Gov. Katie Hobbs’ Office of Tourism and the Arizona Lottery are sponsoring a “child-friendly” drag show next week in Flagstaff.
The event, “Pride in the Pines: After Party,” will take place at the Orpheum Theater on June 17 at 9 pm. The event is open to all ages, with those under 16 years old requiring a parent or guardian chaperone. Cost of admission is $14 plus fees.
Hobbs selected an executive officer from Arizona Community Foundation, one of the event sponsors, to be director of the Office of Tourism in January: Lisa Urias. Hobbs appointed Tereza Fritz last month to oversee marketing for the lottery. Fritz hails from Western Alliance Bank and formerly worked for Lavidge marketing company.
The event is part of the 27th annual Pride in the Pines. Drag queens featured in the event include DJ Lezbein McKenzie, Anya C. Mann, Salina Es Titties, and Dillon Duvet, as well as Miss Gay Arizona America 2022 winner Janee Star.
Where are our RuPaul Fans? Salina ES Titties and Kerri Colby will perform at Pride in Pines on June 17th at Thorpe Park! Get your tickets today! pic.twitter.com/ljQNRAFhoa
Another sponsor for the event is the controversy-stricken Bud Light. The beer brand came under fire last month for selecting transgender personality and actor Dylan Mulvaney as their spokesman.
Following national coverage of Bud Light’s involvement, Flagstaff Pride deleted a tweet including a version of the event poster depicting the beer brand’s sponsorship. (An archived version of Flagstaff Pride’s page, including the deleted tweet, is available here). The organization claimed that Bud Light isn’t a sponsor of the event.
We put out an incorrect promotional poster which included Bud Light as a sponsor. Attached is the correct poster. pic.twitter.com/9xYdcdS4L7
The organization lists Bud Light as a sponsor on Twitter and on their official event sponsor page (archived versions here and here).
Coca-Cola also joined in as a sponsor.
Other sponsors are the Twin Arrows Casino, Old Navy, Living Christ Lutheran Church, the Northern Arizona Association of REALTORS, Bluespan, Veterinary Emergency & Speciality Center of Northern Arizona, Westside Veterinary Clinic, Flagstaff Downtown Dental, Findlay Toyota Flagstaff, Creative Flagstaff, Flagstaff 365 Events, BBB Revenues from the City of Flagstaff, Discover Flagstaff, High Country Sanitation, Verve Valley Rentals, Hensley Beverage Company, Nutrl Vodka, Yucca North, Collins Pub & Grill, Stackhouse Wealth Strategies, WestUSA Realty Flagstaff, Little America Hotel, Pride Guide USA.
A number of hotels also sponsored the event by offering discounted rates: Twin Arrows Casino, GreenTree Inn, High Country Motor Lodge, Sonesta Suites, and Little America Hotel.
Other entertainment at Pride in the Pines includes a band called “The Pubes.”
The state wasn’t listed as a sponsor for last year’s Pride in the Pines after party. Neither was Bud Light, but other sponsors including Coca-Cola, Old Navy, and Blue Cross Blue Shield were.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Arizona’s frontline status with the crisis at America’s southern border led to a surprise, influential visitor this week.
On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in his official capacity, traveled to the southern border in Sierra Vista, alongside his Attorney General, Ashley Moody, who has been instrumental in filing many lawsuits against the federal government.
DeSantis convened two roundtables with a number of sheriffs from Arizona, Florida, and other states, listening to their stories and talking about solutions to mitigate the worsening crisis at the border.
After the meetings at Cochise College, Sheriff Mark Dannels, a national leader on border security and local enforcement, escorted his out-of-state guests to the border, where they gained a fresh, first-hand perspective of the deteriorating situation.
In a release sent out by the Florida Governor’s Office, Governor DeSantis used the visit to “highlight Florida’s successful actions to combat illegal immigration within the state and along the southern border.” Those measures include “new methods for combating human smuggling and drug trafficking across state lines and the relocation of illegal aliens who wish to be transported to so-called sanctuary states and cities.” DeSantis also announced that “Florida’s law enforcement agencies are offering trainings for other states that want to follow Florida’s lead on protecting citizens from the impacts of Biden’s Border Crisis.”
The second-term Sunshine State governor issued the following statement in conjunction with his mid-week stop in the Grand Canyon State: “Joe Biden is derelict in the performance of his duties and refuses to uphold the borders of our nation. In Florida, we’re stepping up even as the federal government falls down on the job. We enacted strong legislation to combat illegal immigration, sent law enforcement officers and equipment to the border, and have dedicated resources to divert migrants to sanctuary jurisdictions. Today we’re taking Florida’s no-nonsense approach to border enforcement nationwide.”
