Blogs

We understand that in the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. Worry not! We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times' blogs. Today's entries:

Valley Fever:
Charles Barkley Sweats DUI Arrest in Unflattering Mug Shot

Local Man Who Turned in Suspected Would-be Child Molester Says He's Not a Pimp

Up on the Sun:
Local Indie Record Store Owners Weigh In With Their Favorties of 2008

Bounty Hunter: Post-hangover spa deals

Chow Bella:
Pop Culture: Strawberry Crush

Feathered Bastard:
New York Times Editorial Blog Names Joe Arpaio, "America's Worst Sheriff"

Uh-oh. The light rail system has been operating with passengers for just four days and it's already been involved in a vehicle collision.

That doesn't seem to bode well for the on-street system, which logged another minor accident earlier this month during its test phase. Whether the accident rate will pick up remains to be seen. Valley Metro has studied safety from other cities that had to learn the hard way, like Houston and Los Angeles, but knowing the Valley's drivers like we do, it's obvious some folks are going to get creamed.

You may have heard about Scottsdale resident Danica Patrick today, because it's big news when hot, young female race car drivers get speeding tickets.

We were going to pass along this tidbit to you with little more than a smokin' picture of Danica, 26, (at left) from her official Web site. Then we looked up Patrick's other speeding tickets on the Arizona Supreme Court's useful court info search site and found an interesting one from 2005.

It seems this latest speeding ticket is Patrick's sixth in three years, and three of those tickets were from photo enforcement sites in Scottsdale. The IndyCar star and Godaddy.com spokeschick paid two of the photo tickets, but blew off a third.

Courtesy of the Sergeant Tommy Thompson,  public information officer for the Phoenix Police Department, we bring you this warm holiday tale.

Thompson did such a fine job writing this one up, we'll pass it along as is:

MEDIA ADVISORY

Last night and today a story has been running in the media concerning a Phoenix Police Officer and the rescue of a cat from a tree in his yard. There is some information that was not presented in the story.

Due to the lack of this information, the department has received negative phone calls and e-mails attacking the officer. The officer has even had derogatory things written on his sidewalk. In an effort to set the record straight, here is some information that was not presented.

On Tuesday, December 23rd, the owner of the cat contacted his neighbor, who is a Phoenix Police Officer, and told him he was staying with some friends and his cat was in the officer's tree. The officer said there was nothing he could do and believed the cat would come down on its own.

Later that night, the officer and his wife were wakened at about 11:30 p.m. to the sound of the cat owner in his yard calling, "Brutus, Brutus." The officer's wife spoke to the man and told him she was trying to sleep and needed to get up early in the morning. The man stopped calling until approximately 2:00 a.m. in the morning that same night, when the man starting calling again, "Brutus, Brutus." This time the family ignored the man.

His life on the run finished for now, DMX pleaded guilty to a charge of animal cruelty today, finally 'fessing up to the fact that he treated his dogs poorly.

As reports from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office show, DMX -- whose real name is Earl Simmons -- left a veritable kennel of dogs in the hot sun last year at his Cave Creek house without enough food or water. The busy entertainer claims he had hired someone to take care of the animals, and that person is to blame.