Arizonans will mark the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in a variety of ways Sunday, including by having all state flags lowered to half-staff.
Gov. Doug Ducey issued the order in remembrance of the nearly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives after four hijacked planes were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington DC, and a field in rural Pennsylvania.
“We will always remember September 11, 2001,” Ducey said in a video statement released Friday. “We will remember the lives lost. And we will continue to be inspired by brave and patriotic men and women who answered the call of duty.”
The governor added that time “has helped us heal, but we will never forget” and that reflecting on the events from 21 years ago is “a sobering reminder that our democracy and our way of life must be protected and fought for.”
Earlier this year, the governor signed legislation which requires that Arizona school kids learn about the events of September 11, 2001.
Several Sept. 11 remembrance events will be held Sunday morning across Arizona, including the 9/11 Tower Challenge in Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson. The challenge involves participants climbing 2071 steps in the arena, signifying the 110 floors of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
And on Sunday night there will be a memorial hosted by the Town of Gilbert’s police officers and fire rescue personnel from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at the town’s Sept. 11 Memorial Plaza at 50 E. Civic Center Drive.
On Thursday, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) claimed that he doesn’t engage in stock trading. Yet last year, Kelly was fined for violating the Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act.
Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) reportedly violated the Stop Trading in Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, a law to dissuade insider trading. https://t.co/AZKPtmuxpF
The stock trading that earned Kelly his fine was with Boom Technology (previously known as Boom Aerospace, or Boom Supersonic): a Chinese-partnered company designing supersonic aircrafts on whose board Kelly served from 2015 to 2019. Kelly failed to file a disclosure on exercising that stock option for four months. The STOCK Act requires legislators to disclose that action within 30 days of notification or 45 days of the transaction.
In January, Kelly introduced legislation to ban members of Congress and their families from selling stocks while in office: the Ban on Congressional Stock Trading Act. It hasn’t moved out of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee since then.
Other Democrats introduced similar bills after Kelly’s was introduced, also fated to wait in committees: Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07) with the Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership Act of 2022, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA-45) with the STOCK Act 2.0.
Kelly currently uses the motionless bill to fundraise for his campaign through ActBlue. The fundraising page also alleges that Kelly rejects corporate PAC money.
Kelly’s claim is technically true — corporate funds to his campaign don’t come from a PAC, but they do come from corporate executives. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Kelly’s campaign receives a majority of its major donations from his PAC called the Mark Kelly Victory Fund. That fund, in turn, receives money from major corporate executives. From January 2021 through June 2022, the fund’s biggest donations were nearly a dozen $20,800 donations from individuals directly in or closely associated with the corporate world.
For example: in June, Kelly received $41,600 from Michael Michelson and his wife, Georgia Taylor Michelson. Michael serves on the board of directors for Zimmer Biomet, a medical device corporation.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Phoenix City Council gave $5 million of the city’s COVID-19 recovery funds to the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) Foundation.
The millions will be distributed to around 400 students with financial need through a newly-launched tuition assistance program, the Phoenix Promise Program. However, the program won’t end once the $5 million of American Rescue Plan Action (ARPA) funding is spent. The city stated last month that they would partner with the MCCD Foundation, along with other, unnamed education institutions, the business community, nonprofits, local governments, and philanthropic organizations to perpetuate the program.
One of the nonprofits that assisted the city of Phoenix and MCCCD in developing the Phoenix Promise Program was Aliento, an illegal immigrant activist organization. The Arizona House awarded a proclamation to the organization for its service to “mixed-document” backgrounds in June.
Phoenix Promise Program will benefit historically marginalized students, low-income, BIPOC, single parents, and returning students who are residents of Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/G9NoFfVaXQ
The city first approved this initial $5 million allocation in early June, followed by a contract with MCCD Foundation at the end of August. The first tuition assistance payments will be awarded for the upcoming Spring 2023 semester, and will be awarded each semester through Spring 2025. About $280,000 of the $5 million will go to administrative costs.
🎓NOW: Council unanimously approves a $5M Phoenix Promise Program that my office developed in partnership with @AlientoAZ, @MCCCDF & @PhxDistrict4.
