An Arizona leader has traveled to Israel to show his support of its people as they continue to recover from one of the worst terrorist attacks in their nation’s history.
Peoria Mayor Jason Beck revealed on his Facebook platform this week that he had visited Israel “to meet with and support IDF soldiers, political and religious leaders around the country.”
The first-year mayor surmised he might have been “the first American to visit (the Kibbutz Be’eri) due to the continued threats in the area. This community of approximately 1,100 men, women, and children lost over 120 individuals in the October 7 terrorist attack from Hamas – more than ten percent of its population.
Beck shared he “felt it was extremely important to tour Be’eri and provide an accurate accounting of the horror and the intensity of what took place at this location.” He added that “the lives that were taken, the extreme brutality of Hamas of how men, women and children were tortured, executed and slain is important for someone to take in and carry forward for others to experience and hopefully recognize these heinous acts that took place on these beautiful people.”
As Mayor Beck concluded his post, he challenged readers to stand with this American ally in their fight against their terrorist enemies, writing, “To not support Israel’s ability to defend their people, home and lands from Hamas is to support terrorism and weakness that will surely spread across this world if it is not destroyed.”
According to his account, Beck met with the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eli Cohen; Rabbi Rabinovich of the Western Wall, and other rabbis and pastors in the country.
Though the west valley mayor has less than one year of time in the political world, he has decades of military and foreign affairs experience through his work in the private sector. Beck is the Founder and CEO of TYR Tactical, which is a “leading global manufacturer of tactical gear and equipment for military and law enforcement.” He also served the United States in the Marine Corps before he veered into his business ventures.
Days after the horrific terrorist attack in Israel, Beck vowed to “send body armor to Israel for the protection of the brave soldiers who will defend their homeland and our Western values.” That promise was fulfilled with an estimate of 2,000 protective vests being shipped to Israel.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
The state’s two main foster care court advocacy groups are requesting more volunteers to assist and advocate for children in the foster care system.
In a press release issued on Wednesday — also recognized as National Adoption Day — the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) expressed a need for volunteers in all 15 counties to serve with them or the Foster Care Review Board (FCRB).
CASA and the FCRB provide aid to the approximately 10,000 children in the state’s foster care system. CASA Program Manager Charlie Gray stressed in a press release that expertise isn’t necessary for volunteering — just compassion.
“You do not need to be steeped in child welfare experience or knowledge,” said Gray. “You only need to have a compassion to help guide a child through one of the most emotionally difficult experiences they will have in their life.”
Children in the state’s foster system need the support and care of their community more than ever: as we reported in August, a recent audit of the Arizona Department of Child Services found that caseworkers were failing the children in their charge by neglecting to provide all necessary documents for their cases and skipping case review meetings.
The auditor general found that these shortcomings by DCS caseworkers not only hindered children’s cases but compromised the foster care system by diminishing trust from the Administrative Office of the Courts and the local foster care review boards tasked with completing foster children’s cases.
Arizona community members may make up for DCS shortcomings by providing advocacy, support, and attentive care to the children and their cases.
CASA volunteers visit and build a relationship with a child as well as the people involved in their case. These volunteers also serve as advocates for the child’s best interests in court by issuing recommendations, while working alongside others involved with that child. That may include the child’s teachers, foster family, parents, and service providers. These volunteers serve as a stable, consistent presence for the child.
“A CASA volunteer stays with the child throughout the entire case and is often the one consistent adult throughout the court process,” stated CASA.
Comparatively, FCRB volunteers serve on a five-member panel that meets virtually once a month to review children’s foster care cases. The goal of the volunteers is to become acquainted with the same cases, recognize the needs of a child and their family, and achieve permanency.
Those interested in volunteering must be at least 21 years of age, able to pass a fingerprint background check, and able to participate in an introductory program training. Those desiring to be CASA volunteers may apply here; those interested in applying to be FCRB volunteers may apply here.
There are plenty of other volunteer opportunities to assist the court system, and thereby make it easier for those going through it. CASA shared that the Arizona Supreme Court also needs volunteers for its 30 standing committees and commissions.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
A new study from Arizona’s Health Department reveals a troubling rise in a certain classification of injury.
On Monday, the Arizona Department of Health Services published the State Trauma Advisory Board 2023 Report. According to a summary prepared by Rachel Garcia, the Deputy Assistant Director of Preparedness, Chief of Emergency Medical Service and Trauma, and Principal Investigator for the CDC Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity Program at the Arizona Department of Health Services, the Trauma Dashboard “shows that there are increases in both the trauma incidents (4%) and trauma-related deaths (3%) reported to the registry in 2022.”
The Department boasted of the debut of two resources in this year’s report – “an online interactive Trauma Dashboard and a Motor Vehicle Traffic-Related Trauma Dashboard.” The purpose of both resources is to “provide valuable insight into the top mechanisms of injury and trauma deaths in Arizona.”
Per the Department’s statistics for 2022, “among children ages 0 to 17, falls were the top mechanism of injury, but firearms were the top cause of death”; while “for adults older than 65 years of age, falls were the top mechanism of both injury and death.” The Department shared that “adults over 65 had the highest trauma rate of any age group.”
In addition to providing these numbers, the Department, through Garcia’s post, gave readers some ways that they could insulate themselves from these kinds of traumatic injuries. The primary focus of protection for motor vehicle passengers or motorcyclists to wear helmets or seatbelts while on the road. Garcia wrote that “motor vehicle passengers who visited a trauma center who were not wearing seatbelts were nearly four times as likely to die in a motor vehicle accident compared to passengers who were wearing seatbelts,” and that “motorcyclists were nearly two times more likely to die if they were not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.”
