by Elizabeth Troutman | May 6, 2024 | Education, News
By Elizabeth Troutman |
The principal of Corona del Mar Middle & High School in Newport Beach, Calif., issued a statement on the death of University of Arizona student Erin Jones, who was shot and killed last Sunday.
Jones, a 2022 graduate of Corona del Mar, was shot and killed while attending a house party in Midtown Tucson.
Principal Jake Haley said he was at a loss for words about the untimely loss.
“Erin was a well-known student on the Corona del Mar Campus and the ripple effect of the loss will be felt by many, especially our soccer community where Erin was an active member,” Haley said. “We are providing a space of gathering on campus this week for athletes and others who are directly impacted by the loss of Erin.”
Jones was a sophomore at the University of Arizona.
Police said officers were called to the 3200 block of E. 5th St. after several people called 911 to report the shooting.
Officers found University of Arizona student Erin Jones, 20, outside the home. Jones’ friends said she was waiting for an Uber when she was fatally shot, CBS News reported. She was taken to Banner University Medical Center where she died.
No arrests have been made in the shooting.
“Details are extremely limited at this time, and investigators are actively working on what led up to the shooting,” a Tucson Police Department press release says. “They believe there was a large gathering at the residence before the shooting took place, and several witnesses left the area prior to police arriving.”
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | May 5, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizonans will likely have the opportunity to bolster their state’s protections against illegal immigration in the November 2024 election.
This week, Senate President Warren Petersen announced that Arizona legislators would soon be passing HCR 2060, the Secure the Border Act. Arizona Senate Republicans will “adopt a strike everything amendment to HCR 2060,” giving them the legislative vehicle to consider and pass the ballot referral for the November General Election.
“Arizona Democrats in power have shown us time after time, with every ‘no’ vote and veto of our border security legislation, that they are not concerned for the safety and well-being of our citizens, nor do they have any care for the wasted taxpayer dollars being used to mitigate the fallout from Biden’s border invasion,” said Senate President Warren Petersen. “Their priorities are tone deaf to the realities Arizonans are facing, and this will be confirmed when voters have the chance to take matters into their own hands this November. Republicans are committed to securing the border and returning sanity to our state after the chaos Democrats have willfully perpetuated with our current Governor leading the charge.”
According to Petersen’s press release, the ballot referral will be heard in committee this upcoming Wednesday, and it is expected on the Senate floor the following week.
The revelation of this push from Arizona legislators to send this referral to state voters comes almost two months after Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed SB 1231, the Arizona Border Invasion Act, which would have “ma[de] it unlawful for a person who is an alien (unlawful immigrant) to enter Arizona from a foreign nation at any location other than a lawful port of entry and outline[d] penalties for violations of illegally entering Arizona and provide[d] immunity from civil liability and indemnification for state and local government officials, employees and contractors who enforce this prohibition” – according to the purpose from the state Senate.
In her veto letter to Senate President Warren Petersen, Hobbs said, “This bill does not secure our border, will be harmful for communities and businesses in our state, and burdensome for law enforcement personnel and the state judicial system. Further, this bill presents significant constitutional concerns and would be certain to mire the State in costly and protracted litigation.”
Senator Janae Shamp, the sponsor of SB 1231, vowed that members of her party would continue to push forward solutions to combat the border crisis, saying, “The Republican-controlled Legislature will continue to prioritize closing our border and providing law enforcement with the tools they need. This veto is a slap in the face to them, Arizona’s victims of border-related crimes, and other citizens who will inevitably feel the wrath of this border invasion in one way, shape, or form at the hands of Hobbs and Biden.”
Earlier this spring, a group of legislative Republicans signed a letter to request that House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen “convene a special committee hearing, whereby Texas-style border security legislation can be promptly advanced and placed on the ballot.”
Democrats were quick to react to the latest news from President Petersen, signaling their adamant opposition to these efforts. Representative Nancy Gutierrez said, “They can feel the majority slipping away. Instead of working in a bipartisan manner, they choose to be petty and vindictive.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 5, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Republican Party of Arizona (AZ GOP) won’t be punished for challenging the 2020 election. The court vacated the attorney fees awards issued by the trial court and court of appeals, and vacated the court of appeals’ opinion.
