Arizona Business Gazette: “A June opening for the 26,000-square-foot aquarium at Arizona Mills Mall could be in jeopardy after a conservative think tank filed a lawsuit claiming that the incentive Tempe offered the developer is illegal. The Goldwater Institute recently filed the suit, asking that Maricopa County Superior Court overturn the agreement providing incentives to the developer.”
Arizona Republic: “The escalating legal battle between county officials manifested itself in more criminal allegations Wednesday when Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio filed charges against Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe. The direct complaint alleges that Donahoe participated in a scheme to commit bribery, hinder criminal prosecution and obstruct a criminal investigation. The charges center on Donahoe’s role in the sheriff’s and county attorney’s investigation of the criminal court tower under construction in downtown Phoenix.”
See “County files criminal complaint against high profile judge” and “Prosecutors charge judge with 3 felonies.”
Arizona Republic: “The former owners of Bell Road Auto Mall, who still own Big Bell Road Kia in Phoenix, have agreed to pay $500,000 to settle longstanding sexual and racial harassment charges brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of five former employees. It’s one of a string of similar cases brought by the Phoenix EEOC office against auto dealers in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.”
Arizona Republic: “A Gilbert school district technology director at the center of a criminal investigation into computer equipment theft and unauthorized downloads of an extraterrestrial-searching software issued a lengthy statement Thursday to news reporters and governing board members, claiming he is a victim “of a personal vendetta” by the superintendent. . . . Birdwell said administrators became concerned about persistent problems with teachers’ electronic classroom boards turning off because of an unauthorized software, BOINC, found on nearly 5,000 district computers which sorts through telescope-collected data for signs of intelligent life in outer space.”
Phoenix Business Journal: “Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard is suing a national payday lender, accusing the operation of deceptive business practices. The state wants QC Holdings Inc. (which operates Quik Cash lending stores in the state) to pay $5 million in restitution and to have a Tucson court set aside debt collection judgments the lender has secured against defaulting borrowers. Goddard also wants the court to stop Quik Cash from operating.”