Christmas cheer was shared in Glendale with over 5,000 children and their families last weekend, as part of an annual event to give gifts to those in need.
Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers and Councilman Ian Hugh helped host the “Toy Joy” event, arranged by the nonprofits Alpha Nation and their partner AZ Goods at the Glendale Civic Center. The event took place over the course of four hours last Sunday.
Weiers expressed gratitude for the two organizations’ efforts in his weekly newsletter.
“The volunteers from Alpha Nation are truly remarkable. The motto of Glendale is ‘improving the lives of the people we serve every day,’” said Weiers. “The members of Alpha Nation and their partner organization, AZ Goods, embodied that principle.”
Goodwill was abundant this year: children were able to choose from tens of thousands of toys.
Among the Christmas toys were hundreds of bikes, board games, dolls, and the ever-popular Baby Yoda toy. In addition to the gifts, children were entertained with festivities like face painting and games.
The event almost didn’t happen this year; it was up to Glendale leadership to help save Christmas. The previous location used for the festivities was unavailable. The city stepped up by securing a promotional spot, engaging in mass advertising, and securing a venue for the event.
In a promotional video, Alpha Nation CEO Veronica Barraza said that their aim is to bring joy to the children of Glendale.
“It feels good to do it; it’s bringing back happy faces to those kids that really need it,” said Barraza.
Also present were Glendale’s fire and police departments. Those first responders assisted in ensuring a healthy and safe event occurred. Additionally, the Arizona Rangers provided oversight of the toy delivery for distribution.
Weiers said that the Christmas festivity was just one manifestation of his duty to improve the lives of his constituents, especially in the present economic time.
“We all know families that are struggling with daily life right now. We know the expectations of children during the holiday season are high, making the stress level on parents and guardians even higher,” said Weiers. “Because I have dedicated my life to improving the lives of the people I serve, it only seemed natural to accept the challenge of making this event happen.”
The mayor encouraged Glendale residents and fellow Arizonans to get involved in the good doings of Alpha Nation and AZ Goods.
“The public private partnership we developed with AZ Goods and their nonprofit partner, Alpha Nation, through this event changed lives and I encourage each and every one of you to learn more about these organizations,” said Weiers. “I cannot thank everyone who was involved in this event enough. Each and every one of you exemplified the reason for the season. Thank you.”
AZ Goods was established in 2020 through a partnership between Sunshine Acres Children’s Home in Mesa and the national nonprofit organization Good360. AZ Goods distributes donated goods currently to over 100 nonprofits.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Although former President Donald Trump will be on Arizona ballots come March, he may not be eligible to run.
In a historic and narrow ruling, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that former President Donald Trump isn’t eligible for office under Section Three of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits insurrectionists, rebels, or sympathizers from running for office.
The court issued a stay on its decision until either Jan. 4 or the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case, whichever comes sooner.
Arizona’s Republican leaders decried the court ruling online, while Democratic leaders largely remained silent.
Arizona House Speaker and congressional candidate Ben Toma (R-LD08) called the ruling an “abomination to the rule of law,” noting that Trump was convicted of no crime.
“This is a gross politicization of the Justice System and the Supreme Court should intervene to reinstate him on the Colorado ballot,” said Toma.
The decision by the Colorado Supreme Court is an abomination to the rule of law. Donald Trump has not been convicted of a crime and has every right to appear on the ballot in Colorado.
In a series of tweets, Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) called the ruling “election interference” and speculated that the ruling had suspicious timing, given the historic low approval rating awarded to President Joe Biden recently. Crane accused the Democratic Party of fearing a Trump-Biden faceoff.
“At the end of the day, the left fears a return of President Trump because it would be a return to peace through strength,” said Crane. “He threatens to end their forever wars abroad, their open borders at home, and their government control over YOU.”
Anyone else find it interesting that this lands just as Biden’s approval ratings hit all time lows? https://t.co/zcpo1qsO1V
Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) called the decision “insane” and “the ultimate attack on democracy.”
“Democrat-appointed Colorado judges rule in favor of group saying they want to protect democracy by throwing @realDonaldTrump off ballot when the act of throwing Trump off ballot is the ultimate attack on democracy!” said Lesko.
Has the world gone totally insane??? Democrat-appointed Colorado judges rule in favor of group saying they want to protect democracy by throwing @realDonaldTrump off ballot when the act of throwing Trump off ballot is the ultimate attack on democracy!
