by AZ Free News | Jun 14, 2021 | News
Arizona has received the prestigious “Gold Shovel” award from Area Development Magazine, a leading site selection publication, for the state’s “success in terms of new job creation and company capital investment” in 2020.
In addition, TSMC’s announced $12 billion investment to build a semiconductor fabrication facility in Phoenix was named one of six “Manufacturing Projects of the Year.” Arizona saw economic development wins across the state in 2020, even against the context of a global pandemic. In addition to TSMC, the 2020 projects include:
• Global Energy Solutions, a producer of lithium-battery supply chain materials that announced a new facility in Eloy, resulting in 176 projected new jobs and $101 million in capital investment;
• Commercial Metals Company, which is investing more than $300 million to build a state-of-the-art steel producing facility in Mesa. The facility’s advanced technology will make it one of the most efficient and environmentally-friendly in the world, while employing more than 180 people;
• PMG Companies, which is opening an advanced manufacturing plant in Lake Havasu, resulting in more than 260 jobs and a $20 million investment;
• Ball Corporation (Red Bull), which is building a manufacturing facility in Glendale leading to the creation of 145 jobs and more than $235 million in investment;
• And Zoom Communications, which will establish a technology hub in Phoenix with 250 employees and a $11 million investment.
by Terri Jo Neff | Jun 13, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
A consumer fraud lawsuit filed last year by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO) against Google was the subject of an important court ruling last week, when a Maricopa County judge appointed to review some of the global tech giant’s internal documents issued an advisory ruling in support of sealing some records.
The June 7 advisory ruling was made by Judge Sally Schneider, who was appointed to serve as a Special Master to review various documents which Google wants sealed or redacted. This keeps Judge Timothy Thomason, who will preside over the jury trial on the AGO’s complaint, from coming into contact with documents which may not be admissible in the case.
Attorneys for the parties will be back in Maricopa County Superior Court on June 22 for a status conference with Thomason at which time he is expected to accept Schneider’s advisory ruling. No trial date has been set yet in the case, but Thomason has already scheduled two pretrial conferences for later this year.
The lawsuit authorized by Attorney General Mark Brnovich in May 2020 alleges Google violated Arizona’s Consumer Fraud Act by misleading users of its apps about the company’s data collection and location tracking policies.
National attention -and that of Brnovich- was first drawn to the company’s tracking policies after the Associated Press published an article about the issue in 2018. Public records show more than 250 exhibits were shared between Google and the AGO within six months of the lawsuit being filed.
Since then, several of the documents have been released to the public, providing a better understanding of the steps Google took to ensure it could readily track its customers, even though some employees pointed out concerns with such policies. Other documents have been redacted or sealed based on Schneider’s recommendation.
It is unclear what records or topics were involved in Google’s most recent motion to seal -listed as number 4- but Schneider is advising Thomason to keep something under seal. A redacted version of whatever Schneider believes should not be sealed will not be available until Thomason makes a formal ruling.
Brnovich alleges Google has violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act by leading users to believe they can opt-out of location tracking. He contends the company “exploits other avenues to invade personal privacy…It’s nearly impossible to stop Google from tracking your movements without your knowledge or consent,” he said.
The AGO also contends Google is continuing to track and collect location information via a user’s WiFi connectivity.
“Google makes it so a user cannot opt out of this form of location tracking unless the user actually completely disables the WiFi functionality on his or her device…meaning the device cannot connect to the internet through WiFi,” the lawsuit now states. It also alleges location data can be obtained by Google even if a user’s Android phone is shut off.
According to court records, over 80% of Google’s 2019 revenues—$135 billion out of $161 billion total—came from advertising enabled by the company’s collection of detailed information about its users, including their physical locations. Thomason ordered Google last month to continue its “reasonable, good faith investigation into what documents or materials it has with respect to profits from the Arizona user location data.”
Google has issued few public statements in response to the lawsuit. The most recent noted the company is looking forward to setting the record straight about its activities.
“The Attorney General has gone out of his way to mischaracterize our services,” according to the statement. “We have always built privacy features into our products and provided robust controls for location data.”
Some of the Google documents obtained by the AGO played a big role in legal action taken against the company in Australia.
Officials with the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission are seeking an unspecified amount of civil penalties against Google after a judge ruled earlier this year that the company led users who were setting up new Android devices to believe only the “location history” setting allowed location information to be tracked.