Now, we work to provide 400 students with tuition assistance & wraparound support to any @mcccd. https://t.co/GOX0KUKhj6
— Councilwoman Yassamin Ansari (@District7PHX) August 31, 2022
Each Phoenix Promise Program recipient will receive $965 each semester. In addition to tuition, recipients may use their funds to pay for books, fees, technology, supplies, transportation, food, and childcare.
The program will also provide recipients with an academic advisor; exclusive access to workshops, boot camps, tutoring, counseling, and other support services; and personalized assistance from MCCCD’s career services.
During Wednesday’s city council meeting, Councilwoman Yassamin Ansari lamented that illegal immigrant students with deferred deportation — namely Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, also known as DREAMers — don’t qualify for the funding. Ansari disclosed that city and county officials are researching how to secure funding for them.
“Because this is federal funding, we are unable legally to support our DACA students with it but something we’re looking to do very soon, now that we’ve launched the program, is bringing in other partners,” said Ansari.
The application deadline for Phoenix Promise Program’s Spring 2023 awards is October 31.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Thursday, the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (AZCCEC) voted to give gubernatorial opponents Katie Hobbs and Kari Lake another week to agree to a debate format. Even if the debate doesn’t take place, a Q&A session will occur on the scheduled day of the debate, October 12.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hobbs rejected the traditional debate setup at the end of last month, and last Friday issued a proposal to replace the debate with two separate, consecutive town halls.
AZCECC read aloud a letter from Republican gubernatorial candidate Lake refusing to accept Hobbs’ terms. Lake also requested that one of the commissioners, Amy Chan, recuse herself because she works as general counsel to Hobbs’ office. Chan did recuse herself from the discussion and vote.
New #AZGOV: @KariLake calls on @AZCCEC to reject Katie Hobbs’ counter proposal to debate:
“We are calling on the Commission to schedule the debate as planned with two podiums on stage. Kari Lake will be there to answer any & all questions from the moderator.” pic.twitter.com/iuthNUZIxc
AZCCEC rejected Hobbs’ proposal, 3-1. Only Commissioner Steve Titla voted in favor of Hobbs’ proposal.
Chairman Damien Meyer said he weighed the purpose of AZCCEC, and what is best for Arizona voters. Meyer said voter education was the most important function of AZCCEC. Meyer said it was most beneficial for voters to have a debate.
“I don’t believe the commission should accept Secretary Hobbs’ proposal of these back-to-back 30 minute town hall interviews,” said Meyer.
However, Meyer stressed that both campaigns needed to work with AZCCEC to agree on a fair debate structure. Meyer clarified that any future debate format modifications shouldn’t include content regulation. He implied that fact-checking wasn’t the role of debate moderators.
“If someone wants to make a claim, then they’re going to have to live with that claim,” said Meyer.
Commissioner Mark Kimble said he agreed with Meyer, but “only up to a point.” Kimble said there was an issue with timing, since AZCCEC usually sends a format in August. He took issue with Hobbs’ action to send a proposal last week. Kimble argued that it was unrealistic to believe that Hobbs and Lake could come to a mutual agreement.
“It’s incumbent on us to say enough. This is the format we set up,” said Kimble.
Commissioner Galen Paton concurred. He said voters needed to see a debate between the two candidates.
“If they want to do town halls they can do that somewhere else with someone else sponsoring it,” said Galen.
Titla disagreed. He said there was time for the two campaigns to work with AZCCEC to create a fair solution. Titla said he liked Hobbs’ proposal, implying that Lake didn’t meet the criteria of conducting a “fair and reasoned” debate. Titla said the “Apache way” was to give people time to speak, not to insult and speak over one another.
“There should be reasonable people talking, not speaking over each other, not insulting one another in front of people,” said Titla.
Present at the meeting were representatives of both campaigns: Nicole DeMont for Hobbs and Timothy La Sota for Lake.
DeMont said Hobbs was willing to participate in a “substantive” debate, which she said Lake wasn’t going to do. She accused Lake of wanting to create a spectacle.
“You can’t debate a conspiracy theorist,” said DeMont. “When she starts to come back to reality [then] we can have a debate.”
