by Corinne Murdock | Sep 4, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Phoenix Police Department Chief Jeri Williams determined that police who die off-duty won’t have formal funeral arrangements. The police chief issued the policy announcement through a memo letter to city staff on Monday.
Phoenix City Council member Sal DiCiccio criticized the policy last week, days prior to Williams issuing the memo.
“DISTURBING: Chief Williams has really lost her way with the rank and file to placate the crazy anti-police crowd,” wrote DiCiccio. “We were notified early this morning that funerals for our brave police officers who die on duty are treated differently than those that are off duty. Seriously?”
https://twitter.com/Sal_DiCiccio/status/1431290208029274114
DiCiccio told AZ Free News that this latest decision was yet another mistreatment of officers.
“What Phoenix is doing is BS. We have rising crime rates, can’t patrol our streets effectively – all because we don’t have enough cops – and Phoenix politicians are making it worse by constantly attacking Phoenix PD. They don’t even want to honor them with a proper funeral. It’s absurd,” stated DiCiccio.
The memo is reproduced in its entirety below:
The following memo addresses recent concerns related to notification of Police non-line of duty deaths. Based on research conducted by the Phoenix Police Department it has been determined that no written policy exists regarding non-line of duty death notifications. Instead, it has been the department’s longstanding practice to only formally notify City Council and City Management of line-of-duty deaths. Non-line of duty death notifications have been much less formal and not consistent. Therefore, I am establishing a formal written process from this point forward to ensure that information is provided consistently to all members of management and elected leadership for both line of duty and non-line of duty deaths and funeral services.
To effectively address the concerns referenced above, I am instructing the City Manager Liaison (Commander) to notify the Mayor, City Councilmembers, City Manager, and Assistant City Manager upon learning of a current police employee’s death.
Line of Duty Death: Line of Duty deaths have very formal programs for involvement of Police and City leadership. The City Manager Liaison will work with the Police Department’s Employee Assistance Unit (EAU) and provide funeral arrangement notification to the Mayor, City Councilmembers, and City management for Line of Duty deaths of current police employees as soon as possible. This will include funeral and viewing information, dignitary seating, and logistics notifications.
Non-Line of Duty Deaths: The Police Department’s Employee Assistance Unit often assists with Non-Line of Duty deaths of current police employees. Once advised by EAU, the City Manager will notify the Mayor, City Councilmembers, and City management of the non-line of duty death. Recognizing that each funeral service is different, the Department will make every attempt to support the wishes of a deceased employee’s family for public involvement in the funeral services.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Sep 4, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Within 24 hours of the Gila Bend flooding tragedy, Republican governor-hopeful Matt Salmon organized relief efforts to flood victims. Salmon helped raise over $6,000 in cash and filled a gymnasium with resources like water, food, and clothes.
In an interview with AZ Free News, Salmon explained that he and his team sprung into action immediately. They appeared on local radio stations and sent out tweets, emails, and a variety of other messages to pool resources. Their team also received help from the Mesa Republican Women’s Club and community members.
“It was really wonderful. We had a lot of the college Republicans that came and helped us out, sitting there in the hot sun all day collecting both money and equipment,” recounted Salmon.
Salmon then drove a U-haul truck to the Silver Star Theatre in Mesa to gather the donations; his wife, Nancy, assisted them all day. Gila Bend Mayor Chris Riggs told Salmon that cash would be more helpful to many families, since the flooding had left them without a place to sleep.
“It was really wonderful. We had a lot of the college Republicans that came and helped us out, sitting there in the hot sun all day collecting both money and equipment,” recounted Salmon. “It was really a team effort.”
In addition to cash donations, they also collected cleanup equipment like shovels, wheelbarrows, mops, plastic bags, and gloves. As the donations were collected, Salmon shared that one of the city council members showed him around to observe the devastation up close.
Salmon told AZ Free News that he was glad that they could offer immediate assistance to the many families affected by the historic flood.
