by Terri Jo Neff | Aug 12, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
At a time when state officials are pushing ways to improve Arizona’s tourism industry, the Pima County Board of Supervisors reneged on its nearly $40,000 commitment to the Arizona Bowl.
The Arizona Bowl is a NCAA-certified postseason college football game held since 2015 at the University of Arizona’s Arizona Stadium. It is presented with a title sponsor, which for the first five years was NOVA Home Loans. Then in 2020 the game was played as the Offerpad Arizona Bowl.
This year, the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl is slated to be played on Dec. 31, and the event is expected to bring thousands of football fans to southern Arizona. It is a boost to local tourism that is sorely needed, supporters say.
But on Tuesday the Pima County BOS took a swipe at the new title sponsor and brought what tourism officials say was undue negative attention to the event.
In a 4 to 1 vote, the BOS went back on its commitment of $38,155 toward the game, citing “ethical concerns” with controversial comments and activities associated with Barstool Sports and its founder, David Portnoy. The vote came despite the fact many of the concerning comments date back nearly a decade and that the company in recent years has established a respected reputation.
Barstool Sports is seen by many as an American business success story – the digital media company produces original content focused on sports and pop-culture. Its 280 employees are also involved in producing an amateur boxing league, a radio show distributed by Westwood One, and a number of podcasts.
And then there is the Barstool Fund, which garnered national attention last year when Portnoy led an effort which raised more than $40 million from several sports figures to provide financial support for small businesses hard hit by the pandemic. Some of the recipients were Arizonans.
In July, Portnoy announced Barstool Sports as the new title sponsor of the Arizona Bowl and kicked off an aggressive marketing campaign that will feature the Tucson area as much as the game itself.
But despite the company’s various successes, four Pima County supervisors turned their backs on the fact that the 17-member executive board of the Arizona Bowl vetted the new title sponsor. Among those on the executive board are Brent Deraad of Visit Tucson, Ted Maxwell of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council, and Joe Snell of Sun Corridor.
Critics of the BOS vote call it “misguided” and point to the fact many of the criticisms deal with comments and activities involving Portnoy and other company personalities from more than a decade ago.
The BOS also turned its back on comments from Kym Adair, who is serving as executive director of the bowl game.
Adair did not make excuses for prior inappropriate comments some found offensive, admitting there were jokes “that have missed, comedies and content that didn’t land or stand the test of time.” She did, however, emphasize the company’s various successes, which include being the only sports media company with a female CEO.
Barstool Sports also has a recent connection to Arizona, Adair told the board in a written statement. Earlier this year the NCAA abruptly cancelled a major women’s golf regional event in Louisiana, leaving a dozen teams without an opportunity to try for the Championship.
A Barstool Sports official got the company involved with the NCAA and several teams across the country ended up at the “Let Them Play” tournament in Chandler in May.
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 11, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Flagstaff Unified School District (FUSD) will implement a mask mandate in defiance of state law. The FUSD Governing Board passed the motion unanimously during Tuesday’s meeting.
FUSD took a similar stance to other school districts implementing a mask mandate, rationalizing that the law doesn’t take effect until September 29, notwithstanding the retroactive clause.
FUSD Superintendent Michael Penca said that he’d struggled with the decision to reinstate a mask mandate.
“Over the last week I’ve asked myself, ‘If the Arizona state law, which prohibits school districts from requiring masks, was not in place, would FUSD be requiring masks?’ With the information that we have about the high rates of community transmission, and recommendations by the CDC and health officials, I believe the answer would be a resounding yes,” said Penca. “With legal guidance from our district attorney tonight regarding the date that this law goes into effect, the FUSD Governing Board has an opportunity to reconsider its previously adopted requirement regarding mask use, which encourages but not requires mask use. In order to balance the benefits of in-person instruction with the health and safety of its students, staff, and our communities.”
However, not all board members appear to have shared Penca’s indecision on mandating masks. Board member Christine Fredericks introduced the motion, spelling out her email and daring parents opposed to the mask mandate to send her hate mail. Fredericks read out loud the proposed mask mandate in full.