La Sota retorted that Hobbs’ avoidance of the debate is a “cop-out.” He said Hobbs’ proposal is merely an infomercial, not substantive. La Sota warned that AZCCEC capitulating on this debate would cause future candidates to avoid debates. La Sota added that a town hall wasn’t a debate, and therefore would undermine AZCCEC’s purpose.
Public comment heavily favored hosting a traditional debate: 13 voters desired a debate, while 3 voters said they would rather have Hobbs’ proposed town hall format or no debate at all.
Watch the entire AZCCEC meeting below:
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
One of Arizona’s top charter school chains, Legacy Traditional Schools (LTS), began allowing boys into girls’ bathrooms this semester under its new “Title IX Gender Identity Policy” — and didn’t notify parents.
AZ Free News spoke to some of the families impacted: several said they’ve pulled their children out of safety concerns, while others are seeking accommodations. Despite the ongoing controversy over their updated policy to accommodate gender identity, LTS canceled its August 25 board meeting. They claimed that there was “no new business requiring board attention.”
Vertex Education, the education management company behind LTS, discussed and shared their updated Title IX policy with AZ Free News. It appears from what Vertex Education spokesman Sean Amir shared that LTS made the policy change to align with anticipated changes to Title IX under the Biden administration. Amir added that LTS didn’t include their new Title IX Gender Identity Policy in their parent handbook because it was part of their internal documents.
“As a public charter school, Legacy must abide by all state and federal laws. Likewise, it does not discriminate against any student. Our notice of non-discrimination in the Parent/Student Handbook (page 38) is available on our website, and provides the federal statement as mandated by law,” wrote Amir. “The school’s internal documents describe how to carry out what Title IX sets forth, and are made available upon request.”
Vertex Education didn’t answer our questions about the lack of notification to parents about the policy update, nor did they answer as to whether community backlash prompted LTS to cancel its last board meeting.
The company also didn’t answer whether their leadership discussed the high school sexual assault that made international headlines last fall and moved deep-blue Virginia to vote for a Republican governor for the first time in nearly a decade. In that case, a high school boy wearing a skirt sexually assaulted a freshman girl in the girls’ bathroom.
One LTS mother, Jennifer Leslie, shared with AZ Free News that they learned about LTS’ gender identity policy the week of August 2, when school started. Another parent’s child reportedly came home saying that a middle-school boy attended school dressed up as a girl and wearing a wig, and that he was uncomfortable with what he saw.
“They normally blast out so many emails about changes. Not once was this mentioned,” said Leslie. “It’s just disheartening. I don’t have a better way to explain it. I just wish there was more transparency. They could’ve handled this so much better.”
According to Leslie, LTS claimed that the gender identity policy has been in place since 2015. The Google Doc version of the policy we reviewed, supplied by Vertex Education, was created July 28. The company’s spokesman also didn’t mention the age of the policy. Leslie also shared that many LTS staff were unaware of the policy’s existence.
In addition to allowing students to use restrooms and locker rooms designated for the opposite sex, the LTS gender identity policy directs parents to coordinate a gender transition plan with their school principal and administrators.
As part of this plan, students may adhere to the opposite sex’s dress code, staff must use the student’s preferred names and pronouns, students may participate in sports designated for the opposite sex (unless prohibited by the Canyon Athletic Association), and staff may communicate a student’s gender transition to other students. However, LTS won’t voluntarily disclose to families whether any of their children’s peers are transitioning genders.
Leslie noted that she pulled her two children from LTS due to the policy and the administration’s subsequent unwillingness to accommodate them. Leslie described the ordeal as overwhelming.
“They were not very receptive at all. We first asked for our girls to use a single user restroom. We asked if they could use a health restroom. They said no, that is for children with special needs or kids who have a 504 plan,” shared Leslie. “The only option was, the girls had to use the bathroom with the other individual who is transitioning into a girl and allow him into that same bathroom. All kids deserve safety. The concern is boys being in the girls’ bathroom.”
Leslie said that her children miss their friends, having attended LTS since kindergarten, but that the change was for the best. While her eldest was admitted into another school, the youngest is on a waitlist and attending an online program.
“It’s disheartening and disappointing,” said Leslie. “It’s not even the teachers [who are to blame], it’s not even the administration. It’s the managing company of Legacy Traditional Schools, which is Vertex Education.”