The Australian judge determined Google knew it could still collect a user’s location data without their knowledge via a default setting under “web & app activity,” even if the location history setting was turned off.
by Corinne Murdock | Jun 12, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Representative Ruben Gallego’s (D-AZ-07) falsely accused previous President Donald Trump of using police to clear protesters for a photo op last June, per the U.S. Department of Interior’s (DOI) final report. Gallego wasn’t the only one – he rode the same bandwagon as many of the mainstream media outlets. The DOI published their report on Wednesday.
According to the report, officers were attempting to install more fencing to guard against the onslaught of Black Lives Matter (BLM) rioters. Their attempts to clear the protesters had no connection to Trump’s visit. In fact, the report says, officers began clearing the area hours before they knew of Trump’s visit.
DOI Inspector General (IG) Mark Lee Greenblatt issued a press release accompanying the report. Greenblatt clarified that this report would be “the first of a number of projects” to examine all that occurred from an operational perspective the day of the incident, June 1. Those projects would assess how the U.S. Park Police (USPP) and other law enforcement decided to clear the park and acted upon those plans.
“The evidence we reviewed showed that the USPP cleared the park to allow a contractor to safely install antiscale fencing in response to the destruction of Federal property and injury to officers that occurred on May 30 and 31,” said Greenblatt, in reference to the BLM riots over George Floyd’s death on those days. “Moreover, the evidence established that relevant USPP officials had made those decisions and had begun implementing the operational plan several hours before they knew of a potential Presidential visit to the park, which occurred later that day. As such, we determined that the evidence did not support a finding that USPP cleared the park on June 1, 2020, so that then President Trump could enter the park.” (emphasis added)
Greenblatt acknowledged that officers did fail to provide “loud enough” dispersal warnings and exit directions to the protesters. He added that individual use-of-force incidents are subject to separate investigations and ongoing lawsuits.
It is unclear why it took a year and several days to complete this report.
Following the Congressional hearing about the incident last July, reporters asked Gallego if the hearing offered more transparency or left him with more questions. Gallego was confident that Trump attacked the protestors purposefully and accused him of pushing “one big cover-up” onto the public.
“I’m not confused at all – to be honest, I actually feel even more satisfied to know that this was a preplanned operation to incite violence and to initiate violence against peaceful protesters in order for the President to have his photo op,” said Gallego.
Later, during the Congressional hearing, Gallego also accused officers and officials testifying of telling “lies and excuses.” In a Facebook and Twitter posting, Gallego is seen in a video accusing USPP Acting Chief Gregory Monahan of attacking peaceful protesters. Monahan responded repeatedly that officers had based their response on the level of violence that had been occurring.
“U.S. Park Police’s actions in Lafayette Square on June 1 were unprofessional and unconstitutional. I would never have been permitted to behave that way with civilians when serving in Iraq – particularly for a photo op,” wrote Gallego. “Today’s testimony was full of lies and excuses. We need accountability.”
https://www.facebook.com/RepRubenGallego/videos/2341327116173701/
Gallego has yet to issue a response concerning his false accusation.
Corinne Murdock is a contributing reporter for AZ Free News. In her free time, she works on her books and podcasts. Follow her on Twitter, @CorinneMurdock or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com.
by AZ Free News | Jun 12, 2021 | News
Governors Doug Ducey and Greg Abbott today urgently requested all U.S. governors to send available law enforcement resources to their states along the U.S.-Mexico border as illegal border crossings, apprehensions and unaccompanied migrant children in federal custody increase.
This week, the Customs and Border Protection apprehension numbers for the month of May were released sending shock waves across border states. The data showed more than 180,000 illegal aliens were apprehended crossing the border over the course of the month, a 674% increase from the 23,237 illegal aliens apprehended at the border in May 2020.
May’s numbers makes it the fourth month in a row of more than 100,000 apprehensions by CBP, and three consecutive months above 170,000—the highest totals in two decades.
In a joint letter from Governors Ducey and Abbott, fellow governors were told: “In response to the ongoing surge of illegal border crossings, with the accompanying threats to private property and to the safety of our citizens, Governor Abbott has declared a disaster and Governor Ducey has declared an emergency.”
The letter notes that Arizona’s Border Strike Force has intercepted 284 pounds of fentanyl since its inception. A lethal dose is a mere 2 milligrams, so the Border Strike Force’s actions helped prevent 64,410,064 deadly doses from making it to Arizona’s streets or other states.