“Petitioners’ claim was not groundless and arguably was made in good faith,” ruled the court. “‘Raising questions’ by petitioning our courts to clarify the meaning and application of our laws and noting the potential consequences of the failure to do so — particularly in the context of our elections — is never a threat to the rule of law, even if the claims are charitably characterized as ‘long shots.’”
In a press release, the AZ GOP said the ruling was a victory for election integrity. The case concerned the party’s lawsuit against Maricopa County election officials’ administration of the mandatory hand count of ballots following the 2020 general election.
“This ruling reaffirms the fundamental legal principles that raising questions about the interpretation and application of election laws is a legitimate use of the judicial system, not a groundless or bad faith action,” stated the party.
The AZ GOP’s lawsuit against the county sought declaration that the 2019 Election Procedures Manual (EPM), passed under then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, violated state law directing precincts to be the sampling source for the hand count, rather than voting centers.
The AZ GOP sued to prevent the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors from canvassing the votes before the late November deadline.
In the ruling, authored by Justice John Lopez, the court determined the AZ GOP hadn’t brought a groundless claim, and that therefore the trial court and court of appeals had erred in awarding attorney fees against the AZ GOP.
The Supreme Court ruled that the trial court was wrong to find the AZ GOP’s claim was groundless over several criteria: the party failing to name the secretary of state as a defendant, seeking mandamus relief unavailable as a matter of law, and improperly contesting a pre-election procedure.
“It is untenable to invoke an alleged procedural defect like the one in this case — readily remediable and, in fact, remedied one day after the complaint was filed — to irrevocably mar a complaint as groundless,” wrote Lopez. “Whatever the Secretary’s interest in Petitioners’ declaratory action, it was fairly debatable whether Petitioners’ naming of the County as a defendant in their complaint was adequate, and, regardless, the parties agreed to the Secretary’s intervention just one day after the complaint was filed.”
Lopez wrote that the requested mandamus relief was fairly debatable, not groundless.
“Thus, because the Maricopa County election officials enjoyed no discretion in the discharge of their hand-count duties — a prerequisite to mandamus relief rather than a legal disqualifier — the trial court erred,” wrote Lopez. “[W]e only hold that Petitioners’ requested mandamus relief was not groundless because it was at least fairly debatable, even if a ‘long shot,’ whether the County was obligated to conduct a hand count consistent with [the law] or an arguably conflicting EPM provision.”
Lopez further wrote that the trial court erroneously assumed that the challenged hand count constituted a pre-election procedure subject to the election-law time bar. The judge noted that the 2019 EPM also doesn’t include hand count among its pre-election procedures.
“[T]he hand-count protocol continues past the election’s conclusion. In fact, although the statute directs the sampling from precincts, the actual selection of polling places does not commence until after the election,” wrote Lopez. “The merits of Petitioners’ claim are not before us; therefore, we need not determine whether, or to what extent, the election-law time bar applies to a procedure, like the hand count, that straddles the election. We merely conclude that Petitioners’ post-election claim was not groundless because whether their claim was time-barred by our jurisprudential election-law procedural rule is at least ‘fairly debatable.’”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | May 4, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A Republican proposal to help mental health needs of Arizonans was signed into law by the state’s governor.
Last week, Governor Katie Hobbs signed SB 1062 into law. The legislation will “expand the practice of substance abuse counseling to include treatment for all forms of addiction that are a persistent, compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance, [and] reduce, from three to one, the number of years in which a behavioral health professional seeking licensure by endorsement through the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners must be licensed or certified in at least one other state or federal jurisdiction.”
Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope, the bill’s sponsor, took a victory lap after the governor’s positive action. He said, “According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, Arizona only meets 40% of the mental health care needs of our citizens. This is an alarming statistic that I’ve set out to improve on behalf of all Arizonans who can’t get appointments for treatment in a timely fashion. I sponsored SB 1062, which was signed into law this week, to replace the practice of substance abuse counseling with addition counseling to include treatment for all forms of addiction that are a persistent, compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance.”
Shope added, “The bill also reduces the number of years out-of-state behavioral health professionals need to be licensed and certified in order to seek licensure from the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners. It’s my belief that these small changes will have a tremendous impact in helping to meet Arizona’s growing mental health workforce needs, as well as increase access for individuals seeking treatment for all types of addiction.”