The chaos we are witnessing at our southern border is a direct result of the President’s dereliction of duty
If Joe Biden won’t do his duty to protect our people and our borders, Florida will step up. pic.twitter.com/TeYBKh2M8m
Dannels was extremely complimentary of the Florida team that descended on his county, appreciating their efforts to partner with him and other members of law enforcement, saying, “This is not about politics, folks. This is about doing what is right, which everyone in this room that works for government has taken an oath to do. So thank you guys for what you do. We pledge to you both and all our governors, all our sheriffs, all our law enforcement, our prosecutors, our county attorneys, our mayors to work united to fix these borders, secure our borders, and get America back.”
Sheriffs including Mark Dannels @TopCop_Cochise, PJ Allred (@GrahamCounty) William Ponce (La Paz) meet with Florida gov @rondesantis in Cochise County to discuss border issues. It was a good opportunity to discuss the issues sheriffs face in AZ pic.twitter.com/9qlg3I576i
Another Arizona sheriff, P.J. Allred of Graham County, was at the table with the Florida chief executive and gave the following remarks: “When most people come from the south to come to the United States, my little county is probably not their destination, but they come through us and we feel them when they come through us. When we’ve encountered them after a pursuit through the desert, when they see us as law enforcement and the vehicles come to a stop, they run to us as law enforcement to get away from the coyotes that were carrying them. I appreciate all of you for being here, being interested in our country, our freedoms, our rights.”
At least two state legislators appeared to be in attendance for DeSantis’ southern Arizona check-in: House Speaker Ben Toma and Representative Gail Griffin. Toma tweeted a picture with DeSantis, writing, “My pleasure to help welcome Governor Ron DeSantis to Arizona and to share details of our border crisis. Glad to hear we share the same determination to secure the southern border once and for all.”
My pleasure to help welcome @GovRonDeSantis to Arizona and to share details of our border crisis. Glad to hear we share the same determination to secure the southern border once and for all. pic.twitter.com/7CxsPU9w2f
Az Rep. Gail Griffin and Sheriff Mark Dannels talk to @RonDeSantis about how immigrants and smugglers scale the border fence. “The border’s wide open,” Dannels says. pic.twitter.com/cbPqam2Om3
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., visited Arizona farmers on Tuesday to discuss the impact of the border crisis on their livelihood.
Kennedy made the trip to Yuma, the area hardest hit by the border crisis. Yuma County provides 90 percent of the nation’s winter produce.
“The tsunami of migrants walking across farm fields and defecating in irrigation canals threatens the safety of that food supply,” stated Kennedy. “Last year, one of their neighbors had to plow under 88 acres of broccoli and personally absorb the $10k per acre cost after migrants tainted irrigation water.”
I met with local farmers Cory Mellon, Alex Mueller, Hank Auza, and Robert Barkley in Yuma, Arizona. Yuma County provides 90% of the green leafy vegetables, like iceberg lettuce, arugula, spinach, and broccoli, to American tables between November and April. The tsunami of migrants… pic.twitter.com/OKUsEw9I0C
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 7, 2023
These past two years of President Joe Biden’s border crisis, illegal immigrants have caused millions of dollars in damages to farmers’ fields, often forcing farmers to eat the loss. Illegal immigrants hide in the fields, trampling produce and leaving mountains of garbage and human waste in their wake.
The filth has forced farmers to go to expensive, massive lengths to salvage their crops. In some cases, food safety laws force farmers to destroy their crops.
I spent the morning on the border talking with Yuma farmer Cory Mellon. Shortly after President Biden was elected, illegal aliens began crossing the border and walking through farmers crops. Food safety laws meant many of those crops had to be destroyed. pic.twitter.com/D580YUmuVa
Prior to visiting with the farmers, Kennedy went to observe the border personally. He captured a typical scene of the border on video: a steady stream of migrants coming in outside of legal ports of entry.
At 2 am this morning, I visited the border outside of Yuma, Arizona where thousands of migrants are crossing the border each week. You have to see it with your own eyes. #Kennedy24pic.twitter.com/Fbl4mPr44A
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 6, 2023
Yuma County Sheriff Leon Willmot told Kennedy that solutions to the border crisis shouldn’t be partisan.
“This shouldn’t be a partisan issue, it’s a health and public safety issue. It’s a humanitarian crisis,” said Willmot.
Yuma County Sheriff Leon Willmot. “This shouldn’t be a partisan issue, it’s a health and public safety issue. It’s a humanitarian crisis.” I agree. I’m at the border learning about the situation here. So many heartbreaking stories. pic.twitter.com/fbdqqBznhL
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 7, 2023
Kennedy — the son of U.S. attorney general and senator Robert F. Kennedy, and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy — has had a lengthy career in the political realm, much like the rest of his family. Much of his life’s work has been steeped in environmentalism and health advocacy.