“Texas and Arizona have stepped up to secure the border in the federal government’s absence, and now the Emergency Management Assistance Compact gives your State a chance to stand strong with us,” the letter states.
Law enforcement support from other states will provide additional manpower in Arizona and Texas, allowing for the apprehension of more perpetrators of state and federal crimes before they can cause problems in border communities and all states across the nation.
by azfreenews1 | Jun 11, 2021 | Economy, News
By Terri Jo Neff
Gov. Doug Ducey was expected to call a special session any day now to address the legislative stalemate of 11 budget bills which have been the subject of some opposition even among the Republican majority. So his announcement Thursday of a special session related solely to funding for natural disasters caught many lawmakers off guard.
“I am calling a special session to make sure we have the resources needed to contain current wildfires, possible flooding, and any other natural disasters that arise from this emergency,” Ducey said in his announcement. He did not include a start date for the special session but legislators have been told it will take place next week.
News of the special session unrelated to an overall budget package came as Ducey and key Republican legislators representing communities burning under the Telegraph and the Mescal fires toured the damage. It also came one day after the governor said he would be agreeable to working with the Democrat caucus to resolve the budget stalemate that threatens Ducey’s last chance transition Arizona to a flat rate income tax.
Democrats, however, have been outspoken against the current wording of the flat tax portion of the budget package, although some have left the door open for passing the majority of the spending bills, as well as a tax cut funded by Arizona’s more than $1 billion surplus.
It is more likely, however, that Ducey and legislative leaders will need to amend the 11 bills in order to get the necessary 31 votes in the House and 16 votes in the Senate. If that cannot be done in the next week or so, the governor can call another special session dealing exclusively with the budget. Or lawmakers could end up approving with a bare-bones “skinny” budget to avert a state government shutdown on July 1.
Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita tweeted Thursday she supports Ducey’s special session to deal with the wildfires. But she could not resist a poke at the governor for his response this year compared to last year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Ugenti-Rita, Ducey’s “leadership solution” last year was “to shutdown the economy, support the legislature prematurely ending session, issuing 50+ executive orders and steadfastly refusing to convene a special session” which she and other lawmakers requested.
“Now, under the guise of another emergency, you want to wait until next week to call the legislature into special session. I find your call for a special session in this scenario incongruent with your past decisions,” she tweeted, pointing out the legislature was in session on Thursday “ready and available to help” but both chambers adjourned until next Monday because key lawmakers were with Ducey touring fire damaged communities.
A vocal critic of this year’s budget package is Sen. Paul Boyer, who has called for one-time tax cuts for one-time revenues. “Rebate taxpayer’s money now,” he tweeted earlier in the week. “That is conservative.”
Some lawmakers in the Republican majority like Boyer object to the amount of the surplus which would get returned to taxpayers as tax cuts under the current budget bills. They point to the fact the cuts would likely also result in less shared revenue to Arizona’s cities and towns, while not focusing enough on the state’s debt, including serious under-funding issues with the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee and staff from Ducey’s office are expected to continue working on a proposed compromise over the next few days.
by AZ Free News | Jun 11, 2021 | News
Sen. Mark Kelly is accused of continuing to dodge the question about his support for eliminating the legislative filibuster. Kelly was able to dodge the filibuster question throughout the entire 2020 campaign and recently told the Arizona Republic he was “studying” it.
According to a new report from CNN, “Kelly, an Arizona Democrat up for reelection next year, indicated he hasn’t decided if he backs lowering the 60-vote requirement or if his position is in line with Sinema’s opposition to changing the rules.
While Kelly said Tuesday he is “generally a believer in change,” the freshman Democrat said, “I’ll evaluate any change to our rules, regardless of what they are, based on what’s in the best interest of Arizona, and the best interest of our country.”
Critics say that if the senator wants to please his constituents, he might want to look to a recent Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) poll to shape his decision. The FGA poll found the majority of Arizona voters support the legislative filibuster because they believe it ensures bipartisanship.
Sen. Sinema on the other hand has been not shy about her opposition to killing the filibuster. Speaking to reporters alongside GOP Sen. John Cornyn in Arizona last week, Sinema indicated that she would not shift from her opposition to changing the Senate’s rules. Sinema argues that it “protects the democracy of our nation rather than allowing our country to ricochet wildly every two to four years.”
