Parents have expressed concerns after Gilbert Public Schools (GPS) teachers performed a same-sex “wedding” in front of all their kindergarteners.
Val Vista Lakes Elementary School reportedly posted images of the event on their Facebook page, and GPS liked them. It appears the photos have since been deleted.
Teachers Makayla Krinsky, Suzanne Lunt, and Tina Selles, along with Principal Patrick Miller, were pictured participating in the event. The “wedding” is a popular lesson plan among educators to teach kindergarteners about how the letter “u” always follows the letter “q” in English spelling. Traditionally, the lesson plan focuses on the union of a bride and groom; however, the GPS teachers opted to have two women play the roles.
Miller walked Lunt, wearing a white dress and veil with the letter “Q,” down an “aisle” of white paper. Krinsky served as an “officiant” wearing the letter “O,” with Selles wearing a black top and pants with the letter “U” awaiting Lunt. In the background, the traditional “Bridal Chorus” song played on a screen.
Lunt was a Republican candidate for Arizona House District 14 last year; she lost in the primary. She received endorsements from Jenn Daniels, former Gilbert Mayor; Greg Tilque, president of Gilbert Sister Cities; Julie Spillsbury, Mesa City council member; Joan Kruger, Larry Morrison, and Linda Abbott, former Gilbert Town council members; Reed Carr, former Gilbert School Board president; Bob Worsely, former state senator; Save Our Schools Arizona; Stand for Children Arizona; and the Arizona Nurses Association.
Krinsky, Lunt, and Selles all graduated from ASU.
As shared by Not in Our Schools, a parent posted their concerns in a private Facebook page for GPS parents and community members.
“How would you go about addressing it with both the sNot chool and school board. I can accept the fact that sometimes the letters “Q” and “U” go together or are ‘married’ in some words,” said the parent. “However, I feel like this is completely unnecessary. Honestly believe that marriage should not be spoken about in school at all, let alone should they be pushing the valve off same sex marriage.”
In a separate post, Arizona Women of Action (AWOA) issued a similar concern that a mock same-sex wedding could be problematic for young, impressionable minds.
“This @GPS_District “mock same sex wedding” may have been benign in design, but parents must address these kinds of unacceptable issues at each turn,” said AWOA. “They are confusing and damaging to our children. The more their minds are stressed with these experiences, the more problems will accrue.”
AWOA encouraged community members to contact the school board, as well as the Arizona Department of Education Empower Hotline about the classroom event.
This @GPS_District "mock same sex wedding" may have been benign in design, but parents must address these kinds of unacceptable issues at each turn. They are confusing and damaging to our children. The more their minds are stressed with these experiences, the more problems will… pic.twitter.com/g1bJ4c5Avm
A Tucson restaurant owner has sued the Hobbs administration over its newer mandate that only cage-free eggs be produced or sold in the state.
Last week, the Goldwater Institute and Pacific Legal Foundation sued the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) on behalf of Grant Krueger, owner of Union Public House, Reforma Modern Mexican Mezcal + Tequila, and Proof Artisanal Pizza & Pasta.
In a press release, counsel and Krueger asserted that AZDA had surpassed their constitutional authority by bypassing the legislature; they dubbed AZDA the “egg bureaucrats.”
“Unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats shouldn’t be able to arbitrarily impose these kinds of harmful mandates on small business owners like me,” said Krueger. “If the government can do this with eggs, what else can they do it with?”
Krueger estimated that his restaurants purchase over 2,000 eggs weekly; he employs about 225 people.
Per his lawsuit, lawmakers directed egg producers to petition the AZDA for a rule on requiring cage-free housing for egg-laying hens, as the COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted law making procedures at the time. AZDA published the contested rule in April 2022, under then-Gov. Doug Ducey and then-AZDA Director Mark Killian. The rule began to be enforced on Jan. 1 of this year.
“Neither Arizona’s statutes governing executive branch rulemaking nor the Arizona Constitution permit AZDA to promulgate rules pursuant to such a standardless grant of authority,” read the lawsuit.