“Send me your hate mail. Make sure you spell my name correctly so I get it,” said Fredericks.
Despite the rationale from FUSD and other schools like Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) that Arizona law requires 90 days from the end of the legislative session in order for a law to take effect, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has repeated that the mask mandate ban is in effect.
“Arizona does not allow mask mandates, vaccine mandates, vaccine passports or discrimination in schools based on who is or isn’t vaccinated,” said Ducey. “We’ve passed all of this into law, and it will not change.”
https://twitter.com/dougducey/status/1420155289270059011
Arizona House Republicans concurred with Ducey’s assessment. Through freshman State Representative Jake Hoffman (R-Phoenix), Republicans issued a statement on Wednesday encouraging state officials to hold local governments accountable for breaking the law.
House Republicans encouraged Ducey to withhold federal funding from school districts not complying with the law, authorize temporary Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) for students in schools breaking state law, send notices to all families attending schools non-compliant with the law informing them of the law, and take legal action against the districts.
“Under Arizona’s constitutional form of government, local governments do not have the authority or power to usurp state law simply because they disagree, yet that is precisely the kind of illegal activity in which many local governments are presently engaged. The Arizona legislature, with the Governor concurring, very intentionally enacted the laws at hand to protect Arizonans and Arizona children from the threat of government mandating them to wear a mask or be injected with a vaccine. Additionally, the legislature very thoughtfully attached a retroactivity clause to the law, so that there would be clear and consistent application of the statute for families and children throughout Arizona,” wrote Hoffman. “It borders on anarchy and destabilizes the very foundation of our society to have local governments effectively refusing to comply with the law. It must not be allowed to stand. Any local government that willfully and intentionally flaunts state law must be held accountable.”
https://twitter.com/AZHouseGOP/status/1425545781558218754
Parent commentary on the mask mandates during the meeting was divided.
Parents in favor of the mask mandates cited their fear that their children would be hospitalized and suffer from long-term effects due to COVID-19. Some said that even one death was one death too many.
Parents against the mask mandates said that the fears over the Delta variant and any COVID spread is overblown. They cited that COVID-19 most greatly impacts the overweight, sickly, and elderly. They also questioned the efficacy and safety of long-term mask-wearing.
Watch the full board meeting here:
https://vimeo.com/584915006
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com
by Terri Jo Neff | Aug 11, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Efforts to fill the vacancy created by Tuesday’s resignation of Sen. Otoniel “Tony” Navarrete (D-LD30) in the face of child molestation charges will take a bit longer than expected, after it was discovered there are not enough Democrat LD30 precinct committeemen to make the nomination.
At least 30 elected precinct committeemen are required, but there is only 29, according to information obtained from the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office. That means the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will have to appoint a citizen’s panel which will be tasked with nominating three Democrat candidates.
The board of supervisors will then vote to appoint one of the three candidates as LD30’s senator. The process could take two weeks or more if a rift occurs among within the party and interested candidates.
Navarrete announced his resignation five days after his Aug. 5 arrest on seven felonies involving sexual misconduct with minors. He had his initial court appearance the next day and was released from jail Aug. 7 to await trial after posting a $50,000 secured bond.
Numerous public officials called on Navarrete to resign as soon as word of his arrest became public, including Gov. Doug Ducey, Senate President Karen Fann, and Rep. Raquel Teran, chair of the Arizona Democratic Party.
The one-sentence resignation letter to Fann and Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Rios was followed by a written statement in which Navarrete “adamantly” denied “all allegations that have been made.”
Navarrete’s resignation put the brakes on an effort by Sen, Kelly Townsend for an ethics investigation. Sen. Sine Kerr, chair of the Ethics Committee, previously confirmed receiving Townsend’s complaint about Navarrete, but on Tuesday she dismissed the complaint as moot.
Court records show two boys, ages 16 and 13, told detectives with the Phoenix Police Department of being sexually molested by Navarrete in the past. The older boy alleged multiple incidents of abuse over several years. Among the evidence described in a probable cause statement is a confrontation call between Navarrete and the younger boy during which the then-senator reportedly admitted to engaging in sexual misconduct.
