by AZ Free News | Aug 24, 2021 | Education, News
The National Education Association’s state affiliate tried to harass and intimidate Rhode Island mom Nicole Solas into silence just for trying to find out what her daughter would be taught in kindergarten by filing a legally baseless lawsuit against her. The union even went so far as to seek emergency relief from the court to circumvent the public records law and prevent Nicole from receiving public information.
Today, the union withdrew its baseless request for emergency relief. Nicole has contended since the union first filed this case that the union has no standing and no legal right to bring the action. The union’s voluntary withdraw of its motion appears to recognize the union’s flimsy legal standing.
Earlier this year, Nicole began making public records requests to find out her daughter’s kindergarten curriculum—doing just as her school district asked her to do. But for making these requests, she was stonewalled and even threatened with legal action. The Goldwater Institute made an additional records request on her behalf—and in response, the South Kingstown School Committee hit her with a $74,000 bill to get the information she sought.
The NEA had asked for a preliminary order from the court that would direct the South Kingstown School Committee to stop responding to Nicole’s public records requests. But today, the union withdrew its extraordinary request, and the School Committee now must still meet its statutory deadlines and other requirements to respond to Nicole’s public records requests.
“Nicole and every parent has every right to know what is being taught in their children’s classrooms,” said Goldwater Institute Director of National Litigation Jon Riches, who represents Nicole. “The union’s reprehensible attempt to harass and intimate Nicole and other parents was seen today for what it is—a legally baseless assault that will not stand.”
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by Corinne Murdock | Aug 23, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Tucson’s vaccine mandate may be the end of a career for many first responders. The city now requires that all of its employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine by Tuesday – also the deadline for all religious and medical exemption applications. If not, city employees face penalties such as unpaid suspension and are excluded from certain benefits such as leave. The council plans to convene again on September 9 to determine whether they’ll make refusal of the vaccine a fireable offense; this decision is contingent on the amount of employees who get vaccinated.
The vaccine mandate impacts first responders the most. According to city data, firefighters and police officers have the lowest vaccination rates among city employees. City data also notes that these first responders collectively answered nearly 435,000 calls in 2020 – even with stay at home orders and mandated closures.
One legal challenge to the vaccine mandate has already been shot down. Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Gordon denied a request from the Tucson Police Officers Association (TPOA) for a restraining order against the city policy. Gordon said that TPOA and those who testified failed to show that they would suffer irreparable harm from the mandate.
Tucson City Council asserts that strict measures should be taken for those who don’t get vaccinated – even termination. Councilman Steve Kozachik suggested that the city fire all employees who don’t become fully vaccinated by the end of September.
“If left to me, I’d set a date [or] a deadline and terminate anyone who doesn’t get vaccinated,” stated Kozachik. “The ordinance should say ‘get vaccinated by September 25 – fully vaccinated – or you forfeit your employment as a city worker.’”
Tucson’s mandate comes as health officials are urging booster doses of the vaccine, following reports of more breakthrough cases and a spike in the Delta variant.
In an executive order published two weeks ago, Governor Doug Ducey clarified that vaccine mandates were outlawed by statute. The governor noted that any violations of this law would be considered a class 3 misdemeanor and subject to legal action.
In relation to Ducey’s remarks on the legality of vaccine mandates, Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced last week that his office was investigating Tucson’s vaccine mandate.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) published an opinion last month arguing that emergency use authorization-only vaccines could be mandated.
State Representative Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) told AZ Free News that this mandate was a politicized move that threatens public safety. The representative assured that the state legislature would mete out proper justice if Tucson doesn’t retract its mandate.
“Tucson has gone full communist with its latest threat to fire employees who make the individual choice to hold off on taking the COVID vaccine at this time,” stated Hoffman. “The fact that Tucson’s partisan politics would sacrifice public safety to promote an unlawful, anti-science, forced vaccination policy is a bridge too far. If the far-left politicians in Tucson refuse to follow the law, the legislature will have no choice but to address their lawlessness come January.”
Similarly, Alex Kolodin, the attorney for the biology teacher suing Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) for its mask mandate, said that Tucson’s mandate is a means of catching the President’s attention.
“Firing first responders during the public health emergency just so that they can suck up to Joe Biden by flouting the law seems like a really bad move,” assessed Kolodin.