AZDA claimed authority for rulemaking under A.R.S. § 3-107(A)(1) and A.R.S. §3-710(J). The legal organizations countered in their lawsuit that the two statutes’ general authorization of rulemaking authority didn’t articulate the specific authority to enact a cage-free rule. Further, they argued that the Arizona Constitution didn’t allow for the delegation of legislative authority to an executive branch agency.
“The appropriate housing arrangement for egg-laying hens in Arizona and egglaying hens producing eggs for sale in Arizona is a major policy question that must be decided by the legislature,” read the lawsuit.
Per the lawsuit, AZDA had passed the rule to circumvent the effort of a similar ballot initiative, which the egg producers found objectionable due to the proposed timeline being too long.
The lawsuit warned that the new law will cause a significant increase in egg prices for both business owners and consumers: up to $66 million. For consumers, that would come to an additional 39 cents per dozen.
Per AZDA data, cage-free housing of egg-laying hens would increase egg production costs by up to 41 percent for labor inputs.
The Arizona Farm Bureau also stands in opposition to the sweeping cage-free egg mandate.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The engines are starting for the 2024 Arizona legislative session.
On Wednesday, the first bill for the upcoming session was filed by Democrat State Senator Priya Sundareshan, who introduced a proposal to “restore the authorization for the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind for 10 years.”
🚨November 15 marks the first day that legislators can pre-file bills for next session.
Hear from Senator @priya4az about what we are fighting for this upcoming session. ⬇️
“We remain dedicated to the promise we made last session to continue supporting & fighting for #ASDB…”… pic.twitter.com/AMBhnNv5YL
Senator Sundareshan’s introduction came on the first day that 2024 bills could be pre-filed. The lawmaker announced that all of her Senate Democrat colleagues cosponsored the legislation, which is SB 1001.
I'm so proud that all 14 @AZSenateDems cosponsored this year's #SB1001 – the very 1st bill filed for 2024 – to restore the authorization for the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind for 10 years, after Senate Rs cruelly cut it to 4 & jeopardized needed services for AZ children. https://t.co/zrEJxznGtP
Both Sundareshan and one of her colleagues, Senator Mitzi Epstein, couldn’t resist taking a political shot across the aisle over the disagreements on the future of this state school. Sundareshan accused Republicans of “cruelly” cutting authorization to four years and “jeopardizing needed services for AZ children.” Epstein charged Republicans with attempting to “end” the ASDB.
😃🔥 Good News! All the AZ State Senators in the Democratic Caucus signed as cosponsors on this bill. Despite Republican *senators' attempts to end the ASDB, our first bill as a Caucus for the 2024 session is to support ASDB – AZ School for the Deaf and Blind.#EducationForAllhttps://t.co/8klmCXYjqV
During the most-recent legislative session, reauthorization of the ASDB proved to be a political hot topic between Democrats and Republicans. Legislation to continue the state’s authorization of this school, which was introduced by Republican State Representative Beverly Pingerelli, originally set the number of years at eight. Amendments in the Senate changed the yearly continuation figure from eight to two to four. Some Republicans argued that more legislative oversight was necessary for ASDB, supporting their efforts to shorten the length of authorization.
While most Democrat legislators went along with the changes when it came to their votes, their rhetoric told a different story. The Senate Democrats’ “X” account blistered these efforts to reduce the number of years of reauthorization for ASDB, asserting that “Republicans are performing a type of prejudicial bias that we cannot let go unchecked,” and that “discrimination against the disabled should never go unchallenged.” Governor Hobbs, who signed HB 2456 to continue authorization of this school for four years, also joined in with the attacks, stating, “the ASDB community was treated with a lack of respect and was not given equal access to participate in the legislative process.” The Democrat governor called on the Legislature to send her a bill in 2024 that continued ASDB for eight years.