On the Arizona Legislature’s Request to Speak system, representatives from American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Arizona LeadingAge, National Association of Social Workers Arizona Chapter, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona had signed in to support the bill. A representative from the Arizona Council of Human Service Providers signed in as neutral.
Back in February, the legislation overwhelmingly passed the Arizona Senate with a 25-5 vote. Last month, the Arizona House of Representatives approved an amended version of the bill with a 41-12 vote (with six members not voting and one seat vacant at the time). The Senate concurred with the changes, sending the bill to the Governor’s Office after a 24-5 vote (with one member not voting).
SB 1062 will go into effect 90 days after the Arizona Legislature adjourns for the 2024 session.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | May 4, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A Republican State Representative in Arizona is standing up to a recent proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Last month, Representative David Cook transmitted a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, opposing the agency’s “proposed waiver that would enable the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to mandate zero-emission standards for railroad locomotives starting in 2030,” according to his press release.
Cook explained that the EPA’s proposal would “have far-reaching effects here in Arizona, potentially upending the rail industry in our state.” Per Cook’s letter, the state’s rail industry “hauls over 125 million tons of cargo to and from the state through hubs like Tucson, Flagstaff, and the Phoenix area.” He stated that “Arizona’s economy is growing, and local and state leaders are counting on our rail network to help handle this growth.”
The Republican Chairman of the State House Transportation Committee warned that the EPA’s rule “threatens Arizona’s railways and our supply chain by imposing extreme financial and operational burdens on railroads, especially smaller operators, by requiring the retirement of over 25,000 locomotives aged 23 years or older.” He added that the mandate “would create a fragmented rail network that could jeopardize the supply chain, place an undue burden on rail companies, and drive-up costs,” leading to goods being driven away from rail and to Arizona highways, which would bring its own set of environmental issues.
Representative Cook ended his letter by asserting that “this unworkable policy in California could have major implications throughout Arizona and the country.” He urged the EPA “to reject the California waiver and protect our rail network and supply chains.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 4, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Candidate Gina Godbehere criticized her opponent, incumbent Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, for not heeding the extradition request of a murder suspect from Alvin Bragg, Democratic district attorney in New York.
Mitchell refused to extradite murder suspect Raad Almansoori, 26, expressing concern over Bragg’s ability to properly prosecute Almansoori. Almansoori was arrested in Arizona after stabbing two women; he was also the suspect in the New York murder of another woman, 38-year-old Denisse Oleas-Arancibia. Mitchell said she could guarantee Almansoori would be imprisoned for an appropriate amount of time, whereas she felt that he would not be under Bragg.
“We have two very violent crimes here, we have two women that were stabbed and he is facing a lengthy mandatory prison sentence here. And even though there’s a homicide in New York, we can guarantee that he’s going to stay in custody here,” said Mitchell. “Let me be clear, my heart goes out to the next of kin in New York, and I’m not casting aspersions on the NYPD either, they did a hard job in putting this case together, but we have a case here and we have him in custody.”
Godbehere told KFNN last month that Mitchell lacked the authority to refuse Bragg’s request.
“I have a real problem of what she did by calling out Bragg on that issue — because unless my opponent was running for governor, she has no say or no role in any of that,” said Godbehere.
Bragg’s tenure has been marked with a drop in conviction rates, due to a decline in the number of cases his office has chosen to prosecute. When the Manhattan DA first came into office in 2021, he swore to not prosecute low-level crimes such as traffic infractions, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, subway-fare evasion, or prostitution.
The DA also pledged to not imprison mentally ill individuals who committed crimes.
In one of the numerous times Bragg’s office made headlines in 2022, his team dropped multiple larceny charges against an alleged gang member with a lengthy rap sheet — 46 prior arrests — instead opting to require the member to attend a handful of social worker counseling sessions.
Godbehere is campaigning as a Republican. As reported by The Arizona Daily Independent, Godbehere’s campaign staffer has also been critical of mainstream Republican candidates and stances, and reportedly indicated that he voted for President Joe Biden.
Godbehere previously challenged Mitchell in the 2022 election. Ahead of that year’s primary election, Godbehere issued a retracted comment erroneously advising voters on the Active Early Voting List that ballots dropped off on the deadline day would be rendered provisional.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
