The Scottsdale hotel that made headlines last year for sheltering hundreds of illegal immigrants has been repurposed this year for sheltering Afghan refugees. In an email obtained by State Representative Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale), Scottsdale Police Department (SPD) Chief of Police Jeff Walther briefed the mayor and council on a situation that it appears not even local law enforcement was aware of until after the fact.
According to Walther’s relayed intelligence from the organization contracted by the State Department and the Department of Defense (DOD) to run the shelter, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), refugees were relocated from military bases beginning January 12. The refugees won’t be confined to the hotel and may roam the community at their leisure because the law prohibits their detainment. They will reside at the hotel until they are matched with sponsor families throughout the Valley. At most, Walther said there would be 300 refugees housed at the hotel.
Walther reassured the council and mayor that the refugees were vaccinated, vetted by the State Department, and educated on American culture. The chief of police then admitted that there’s no security on site at the moment, but said IRC promised there would be at some point in the future.
If anyone attempts to contact the hotel, they will be met by individuals purporting to operate a regular hotel. Walther explained that the IRC hired a hotel management company to disguise the site was a functioning hotel serving “a closed clientele” — i.e., the refugees. At no point will the State Department or DOD manage the hotel or install any personnel there.
Just like last year, this reporter called the hotel. A woman answered, identifying the establishment as Homewood Suites; there was a substantial amount of background chatter. The woman informed this reporter that they were accepting reservations, but that there weren’t any available rooms until June, but didn’t disclose why.
AZ Free News inquired with Scottsdale’s mayor and city council about the hotel, and its reported lack of security for the refugees. A spokesperson for the mayor and council submitted this response, essentially repeating portions of information relayed by Walther and stating that city officials couldn’t do anything about something happening within their jurisdiction because the federal government was involved:
“The city was recently informed that a nonprofit organization working on behalf of the federal government has rented part of a vacant hotel in Scottsdale to house Afghan refugees evacuated by the U.S. in August 2021. This site is being used as a temporary housing facility while each resident/resident family is assigned a sponsor family to live with throughout the greater Phoenix Area. The individuals at this location were previously housed at U.S. military bases. While there, they were vetted by the U.S. State Department and vaccinated against COVID-19. Scottsdale is in contact with the organization operating this site, but has no current authority to prevent the hotel from being rented for this purpose. This is a federal government activity over which the city of Scottsdale has no oversight.”
Chaplik warned his constituents that their city council had, once again, allowed unsupervised foreigners to occupy a building at the heart of their community.
“Residents of Scottsdale, is this what you voted for? City Council refused to put up a fight when ICE took over this hotel and now the Feds are bringing in Afghan refugees with NO public notice whatsoever. And NO security hired yet,” wrote Chaplik. “This is our community and council doesn’t care.”
Residents of #Scottsdale, is this what you voted for? City Council refused to put up a fight when ICE took over this hotel and now the Feds are bringing in Afghan refugees with NO public notice whatsoever. And NO security hired yet. This is our community and council doesn't care pic.twitter.com/yxQSSou8h1
As AZ Free News reported last June, the hotel was converted into a migrant shelter by ICE almost overnight to offset the unprecedented surge of illegal immigrants caused by President Joe Biden. The shelter operated as a temporary migrant transition facility from May until the end of last month. Unlike the operations that concluded recently at the hotel, this shelter won’t be overseen by ICE.
On Friday, our other reporters drove by the hotel. They reported seeing garbage piled around the building, with employees hauling more garbage out of the building. There were no barricades around the hotel.
Walther claimed in closing that there have been few issues in the past with the refugees in the Phoenix area and across the nation. He informed the mayor and council that SPD met with IRC officials on Friday afternoon.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Tuesday, the city of Scottsdale asked residents to reduce water usage by five percent after the Bureau of Reclamation declared Arizona would have its Colorado River water claims reduced because of the river’s historic reclassification within Tier One drought status. As a result, Arizona had its 2.8 million acre-feet per year (AFY) claim on the river reduced by 512,000 AFY.
The city’s request may not be a suggestion for long: the announcement fell under Stage One of their Drought Management Plan (DMP), in which residents may voluntarily cut back on water usage. If city officials feel it necessary, then residents will be ushered into a California-esque Stage Two: mandatory water usage restrictions and water shortage surcharges.
Scottsdale Water Executive Director Brian Biesemeyer classified the city’s response as run-of-the-mill. Biesemeyer said Scottsdale residents needed to learn to live with less.