Republicans disagreed with Democrats’ characterization of their attempt to protect taxpayer interests when it came to reauthorizing ASDB. Senator Jake Hoffman, one of the principals in pushing for more oversight and accountability of ASDB, told AZ Free News that his party was “committed to providing the best education possible to every child, including the deaf and blind, and allowing for greater oversight furthers that mission.” Before the bill was signed into law, the Arizona Senate Republican Conference posted, “Senate Republicans are fighting to ensure students and families of the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind receive the best education possible.”
The Second Regular Session of the 56th Arizona State Legislature will commence on January 8, 2024, in what promises to be another unpredictable year in a divided government in the Grand Canyon State.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
The state of the United States economy continues to concern experts and Americans alike.
Earlier this week, the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that the American economy had experienced a 3.2% increase in inflation over the past year.
EJ Antoni, a public finance economist for the Heritage Foundation, reacted to the revelation, saying, “October was the fourth consecutive month of inflation outpacing monthly earnings growth. For 27 of the last 31 months, prices have risen faster than annual earnings. This decline in real earnings coupled with elevated borrowing costs from today’s higher interest rates have cost a typical American family the equivalent of about $7,400 in annual income under the Biden administration.”
Bidenomics is at is again. For the fourth consecutive month, inflation has outpaced monthly earnings. For 27 of the last 31 months, prices have risen faster than annual earnings. Current federal spending levels are unsustainable. @RealEJAntoni explains👇 https://t.co/iwoFfC04Q2
A recent poll from Global Strategy Group, which was conducted for the Financial Times and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, showed that 61% of respondents disapproved of the way Biden was handling the economy, while 55% believed that they are worse off since the start of his presidency. The largest concern of the group appeared to be with price increases to food (74%), and 75% believed that rising prices would pose the most significant threat to the American economy over the next six months.
The White House broadcasted a different perspective to the most recent report from the Bureau, stating that the numbers show “more progress bringing inflation down, with annual inflation now down by 65% from the peak.”
Today’s economic report shows more progress bringing inflation down, with annual inflation now down by 65% from the peak.
The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to fight to lower costs for hardworking families so they have more breathing room.
President Biden added, “Inflation has come down while the unemployment rate has been below 4% for 21 months in a row—the longest stretch in more than 50 years—while wages, wealth, and the share of working-age Americans with jobs are all higher now than before the pandemic.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Despite its name and alleged purpose, Arizona State University’s (ASU) The Integrity Project (TIP) appears to fall short on achieving honesty and transparency.
AZ Free News discovered that TIP was formerly a nonprofit established in the first year of former Donald Trump’s administration with the primary purpose of undermining the former president. Yet today, TIP describes itself as an “apolitical” nonprofit aimed at combating misinformation, with its core values rooted in transparency, impartiality, and honesty.
“Our mission and our work are intended to be transparent to the public,” states TIP. “Malicious actors are undermining the stability of democracies, communities, families, and even friendships. We will fight back with the truth.”
Yet, TIP’s hidden past raises questions of transparency and intent for the ASU partner.
“The Integrity Project was created due to a frustration with the politicization of the truth. What was once the foundation that unified our democracy, the facts themselves had become the very thing that could collapse our society,” reads the TIP members and partners page. “All of our founders and members set aside their personal beliefs in order to serve something bigger than themselves. Misinformation has eroded the foundation of our democracy, with manipulated facts becoming the catalyst for mistrust and division that has our society on the road to ruin. The purpose of The Integrity Project is to restore the legitimacy of information, and nothing more.”
Initially, the nonprofit branded itself online as “Lead Not Greed” after September 2017, when its X (formerly Twitter) page launched. In the following months, it rebranded as the “Campaign for Accountability and Transparency,” and then “Make Integrity Great Again” (MIGA). Several websites were presented on the X profile at some points: “holddjtaccountable.org,” and then “makeintegritygreatagain.org.”
As of this publication, the MIGA url still redirects to TIP’s website.