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09) saud the court decision was based on political, not legal reasoning.
“The [Democrats] know they can’t beat Trump, so they remove him and disenfranchise the voters of CO,” said Gosar. “A new low for our country. SCOTUS must end this election interference madness.
The dems know they can't beat Trump, so they remove him and disenfranchise the voters of CO. A new low for our country. SCOTUS must end this election interference madness.
Holiday travel times and flights may be more difficult to handle this year, based on the flood of illegal immigrants at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
Reporters returning from Turning Point USA’s (TPUSA) America Fest conference publicized their observations at the airport in a flurry of social media postings on Tuesday.
One independent political commentator and journalist, “Nuance Bro” (Omeed Afsarifard), encountered large groups of illegal immigrants awaiting their flights, with papers indicating that they received services from Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona (CCSA).
One woman asked why Afsarifard was filming their group without their consent, to which he informed her that filming in public areas was legal.
Just ran into a group of African migrants from Guinea heading to New York City. They had documents from “Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona Inc” Im seeing migrants ALL over the place here at the airport this is insane.
Afsarifard observed that the illegal immigrants had white tags on their luggage and, often, their processing paperwork from border enforcement.
There were a ton of African migrants here earlier when I first arrived but when I head back to Terminal 3 from the lounge I found a few still sitting around and they were also from Guinea. You can tell who the migrants are because they have these white tags on their backpacks and… pic.twitter.com/BKv328f8YC
From last August to this August, CCSA reported taking in over 80,000 illegal immigrants to Casa Alitas, the organization’s shelter service for illegal immigrants claiming refugee status. From August 2021 to August 2022, CCSA reported taking in about 47,800 illegal immigrants to their shelter service.
Tenet Media reporter Tayler Hansen reported that illegal immigrants received priority boarding and expedited security checks.
Illegal Migrants are littered throughout the Phoenix Airport right now. They’re receiving priority boarding and expedited security.
Many have no idea where they’re going.
Locations include Charlotte, Philadelphia, NYC, and Texas.
Hansen, along with several other reporters and political commentators, claimed to observe multiple incidents of illegal immigrants being escorted by security out of women’s restrooms.
Babylon Bee commentator Ashley St. Clair filmed her experience at Phoenix Sky Harbor: wading through crowds of illegal immigrants, and waiting behind them for boarding. St. Clair noted that taxpayers were funding the premium transportation of the illegal immigrants.
My @Delta flight from Phoenix appears to be flying migrants who crossed the border and are being shipped to New York
When I asked a Delta representative if this was the case, his response was “What does it matter, they’re humans too”
The border crisis surge is only likely to worsen in the coming weeks. Reporters along the border shared videos of thousands of illegal immigrants waiting to be let into the country. Last week, the Tucson Border Sector reported another record number of illegal immigrants breaching the border.
BREAKING: Video from a contact on the ground in Eagle Pass, TX right now shows a mass of thousands of migrants waiting to be processed by Border Patrol after they crossed illegally today. I’ve spent hundreds of days there over the last 2+ years and I’ve never seen it like this. pic.twitter.com/JPNYY7sPxI
In response to the massive uptick in the border crisis, Gov. Katie Hobbs tapped the National Guard to provide assistance at the border.
The illegal immigrants are being flown or bussed to “sanctuary cities” in other states. Yet, those cities may be less of a sanctuary than anticipated, due to overcrowding and increasingly limited resources.
One Chicago shelter for illegal immigrants made headlines this week after reportedly poor living conditions have caused mass illnesses and the recent death of at least one: a five-year-old boy.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Arizona finalized its Presidential Preference Election (PPE) list of candidates on Monday.
There will be seven Democratic candidates and nine Republican candidates on the PPE ballots.
The seven Democratic candidates are Minnesota businessman Frankie Lozada, Nevada businessman Gabriel Cornejo, author Marianne Williamson, Maryland venture capitalist Jason Palmer, Oklahoma resident Stephen Lyons, President Joe Biden, and Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips.
The nine Republican candidates are former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida businessman David Stuckenberg, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former President Donald Trump, Texas businessman Ryan Binkley, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
And it’s official! This is how the candidate names will appear on the 3/19 Presidential Preference Election (PPE) ballot. Thank you to Former Secretary Betsey Bayless for joining me today for the candidate ballot draw. pic.twitter.com/3KQu1zMx55
The PPE allows certain voters to select their presidential candidate for the 2024 General Election. Each party will then finalize their winner at their national convention.