“It really did my heart good that we could do something to help give back and help these folks. There were over 100 homes that were flooded out and destroyed,” explained Salmon. “Many lost everything they had.”
According to reports, two individuals perished as a result of the flash flood.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Terri Jo Neff | Sep 4, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Fresh off a trip to Atlanta for the annual conference of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the president of Aerospace Arizona Association says the UVS industry in Arizona continues to grow, as a South Korea recently opened a subsidiary in Maricopa County. A UVS is often referred to as a drone.
According to Mignonne Hollis, Aerospace Arizona promotes the aerospace industry throughout the State of Arizona. The organization informs its members on legislative, regulatory, safety and technical issues, while also educating federal, state, county, and local elected officials on the importance and necessity of policies that facilitate a thriving aerospace industry in Arizona.
Businesses and groups with Arizona ties which attended AUVSI’s conference in Atlanta included Darling Geomatics, GoTenna, HFE International, Hydronalix, and Prime Solutions Group. The Arizona Commerce Authority also had a representative in Atlanta for the AUVSI gathering.
In addition, several Aerospace Arizona representatives were in attendance, including Hollis, Lorie Grabham of American Airlines, Steve Latino with ASURE, Adam Hawkins of Global External Relations, and an official of PABLO AIR, a South Korea company which recently filed incorporation papers with the Arizona Secretary of State for a subsidiary, PABLO AIR International.
“While the conference was much smaller than it has been in previous years, we were able to make solid contacts and connections for Arizona – particularly the Benson Airport as it truly is a prime location for testing unmanned systems,” Hollis told AZ Free News.
One company that has already committed to using Benson’s municipal airport as a test site is PABLO AIR, which recently announced an MOU with three Arizona-based businesses to advance its proprietary unmanned drone delivery system platform into the United States.
The companies working with PABLO AIR are NGL Transportation, a Phoenix-based logistics company whose customers include Walmart and Amazon, as well as Delivery-EZ, a developer of unmanned home-delivery box systems also based in Phoenix. Hollis said Aerospace Arizona is the third business in the MOU, providing PABLO AIR a local test bed and institutional support, including information on FAA flight regulations.
PABLO AIR was announced as a 2021 finalist for AUVSI’s Excellence in Operations award which honors innovators who have shown a demonstrated commitment to advancing autonomy, leading and promoting safe adoption of unmanned systems, and developing programs which use UVS technologies to save lives and improve the human condition.
“We plan to demonstrate PABLO AIR’s unique technology in the global market by implementing practical commercialization along with demonstration of delivery in the United States, for the first time as a Korean drone startup,” said Kim Young-Joon, CEO of PABLO AIR.
Young-Joon added that the company has long-term goals to help resolve issues with the efficiency of various mobility vehicles, such as self-driving trucks, unmanned ground robots, and delivery drones.
Hollis said the aerospace industry is one of the largest economic sectors in Arizona. There are more than 1,200 companies engaged in the market in Arizona, which ranks the state as 5th in the U.S. for aerospace employment.
RELATED ARTICLE: Arizona’s Aerospace Industry Benefits From Variety Of Advocacy Efforts
by Terri Jo Neff | Sep 3, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
A former justice of the Arizona Supreme Court who used to prosecute cross-border criminals before becoming a judge says many Arizonans along the border feel abandoned by President Joe Biden, but he has an idea to help stop the influx of undocumented immigrants and smugglers coming into the state.
During an interview with KFYI’s James T. Harris on Thursday, Andrew Gould agreed with a recent assessment by Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels that the situation at the border is out of control, but the crisis “is far, far worse than you could imagine,” he said.
“We’ve created an open border, and the Biden Administration has essentially abandoned American citizens just like he did with Americans in Afghanistan,” Gould said.
Gould told Harris that there are options for making Arizona unattractive to those illegally entering the United States via Arizona. The options could be undertaken without the help of federal authorities such as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol, which get their orders from Biden.