In June 2018, MIGA filed a widely-reported complaint attempting to revoke the liquor license for the Trump International Hotel on the basis that Trump allegedly lacked good character. The District of Columbia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board dismissed the request several months later.
“Donald Trump needs to choose: he can either be the president, or he can be a businessman, but he can’t be both. Lead Not Greed is fighting back by finally hitting Trump where it hurts — in the pocketbook,” stated the organization.
The lawyer that filed suit on behalf of MIGA was Joshua Levy: partner at Levy Firestone, former counsel for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs as well as Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Around the middle of 2022, the MIGA website transitioned to TIP and existing social media slates were wiped clean. None of these changes were disclosed on TIP’s website or social media pages as of press time. In fact, prior posts by its past versions were wiped entirely.
MIGA was established by Jerome “Jerry” Hirsch, a self-identified Republican, founder and longtime chairman of the Lodestar Foundation in Phoenix. Hirsch’s foundation has projects including ASU’s Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation, a partnership between ASU and the Kellogg Foundation, as well as an active partner in TIP; the Collaboration Prize, a contest recognizing the best nonprofit collaborations in the nation; and the Nonprofit Collaboration Database, an online database of more than 1,000 nonprofit collaborations, maintained in partnership with The Foundation Center.
Hirsch was also one of the 2022 participants of the globalist Sedona Forum hosted by the McCain Institute.
Ten years ago, Hirsch was credited by the ASU Foundation as one of the principal “university founders” of the modern ASU, dubbed the “New American University.” Last December, Hirsch and ASU President Michael Crow were among those who signed onto the letter to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) petitioning for citizenship rights for illegal immigrants remaining in the U.S. under the protection of the DACA program.
Unlike his MIGA endeavor, it doesn’t appear that Hirsch has spawned a similar effort to counter President Joe Biden’s foreign business dealings.
The ability to use #misinformation and #disinformation without any scrutiny – even if the public may be harmed – appears to be an area Congressional leaders wish to defend as free speech with arguments centered in governmental overreach or weaponization.https://t.co/PhzxgBMbL1
— The Integrity Project (@MakeIntegrity) July 11, 2023
TIP’s current board of directors doesn’t include Hirsch. Current board members are:
Mi-Ai Parrish, overseer of Arizona PBS and Media Enterprise; former president and publisher of The Arizona Republic; a friend of Biden-appointed Ninth Circuit Court Judge Roopali Desai; former market president at USA Today;
Wellington “Duke” Reiter, special advisor to Crow with responsibilities in higher education, sustainable urbanism, and advancement of the New American University
Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor, director of the Elections Research Center, and Lyons Family Chair in Electoral Politics;
Byron Sarhangian, attorney for Snell & Wilmer;
Craig Krumwiede, president and CEO of Harvard Investments, founding member of Social Venture Partners Arizona (tied to Hirsch’s Lodestar Foundation);
Joe Blackbourn, founder of Everest Holdings
Blackbourn recently took credit for founding TIP, but made no mention of its past as MIGA.
Despite MIGA’s newer presence online in 2018, with few followers and only two posts — as other users at the time pointed out — MIGA and its attempt to revoke Trump’s hotel liquor license gained the attention of other major leftist personalities such as Mindy Schwartz, Bill Prady, Jordan Uhl, Leah Greenburg, and Need to Impeach.
Although the website for MIGA said that their nonprofit was also named “Make Integrity Great Again,” the group used its former name, “Campaign for Accountability and Transparency,” as the primary identifier for all of its tax filings, dating back to the 2017 fiscal year.
MIGA’s first tax filing showed that it was created on Sept. 14, 2017. That was the day that Trump signed a resolution condemning white supremacy and hate groups following his controversial remarks on the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“You know, you have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also,” said Trump.
That first year, MIGA spent over $184,600 to create a website “to educate the public concerning the importance of addressing the character of public officials and candidates, and promote integrity as the basic tenet of American democracy.” It gave over $121,500 to a New York-based nonprofit, Purpose Campaigns (now Purpose Foundation), to undertake full operations and management of their campaign.
