by Terri Jo Neff | Dec 22, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Citing the importance of growing Arizona’s international presence, House Speaker Rusty Bowers hopes a new Ad Hoc Committee on International Affairs will enhance trade opportunities while also strengthening border security.
“The world is an ever-changing place, and it’s important that the State of Arizona be proactive to attract more commerce, education and culture to this beautiful state,” Bowers said this week in announcing formation of the ad hoc committee.
The committee co-chaired by Tim Dunn (R-LD13) and Rep. Cesar Chavez (D-LD15) will organize visits and joint events in Arizona with international dignitaries, while identifying and working with outside organizations to strengthen Arizona’s international relationships. Committee members will also conduct hearings related to foreign trade, international affairs, and border security.
“Whether it be trade, border security or tourism, this committee will be a key force in making Arizona safer and more prosperous,” said Dunn, an agri-businessman who chairs the House Committee on Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs.
According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, Arizona had $1.9 billion in trade exports and $2.38 billion in trade imports in September 2021. Between September 2020 and September 2021, exports increased by $327 million (20.7 percent) while imports increased by $221 million (10.2 percent).
For Chavez, international relationships are critical for growing the state’s business, trade, and education sectors.
“I’ve always believed that Arizona is the State of Opportunity because of what can be accomplished in a bipartisan manner,” Chavez said. “Through the work of this ad-hoc committee, I’m certain that we’ll give Arizona its well-deserved global presence.”
Dunn and Chavez will be joined on the committee by Reps. Regina Cobb (R-LD5), Diego Espinoza (D-LD19), Alma Hernandez (D-LD3), Steve Kaiser (R-LD15), Lorenzo Sierra (D-LD19), and Justin Wilmeth (R-LD15).
by Corinne Murdock | Dec 21, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Flagstaff City Council will consider requiring all single occupancy public restrooms to be gender-neutral. Affected restrooms would be those in city-owned buildings designed for one person, a family, or assisted use.
If enacted, the affected restrooms would be required to have “nongendered signage.” Instead, signs would read: “gender neutral,” “all gender,” or “restroom” without reference to a specific gender.
The Commission on Diversity Awareness characterized the change as equitable and ensuring safety for “gender non-conforming persons.” The commission also urged the council to recommend gender-neutral restrooms for all others not owned by the city.
The proposed push for gender-neutral restrooms arose out of the city’s application of the Municipal Equality Index: a metric designed by the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ activist and lobbying group in the country. The index measures from 0 to 100 the inclusivity of laws, policies, and services within five categories: non-discrimination laws, municipality as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement, and leadership on LGBTQ equality.
Flagstaff scored 88 out of 100. They lost points in areas related to housing, health care, conversion therapy, youth bullying prevention, general resources, and all-gender facilities.
Some private facilities took the step toward gender-neutral accommodations years ago. The Flagstaff YMCA changed its single occupancy restrooms into gender-neutral ones in 2016 after a young transgender male lodged a complaint. The operations director received Northern Arizona University (NAU) LGBTQIA’s Ally of the Year award. The director reported that the sign change impacted the transgender male so profoundly that the parents cried over it. NAU established gender-neutral restrooms in 2015.
The site refugerestrooms.org lists the location of gender-neutral restrooms on Flagstaff and nationwide. The restroom locator service also comes in the form of an app.
The city commission discussed the policy proposal on Tuesday.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Dec 21, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Fully vaccinated and boosted Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly caught COVID-19 a day after insisting during last Wednesday’s Senate hearing that masks don’t offer much protection against the virus on planes. Kelly’s spokespersons reported his symptoms as minimal.
“I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment,” said Kelly. “It’s very safe and high-quality compared to any other indoor setting.”
Planes rely on a filtration system that the Defense Department reported as making the risk of transmission low.
Surgical and cloth masks have limited potential for preventing aerosolized COVID-19 particles from potentially being breathed in or out by the wearer. Breathing and talking emit particles about the size of 1 micron. COVID-19 alone tends to be around .1 microns in size, ranging from as small as .06 microns to .14 microns; surgical masks can filter out particles sized at 2.5 microns or greater. Their greatest effect is to block larger respiratory droplets containing COVID-19, such as those within coughs or sneezes that are typically 5 microns or bigger.