Another mother, Diana Fitzgerald, shared that she also learned about the policy change from another parent and not LTS. Fitzgerald’s child attends a different campus from where the incident occurred.
Fitzgerald said the new policy alarmed her, prompting her to request an accommodation for a single-stall restroom. Since parents may never be informed about the presence of a transgender student on campus, Fitzgerald secured a precaution for her daughter. She said the whole ordeal was a disheartening travesty.
“I’m concerned about the gender identity issue. It does create a head-on collision with parental rights. I’m grateful I was made aware of this,” said Fitzgerald. “That’s all any parent wants is transparency so they can feel safe that their children are in a healthy learning environment.”
Another longtime LTS mother, Jacqueline Parker, said that she also pulled her three children from their schools over the policy. She said that the concerns posed by her and others over the new policy were largely dismissed by LTS, which she said was “extremely frustrating” and caused her to believe that her family was nothing more than a dollar sign for funding.
Though it’s been over a month, Parker informed AZ Free News that LTS still hadn’t supplied a copy of the gender identity policy to her.
“Multiple parents have emailed the district office to get clarification on how each campus is to handle this situation. The verdict is that our children would be the ones singled out, by us as parents filling out a form to allow them to use a grown-up bathroom,” said Parker.
Parker shared that LTS sent out multiple emails for a variety of other topics, such as COVID-19 mitigation plans and a new math curriculum, but chose not to disclose its gender identity policy.
“The safety of our children has been put in jeopardy and there was not one email or communication of any sort to inform parents of such a big change. The lack of transparency about this policy is unacceptable,” said Parker. “Not only were we concerned about the safety of our children but also truly disheartened that Legacy, whom we held to such high standards of morals and values, would conform to such an unconservative policy.”
Since its inception in 1972, Title IX protections prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex. In July, the Department of Education (DOE) notified Americans that it would extend Title IX protections to ban discriminations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The deadline for public comment on the potential new Title IX protections is next Monday, September 12. As of press time, there were over 152,900 comments on the proposed changes, with just over 48,000 available for review.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The city of Phoenix decided Wednesday to spend $10 million every year until they achieve zero traffic-related fatalities — likely ad infinitum. The council passed the Vision Zero Road Safety Action Plan (RSAP) by a unanimous vote.
Approval of the RSAP wasn’t anticipated this soon. Mayor Kate Gallego disclosed during the Wednesday meeting that the council expedited the plan in order to qualify for federal funds. Those funds would come from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grants, established under President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) with an application deadline of September 15.
The $10 million comes from several different avenues: $3 million from the general fund, $2 million from Transportation 2050 Fund, and $5 million from the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund (AHERF). It’s part of a national network of 53 Democratic cities: the Vision Zero Network. Tempe joined as well. The network supports Buttigieg’s SS4A initiative.
The Vision Zero Network is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, a left-leaning grantmaking institution whose funding comes from a variety of left-leaning nonprofits such as the Grove Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the NoVo Foundation.
The city council approved the incorporation of the Vision Zero goals in January.
According to the city’s data, less than 200 traffic-related fatalities occur on average in Phoenix every year. The deaths are generally disparate in nature.
In a statement to AZ Free News, Phoenix City Council candidate Sam Stone claimed that Gallego and the council were purposefully worsening the roadways through RSAP in order to increase demand for public transportation. Ridership for buses, light rail, and other forms of public transit have decreased steadily over the years, likely due to sanitation and crime concerns.
“It doesn’t matter what Mayor Gallego and the Council majority call it, this is still Vision Zero — taking away driving lanes, reducing speeds to 25 mph, and loading the city with automated ticket machines,” warned Stone. “It’s the left’s plan to make driving so inconvenient that everyone (except themselves, of course) is forced to ride the bus. And it’s a gridlock-inducing failure everywhere it’s been tried.”
That $10 million expenditure is flexible. The plan is subject to change, or will function as a “living document,” as confirmed during Wednesday’s meeting by Kini Knudson, director of the Streets Transportation Department. Gallego was visibly excited about the plan’s passage, as were the other council members.
“It’ll be an important year for traffic safety in Phoenix,” said Gallego.
11 citizens will assist with the development of the RSAP through a Vision Zero Community Advisory Committee.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
