NATIONAL
May 20, 2013 | By Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - The former top federal prosecutor in Arizona retaliated against the lead whistle-blower in the Fast and Furious gun-smuggling scandal by leaking an internal report that suggested the whistle-blower once favored allowing illegal gun sales as a way to track weapons to drug cartels in Mexico, the Justice Department's inspector general's office said Monday. Dennis K. Burke, who resigned from the U.S. attorney's office following the Fast and Furious matter, told investigators that he leaked an internal memorandum to a television producer in which ATF Special Agent John Dodson discussed an earlier case involving gun trafficking on the border.
NATIONAL
May 18, 2013 | By Cindy Carcamo, Los Angeles Times
TUCSON - Young people granted immigration relief and work permits under a new Obama administration program still won't be able to obtain driver's licenses in Arizona, a federal judge has ruled. Although the decision is a win for Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, who issued the executive order denying driver's licenses to this particular group, it's just the first battle in a case that will probably be argued on constitutional grounds. U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell on Thursday turned down a request for a preliminary injunction blocking Brewer's order but stated that the plaintiffs - a contingent of immigrant rights groups - would probably prevail on their claim that the governor's order violates guarantees of equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.
SPORTS
May 6, 2013 | By Dylan Hernandez, Los Angeles Times
The most expensive team in baseball history is in last place. After a 9-2 defeat by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers are now looking up at every other team in the National League West. That includes the San Diego Padres, who are spending less than a third of the record $230 million the Dodgers (13-18) are paying their players this season. The Padres (14-18) moved into fourth place with a 5-0 victory over the Miami Marlins.
NATIONAL
May 6, 2013 | By Cindy Carcamo, Los Angeles Times
TUCSON - The harsh Sonoran Desert claims the lives of hundreds of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border each year. Many of the dead - about 1 in 3 - go unidentified. Now there may be an easier way to put a name to some of the suspected border crossers who died north of the international boundary. On Monday, the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner and the human rights organization Humane Borders Inc. started an online system that will allow the public to identify the deceased found in southern Arizona - more than 2,000 deaths over 13 years.
NATIONAL
April 22, 2013 | By Cindy Carcamo
TUCSON -- It may take several days before officials determine the identities of the five males who died in a crash after the vehicle they were in failed to yield to U.S. Border Patrol agents, officials said Monday. Several other passengers, including those who told authorities they were Guatemalan and Mexican nationals, were injured, said Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves. Very few had identification on them, which makes it difficult for authorities to contact family, he said.
NATIONAL
April 21, 2013 | By Cindy Carcamo
TUCSON -- At least five people were killed and 17 injured when a van crashed during a border patrol pursuit, Pima County Rural/Metro Fire Chief Willie Treatch said Sunday. The incident happened late Saturday between 10 and 10:30 p.m., he said, when a van carrying 22 people rolled over near the intersection of Interstate 10 and State Highway 83 in Vail, Ariz. Five people died at the scene and 17 were hospitalized. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in the Tucson sector could not be immediately reached for comment. cindy.carcamo@latimes.com @thecindycarcamo ALSO: Cardinal O'Malley warns of 'culture of death' Video said to show suspect setting backpack down Boston plays, prays and remembers on Sunday of renewal