One option which Gould believes can be easily implemented is establishing a No Trespass Zone from Cochise County to Yuma County on state and private lands along the 325 miles of border between Mexico and Arizona.
According to Gould, Arizonans are now “at the mercy of these cartels who are making billions of dollars off crime. They are pushing illegal immigration, fentanyl, methamphetamine, sex trafficking, extortion, murder, bribery. And there‘s no help for us coming from the federal government.”
The answer, Gould believes, is for local and state officials to join with property owners to post no-trespassing signs on private property and state land. The signs are necessary to satisfy the “reasonable notice” requirement in state law before anyone can be arrested for criminal trespass.
Gould brings a unique perspective to the subject, as a one-time prosecutor for Maricopa and Yuma counties where he handled major felony cases. He went on to serve as a judge with the Yuma County Superior Court and the Arizona Court of Appeals before being appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court by Gov. Doug Ducey in 2016.
The appointment as a supreme court justice came with a practically guaranteed seat on the bench until age 70. In fact, Gould was retained by voters in the November 2020 General Election for a six term.
But in April, the 57-year-old Gould shocked court watchers when he stepped down to run for Arizona Attorney General, who is not only Arizona’s top prosecutor but also its top legal advisor to dozens of state agencies. With illegal immigration and drug / human smuggling among the biggest legal challenges facing the state, Gould says Arizonans cannot wait on the Biden Administration to address the public safety, public health, and environmental harms posed by an uncontrolled border.
A no-trespassing zone is something Gould has discussed with border sheriffs, including Dannels and Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot. Both expressed interest in the idea, he said.
A conviction for misdemeanor criminal trespass can carry a jail sentence of 30 to 180 days. Most non-U.S. citizens would be ordered held in custody pending resolution of the charges, so Gould says Arizona’s county jails would need financial support to handle the increased incarceration costs.
One option, he noted, is to aggressively target Cartel assets to help with the expense.
by Corinne Murdock | Sep 3, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) asserted that the left-leaning critics of comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan’s COVID-19 diagnosis reveals their true motives: vaccine mandates, with indifference to treating the infection. Biggs tweeted that the Left’s derision of Rogan for not being vaccinated was indicative of their real intentions.
“The Left’s anger that Joe Rogan used something other than a vaccine to fight Covid-19 is revealing,” tweeted Biggs on Thursday. “They don’t actually care about treating those infected. They just want to control you through vaccine mandates.”
On Wednesday, Rogan announced he’d been diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier that week. He reported feeling weary and run-down with a headache when he returned home on Saturday, and later developed a fever.
Rogan said that he felt his worst on Sunday, just before taking a cocktail of recommended and experimental treatments – including the antimalarial drug ivermectin, which has become controversial as of late for mainly being a “horse dewormer.”
“So we immediately threw the kitchen sink at it: all kinds of meds: monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin, Z-Pack, Prednisone – everything. And I also got an NAD drip and an IV drip, and I did that three days in a row,” said Rogan.
In response, a wide variety of outlets and leftist pundits claimed that Rogan was receiving the specific preparation of ivermectin used as a horse dewormer to treat his COVID-19. Among these critics were Yahoo! News, CNET, and CNN.
Even the FDA has mocked those considering reliance on the drug as a treatment for COVID-19. They shared an article warning against the use of ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment, discussing the differences in brief between physician-prescribed ivermectin with the preparations given to horses as a dewormer.
“You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it,” tweeted the FDA.
However, ivermectin has proven to have a growing number of life-saving uses in humans. Several researchers won the Nobel Prize as recently as 2015 for discovering that the drug proved effective against roundworm parasites and malaria.
Rogan reported feeling progressively better since his Sunday diagnosis, and “great” on Wednesday.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Sep 2, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Two of the Arizona Democratic Party’s top leaders apparently want people to riot over the Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene in Texas’s abortion ban. State Representative Daniel Hernandez (D-Tucson) liked and State Representative Diego Rodriguez (D-Phoenix) retweeted a post calling for the public to “break some s***” over the ban.
