by Matthew Holloway | Jun 10, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
In social media posts on Friday afternoon The West Valley Republican & Independent Coalition, a non-profit PAC, stated that their office located on West Grand Ave. in Sun City, AZ “is almost a total loss,” after what is being called an electrical fire ripped through the building housing it overnight.
The organization wrote in a post to Facebook on Friday that the cause of the fire was electrical in nature saying, “Well, life sometimes sends us curveballs. And what a curveball this is: Our building had an electrical fire last night and our office is almost a total loss. Smoke damage is awful.”
Replying to comments, the organization stated that “everything was contaminated with poisonous chemicals from the fire.”
A volunteer effort in the early hours of Friday led by Chairman Cindy Newman and Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) with representatives from the Republican National Committee West Valley, American Majority Action, and GOP LD27 were reportedly able to clear the office of the PAC’s furniture and equipment in just three hours. The PAC expressed thanks in a post to Facebook minutes after the initial announcement.
The West Valley Republican & Independent Coalition is asking for donations to get the office cleaned and remediated, replacing all lost equipment and brought back into commission. According to the PAC’s website, “The West Valley Republican & Independent Coalition is a nonprofit PAC formed by local grassroots conservatives to provide a permanent office in the West Valley for the purpose of voter registration, voter outreach, distribution of political literature and as a meeting place for groups and individuals. The mission of the office is to foster an educated and informed electorate.
The PAC is self-funded through donations and has no paid staff or consultants. All funds donated to the PAC are utilized to pay rent, utilities, supplies, and to promote events.”
Chairman Cindy Newman speaking with AZ Free News confirmed that the fire was electrical in nature and started in another office in the complex. The damage was primarily caused by toxic smoke, and the office is closed indefinitely. The insurance on the office is insufficient to cover the massive losses in excess of $30,000. The organization is seeking an alternate meeting location.
“We’re going to come back even better than before I say,” Newman said. “I think we’ll come back better than what we were and we’ll have an incredible grand re-opening.”
Anyone wishing to volunteer or with questions can contact Newman at westvalleyrepublicans@pm.me.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Daniel Stefanski | Jun 9, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs’ difficulties may be increasing as a result of a recent media report about alleged selective treatment with taxpayer dollars for a state-based organization.
Hours after The Arizona Republic broke the story about the Arizona Department of Child Safety “approv[ing] what amounts to a nearly 60% increase in the rate that Sunshine Residential Homes Inc charges to care for a child for a day,” State Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope sent a letter to Attorney General Kris Mayes and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, asking their offices to “examine the facts surrounding the alleged decision and determine if conduct by any of the involved parties warrants a criminal or civil investigation.”
The reported action to approve the rate increase for the one organization was made while “DCS has denied pay increases to home operators and cut loose 16 providers during the contract renewal process.” The Republic also asserted that “no other standard group home provider was approved for any rate increase during Hobbs’ tenure.”
Shope said that he was “deeply disturbed by recent reports in the media outlining what can only be described as a pay-to-play scheme between Governor Katie Hobbs’ Office, the Arizona Department of Child Safety, and political donors.”
The letter from the powerful Arizona state senator noted that “these reports, if verified, raise serious public corruption questions that could implicate several state laws, including potentially: Bribery, Fraud schemes and artifices, Arizona Procurement Code, Conflict of interest, and Illegal expenditure of state monies.”
In a subsequent post to his “X” account, Senator Shope said, “We must find the truth of what Governor Hobbs knew and at what time she knew, as well as what she directed based on that knowledge.”
The Chief Counsel of the Arizona Attorney General’s Criminal Division sent a letter back to Senator Shope on Thursday, informing the legislator that his division was “statutorily authorized to investigate the allegations and offenses outlined in [his] letter [and would] be opening an investigation.”
Karrin Taylor Robson, a former Republican candidate for Arizona Governor, weighed in on the matter, writing, “This is why people have lost faith in our elected leaders. Governor Hobbs owes the people of Arizona a complete and total explanation as to how something like this could ever be allowed to happen. Accountability matters.”
The Arizona Republic shared a quote from Hobbs’ spokesperson in response to the Shope letter, which stated, “Like every other ‘investigation’ launched by this chaotic and radical legislature, this is another desperate, partisan stunt. It will don nothing by show the administration put the best interest of Arizona first.”
The Arizona Republic also highlighted that “the news website that documented Governor Hobbs’ private event with Sunshine Residential Homes CEO took down the story,” in an interesting development to the saga.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Jun 9, 2024 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
The University of Arizona (UArizona) has gone back to the basics — way back, in fact: one course fulfilling the university’s mandatory diversity & equity (D&E) curriculum requires students to play pretend as bugs.
The Goldwater Institute, a libertarian public policy think tank in Phoenix, discovered that a UArizona course fulfilling the diversity and equity requirement directs students to experiment with “living like a bug” by wearing tissue paper “wings” as they walk around, an exercise meant to provide symbolic understanding of the experience of others from different races, social classes, or physical or intellectual abilities.