There were just under 70,000 Trauma incidents (68,245) compiled in the Arizona State Trauma Registry, and 47 Trauma Centers reported data for the Department’s use in the 2023 report. The 2022 Arizona Trauma Snapshot showed that there was an average of 187 trauma incidents reported each day for the year.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
The crisis at the southern border continues to wreak havoc on law enforcement and local communities and to invite a growing number of concerns over the security of the nation.
John Modlin, the Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, posted on “X” that border agents based in the Three Points Station had recently “encountered approximately 2,500 migrants near San Miguel, Arizona.”
Over the weekend, agents from the Three Points Station encountered approximately 2,500 migrants near San Miguel, AZ, including a single group of over 1,000 migrants.
Tucson Sector agents continue to work tirelessly addressing the migrant surge across the southwest border. pic.twitter.com/LS7O6vgbYq
Chief Modlin added that there was a group of 1,000 aliens included in the total number for the weekend.
The Tucson Border Sector is one of the nation’s most active when it comes to illegal immigration, with over 373,000 encounters of migrants taking place in the just completed 2023 Fiscal Year. This number represented almost a fifty percent change from Fiscal Year 2022, when officials reported almost 252,000 apprehensions.
Though the encounters, arrests, and processing of these migrants have kept border agents extremely busy throughout the year, these numbers are not all they – or other officials – must worry about. The Tucson Sector has seen a growing number of ‘gotaways’ – migrants who successfully evade arrest and whose identities and motives are largely unknown. This sector is also a significant vein of drug trafficking for smugglers and cartels, who can largely operate without too much opposition when agents are tied up with a record number of apprehensions.
In Fiscal Year 2023, border officials encountered 2,475,669 migrants illegally attempting to cross into the United States across all sectors. This historic number broke the previously set record in 2022 (2,378,944). During President Joe Biden’s tenure in the White House, law enforcement has apprehended 6.2 million migrants at the southern border, as well as 1.7 million reported ‘gotaways.” Included in the number of FY23 apprehensions were the arrests of 169 individuals on the terrorist watchlist – also a top annual number in the history of CBP statistic-keeping.
The Tucson border chief ended his post about the recent apprehension of thousands of migrants over the past weekend, writing, “Tucson Sector agents continue to work tirelessly addressing the migrant surge across the southwest border.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona sheriffs continue to raise concerns about the escalating crisis at America’s southern border, and some of these officials are putting their money where their mouth is.
Last week, the Arizona Sheriffs Association issued a press release to announce that deputies from five state counties would be heading to Cochise County. Those counties were Apache, Coconino, Navajo, Pinal, and Yavapai.
According to the release, the purpose of the deployment is to “help stanch the flow of drug and human smuggling in the state” by “working alongside other law enforcement to curb border related crime.
“Everyday, sheriffs deputies around the state encounter drug and human smugglers in our communities,” Arizona Sheriffs Association president and Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes said. “This is not a border region problem but a crisis in all of Arizona.”
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels is happy for the increased support from his colleagues from the Grand Canyon State. In a statement, Dannels said, “We are grateful that law enforcement from across the state are converging in southern Arizona to curb the human and drug smuggling. This show of force sends a strong message to the cartels that Arizona is serious about tackling these criminal gangs.”
The latest efforts to combat the negative effects of a porous border come as a result of the Safe Streets II Task Force out of Cochise County. The Arizona Sheriffs Association shared that this task force, comprised of law enforcement members from local, state and federal agencies, exists to “gather intelligence and attempt to apprehend human and drug smugglers.”
“It is our duty to protect the communities we serve and that starts at the U.S.-Mexico border,” Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said. “For far too long, the border areas have been open to the drug cartels. We must work to shut off these cartels from ruining America.”
“Criminal gangs that smuggle drugs and people across the border often end up in Coconino County and threaten our law enforcement and residents,” Coconino Sheriff Jim Driscoll said. “I’d rather deter those criminals at the border and stop them from using our county as a transit corridor.”
This latest effort from Arizona sheriffs follows their actions taken earlier in the month via letters to Governor Katie Hobbs and legislative leaders, requesting the state to “double its contribution to local law enforcement to allow (sheriffs) to deploy more resources to interdict human and drug smugglers.”
Just last month, a Cochise County Deputy Sheriff was seriously injured as he attempted to stop a suspected smuggler, who was trying to evade apprehension in her vehicle. When talking to local media about the rash of similar incidents plaguing his county and department, Sheriff Mark Dannels said, “Just this week alone, I’ve had a patrol car damaged, I’ve had two officers, deputies that were trying to be run over by smuggler drivers. This is every day down here.”
In May 2022, former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels penned an op-ed for Fox News, detailing how an increasing rash of border-related crimes were affecting southern Arizona communities. The two officials shared a heartbreaking story of how one of these episodes tragically changed the lives of one southern Arizona family forever, writing, “This crisis started to place local law enforcement officials and residents of Cochise County on high alert in October 2021 when law enforcement officials attempted a traffic stop on a 16-year-old from Mesa, who was smuggling migrants in Cochise County in southern Arizona. The teenager suddenly hit the gas, driving over 100 miles per hour through small towns and quiet intersections on a mad dash to avoid apprehension. He eventually ran a red light, smashing into another vehicle and killing Wanda Sitoski, a local grandmother on her way to meet her son for her 65th birthday dinner.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