“Water conservation programs have been in place in Scottsdale for decades and many Scottsdale residents and businesses know their value,” said Biesemeyer. “Now we need to step up our game and take water conservation to the next level. With less water coming to us from the Colorado River in 2022, we need to learn to live with less and that starts every time we turn on the tap, flush the toilet or start our irrigation systems.”
Those who will feel the most immediate impact of the claim reduction will be farmers. Pinal County agriculture relies on the river water transported by the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal.
The Bureau of Reclamation elevated the Colorado River to Tier One drought status last August.
The city suggested residents adjust their irrigation timers, sign up for a water management portal called WaterSmart, remove grass from their properties, budget their water, and consult a free irrigation specialist to check outdoor water efficiency.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
No Arizonan with a love for baseball will be hindered from play due to their disability, thanks to the Miracle League of Arizona. The organization ensures accessible playing fields and all necessary accommodations so that nobody will be left out. For ten years, children and adults with disabilities throughout Arizona have experienced the gift of playing baseball through the local branch within a national organization called the Miracle League.
The organization’s slogan captures the heart of their mission to ensure equal access for those who may share the love of the sport with their peers but may not share the same capabilities: “Everyone deserves the chance to play baseball.”
The Scottsdale-based league was established in 2011. They host games on a rubberized, synthetic turf field, with additional amenities around the arena for the whole family: private caregiver rooms, an accessible playground, a picnic area, batting cages, and stadium seats. Each player, or “Miracle Leaguer,” is paired with their own “buddy” volunteer to assist and cheer for them. They also receive walk-up songs and play-by-play commentary to enhance their experience.
After a season concludes, all players receive special awards and gifts to acknowledge their hard work and dedication.
The Miracle League of Arizona is a baseball league for kids with special needs. My dude blasted a walk-off dinger, this is what makes the game so great ❤️ pic.twitter.com/RqAfQ3Hb6r
The first Miracle League baseball field opened in 2000. The formal organization was preceded by a grassroots initiative launched by a Georgia baseball coach named Eddie Bagwell in 1998, inspired by the determination and unwavering support of a seven-year-old, wheelchair-bound boy named Michael, who would attend all the games and practices of his five-year-old brother.
“The parents tell stories of their children insisting on playing despite bouts with kidney stones, broken bones, and recent hospitalizations,” read the organization’s website. “The thrill of playing, the cheers from the stands, and the friendships they develop make the Miracle League Field an oasis away from their everyday battles.”
At present, there are over 300 miracle leagues throughout the nation and in Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico.
The next in the lineup of Miracle League of Arizona events will be their 2022 Wiffleball World Series in March. Registration remains open for players; the winter 2022 season is underway currently, and concludes mid-February. The spring 2022 season will begin mid-March and conclude at the end of April.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Scottsdale’s FnB Restaurant will require patrons to show proof of their vaccination – one of the first restaurants to do so in the valley. However, being vaccinated won’t exempt patrons from masking. FnB will still require that, too.
FnB Restaurant owners Charlene Badman and Pavle Milic issued the vaccination announcement last week on their Instagram page. Their required proof of vaccination upon entry will go into effect on Wednesday.
“With the latest trends regarding the highly transmissible Delta variant, we have decided for the good of all to add another layer of safety for our staff – who is fully vaccinated and still required to wear masks, in addition to the same safety standards pre-vaccine – and our guests who have been vaccinated,” wrote the owners. “Starting Wednesday, August 4th, you will be required to show proof of your coronavirus vaccination card, or a picture of it on your phone. We know some of you might not agree with our decision, but know it comes from a place of deep desire to take care of you and our team. As per usual, thank you for sticking with us during these uncharted times. We have come a long way with vaccinations, let’s not stop halfway.”
The restaurant appears to have taken initiative from the Biden Administration’s latest announcements last week. Last Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) declared in an opinion that both public and private entities could legally mandate emergency use authorization (EUA) vaccines like the COVID-19 vaccine. The next day, the CDC updated its guidance to recommend that even fully vaccinated individuals wear masks in areas with high transmission rates.
FDA law states that individuals may be informed of their option to accept or refuse an EUA medical treatment like the COVID-19 vaccine.
“(e) CONDITIONS OF AUTHORIZATION (1) UNAPPROVED PRODUCT (A) Required conditions: With respect to the emergency use of an unapproved product, the Secretary, to the extent practicable given the applicable circumstances described in subsection (b)(1), shall, for a person who carries out any activity for which the authorization is issued, establish such conditions on an authorization under this section as the Secretary finds necessary or appropriate to protect the public health, including the following: […] (ii) Appropriate conditions designed to ensure that individuals to whom the product is administered are informed – […] (III) of the option to accept or refuse administration of the product, of the consequences, if any, of refusing the administration of the product, and of the alternatives to the product that are available and of their benefits and risks.”