Kennedy arrived at the border on the 55th anniversary of his father’s assassination; just one day prior to the elder Kennedy’s death all those years ago when he won the California and South Dakota primaries for the presidency.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 6, 2023
Kennedy, known for his extensive advocacy against major childhood vaccines, further rose to prominence over the course of the pandemic for challenging the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Kennedy announced his presidential run in April.
Under Biden, there have been over 5.3 million border encounters and over 1.5 million estimated gotaways. Based on the monthly average of encounters, there may be 9.1 million illegal immigrant encounters by the end of 2024.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport has become somewhat of a rite of passage for illegal immigrants as the federal government charters them across the country. It marks another moment in their lengthy journey of free travel and accommodations, all on the taxpayer’s dime.
Illegal immigrants are also bused to the airport from the border, and have flooded Phoenix Sky Harbor by the hundreds on a daily basis.
I love Arizona too much to see it turned into a rest stop for illegal immigrants to be shipped deeper into our country.
I would have put a stop to this madness on DAY ONE.
This practice has continued now for several years under the Biden administration. Last summer, Rebel News caught the practice on video: a confused illegal immigrant asks a TSA agent for assistance as he navigates the airport.
Illegal migrants flying from Phoenix Sky Harbor International to continue their journey in the United States.
Over two years in, and meaningful border policy has yet to emerge from Arizona’s leaders in D.C.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who chairs the Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management, has been largely unsuccessful in mitigating the border crisis. Sinema chalked it up as a win last Oct. when she claimed to have halved the number of illegal immigrants being bused to the airports by arranging additional shelter or alternative transportation for them.
In May, Sinema helped introduce legislation to retain the functional aspects of Title 42 after the policy ended; the legislation hasn’t moved.
Since the end of Title 42 and with the border crisis unrelenting, Sinema has embarked on multiple trips to the border. In her most recent trip, Sinema claimed she was shocked by the state of the border: namely, that border agents are so overwhelmed with processing asylum claims that they’re unable to patrol the border.
“Our border patrol agents [are] spending the majority of their time processing asylum seekers and migrants, and spending very little time actually out in the field looking for individuals who are seeking to enter the country unlawfully, or interdicting the trafficking of drugs,” said Sinema.
Sinema noted that this was a problem because the majority of drugs are being smuggled in outside of legal ports of entry.
Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03), who seeks to take over Sinema’s seat in 2024, supported the end of Title 42 and opposed border security proposals as “cruel” for being reminiscent of policy set by former President Donald Trump.
Rather than requiring illegal immigrants to seek asylum at legal points of entry along the border, Gallego proposed more asylum processing resources to mitigate the crisis.
“They need tangible resources like buses, beds, personnel, and funds to both process asylum claims in an orderly way and keep their communities safe,” said Gallego.
Gallego has long opposed the construction of physical border barriers as a means of security.
While the federal government accepts illegal immigrants into the country and charters them by plane, American citizens face further bureaucratic hurdles to fly with the imposition of REAL ID. All citizens must obtain an updated ID bearing REAL ID markings by May 7, 2025 in order to fly. The government also doesn’t accept interim driver’s licenses (temporary paper licenses).
The original REAL ID deadline was in 2021, but has since been twice extended to this year, then to 2025.
2025 comes two years sooner than the average court date for illegal immigrants. The national average for an immigration hearing sits at over 1,500 days: over four years. Arizona’s average sits at just over 1,000 days: over two years and eight months.
The delays have caused an unprecedented number of immigration lawsuits filed in federal court.
According to Syracuse University data, the immigration court backlog has reached nearly 2.5 million, with nearly 13,400 pending criminal/national security/terror cases. Arizona has over 17,000 pending cases, with about 360 pending criminal/national security/terror cases. The national backlog nearly doubled after President Joe Biden took office, from 2021 to 2022.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The company behind the ballot printer model behind the mass voting machine failures last November, OKI, says that Maricopa County’s oversight is to blame, not their machines.
In a statement issued last month, OKI refuted Maricopa County’s findings in its April report commissioned by the county attorney’s office, which claimed that their printers weren’t capable of printing 20-inch ballots on 100-pound paper under Election Day conditions. OKI said that the manual accompanying the problematic printer clearly outlined how the two different printer trays handled two different paper weights. The multipurpose tray could support paper weights of up to 110 pounds; however, the paper cassettes could only support up to 80 pounds.
