“So, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is citing ‘understaffed’ in his own defense of his botched sex crimes cases. You know, that missing hundred million dollars he never accounted for would have gone a long way towards hiring more people.”

“I realize the purpose of the ‘Vent’ column is to entertain with quirky, off-the-cuff, sometimes biased and unsolicited items. However, when editing such items to appear in a public newspaper, it would seem grossly improper to allow such blatant and derogatory references to our President Obama as a ‘dope.’...... cheap, tacky, ignorant, un-American and certainly NOT funny.”

“Another garment factory fire in Bangladesh. These factory owners/operators should be punished by being impaled on a stake in front of their burned out factory. And their execution should be televised.”

When scandalous tales of fraud involving superstar athletes Lance Armstrong and Manti Te'o were exposed in the last week, connections to films were immediate and obvious. The story of Notre Dame Football hero Te'o falling for a fake dead girlfriend on the Internet called to mind the documentary "Catfish." And disgraced cyclist Armstrong, who has finally admitted to doping in winning the Tour de France a record seven times, is already the subject of a biopic that's in the works.

The focus of the save-our-school drama "Won't Back Down" practically assures it will fail to join the ranks of great, or even good, education tales.

‘The Bourne Legacy” is a work of fiction, but the scientific, political and corporate partnerships it depicts are very real.

I think it was when I was on the couch Thursday night, watching taped delayed coverage of women’s rowing, that it hit me.

Mesa prosecutors plan to ramp up the city’s crime lab processing to handle the skyrocketing numbers of drug DUI arrests, which have doubled since 2009.

“We’ve cut off the head of the snake. This definitely makes it a lot harder for our children and residents to get drugs. We can go out all day and arrest people with marijuana or a sixteenth of an ounce of meth. Or we can go out and do an investigation like this for six months and affect thousands of people.” -- Tempe police Lt. Noah Johnson, East Valley Tribune story Tempe part of major drug bust connected to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, July 6, 2012

Parents can receive a free at-home drug test Thursday through a donation and partnership with notmykid.org.

Saying it should be no different than applying for a job, state lawmakers are moving to allow the Department of Economic Security to require drug tests of those seeking unemployment insurance.

“What the heck has happened to ‘Los Suns’? They have become ‘Los Losers’ week after week since they came back. Some of these guys are getting old enough to qualify for one of those Medicare paid-for electric scooters. Maybe an oxygen station benchside might help. Remember what Steve Nash said when the lockout ended: ‘This is a playoff team.’ Well it’s sure looking like a ‘Kiss-Off Team’ right now.”

"They're finally going to lock up Dr. Conrad Murray, the one who provided Michael Jackson with the drugs that killed him. Now we need to go after Elvis Presley's killer, the doc who prescribed all the dope that put away The King."

There was John Sanders, the master motivator, up to his old tricks.

Mary Harada, one speedy septuagenarian, would like to believe her fellow masters track and field competitors would never take anything stronger than, say, Metamucil or Ensure to boost their performance.

Bill Richardson, guest commentary

Bill Richardson, guest commentary

My neighborhood averaged more wrestlers per household than mailboxes.

Arizona’s top health official has a warning for cities and counties: Get your zoning regulations in order — and soon.

By now, almost everyone knows about the efforts of the Legislature and Gov. Jan Brewer to wipe illegal immigration off the face of Arizona’s landscape.

Up behind Don Kimble’s house in southeast Arizona, banditos lay in wait for the Mexican cartel drug shipments that crisscross his rugged, but beautiful ranch. Human mules carry the cartel’s “dope” in backpacks. Protected by “well-armed Coyotes,” they head to nearby highways for the handoff to the next carriers. That is, unless the banditos stalk and rob them first. Shoot-outs, Kimble tells me, are common.

Up behind Don Kimble’s house in southeast Arizona, banditos lay in wait for the Mexican cartel drug shipments that crisscross his rugged, but beautiful ranch. Human mules carry the cartel’s “dope” in backpacks. Protected by “well-armed Coyotes,” they head to nearby highways for the handoff to the next carriers. That is, unless the banditos stalk and rob them first. Shoot-outs, Kimble tells me, are common.