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 | Aug 23, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
On Monday afternoon, Dale Henson and his attorney are slated to appear before a federal magistrate in Phoenix to argue why Henson, a Chandler resident, should be released from detention to await trial on 58 counts related to financial crimes, including money laundering and defrauding two government agencies.
Dale Henson and his wife Zoila Villa Henson were arrested Aug. 18 after a 17-month FBI investigation into $1.2 million of allegedly falsified medical billings to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). The investigation also found allegedly illegal activity connected to the couple’s use of $150,000 in COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the Small Business Administration.
Court records show Dale Henson was ordered at his initial court appearance to be held by the U.S. Marshals Service until a formal detention hearing on whether he poses a flight risk, as Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Klapper contends. That is what U.S. Magistrate Deborah Fine will decide Monday.
Zoila Henson’s name does not appear on the court’s detention hearing calendar this week, possibly because of her status as a Mexican citizen.
The arrest of the Hensons, both age 53, was announced Aug. 20 by the U.S. Department of Justice. However, AZ Free News is aware of several search warrants executed last fall in connection to the Hensons and those they did business with. Some of the searches were conducted at commercial locations while others took place at residences across Arizona.
According to the Aug. 3 indictment, Henson Family Services LLC and Henson Holdings LLC were hired in 2019 by a behavioral health facility in Mesa to handle the facility’s medical billing. But the Henson entities are alleged to have billed and received payment from AHCCCS on 25 occasions from August 2019 through April 2020 for services which were not rendered to the facility’s patients.
In addition to the 25 AHCCCS fraud counts, the indictment includes 25 counts of aggravated identity theft for using names and birthdates of the facility’s clients on the fraudulent billings, 6 counts of money laundering, and 2 counts of wire fraud. The wire fraud is related to the alleged misuse of two COVID-19 government loans issued to the couple’s businesses.
It is unclear how AHCCCS approved the couple or their businesses to work with Arizona healthcare companies given that the State of Nevada terminated a contract with Henson Family Services, Dale Henson, and Zoila Henson in January 2019. A Nevada Office of Inspector General report also shows three-year sanctions against all three by the Nevada Medicaid system.
But by mid-2020, the couple was actively engaging new clients in Arizona. Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) records showed Zoila Henson as statutory agent for 24 businesses, the majority of which appear to be healthcare related.
Among the businesses are Chandler-based Mountain View Residential LLC, Apache Health LLC in Apache Junction, and Cypress Health and Wellness Spa.
ACC records show Cypress Health was owned by Dale Henson, Amber Scott, and the late-Kacey Bowers. Bowers also co-owned Babbitt Bowers Behavioral Health Services LLC with Kristy Babbitt, another business which lists Zoila Henson as statutory agent.
In March 2020, Dale Henson uploaded several photographs of his Chandler residence to his Facebook page. That same month, the couple issued a $309,103 cashier check to Great American Title, which is one of the six acts of money laundering charged in the criminal indictment.
Three of the other transactions involve more than $312,000 in checks written to the Wisconsin-based Lutheran Indian Ministries. The other two money laundering charges relate to $11,390.73 paid to Nordstrom department store in February 2020 and a $15,000 check written to “K.B.” in March 2020, according to the indictment.
Dale Henson will be represented at Monday’s detention hearing by Michael Kimerer. Among the arguments put forth by Klapper of the U.S. Attorney’s Office is that pretrial detention “is appropriate when the United States demonstrates either flight risk or danger to the community.”
Such a risk is posed by Dale Henson, according to Klapper, in part because of recent real estate transactions by the couple, including the $1.3 million purchase of a home last year which they recently sold.
“The Hensons also purchased five other pieces of residential or commercial real estate in the Phoenix metropolitan area, valued at millions of dollars – all of which was recently sold,” Klapper wrote to the court, adding that the couple have “few remaining connections to Arizona and have many connections to Mexico, where Zoila Henson is a citizen.”
The proceeds of those sales have been captured by state authorities pending forfeiture, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The capture appears to be related to a separate state investigation into healthcare fraud.