NEW: Former Supreme Court Justice releases findings from independent investigation into issues that affected some Maricopa County Vote Centers in the 2022 General Election. Read the report: https://t.co/XHSySbrk3l Board statement: https://t.co/pdZF9U2FvV
OKI also noted that the manual specified how a 100-pound cover was “well out of spec” for both the multipurpose tray and cassettes. OKI noted that any consultation with their company would’ve also made those facts clear to the county. However, the county didn’t consult with them; the attorney’s office didn’t reach out during their investigatory report either.
“Without clarification in the testing process that defines the exact paper type and the printing source (multipurpose tray or cassette), the conclusion is disingenuous given the fact that the use of 100 lb. paper can be out of specification for the B432 printers, as can be discerned readily from the printers’ manual,” stated OKI. “As a result, it seems that the true underlying cause of the election issues was the use of 100 lb. paper without reviewing the manual and/or confirming with OKI that such use was within the specifications of the OKI B432 printers. Had the County consulted OKI prior to such use, the design specifications would have been discussed and alternatives could have been explored.” (emphasis added)
OKI said that it is awaiting a corrected report from Maricopa County.
OKI also refuted two other major assertions made by the report: that the fuser inadequacy of the printers weren’t easily remedied because the fuser can’t be easily replaced, and that the company cannot offer parts and consumables for the printers because it withdrew from North American markets.
In a point-by-point rebuttal, OKI said that the printer fusers were easy to replace and could be done so on-site by technicians. They also clarified their legal obligation to support printers currently in the field with consumables and spare parts for a five-year minimum ending in 2028.
As AZ Free News reported last year, the printer model provided by OKI was one of two ballot-on-demand (BOD) printer types. The OKI model used by Maricopa County was retrofitted in 2020 to be a BOD printer for last year’s election.
The county increased the ballot size from 19 to 20 inches to accommodate for several candidates and propositions that weren’t finalized until late last August.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Amid a growing issue of homelessness around Arizona – especially in the Phoenix-Metro region – Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs rejected a Republican proposal to help address the problem.
On Monday, Governor Hobbs vetoed SB 1413, sponsored by Senator Justine Wadsack, would have required “a county, city or town, upon notice of the existence of a homeless encampment, to notify the owner to remove the structure from the location;” and would have stated “that persons who violate this prohibition are guilty of criminal trespassing or drug offenses as prescribed.”
In a letter to Senate President Warren Petersen, which explained her justification for the veto, Hobbs wrote: “People become and remain unsheltered for a variety of reasons. This legislation addresses none of those root causes, offers no pathways to assistance, and effectively criminalizes experiencing homelessness.”
Hobbs invited Petersen and his legislative colleagues to join her “in pursuing more productive solutions that respect human and constitutional rights.”
Senator Wadsack responded to the governor’s veto of her bill with a press release that denounced the action from the Ninth Floor of the Arizona Executive Tower, saying: “The City of Phoenix and the City of Tucson are two prime examples of local governments long ignoring a public safety issue that is now spiraling out of control. Murders, drug abuse, sexual assaults, human feces, fires, hypodermic needles and piles of trash are just some of the issues plaguing homeless encampments and spilling into areas where families, children and small businesses inhabit. This bill was to serve as a tool for municipalities to use in an effort to get these individuals off the streets and into services connecting them to shelter, sanitation facilities, health care and meals. Various outreach groups, like Gospel Rescue Mission, have availability right now to serve these individuals and get them back on their feet.”
The bill’s sponsor went on to warn readers about the consequences of the first-year governor’s veto, adding, “If Governor Hobbs’ goal is to turn Arizona into California, her veto of this bill will surely contribute to our state’s demise. In no time, our cities will resemble that of San Francisco, with major corporations withdrawing operations and lawlessness filling our streets. This is unacceptable governance from Hobbs and only advances chaos, not sanity, within our state.”
In March, the piece of legislation passed the state senate with a 16-12 vote (two members not voting). After being transmitted to the House of Representatives, SB 1412 cleared that chamber in May, in a 31-27 vote (with one member not voting and one seat vacant).
Progress Arizona posted its thanks to Governor Hobbs for her veto, tweeting, “Sen Justine Wadsack, an extremist lawmaker from Pima County, spends her time at the #AZLEG bullying unhoused residents, attacking LGBTQ+ people, spreading conspiracy theories & pushing hateful legislation. SB 1413, like many of her horrible proposed bills, would’ve penalized unhoused residents living in encampments with criminal trespassing.”
🧵Sen. Justine Wadsack, an extremist lawmaker from Pima County, spends her time at the #AZLEG bullying unhoused residents, attacking LGBTQ+ people, spreading conspiracy theories & pushing hateful legislation. SB1413, like many of her horrible proposed bills, would've penalized… pic.twitter.com/KrVyZsZQ9f