In 2018, MIGA spent over $153,200 on its website and over $358,000 on research for undisclosed “potential future programs” and challenges of qualifying as a nonprofit, among which it noted was the creation of the MIGA name. MIGA also spent a combined $309,000 on legal services from two Washington, D.C. law firms: Zuckerman Spader and Cunningham Levy Muse.
MIGA listed its two other officers as Lois Savage, secretary, and Sandra Horn-Goul, treasurer.
Savage and Hirsch have run the Lodestar Foundation since 1999; she was also the first executive director of a Lodestar spinoff, Social Venture Partners Arizona (of which TIP board member Krumwiede is a founder), and the initiator of the Arizona Grantmakers Forum. Savage served on former Gov. Janet Napolitano’s Interagency and Community Council on Homelessness.
Both Savage and Crow served on the 2009 Center for the Future of Arizona project “The Arizona We Want”: Crow on the steering committee, Savage as a critical reader.
Horn-Goul is the wife of the late Michael Goul, formerly ASU’s Department of Information Systems chairman and senior associate dean for faculty and research and professor of information systems.
TIP featured speakers this year have centered discussions on disinformation, misinformation about the 2022 election, media literacy and information quality, the spread of false beliefs through misinformation, and the anti-science nature of vaccine skepticism.
In addition to events, TIP has a three-year plan: a two-year research project to monitor misinformation in Arizona, publication of a media literacy curriculum through ASU’s journalism school, and increasing dissemination of their research online.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Another major drug smuggling bust occurred near the southern border in Arizona this week.
On Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens announced on the platform “X” that his agents had “interdicted 2 smuggling loads consisting of over 304 lbs. of fentanyl worth over $1.9M.”
According to the CDC, over 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like #fentanyl.
Yesterday, USBP agents in Nogales and Willcox, AZ interdicted 2 smuggling loads consisting of over 304 lbs. of fentanyl worth over $1.9M.
Chief Owens revealed that the apprehension of the drugs occurred in Nogales and Wilcox.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin added context to the news, sharing the Drug Enforcement Administration’s estimation that “one kilo of fentanyl equals 500,000 potential lethal doses.” Melugin did the math, finding that these latest encounters added up to 138 kilos. He wrote that the “Border Patrol potentially saved a LOT of lives” – possibly 69 million lives from these doses alone.
This is a massive amount of fentanyl seized by Border Patrol *between ports of entry* in a single day:
304 lbs.
For perspective, DEA says one kilo of fentanyl = 500,000 potential lethal doses.
Border officials continue to find record numbers of fentanyl at the border. In the just-completed fiscal year, ending in September, agents apprehended over 27,000 pounds of fentanyl at the border, which was more than the previous two years combined. According to reporting from the Washington Post, the amount of this extremely deadly drug that is seized by law enforcement is only a fraction of the total numbers that are smuggled into the interior of the country.
Arizona leaders are concerned about the proliferation of fentanyl across the border and polluting communities across the state. Earlier this year, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and other attorneys general about the fentanyl crisis affecting much of the country. After her meeting, Mayes revealed she told the attendees that her office “and our law enforcement partners have seized approximately 7.8 million fentanyl pills.” Mayes added, “We need to throw everything we can at this crisis – new technology at the border, enhanced and strengthened partnerships, and access to more funding. I stand ready to work with anyone committed to solving this crisis so we can save lives and help Arizona families and communities heal.”
Governor Katie Hobbs has also acknowledged the threat that fentanyl and other drugs pose to Arizonans. In September, the governor issued a press release to highlight a meeting she had with law enforcement and other southern Arizona officials. At the time, her office shared that “DPS has seized over 12,200 pounds of drugs” to date in 2023. Hobbs wrote, “My administration has worked tirelessly to support border communities, stem the flow of drugs and human trafficking, and keep our neighborhoods safe.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