A review of Dale Henson’s Facebook page reveals a public post in which he notes having a brother-in-law who is a captain with Aeromexico. Information on Zoila Henson’s attorney was not available as of press time.
by Terri Jo Neff | Aug 23, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
A new state program announced last week by Gov. Doug Ducey will provide up to $10,000 to assist small businesses impacted by Mother Nature and her aftermath, as well as those still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ducey’s Aug. 20 announcement of his Back to Work Small Business Rehiring and Retention Program came the same day he toured flood-ravaged Gila Bend. But while the program is being heavily touted in areas hard hit by flooding and wildfires, the funds are also available to thousands of other Arizona small businesses.
And by small, the governor means between 5 and 50 employees for businesses impacted by flooding or wildfires, and between 5 and 25 for all others. In addition, the business must be owned and operated in Arizona, have an incorporation date before Jan. 1, 2020, and rent or lease a physical location in Arizona.
“We want to make sure they have the resources needed to grow and serve their customers, and our new Small Business Rehiring and Retention Program will do just that,” Ducey said of the funding for employee hiring / signing bonuses, relocation bonuses for employees moving to take an open position, and employee retention bonuses.
One of those small business owners is Lilly Hritz, proprietor of Lilly’s Tombstone Memories located on historic Allen Street in Tombstone. Hritz’s business was hit hard by the pandemic, which essentially wiped out nine months of tourism in 2020 and continued to keep many customers away during the traditionally busy first quarter of this year.
That drop off in revenues and available work hours has made it difficult to find and keep quality workers, Hritz told AZ Free News.
“I am excited to about Governor Ducey’s new program. It will make it easier for me to retain the staff I have and help me attract new employees as we prepare for the upcoming tourist season,” said Hritz. “And that will give me the peace of mind to refocus on our expansion plans which had to be put on hold when COVID hit.”
Ducey’s new program has also received bipartisan support among lawmakers, including praise from Rep. Jeff Weninger (R-LD17) and Rep. Aaron Lieberman (D-LD28).
“Effectively hiring and maintaining employees is crucial for the success of any business, but especially the smaller businesses,” said Weninger, himself a small business owner in Maricopa County. “This new program will help them continue to bounce back from the pandemic and extreme weather, and they’ll have the opportunity to expand operations.”
Lieberman is also a business owner, and said he was happy to work with Ducey’s office on the development of the program.
“Small businesses create jobs, support communities and serve Arizonans’ needs,” said Lieberman. “I’m thrilled to see the launch of the Small Business Rehiring and Retention Program and look forward to all it will do to foster small business growth and help Arizona workers.”
The Small Business Rehiring and Retention Program is a new component of Governor Ducey’s Arizona “Back to Work” plan announced in May. Information about the program is available at https://www.azcommerce.com/covid-19/financial-resources/back-to-work-small-business-hiring-and-retention-program/
by Terri Jo Neff | Aug 22, 2021 | Education, News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Thursday’s announcement by Gov. Doug Ducey and House Speaker Rusty Bowers that Arizona “wholeheartedly welcomes our share of the refugees” fleeing the Taliban regime in Afghanistan is shining a light on a little known state program that provides financial, educational, and cultural support to refugees.
“As refugees come and find homes in states across the nation, we welcome them to our state full of opportunity and choice, and we’re working closely with federal and state officials to offer them safety in Arizona,” the joint Ducey-Bowers statement reads.
Those efforts will be made easier through the Refugee Resettlement Program (RRP) run by the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) which aids refugees as they adjust to life in the United States. The objective is to respect a refugee’s culture and language while helping them reach self-sufficiency as quickly as possible, according to the DES website.
Transition efforts are further assisted by local nonprofit Refugee Resettlement Agencies (RAs) which provide frontline essential services during a refugee’s first few months. RAs also link refugees to federally-funded programs such as Employment Services, English Language Training, Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance, and Case Management.
The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act provides several criteria for who qualifies as a refugee. For most Afghanistan nationals, the applicable criteria will likely be the provision for any person outside the country of their nationality, who is unable to return to that country due to a “well-founded fear of persecution.”
Many of the Afghans coming to the United States are expected to receive a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) connected to their past service to the U.S. government and military during the 20-year war which included Operations Enduring Freedom and Freedom’s Sentinel. SIV visas apply also to one’s spouse and children.
“They helped out military members in their country, and now we stand ready to help them in ours,” Ducey and Bowers noted in their statement.