Only voters registered with participating parties — Democratic or Republican — may vote in the PPE. The deadline for registering with a party is Feb. 20, 2024. Independent voters who desire to vote in a party’s PPE may register with that party prior to the deadline, then revert to Independent after the deadline.
The Democratic National Committee will host its national convention in Chicago, Illinois from Aug. 19 to 22, 2024. The Republican National Committee will host its national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from July 15 to 18, 2024.
The latest cumulative polling data reflects Trump leading at 63 percent, with DeSantis at a far second of 12 percent, followed by Haley at 10 percent, Ramaswamy at four percent, Christie at three percent, and Hutchinson at less than one percent.
The latest polls from last month and this month focused in Arizona reflected Trump leading Biden anywhere from several points to 10 points. By comparison, Biden leads by eight points over Haley and seven points over DeSantis.
Averages of polling data reflect Trump leading Arizona by about five percent, and the nation by over two percent.
Biden currently has a cumulative approval rating of about 39 percent, and an over 55 percent disapproval rating. Trump has a cumulative approval rating of 42 percent, and an over 53 percent disapproval rating.
For more information on the PPE, please visit Arizona Clean Elections. The PPE is scheduled for March 19, 2024.
The general election will take place on Nov. 5, 2024.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Tuesday the legal team for former GOP gubernatorial candidate, now Senate candidate, Kari Lake argued for the dismissal of Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s defamation lawsuit against her.
Richer filed his defamation lawsuit against Lake in June over her claims of his administration of the 2022 election. Lake filed a motion to dismiss in August.
In his amended complaint, Richer alleged that Lake had “falsely and with actual malice” accused him of intentionally printing improperly-sized ballots and inserting 300,000 illegal or invalid early-vote ballots during his administration of the 2022 general election. Richer said that the accusations have caused him and his family real harm, including threats of violence and death.
I'm suing Kari Lake.
I'd hoped the defamation would stop after the election. I waited.
I'd hoped it would stop after the first election trial. I waited.
I'd hoped it would stop after the appeal. I waited.
I'd hoped it would stop after the second trial. I waited.
I'd…
— Stephen Richer—MaricopaCountyRecorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) June 22, 2023
Lake’s motion to dismiss argued that she voiced legitimate concerns about the 2022 election, and that Richer’s lawsuit amounted to retaliation following two failed attempts at obtaining sanctions against her. In those denied requests for sanctions, Maricopa County Superior Court found that Lake’s claims weren’t groundless or brought forth in bad faith.
“The types of statements that Recorder Richer complains of are the types of statements directly related to his job performance that political foes and constituents critical of elected officials ordinarily make,” read the motion.
During Tuesday’s arguments in the Maricopa County Superior Court, one of Richer’s attorneys, Cameron Kistler, said that Lake’s speech wasn’t hyperbole, but a statement of facts.
“She’s making statements where she’s asserting these are actual facts that happened in the world, these are actual accusations of falsifiable criminal conduct,” said Kistler.
Jen Wright, the former assistant attorney general serving on Lake’s team, countered that Lake did believe her speech to be true based on the facts at hand: the county’s admission that there were ballots that lacked chain of custody, and that printer problems did occur for some, still unknown reason.
“I don’t think it’s a question of fact as to whether or not the printers malfunctioned, it’s a question of opinion as to how they characterized them,” said Wright.
Richer accused Lake of issuing dozens of defamatory statements.
Jessica Banks-McDowell, an Arizona State University (ASU) law student on Lake’s team, said that court precedent clarifies that Richer’s intent via his filings is to stifle Lake’s speech. ASU’s First Amendment Clinic signed onto Lake’s defense.
“There is very clear intent of his motivation to deter, retaliate against, or prevent Kari Lake’s lawful speech,” said Banks-McDowell.
Richer seeks an injunction that would force Lake to delete the allegedly defamatory statements.
Banks-McDowell further argued that Richer hadn’t met the burden of proving defamation occurred as required by A.R.S. 12-751, Arizona’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law.
Kistler said that the anti-SLAPP law didn’t apply here because Lake’s team didn’t provide evidence to prove Lake’s disputed statements as true.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