RELATED ARTICLE: Calls For Navarrete’s Resignation Include Attention On Hotlines For Abused Kids
Confrontation calls are utilized by investigators in hopes of getting an alleged perpetrator to provide a confession or other incriminating evidence.
Navarrete has been ordered to have no-contact with the two victims named in the charges. He is also required to comply with electronic monitoring. If convicted of all charges, Navarrete faces a mandatory prison sentence of nearly 50 years.
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 11, 2021 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona State University (ASU) announced Monday that it would be launching an elementary curriculum focused on social-emotional learning, diversity, equity, and inclusion. The curriculum will be part of their K-12 online schooling, ASU Prep Digital.
The curriculum will blend cultural competence (diversity, equity, and inclusion), social-emotional learning, and the Spanish language. The university noted that it will partner with Encantos, an online learning platform, to roll out this new curriculum. In doing so, the curriculum could be implemented easily through distance learning.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is often referred to together, but each are individual concepts with their own definitions. In the context of DEI, diversity represents any and all possible differences, such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, gender identity, religion, caste, tribe, socio-economic status, and so forth.
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.
Social-emotional learning (SEL) focuses on identity, emotions, attitudes, and beliefs; it promises to help individuals understand themselves, their role in the world, and their relationships to others. SEL is the vessel for DEI.
Encantos offers a vast array of curriculum peppered with social justice concepts. Their brand Tiny Travelers has K-5 educational materials on the Fourth of July, for example, that teaches children that Black Americans still aren’t free.
“In the decades following the Emancipation Proclamation, Black Americans have continued to struggle for equal rights and treatment, even to this day,” reads the activity sheet. “Native Americans were also subject to genocide and displacement as the colonies expanded to form what we now know as the United States after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.”
Despite emphasizing the evils of genocide, slavery, and current racial tensions for this country, Encantos’s Tiny Travelers educational materials for other countries don’t discuss any evils that plagued their country. China, for example, is described only in terms of its cultural practices.
Encantos CEO Steven Wolfe Pereira credited ASU for leading in progressive education.
“ASU is the undisputed leader in progressive education, modeling a stance on universal access with excellence, inclusivity, access, and impact as the core,” said Pereira. “We share these values and are thrilled to partner to introduce 21st-century skills, story-teaching, and learning through play to their schools, to ensure the 2 billion kids around the world all have an equal chance to reach their fullest potential.”
According to ASU, this new curriculum will be unique – the first of its kind. It will create “a more inclusive educational system that democratizes and diversifies learning.” ASU asserts that the need for this type of curriculum exists because future jobs will require different skills.
ASU expects to roll out this new curriculum by fall 2022.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com.
by Terri Jo Neff | Aug 11, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Farm Bureau Financial Service and one of its Arizona representatives is not liable for the fact a group of developers lost funding for a hotel – casino in Puerto Peñasco, a coastal town in Mexico commonly known as Rocky Point, the Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled.
Last week a three-judge appellate panel affirmed a Pima County Superior Court judge’s ruling last year which dismissed a 2016 lawsuit filed by Cholla Bay Hotel Group LLC; CBHG Management S.A. DE C.V.; Desert Springs Equestrian Center LLC, and Lorilei Peters, who was a principal of Desert Springs Equestrian.
The various plaintiffs -collectively referred to as the CBHG plaintiffs- sued for defamation as well as tortious interference in a business expectancy and contract due to Farm Bureau information Cully provided to private investigators.
Those investigators were hired by Grupo Financiero IMBURSA in 2013 to conduct a due diligence review of the CBHG plaintiffs related to a $15 million loan for construction of a hotel and casino in Rocky Point. The loan, according to the lawsuit, was to be funded by Grupo Financiero and guaranteed by the Mexican government.
CBHG also alleged a Mexican government agency had approved it for a gaming license within Mexico.
In their lawsuit, the CBHG plaintiffs alleged the development loan was denied due to negative information Farm Bureau provided to the investigators. That involved a 2010 insurance claim for theft made by Peters on behalf of Desert Springs Equestrian with a value of more than $250,000.
