by Terri Jo Neff | Jul 18, 2021 | Economy, News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Last week Gov. Doug Ducey announced he was spending $101 million of federal funds to launch the Visit Arizona Initiative in order to increase tourism spending, bolster job creation, and accelerate economic recovery in the state through marketing, event and attraction support, and outdoor recreation revitalization.
“Tourism is essential for Arizona’s booming economy and job growth,” said Governor Ducey. “Thousands of Arizonans who work in the tourism industry were displaced due to the pandemic. Now that our economy is strong, jobs are readily available and visitors are coming to our beautiful state, we are making sure employment opportunities continue to grow for hard workers across Arizona,” the Governor said.
But many communities and businesses which heavily rely on tourism are not sitting back waiting on state officials. That is especially true in Tombstone located in central Cochise County.
Tombstone’s numerous small businesses were decimated by last year’s COVID-19 lockdowns, social distancing requirements, and travel restrictions which prevented any semblance of a 2021 winter tourist season. As a result, business owners are ramping up event promotions and advertising, and have started collaborating on new events, including several not directly focused on the city’s Old West history.
“We certainly welcome any support Governor Ducey can provide, but those of us in Tombstone cannot wait weeks or months for state agencies to decide how to give out the money and who gets it,” said one longtime business owner. “It’s imperative we take steps now to ensure our survival.”
For years the big attractions in Tombstone have been Helldorado Days (first held in 1929), Vigilante Days, and Wyatt Earp Days. But after baby-boomers visit once, there’s not much to bring them back again. “And we see younger people are not all that keen on watching show, they want activity.”
So new events are being offered to garner not only traditional tourists, but also long-weekenders from New Mexico and California, day-trippers, and local residents.
One of those event coordinators is Sherry Rudd, co-owner of the Tombstone Mustachery. Rudd created Doc Holli-Days in August 2017 with movie star Val Kilmer (of the movie Tombstone) as grand marshal. More than 10,000 people descended on the city, known by locals as the Town To Tough To Die.
Actors Dennis Quaid was grand marshal in 2018 and Michael Biehn held the honor in 2019. COVID-19 tried to kill off Doc Holli-Days 2020 but Rudd held a scaled down event with westerns actors Buck Taylor and Peter Sherayko as featured guests, even though the parade activity has been dropped.
This year Rudd is bringing in country crooner Aaron Tippin for Doc Holli-Days on Aug. 14 and 15. Tippin will put on a concert at Old Tombstone Western Theme Park, and comedian Josh Pray is also making an appearance over the weekend.
Rudd, also known as Mrs. Tombstone 2020, is promoting other concerts at Old Tombstone Western Theme Park, including Dukes of Hazzard star Tom Wopat, the Bellamy Brothers, and John Anderson. She also organized a book-signing event earlier this year with Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb which drew hundreds of attendees from as far as Las Cruces, New Mexico.
But events require a lot of support. One of Tombstone’s biggest fans is the family which owns Arlene’s Gallery, an upscale jewelry and art store that opened on historic Allen Street more than four decades.
Over the years the business has grown to include Arlene’s Southwest Trading Company, Arlene’s Southwest Silver & Gold, and the Branding Iron, which sells authentic western wear. All of which have sponsored various events including Doc Holli-Days.
Store owner Adam Klein, whose mother founded the business, appeared on a Tucson news show to promote Vigilante Days, while also showcasing some of the store’s one-of-a-kind jewelry. Klein also produced a 15-second commercial that can be easily shared via social media to draw attention to both Tombstone’s Old West history and the stores’ offerings.
Klein has also launched an updated website which allows online sales and ensures tourists who come to Tombstone know what the stores offer.
“Many of the visitors who come to Arlene’s remark that they didn’t expect to find the Tombstone shopping district so vibrant—or to include artwork and jewelry,” according to the website. “We take this sentiment to heart, filling our shops with a diverse selection of unexpected items you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.”