Additionally, students engaging in this play pretend of bug life must submit a written reflection on the “assumptions that inform popular attitudes toward insects” and then identify “ways that attitudes of othering interfere with self-identity and foster systems of privilege or oppression/marginalization.”
The course, Entomology 106D1, is marketed as assessing the impact of insects on human history, including human inequities, cultural diversity, and new ways of understanding sexuality.
“Bugs have built and destroyed human empires, aided our advances, propelled our catastrophes, and exacerbated our inequities. We learn how arthropods have shaped human history and cultural diversity, improved our health, wealth, and art, and continue to teach us new ways to understand human nature, sexuality, intelligence, and even how to approach \”alien\” ideas,” reads the course description.
The course is part of a track to earning an undergraduate certificate in entomology and insect science.
Insect play pretend isn’t the only option for UArizona students to fulfill their required D&E credits. As Goldwater Institute noted in their vast report, other courses offer different learning opportunities to fulfill diversity and equity requirements.
An anthropology course on race, ethnicity, and the American Dream instructs students to learn how the U.S. is deeply embedded with racism — systemic — through its history, society, and institutions. The course declares that only white people can attain the American Dream because they “hold unearned privilege,” unlike people of color.
In order to remedy the proposed inequities, the course then directs students to learn about different reparations plans.
Another course, “Constructions of Gender,” offered students extra credit to undergo training at an LGBTQ center on campus, or to attend an allyship development training.
UArizona quantified valid D&E courses as those which center on one or more marginalized populations in the course content, such as racial or ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQIA+ people, economically marginalized communities, and disabled people; explore historical developments, causes, and consequences of structured inequality; and examine how power, privilege, and positionality shape systems related to the discipline of the course and how knowledge is constructed.
Valid D&E courses, according to the university, shape the student to understand which historical and contemporary populations have experienced inequality — specifically, racial and ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQIA+ people, disabled people, the marginalized, the socioeconomically disadvantaged, and those from colonized societies — and how various communities experience privilege and/or oppression or marginalization.
At the end of their D&E courses, students must be able to theorize the means to creating a more equitable society.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Jun 8, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A bill to govern settlement agreements in Arizona was recently vetoed by the state’s governor.
Last month, Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed HB 2275, which would have “require[d] a city, town or county to submit a settlement agreement report to outlined parties for review before entering into a settlement agreement,” according to the purpose statement from the state Senate.
The proposed terms of settlement agreements that are over $500,000 would have to be submitted to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Attorney General. Settlement agreements over one million dollars would have to be submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
In her veto letter to Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, Hobbs wrote, “This legislation is unnecessary and undermines the separation of powers doctrine in state government, ultimately harming the best interests of Arizona’s taxpayers.”
State Representative David Marshall, a Republican who sponsored this bill, testified in favor of his proposal in front of the House Government Committee. He said that “the reason this bill was brought [was] because the DOJ has gone across our country into 23 of our police departments…and taken control of these police departments.” He referenced the DOJ’s ten-years-and-counting involvement with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department, costing taxpayers over 200 million dollars – and he noted that the DOJ may be close to a settlement with the City of Phoenix. Marshall added that “this bill is to protect our police departments.”
When the bill was being considered in the state House, it passed in February with a 31-27 vote (with one member not voting and one seat vacant). After being transmitted to the state Senate, it was amended and given the green light with a 16-13 vote (with one member not voting). The House concurred with the changes, approving the legislation with a 31-26 vote (with three members not voting).
On the Arizona Legislature’s Request to Speak system, representatives from the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association, City of Avondale, City of Glendale, Town of Gilbert, City of Goodyear, City of Peoria, City of Sedona, Arizona Attorney General’s Office, County Supervisors Association of Arizona, Town of Florence, Arizona Association of Counties, City of Flagstaff, City of Eloy, City of Litchfield Park, League of Arizona Cities & Towns, Pima County, Town of Oro Valley, City of Tolleson, City of Surprise, Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, and City of Apache Junction signed in to oppose the bill.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Jun 8, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The temperature was a paltry 105 degrees as several thousand Trump supporters flooded the area surrounding the Dream Center Church on Cave Creek Road in Phoenix, AZ. Reports from the Phoenix Fire Department confirmed 11 people were transported to area hospitals to be treated for heat related issues. Nonetheless, the 3,600 house of worship was filled to capacity, with “thousands” turned away according to former President Donald Trump. The Turning Point USA event entitled, “Chase the Vote,” highlighted efforts of the Trump campaign to ensure a massive turnout in the 2024 election.
Beginning his remarks shortly after 2 PM, Trump expressed his thanks to members of Arizona’s GOP Congressional delegation including Congressmen Eli Crane, Andy Biggs, and Paul Gosar in addition to outgoing Congresswoman Debbie Lesko who is seeking a seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Trump endorsed Lesko in her pursuit of what he called “an important job,” noting, “We’ve gotta get them on our side Debbie,” referring to the board led by Chairman Jack Sellers. He added, “You know they’re Republicans but they act like Democrats. We gotta get em’ on our side.”