The lawsuit alleged the letter “recklessly made false allegations of criminal conduct on behalf of Ms. Peters in connection with an allegedly fraudulent theft claim.” It also alleged Farm Bureau and Cully improperly sent a referral to the Arizona Department of Insurance and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which the CBHG plaintiffs asserted was defamation.
In response to the lawsuit, Farm Bureau asserted that CBHG failed to produce admissible evidence of the existence of the $15 million loan, the hotel franchise agreement in Rocky Point, or a Mexican gaming license. Farm Bureau also argued the documents which were produced by the CBHG plaintiffs could not be authenticated and some bore “several hallmarks of being a forgery.”
Without validated evidence, CBHG could not substantiate its claim of a business expectancy, a judge with the Pima County Superior Court ruled in dismissing the CBHG lawsuit. The dismissal order noted the plaintiffs’ business expectancy claims were “too attenuated, speculative.”
CBHG timely appealed, arguing the judge erred in rejecting admissible evidence and in not properly addressing the defamation claim. The appeal also challenged the lower court’s opinion that CBHG’s business-expectancy claim was too attenuated and speculative.
But according to the unanimous appellate decision, CBHG had to show the existence of a valid contractual relationship or business expectancy in order to prove intentional interference with business expectancy and contract.
The burden of proof was on the CBHG plaintiffs to provide a showing of “a business relationship evidenced by an actual and identifiable understanding or agreement which in all probability would have been completed if the defendant had not interfered.” Judge Sean Brearcliffe wrote in the appellate decision.
“Simply stating that the documents have a government stamp on the first of sixty-five pages and having a third party with no personal knowledge of either the characteristics of the stamp or the ministry’s receipt of the documents testify, is not sufficient,” Brearcliffe wrote. “CBHG was unable to produce admissible evidence below to create a genuine issue of material fact as to the existence of a valid contractual relationship or business expectancy.”
As to the defamation claim, the court of appeals ruled insurance companies such as Farm Bureau have a statutory duty to refer claims they believe to be fraudulent to the Insurance Fraud Unit of the Arizona Department of Insurance.
The CBHG plaintiffs, jointly or individually, have until Sept. 6 to file a petition for review to the Arizona Supreme Court.
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 10, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
State Senator Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix) reminded Arizonans last week that off-label treatments are legal during public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Barto cited her bill, SB1416, which was signed into law in May.
Barto explained the significance of the law during a radio interview on Monday. According to the senator, the law grants flexibility for health care providers to offer more tailored treatments to their patients.
“We know how important early treatment and prevention is in health care,” said Barto. “Expanding access to certain off-label medications during a pandemic can be life-saving in this fight, and physicians need every tool in the toolbox to appropriately treat patients without fear of losing their license.”
Last month, Governor Doug Ducey rescinded restrictions on the filling of two off-label drugs some prescribed for COVID-19: hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. This further allowed health care providers flexibility, complementing Barto’s law:
“ ‘Lawful health care service’ means any health-related services or treatment, to the extent that the service or treatment is allowed or prohibited by law or regulation, including the off-label use of medications during a public health emergency, that may be provided to persons or businesses that are otherwise allowed to offer such services,” reads the law. “‘Off-label use’ means any use if the intent is the practice of medicine and the use is not specified in the labeling or indications for use for prescription drugs, biologics, approved medical devices and dietary supplements approved by the United States food and drug administration.”
Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine aren’t recommended currently by the FDA to treat COVID-19. The FDA cautioned that the drug could cause heart rhythm problems, and the National Health Institute (NIH) assessed that it could work in theory but has failed in terms of both safety and efficacy.
In the case of COVID-19, treatments like Ivermectin have been popularized as off-label treatment options. When previous President Donald Trump contracted COVID-19 last October, he was given a cocktail of off-label drugs including: dexamethasone, remdesivir, and Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody. The president was also given zinc, Vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin, and aspirin.
Those are a few of several treatments approved by the FDA. For more severe cases, patients may be given Veklury (remdesivir). Monoclonal antibody treatments include sotrovimab, REGEN-COV (casirivimab and imdevimab), and Olumiant (baricitinib). Other treatments include the immunosuppressive Actemra (tocilizumab).
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com.