Business owners, local politicians, and chambers of commerce in other southern Arizona communities are also recognizing the need to think outside the box.
In nearby Sierra Vista, a city councilwoman worked for several months with Rep. Gail Griffin to have the city declared the Hummingbird Capital of Arizona. The governor signed the legislation in May, triggering several national news mentions of the tourism opportunities in the area.
On July 24, the seven of the wineries and vineyards in the Sonoita-Elgin area are participating in a Harvestfest & Grape Stomp. The event, which has been heavily advertised in Maricopa County, has sold out of VIP tickets but still has about 200 general admission tickets available.
Meanwhile, the Tubac Chamber of Commerce is promoting the November 2021 Tubac Art & Wine Fiesta and is already publicizing the February 2022 Tubac Festival of the Arts, one of the southwest’s longest running art shows. Advertisements for Tubac’s many events are hitting cities far from Santa Cruz County.
by Terri Jo Neff | Jul 17, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
A number of aerospace manufacturers now have a footprint in Arizona, including Boeing, General Dynamics, Honeywell Aerospace, Northrup Grumman, and Raytheon Technologies. In fact, aerospace is one of the largest economic sectors in Arizona, and with more than 1,200 companies engaged in the market, the state ranks 5th in the country for aerospace-related employment.
But it is not just the big boys who find Arizona’s 65,298 square miles of rural airspace beneficial. Many small- and medium-sized designers, developers, and manufacturers have also flocked to Arizona to build or test their wares.
Earlier this week, the Arizona Technology Council hosted its annual Arizona Aerospace, Aviation, Defense, and Manufacturing (AADM) conference in Scottsdale. And of particular interest was unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which until a decade ago were considered in terms of military application.
In recent years, the UAS and UAV technologies have been embraced on a smaller scale by law enforcement, civil search and rescue, meteorology services, construction and engineering firms, farmers and ranchers, insurance company claim adjusters, even delivery companies.
And it is through the efforts of organizations such as the Arizona Aerospace Association and the Arizona Commerce Authority that the state continues to be a favored location for aerospace companies, large and small.
Arizona Aerospace promotes Arizona’s ideal meteorological conditions, protected airspace, favorable cost of doing business, and business-friendly regulatory environment. It also educates stakeholders as well as elected officials and their staff at all levels of government about the need for responsible industry-related legislation and public policy to facilitate a thriving aerospace industry in Arizona.
The group has a test site with hangar available for rent at the Benson Municipal Airport for use with test flights just a 30 minute drive from the U.S. Army’s Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista and the Davis-Monthan U.S. Air Force base in Tucson.
On July 15, Aerospace Arizona staff attended the AADM event in Scottsdale, and next month will be in Dallas to promote Arizona at the InterDrone Conference & Exposition. Then in September, staff will be in Las Vegas for the Commercial UAV Expo Americas Showcase which brings together the world’s leading commercial UAS technology companies from airframes to sensors, software to services and more.
Arizona is also promoted to the military and civilian aerospace industry by the Arizona Commerce Authority, which established its AZSkyTech program in 2018 to help grow the state as “the premier place in the world to responsibly test, deploy and advance Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) technology and policy.”
That endeavor is supported by coursework and degree programs at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, as well Cochise Community College.
Meanwhile, Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista continues to be a leader in the Army’s testing of UAS technology, which is helped by its rural location which includes mountain range, desert land, and more than 960 square miles of restricted airspace. It is estimated that Fort Huachuca has trained thousands of military members and support personnel in the use and management of UAS technology over the last decade.
by AZ Free News | Jul 16, 2021 | News
An underwater tent co-invented by a University of Arizona professor will be featured during the Discovery Channel’s popular Shark Week this month.
Dubbed the Ocean Space Habitat, the portable inflatable tent allows occupants to essentially camp out underwater. Co-invented by UArizona professor Winslow Burleson and professional diver Michael Lombardi, the tent will be featured in the episode “The Great Hammerhead Stakeout,” which airs July 18 on Discovery+.