N95 masks may provide greater efficacy because they’re rated to filter out 95 percent of particles sized .3 microns or greater.
Following the hearing, Kelly released a statement reiterating his support for the federal mandate for masks on planes.
Kelly tested negative for the virus multiple times prior to the hearing.
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby sat on either side of Kelly at the hearing. Spokespersons for both companies confirmed that both CEOs tested negative on Friday.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Dec 20, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Recent IRS filings revealed that Arizona received nearly $5.17 million during the 2020 election from the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), pumped with over $350 million from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to funnel into election offices nationwide. The Zuckerberg funds were intended to provide COVID-19 relief; in large part, they funded controversial election methods like ballot drop-boxes. The Capital Research Center (CRC) first announced the CTCL IRS filings.
The CTCL numbers concurred with AZ Free News reporting earlier this year on CRC data, which reported that CTCL spent just over $5 million in Arizona. In fact, the CRC estimate turned out to be slightly lower.
According to the IRS filings, CTCL’s biggest grant was Maricopa County at over $1.84 million. The runner-up grant amounted to over $950,400 awarded to Pima County. Several counties received slightly under or over half a million each: Navajo County received over $593,700, Apache County received nearly $589,700, Coconino County received over $524,500, and Pinal County received over $472,500.
Yuma County still received a six-figure grant: over $180,700. La Paz County was the odd man out with a $17,500 grant.
President Joe Biden won the following counties funded by CTCL grants: Maricopa (50.3 percent), Apache (66.2 percent), Coconino (60.9 percent), Pima (58.6 percent). Biden also won Santa Cruz (67.2 percent), which had no CTCL grants.
Pima County Supervisors Ally Miller and Steve Christy voted against certifying the 2020 election over the Zuckerberg grants, as Miller explained in an opinion piece published in the Arizona Daily Independent last month. The supervisors didn’t believe the grant money was helping to secure the election.
Of those counties he won, Biden flipped Maricopa from the 2016 election — which Hillary Clinton lost by over four points. He also earned about four percent more of the votes than Clinton in the counties they both won.
Biden lost the following counties funded by CTCL grants: Navajo (45.2 percent), Pinal (40.6 percent), and La Paz (30 percent). However, he lost by a smaller margin than Clinton did, gaining an average of two more points in both counties.
CRC’s reported grants varied slightly from those given in the filings: they reported learning of nearly $3 million to Maricopa County, over $806,000 to Pinal County, nearly $614,700 to Coconino County, and over $593,200 to Apache County. Their estimate of La Paz County’s grant was accurate. CRC didn’t have data on the grants awarded to Navajo, Yuma, or Pima counties.
AZ Free News reached out to Maricopa County about the grant total discrepancy. They didn’t respond by press time.
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 | Dec 20, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Passengers flying Avelo Airlines in and out of Tucson International Airport via Los Angeles’s Hollywood Burbank Airport can now utilize the TSA PreCheck expedited screening program, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday.
Avelo Airlines is known for its non-stop flights to smaller airport destinations which support access to wine regions, national parks, and cultural centers. The company describes itself as “the go-to airline for the outdoor purist, wine enthusiast, skier, nature lover, or anyone who wants smoother travel that saves money.”
In addition to Tucson, the airline also offers several flights from Hollywood Burbank Airport to northern California and the northwest U.S. Additional routes fly into Salt Lake City as well as Fort Collins / Loveland in Colorado.
Avelo’s acceptance into the TSA PreCheck program brings the total number of participating domestic and international carriers to more than 80.
TSA PreCheck is an expedited screening program which enables low-risk, eligible U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, and U.S. lawful permanent residents departing from a U.S. airport to enjoy an efficient security screening experience. The cost is $85 for five years; TSA PreCheck is available at no cost for U.S. Armed Forces service members, including those serving in the U.S. Coast Guard, Reserves, and National Guard.