Trump confidently told the audience that he is “working my *ss off for it to be too big to rig!”
Trump also voiced his support for U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake as well saying, “She’s out there and she’s a warrior I’ll tell you. And she’s a very fine person and a great, great, she’s a great family person, and a great person who loves our country. You’re gonna be your next senator. She’s gotta be your next senator because she’s running against somebody, she’s running against somebody who’s for open borders. Do you like open borders? I don’t think so. You gotta elect Kari Lake. She’s gonna be fantastic. Thank you, Kari. She’s incredible. She’s gonna do a good job. The campaign is just beginning.”
Trump heavily criticized President Joe Biden for his recent executive order limiting asylum claims in the United States lampooning him for “importing more illegal aliens than the population of forty of our fifty states.” The former President soundly dismissed the executive order observing, “If Joe Biden truly wanted to sign an executive order to stop the invasion, he only needs the single, think of it, a single sentence,” he said.
That sentence: “I hereby immediately reinstate every single border policy of the gentleman named Donald J. Trump.”
Trump also announced to raucous applause that he is leading among Hispanic voters citing recent polls. He jokingly suggested that he too had a ‘catch and release policy’, but noted that “I released them in Mexico.”
“I ran because I saw such stupidity,” he said referring to Biden’s border policies, “He wants to turn every single illegal alien that he lets across the border into a voting citizen.”
“By contrast I want to send Joe Biden’s illegal aliens back home… Joe Biden wants an invasion, I want a deportation.”
Zeroing in on the Biden border policy’s implications for Arizona Trump explained, “Biden’s order is not a border security plan. It’s a concession to the fact that he has lost control over our border. He has totally lost control over the border into a really dangerous place. He is conceding death and he is conceding defeat at the border. On day one of my administration I will be rescinding crooked Joe’s outrageous executive order. And I will be slamming the door shut on the Biden migrant app, and I will terminate every single open borders policy of the Biden administration as soon as I take the oath of office.
“It will take place, it will take place on the exact same day. I don’t need to wait weeks. It’s going to be done on the same day that we together, we all take the oath of office. As the result of Biden’s action this week there will be more innocent Americans killed by illegal criminals or more children trafficked and sold into slavery and millions more illegal aliens pouring into our country and many will come through a very beautiful place known as Arizona. Right? Arizona. I tell you, it’s so sad to see what has happened here.”
During his remarks Trump brought former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a candidate for Fountain Hills Mayor onto the stage. The fellow Republican recalled to the gathered audience how Trump took the time to call his late wife Ava, an avid Trump supporter, seven times before she passed away in 2021 after battling cancer.
Addressing his recent conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York, Trump was direct “Those appellate courts have to step up and straighten things out or we’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | Jun 8, 2024 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
Low-income Arizona families can get some relief this summer on their grocery bill, thanks to a federal program organized by the state.
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and Department of Economic Security (DES) are offering a federal summer grocery benefits program, “SUN Bucks,” to provide grocery money to low-income households.
These households may receive $120 per eligible child to purchase groceries.
DES began distributing funds earlier this week to nearly 288,000 children according to a press release. These children were receiving Nutrition and/or Cash Assistance benefits.
The agencies estimate about 600,000 children will benefit from SUN Bucks this summer. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said that the department wanted to ensure continued health and development of students over the summer.
“We are working with the USDA and DES to bring this federal grocery benefits program to Arizona, which is projected to provide additional assistance to over 600,000 students who might not otherwise have the meals they need this summer,” said Horne.
SUN Bucks may be used at an in-person or online store that accepts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. These funds must be used within 122 days from the day the benefits are added to the account. Lost or stolen benefits can’t be replaced.
SUN Bucks may be used for fruits and vegetables; meat, poultry, and fish; dairy products; breads and cereals; snack foods and non-alcoholic drinks. They may not be used for hot foods, pet foods, cleaning or household supplies, personal hygiene items, or medicine.
Eligible families include those participating in the National School Lunch, Breakfast, or Head Start Programs; those who are eligible to receive free or reduced lunches; and those who have received Nutrition, Cash and/or Medical Assistance from July 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024, may receive SUN Bucks assistance. Medical Assistance recipients must be below 185 percent of the federal poverty level.
Illegal immigrants may receive SUN Bucks.
Those children not enrolled in a National School Lunch Program participating school must be 6 to 16 years of age between last July and the end of this June, and have participated in one of the following: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid assistance with a reported household income at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level, Migrant Education Program, and foster child.
SUN Bucks go onto the same Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards where families normally receive their other benefits. Those families without an EBT card will receive a new one next month.
ADE also plans to launch a new application for families to submit a free or reduced-price meal application or alternative income form with their child’s eligible school, which must be on the National School Lunch Program roster.
For further questions, the SUN Bucks hotline is 833-648-4406.
SUN Bucks, through the USDA’s Summer Nutrition Programs for Kids, are also offered in conjunction with SUN Meals from local meal sites or SUN Meals To-Go. SUN Meals are available to children aged 18 and under with no application or other information needed.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