Both Democrats are running for higher seats. Hernandez is aiming to become the second district’s next congressman, while Rodriguez has his sights on becoming the state’s next attorney general. After news of their support for riots circulated, it appears that Rodriguez removed his retweet. As of press time, Hernandez’s like remains on the tweet.
The tweet originated from Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona (PPAZ) Board Chair Chris Love, posted early Wednesday in response to Texas’s fetal heartbeat law going into effect. The law effectively bans abortions at 6 weeks, when a fetal heartbeat is first detected.
“I mean, what exactly did you all expect?” wrote Love. “You’re devastated, but you consistently ignored every single sign. I’ll write something coherent in the morning, but just know that fighting back doesn’t mean pussy hats or petitions. Be ready to break some s***.”
Love retweeted the above tweet with further commentary, as promised – a thread of 12 tweets, to be exact. She explained that she knew for years that Roe v. Wade, the cornerstone for abortion legality, was imperfect and doomed to fail. She added that Texas’s fetal heartbeat law was proof of her predictions. Love said that the time for “polite” debate is over, and advocated for people to fight and “shatter this s*** system.”
The entirety of Love’s follow-up post is reproduced below:
If you went to bed early last night, you’re waking up to news that SCOTUS did not to intervene in Texas, so SB8, a bill that bans abortion at 6 weeks, is now law. If you’re like me, your timelines [are] awash with folks being all varieties of upset as Roe [v. Wade] is essentially done. I’m not upset. I’ve been numb to this for a while. We knew this was going to happen. Black women told you think [sic] would happen. THIS Black woman told you it was coming…and many of you rolled your eyes. But the die was cast a while ago. The first sign was Dems doing absolutely nothing to force through a SCOTUS appointment in Obama’s last year. They let Republicans run roughshod and hold up the Garland nomination. BTW, the choice of Garland was a strategy to appease Rs [Republicans]. The thing is, it didn’t work. Never does. Next, white people voted for Trump. Those of you didn’t didn’t [sic] were shocked! Why? Again, many people, especially Black women, TOLD YOU IT COULD HAPPEN. And you shrugged and wore your white suits to the polls instead of making sure “you people” knew what was at stake. As promised, Trump and the Rs appointed some of the most conservative justices to the bench as a whole, not just the SCOTUS. Again, y’all were shocked. Why? They told you that was exactly what they planned to do. But white folks were too busy upholding whiteness to see clearly. Now, Dems are back in the majority. What have they done? Exactly NOTHING. It took 6 months to get the Biden administration to even look at the Hyde Amendment. That dude has never said abortion. Conservative Dems are holding up the filibuster, which limits options in Congress. Simultaneously, y’all kept voting for a**holes in your states. Arizona did, too. Don’t believe that “we went blue” nonsense. We still have [a] Rep[ublican] Governor, AG, and leg[islature]. Legislatures around the country have been working overtime to ban abortion and get a case to this new SCOTUS. When SCOTUS agreed to take the Mississippi case, folks in repro knew what it meant for Roe. So did the antis. I’ve been saying for months that Roe is done and we need to build movement around creating a new abortion rights framework, especially b/c Roe is imperfect. Then last night happened. I know you’re upset, but we’ve had years to recon with what was coming. So, I’m not broken or deterred. I’m ready to FIGHT BACK! Are you? Then stop being polite about this. Stop speaking in hushed voices. Get some courage and shatter this s*** system! To every person who called me dramatic or I said needed to “give Biden a chance” or “stay in your lane,” I hope your eyes are open now. I hope your ears are open now. And I hope you’re ready to fight to protect abortion in this country. Say it with me–ABORTION! If you’re not sold on abortion on demand and without apology, then it’s well past time for you to get there. If you need a push, I’m happy to discuss. But if you can’t get on this train, then GET OUT OF THE WAY! And with that, all antis will be blocked. Do me a solid and don’t feed the trolls. (emphasis added)
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
