restrict or hinder ICE actions. In her veto letter, Hobbs wrote, “Today I vetoed Senate Bill 1164. Arizonans, not Washington, DC politicians, must decide what’s best for Arizona.” “I will continue to work with the federal...

With Valero announcing the pending closure of one of its two remaining California refineries, the state will lose at least 18% of its current refining capacity by the end of 2026. Because California is an “energy island,” meeting demand for California and the parts of Nevada and Arizona that rely on its refineries will require costly imports of volatile fuel by emissions-heavy tanker ships. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has long blamed rising gas prices on refiners’ “price gouging,” but even though his own administration has said that it has no found no evidence of such, he called a special legislative...

A 2-year-old boy is safe after walking about 7 miles and spending the night in mountain lion territory in northwest Arizona after he snuggled up to a very good dog who had found the boy wandering in the rugged wilderness. His new furry hero then led him to safety in the morning. Two-year-old Boden Allen was reported missing on Monday afternoon after he wandered away from his home near Seligman, according to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office. The little boy was last seen wearing just a tank top, pajama pants and Vans sneakers. Now enters the hero of this story:...

The news is overflowing with horror these days. But lately, there’s been a disturbing uptick in black-on-white crime — and it’s not just the numbers, which we all know nobody keeps track of, for obvious reasons. It’s the sheer brutality of it all. These aren’t random muggings or drive-bys —we’re talking about senseless, savage violence of the most shocking kind. And now, we’ve got another story to report — one that’s difficult to wrap your head around. This latest nightmare, which we’ll share with you shortly, comes on the heels of a case that shocked the nation: the brutal killing...