In their interpretation of the FDA statute, the DOJ OLC opinion claimed that the FDA law granting EUA for vaccines or other medical treatments only pertained to informing the recipient.
“[That section] concerns only the provision of information to potential vaccine recipients and does not prohibit public or private entities from imposing vaccination requirements for vaccines that are subject to EUAs,” wrote the OLC. “By its terms, the provision directs only that potential vaccine recipients be ‘informed’ of certain information, including ‘the option to accept or refuse administration of the product’ […] In the sense used here, the word ‘inform’ simply means to ‘give (someone) facts or information; tell.’ […] Consistent with this understanding, the conditions of authorization that FDA imposed for the COVID-19 vaccines require that potential vaccine recipients receive FDA’s Fact Sheet […] which states that recipients have a ‘choice to receive or not receive’ the vaccine[.] Neither the statutory conditions of authorization nor the Fact Sheet itself purports to restrict public or private entities from insisting upon vaccination in any context.” (emphasis added)
The DOJ OLC did add, in the footnotes, that its opinion didn’t speak to federal, state, or local laws that may restrict vaccine mandates.
Although OLC shared its opinion with the public at the end of last month, it was originally submitted to President Joe Biden’s deputy counsel as early as July 6. The next day, the CDC published its updated guidance on masking.
Governor Doug Ducey has supported voluntary vaccinations. Last week, Ducey issued a statement discussing vaccination’s importance as the Delta variant continues to spread.
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.
After vigilant parents sounded the alarm about a consent form they were asked to sign electronically that would have asked their children highly personal questions, Scottsdale Unified School District leadership apologized.
The District’s leadership advised parents that they would not be asked to authorize the District to “complete an emotional health and wellness screening of my child and to collect personal information, medical history or medical information, mental health history or mental health information, and quality of home and interpersonal relationships, student biometric information, or illegal, antisocial or self-incriminating behavior critical appraisal of individuals within a close relationship and gun/ammunition ownership.
The District claims those issues were mentioned inadvertently in a portion of students’ annual verification packet:
On May 4, 2021, Scottsdale Unified School District’s (SUSD) administration recommended that the Governing Board approve the FastBridge program as a social emotional learning screener for students in Kindergarten through 12th grades. It was already being used as an academic screener for grades K through 3.
This social emotional screening program, which the Board voted to adopt, is used to evaluate students overall general behavior including but not limited to, social, academic and emotional behavior. Screening is typically completed within three minutes, with results available immediately to parents and staff. These findings enable our teachers, social worker and guidance counselor professionals to help identify students who may be in need of additional support and intervention programs and to make that support available as early as possible.
The screening tool is optional and one that parents have a choice to authorize for use with their children each school year.
Notwithstanding this, SUSD’s initial parent acknowledgment form incorrectly stated that the FastBridge screener might ask for personal information about income family matters, medical or family medical history, mental health history and other categories of private information.
To be clear, the FastBridge screener does not and has never sought this information. The waiver form that initially appeared in ParentVUE as part of the parents’ annual acknowledgment was a standard waiver form that had not yet been properly tailored to SUSD’s use. The form has since been amended to reflect the information that is actually collected. We apologize for this oversight and offer our services that SUSD does not support, endorse or collect any family personal information through FastBridge.
Leadership goes on to claim that Scottsdale parents “have stressed to us how important it is for schools to support their students social emotional learning.”
“Our sole goal in acquiring FastBridge,” wrote leadership, “is to be able to support the whole child and offer help to students sooner when we see that academic and behavioral issues in the classroom are limiting their opportunities to learn and grow.”
This “apology” raises too many questions and red flags. From the implication that a child’s social emotional well-being can be assessed in three minutes, to the claim that leadership is responding to parents’ pleas that the schools support their students’ social emotional learning, the missive misses the mark for any discerning reader.
Any educator who believes that they can assess a child in any meaningful way in three minutes is misguided at best and likely committing educational malpractice at worst.
The fact that our schools continue to cater to the fear-mongering teachers’ unions, thus strongly encouraging masks and vaccines for students K-8, clearly shows that they have put the students’ social and emotional well-being far down their list of priorities.
While the apology is appreciated by many parents, I fear that it will prompt them to drop their guard and not look carefully at the other consent forms they are asked to sign. There is also the danger that parents might assume that their children are not turning over this information in their classrooms at all when nothing could be further from the truth.
Parents need to be on guard at all times, and at all times they must assume that their children are products – the data they produce, the insights they give, the very supplies they prefer to bring to school are all of value to those who benefit – in one way or another – from the education industrial complex.