Burleson is a professor and director of research for the School of Information in the UArizona College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and has a joint appointment in the university’s Health Sciences Design Program. Burleson, who is also a member of the university’s BIO5 Institute, helped develop the technology for the tent when he was a professor at New York University.
“(The University of Arizona’s) Ocean Space Habit research collaborations are expanding what is possible and feasible in a broad range of underwater environments, ranging from coral reefs studies and novel fisheries to human robot collaborative teams and planetary analogue missions,” Burleson said. “Airing first-of-its-kind hammerhead research on Shark Week is certainly one of the highlights to date.”
The tent provides a relatively dry and protected space underwater for divers to enter, remove their equipment and carry out tasks before returning to the surface. The high-tech habitat provides a place for deep sea divers to decompress after deep scientific dives and for medical treatments to be administered for decompression sickness in remote locations. It also gives divers the ability to engage in long-term observations of wildlife behavior and to conduct science experiments before surfacing. The tent system is highly portable and can provide adequate life support to two occupants through an overnight stay.
Multiple experimental deployments of the tent have occurred since 2011, and the platform is now emerging as a viable scientific tool.
“The underwater value is analogous to a backpacking excursion – we certainly learn more from an overnight in the environment than a short walk in the park. That step has not yet been taken in the underwater world in an affordable and accessible way for the masses,” Lombardi said.
Burleson is a social inventor with expertise in human computer interaction and the learning sciences. He previously served as principal investigator for the NSF Experiential Supercomputing: A Transdisciplinary Research and Innovation Holodeck grant. He has authored more than 100 scholarly articles, holds 11 patents and twice received Time magazine’s Top Inventions of the Year Awards.
by AZ Free News | Jul 16, 2021 | Economy, News
Governor Doug Ducey this week announced $101.1 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding to launch the Visit Arizona Initiative, a bold program designed to increase visitation and tourism spending in Arizona, bolster job creation and accelerate economic recovery.
“Tourism is essential for Arizona’s booming economy and job growth,” said Governor Ducey. “When visitors from across the globe travel to our great state, they stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants, buy our products and enjoy our recreational activities. Their investments benefit Arizonans, and the Visit Arizona Initiative will help our tourism sector prosper — and continue to recover from the effects of the pandemic. My thanks goes to Arizona Office of Tourism Director Debbie Johnson for her dedication to growing tourism throughout the state and supporting Arizonans employed by the travel industry.”
As it did globally, the tourism industry in Arizona endured losses in visitation, visitor spending, tourism tax revenue and employment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of federal American Rescue Plan money will assist communities across the state in recovery through tourism marketing, event and attraction support, and outdoor recreation revitalization.
Arizona’s 2020 overnight visitation decreased by 31 percent and visitor spending decreased by 41 percent compared to 2019 numbers, according to recent data. But with this investment and the effectiveness of Arizona’s visitor marketing, Arizona will stay top of mind for travelers.
“Thousands of Arizonans who work in the tourism industry were displaced due to the pandemic. Now that our economy is strong, jobs are readily available and visitors are coming to our beautiful state, we are making sure employment opportunities continue to grow for hard workers across Arizona,” the Governor said.
The Visit Arizona Initiative includes marketing funding for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) statewide, reinvigorating local community programs and events, and marketing support for domestic and international flights and outdoor recreation.
“We are grateful for the investment Governor Ducey is making in our state’s tourism industry, which contributes to the economic vitality of communities and people all across Arizona,” said Debbie Johnson, director of the Arizona Office of Tourism.
The new funding is being warmly received by officials in communities all across Arizona where tourism is an important part of the economy.