Approved TSA PreCheck travelers can avoid removing shoes, belts, liquids, food items, laptops and light jackets. The TSA reports that 94 percent of TSA PreCheck members waited less than five minutes to clear security at more than 200 U.S. airports in November 2021.
Avelo also has a base at southern Connecticut’s Tweed-New Haven Airport which serves several vacation destinations across Florida. More information about Avelo’s flights in and out of Tucson and its other routes can be found on the company’s website https://www.aveloair.com/destinations
Airline passengers who are members of other Department of Homeland Security Trusted Traveler Programs such as Global Entry, NEXUS and SENTRI may be eligible for TSA PreCheck screening. To find the program that best suits your travel needs, use the DHS traveler comparison online tool at https://ttp.dhs.gov/
by Corinne Murdock | Dec 20, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The flood of illegal immigrants hasn’t slowed down in President Joe Biden’s border crisis, and it looks like it won’t anytime soon. According to Customs and Border Patrol’s (CBP) latest report, over 173,600 illegal immigrants were apprehended at the border in November — up nearly 5.5 percent from the previous month. The Office of Field Operations (OFO) accounted for much of that jump, reporting a 40 percent surge.
The majority of the fiscal year 2021 surge comes from single adults: nearly 64 percent. Less than 28 percent are family unit apprehensions (FMUA), and less than 8.5 percent are unaccompanied children (UC).
On Thursday, Border Patrol (BP) Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin showcased one of their latest catches: three illegal immigrants stuffed in the trunk of a sedan.
As AZ Free News reported, Modlin has consistently documented the reality of border apprehensions.
Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04) criticized the Biden Administration for their continued lack of resolve over the border crisis. Gosar pointed out that more illegal immigrants crossed the border in the last three months than in all of former President Donald Trump’s final year in office.
“Mr. Biden’s open border policies are an open invitation to criminals and drug cartels to cross into our country unchecked,” said Gosar. “The crisis has reached a new level and Yuma, Arizona in my district is ground zero, as hundreds of illegal aliens cross into Yuma daily and even more are staging along the border waiting to simply walk across. Yuma is under siege because Mr. Biden and Border Czar Kamala Harris are nowhere to be found. The first priority of the President of the United States is to protect the people of America. Sadly, Joe Biden puts Americans last and he has lost the trust of its citizens.”
Amid the ongoing crisis, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected efforts to grant amnesty to up to 7 million illegal immigrants through the $2 trillion budget reconciliation bill. Based on Senate rules and nearly two centuries of precedent, MacDonough determined that the amnesty effort wouldn’t be permissible; reconciliation concerns spending and revenue, though Democrats have attempted to argue that immigration relates to those two subjects. That was the third proposal on illegal immigrant amnesty brought before MacDonough, which would have allowed those here illegally since at least 2010 to apply for up to two five-year work permits.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called the ruling “deeply disappointing.” Psaki stated that their administration would continue working to secure amnesty.
“The decision by the parliamentarian is deeply disappointing and relegates millions to an uncertain and frightening future,” said Psaki. “Ultimately, it’s time for Congress to stop kicking the can down the road and finally provide certainty and stability to these groups, and make other badly needed reforms to our outdated immigration system.”
Conversely, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) applauded MacDonough’s opinion. FAIR President Dan Stein criticized Democrats’ attempts to abuse the reconciliation process.
“For the third time, Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected attempts by Senate Democrats to use the budget reconciliation process to enact a sweeping amnesty for as many as 7 million illegal aliens. FAIR applauds Ms. MacDonough for her integrity and ensuring that longstanding rules of the Senate were not subverted to achieve partisan political ends,” stated Stein. “Sadly, Senate Democrats, who hold the majority in that body solely because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast the tie-breaking vote, have made repeated attempts to use budget reconciliation to make an end run around normal legislative procedures. We hope that this, her third rejection of these tactics, will finally put an end to their efforts to abuse the process in order to reward illegal aliens.”
Governor Doug Ducey has been working with Border Patrol to strengthen enforcement. Earlier this month, he announced the Arizona National Guard would provide 24 personnel, six vehicles, four ATVs, and one helicopter to support the Department of Public Safety, as well as additional tactical assistance in hotspots.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