The U.S. Department of State also recently announced another program, one which pertains to Afghans who worked for private American contractors, as well as in-country programs funded by the U.S. It would also apply to Afghani employees of media outlets and those who worked for nonprofit, non-governmental organizations which are headquartered in the U.S.
Before releasing his statement about refugees, Ducey expressed concern with the unfolding Taliban expansion in Afghanistan after the U.S. Air Force released a photograph showing 823 Afghans -men, women, and children- crammed in the cargo hold of a C17 flying out of Kabul. The governor pointed the finger of blame for the chaos directly at the top man in the White House.
“As we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the events unfolding in Afghanistan represent complete negligence and an abdication of responsibility by President Biden,” Ducey tweeted on Aug. 16. “If the promise of President Biden was that he would restore America’s standing in the world, he’s just done the exact opposite.”
Government statistics show more than 120,000 people died during the U.S. war in Afghanistan, which included Operations Enduring Freedom and Freedom’s Sentinel. Among the dead are 2,443 U.S. military members, 66,000 Afghan military and police, roughly 47,000 local citizens, nearly 3,850 U.S. citizens working in the country, and more than 1,100 military members from other nations.
Meanwhile, many U.S. service members and defense contractors who deployed to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021 are speaking out about the problems now facing that country. One such Veteran is Arizona lawmaker Rep. Steve Kaiser, who served with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.
“America’s military have put their lives on the line to defend freedom at home and abroad. Our friends and allies in Afghanistan now face a terrifying future because we deserted them in the dead of night,” Kaiser wrote Aug. 17. “They are now alone, hiding behind barred doors with their families, and being targeted by Taliban members seeking revenge.”
DES reports show the most resettlements from one country to be served by Arizona’s RRP between October 1981 and August 2021 is more than 12,300 Iraqis. By comparison, less than 3,200 Afghanistan nationals came to Arizona during the same period.
The number of Afghans served by Arizona’s RRP started slow -only 240 Afghanis throughout all of the 1980s- but jumped to 254 in 1990 to 1994. Then over the next six years, only 142 Afghans came to Arizona, nearly one-half the number (271) who arrived the next year ending Sept. 30, 2001.
The data shows more than 1,000 Afghanistan nationals settled in Arizona in the decade after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks before falling to a decade-and-a-half low of only 14 between Oct. 1, 2011 and Sept. 30, 2012. The annual number resettling to Arizona jumped to 237 for the year ending Sept. 30, 2014, then hit an all-time time high of 292 in 2016.
Since then, the RRP data shows a steady decline of Afghanistan nationals resettling in Arizona, with 95 reported for the year ending Sept. 30, 2020.
The U.S. Department of State shows roughly 4,200 Afghans have come to the United States since Oct. 1, 2020, with 31 reportedly making their new home in Arizona. However, DES records put that number at 53 as of Aug. 16.
Any Veterans in need of someone to talk to about their concerns related to Afghanistan can call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255. Assistance is also available by text messages to 838255 or via online at chat at www.veteranscrisisline.net
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 22, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
One of the first items on Tucson City Council’s meeting list last week concerned making August 15 through September 15, 2021, “Equity, Diversity, & Inclusiveness Month.”
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are often referenced together, but each are individual concepts with their own definitions. Diversity concerns differences like race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, gender identity, religion, caste, tribe, and socio-economic status. Equity differs from equality. Rather, equity focuses on equality of outcome. Inclusion is a combined practice of diversity and equity; oftentimes, it signifies inclusion of diverse individuals for equitable outcomes.
Tucson set aside time for this initiative as they continue their search for a chief equity officer for their new Office of Equity. Earlier this summer, Mayor Regina Romero and the council funneled $500,000 into the office with the approval of the budget. The Chief Equity Officer could have a salary ranging from nearly $81,000 to around $143,000.
The city didn’t appear to search too far for the leader of their six-figure investment. The city affiliates with a network called Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) who assisted in designing the chief equity officer role.
Out of three candidates for the equity role, Tucson officials chose the one affiliated with GARE – Roberto Montoya, a GARE regional manager. However, Montoya turned down the offer.
In addition to the chief equity officer, Tucson’s equity office will also have three program managers and an administrative specialist.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