“Arizona is a world-class destination and is ready to welcome visitors from around the world to explore our great state. The tourism recovery fund is an investment in a vital economic driver and will benefit all areas of the state,” said Cal Sheehy, Mayor of Lake Havasu City. “We applaud Governor Ducey’s commitment to the tourism economy statewide.”
The Initiative also provides funding to the Arizona State Parks & Trails for park revitalization and improvement, legacy golf course revitalization, the Arizona State Fair for marketing, the Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association for a workforce initiative and Local First for rural destination development.
“COVID-19 had multiple impacts on our state’s destinations,” said Bill Nassikas, President & COO of Westroc Hospitality. “This funding comes at a crucial time of our recovery, as we reinvigorate Arizona’s tourism economy and welcome back visitors to our great state. Governor Ducey’s forethought will help keep Arizona tourism competitive on the national stage.”
AOT, along with statewide tourism stakeholders, continues to promote visitation and support industry recovery across Arizona. These efforts include visitor marketing campaigns, supporting industry partners and communities with strategic recovery planning and promoting sustainable and responsible tourism. The new Visit Arizona Initiative will ensure these programs continue and grow to meet the needs of the industry.
by Corinne Murdock | Jul 16, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
On Thursday, the Arizona Senate held a hearing on the election audit as it heads into its final days of work. Election auditors testified that they discovered a sweeping variety of discrepancies within the election proceedings, including: ballot numbers and quality, voter rolls, cybersecurity, and signature matching processes. Additionally, the auditors reported that they were still lacking the chain of custody logs and routers, which were included within the Senate’s subpoena. The three audit officials testifying were Senate Liaison Ken Bennett, Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan, and CyFIR founder Ben Cotton.
Among their findings from over 80,000 hours of work, the auditors testified that they discovered a surplus of over 74,000 mail-in ballots received and counted than were mailed out, 4,000 individuals were registered to vote after the October 15 deadline, over 11,000 voters disappeared from the rolls after the election but reappeared a month later, over 17,000 voters were removed from the voter rolls after the election, thousands of duplicate ballots lacked a serial number, most ballots were vulnerable to over-voting or unintended voting due to being printed out of calibration, election security systems on the machines weren’t updated after 2019, and a sizeable number of ballots were discovered with bleed-throughs.
Notably, only 52 out of around 1,700 boxes of election materials were reportedly secured with tamper-evident tape. The remainder were secured with regular packing tape. Logan assured the Senate that they would return these boxes numbered with new seals of tamper-evident tape.
Cotton explained that system updates on election machines are crucial for cybersecurity. Without updates, any system may grow increasingly vulnerable to hackers. Since the machines weren’t updated after 2019, hackers had several years to breach the system. This may explain the 38,000 inquiries for blank passwords that the auditors reported discovering.
At least one incident of hacking likely occurred with the Maricopa County election systems in the 2020 election. Federal agents raided the home of an individual named Elliot Kerwin on November 5 over intelligence indicating that he’d breached the systems sometime from October up through Election Day.
Maricopa County claimed that it used ballot paper thick enough to prevent bleed-throughs. However, the auditors said that they discovered the opposite was true. Logan said that anything from ballpoint pens to Sharpies could cause bleed-through.
https://twitter.com/AuditWarRoom/status/1415743378776477697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1415743378776477697%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Farizonasuntimes.com%2F2021%2F07%2F16%2Felection-auditors-report-surplus-of-over-74k-mail-in-ballots-4k-voters-registered-after-deadline-18k-voters-removed-from-rolls-following-election%2F
The SharpieGate debacle concerned this very issue. Although several court cases were filed after voters were unsure whether their Sharpied ballots counted, but ultimately that case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.
Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott) reminded viewers and the floor that this audit was devoid of political agenda or allegiance to previous President Donald Trump.
When Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) asked the three men what more they would need to finalize their report. Logan responded that they would need the routers, splunk logs, portable media and external drives, chain of custody documents, the network diagram, election management data backups, records of all papers sent to vote centers, the total of all ballots sent to eligible voters, and a full backup copy of the voter rolls.
He added that they would also need copies of the election policies and procedures, including information on ballot adjudication processes. While those documents are available in part to the public, Logan explained that there were more detailed documents given to election officials and workers that they required.
A day before the hearing, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform submitted a letter to Logan requesting information about their audit process, leadership, interactions, and findings. The request letter listed a number of grievances against Cyber Ninjas’ conduct of the audit, citing multiple times their “lack of election audit experience.”
Congress further cited reporting on the audit to bolster their claims of mismanagement. One citation included a reporter’s indication that blue pens were used during the audit in violation of Arizona election law. That reporter later retracted her claim in part, noting that those pens were during training and cleared from the floor before any live ballots were brought out.
Fann offered a parting thought on the resistance by Maricopa County, as well as Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, to this audit.
“I do not know why Maricopa County has fought this so hard,” remarked Fann.
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 Terri Jo Neff | Jul 15, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Included in Arizona’s new $12.8 billion budget are several capital outlay appropriations of more than $163 million for 22 specified highway construction projects, ranging from $46 million to repave State Route 95 in Mohave County and money to $560,000 for improvement to Jerome’s historic Main Street.
Other big ticket projects funded by Senate Bill 1820 for Fiscal Year 2022 are $25 million to construct an overpass at State Route 347 and Riggs Road, $13.6 million to “rehabilitate” pavement along State Route 77 in Oro Valley, $10.6 million to improve State Route 90 near Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, and $10 million to improve State Route 95 near the U.S. Army’s Proving Ground in Yuma.
The ADOT appropriations in SB1820 also include $150,000 to study options for expanding the on and off ramps at the intersection of State Route 303 and Grand Avenue in Sun City and $140,000 to study guardrail needs on State Route 377 from Heber to Holbrook.
Being appropriated does not mean a project will be undertaken anytime soon, as land rights may need to be obtained, environmental studies may be needed, and planning phases must be completed.
But while many of the 22 projects specifically funded by SB1820 may not break ground for months, a host of other ADOT construction projects were greenlighted earlier this month when the Arizona Transportation Board announced its Five-Year Program for 2022 to 2026.
Among those projects is the replacement of the Gila River Bridge with a wider set of bridges on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Casa Grande. The project carries a $83 million price tag with construction set to begin in 2023.
Another Five-Year Program project, at a cost of $328 million, will add traffic lanes on Interstate 17 between Anthem Way and Sunset Point. That project is slated to begin next year, as is a $41 million widening project on U.S. Highway 93 between Tegner Street and Wickenburg Ranch Way. And the first phase of a $70 million construction project for an Interstate 40 / U.S. Highway 93 interchange in western Kingman will start in 2024.
The projects to widen the key Arizona corridors of I-17 and I-10 will be partially funded by the Maricopa Association of Governments.
“The improvements to these Key Commerce Corridors represent two of the most critical transportation priorities in Arizona,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said in response to the Five-Year program. “The additional lanes are important to improve safety and efficiency while the state continues to attract jobs, businesses and economic growth. At the same time, ADOT is investing most rural highway funding to preserve existing roads and bridges to keep them in good condition for the movement of people and freight.”
More than $1 billion collected through gasoline and diesel fuel taxes will be allocated statewide for pavement preservation projects to upgrade 581 lane miles of poor, fair, and good condition roadways. And when Gov. Doug Ducey signed SB1820 he also authorized $90 million for pavement rehabilitation projects outside of Maricopa and Pima counties for roadways graded poor or fair, along with $50 million from the state’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget surplus to ADOT toward the cost of widening I-10 between Phoenix and Casa Grande.
The appropriation reverts back to the General Fund on Jun 30, 2022 if ADOT is unable to secure the right of way agreements needed to move the project forward.
Several Arizona highway projects are also being funded by more than $150 million of COVID-19 relief money allocated to the state earlier this year.
