Judge rules; anti-union question off of November's ballot

From a Howie Fischer story in the East Valley Tribune:

Arizonans won't be able to vote in November to make it harder for unions to organize, at least not unless legislators fix it -- and quickly.

Without comment, the Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that Proposition 108 is illegally crafted. That order signed by Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch, which is not appealable, bars the Secretary of State's Office from putting it on the ballot.

The measure, which would have been Proposition 108 on the ballot, began its existence as SCR1026 during the 2009 session of the legislature.  Jonathan "Payday Loan" Paton was the originating sponsor of the measure while 37 of the remaining 52 members of the R caucus signed on as sponsors or cosponsors of it.

It was referred to the ballot on party-line votes (Senate here; House here)

A lower court ruled that the measure violated the "only one subject" rule concerning amendments to the state constitution.  As this fact sheet prepared by the lege itself clearly shows, this measure violated that rule.

A summary of the AZ Supreme Court record related to the case can be found here.

The court decision is probably a huge disappointment to its industry and legislative supporters - they've dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaign to pass the measure, including $135K just last week (7/26).

As discussed in Fischer's article, there is still a chance for the lege to fix their union-busting measure so that it is properly crafted for the ballot, but that would take a special session of the legislature, and it would have to be completed by Tuesday, the "drop-dead" date for ballot language to be submitted to the Secretary of State's office.

I contacted a state rep about the possibility of that happening and was informed that they (the Democrats) hadn't heard anything about a special session this week.  A call to the Governor's elicited little info and a referral to Paul Senseman, the Governor's spokesman.  An email has been sent to him (he is out of the office) and I'll update if any new info becomes available.

Edit to include Senseman's response:

From his reply to my email inquiry about whether or not there is a plan to call a special session -

"Governor Brewer is very interested in allowing the voters of Arizona the opportunity to protect the sanctity of the secret ballot. She will be anxious to hear from the House Speaker and the Senate President regarding their Member’s [sic] availability and interest to act."

End edit...
However, as of this writing, a special session on this issue seems unlikely.
Later...

Bounty on Arpaio's head? Real threat or convenient timing?

Stories are being reported (heavy exposure on Fox News and Drudge Report, and other rightwing outlets) that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is the subject of a bounty put up by Mexican cartels.  The alleged offer was for $1 million to whoever could kill Arpaio.

Now, the threat may be real, but the timing seems to be more than a little convenient.

- As this piece from the Phoenix New Times points out, it comes at a time when Pinal County Sheriff (and fellow nativist) Paul Babeu's rising publicity star may be eclipsing Arpaio's.

..And if the threat is "convenient", it has worked - Arpaio was all over national cable news today, pledging that the "threat" won't deter him from doing his job of hunting down undocumented immigrants.

- This post from Tucson Progressive points out that the text message that allegedly contains the threat also contains a large quantity of spelling and grammatical errors.  More than can be explained by the normal exigencies of texting.

- Of course, if the "threat" is a hoax, as posited by Tucson Progressive in the above-linked post, the purpose may have been preemptive.  Instead of seeking to overshadow Babeu, it could have been intended to distract from news that broke earlier today.

From the AZ Republic -

The U.S. Justice Department will sue Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio if he continues to refuse to cooperate with a civil rights investigation, according to a letter obtained by The Arizona Republic.

The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division since March 2009 has been investigating Arpaio's operation for alleged discrimination and for unconstitutional searches and seizures. Arpaio has said he believes the investigation is politically motivated.

In a letter sent to Arpaio today, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez gave the Sheriff's Office until Aug. 17 to cooperate with the investigation, and to turn over documents requested last year for an inquiry into claims of discrimination based on national origin.

"MCSO's refusal to cooperate fully with the Division's investigation makes it an extreme outlier when compared with other recipients of federal financial assistance, which have uniformly recognized their obligation to cooperate with the Division's investigations of alleged discrimination," Perez wrote.

Or maybe it was targeted at this report from the New Times, documenting how Arpaio, in a fit of unexpected honesty in 2008, admitted proudly that his Tent City jail is like a "concentration camp."

Or maybe it was targeted at this report of how Arpaio's deputies arrested a Hispanic activist, Salvador Reza, twice in two days.  The first appears to be part of a planned act of civil disobedience where arrest was expected, even part of the plan.  The second, however, seems to be little more than a bit of attempted intimidation.  Reza has since been released and the County Attorney has declined to prosecute the "charges" stemming from the second arrest.  However, the damage to the credibility of the MCSO as a law enforcement agency has been done.
Of course, if the threat really is a hoax, the intent could be one of multitasking - overshadowing Babeu while, at the same time, distracting Arizonans and Americans from Arpaio's misdeeds.

Press Release of the Day

And amazingly enough, it doesn't involve Russell Pearce, Jan Brewer, or any of Arizona's other nativists masquerading as public officials.

From the website of PR Newswire, a press release from the "Campaign for Working Families" -

Former presidential candidate Gary L. Bauer on Tuesday endorsed former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton in the GOP Senate primary in Colorado, calling her a "committed conservative who will unapologetically defend the commonsense values of the American people."

In and of itself, there's nothing particularly newsworthy there - Bauer is a far-right GOPer endorsing another far-right GOPer in a race that doesn't even involve Arizona (though Colorado is a "four corners" state, so it's one of our neighbors).

The biggest item of interest was the "Campaign for Working Families" part.  It made me wonder if the GOP has finally caught on to the fact that their ideology/policy of striving to protect and serve only large corporations and the wealthiest Americans is limiting their long-term viability as a political force in this country.

Then there is this line later in the press release (emphasis mine) -

The Campaign for Working Families (CWF) exists for the express purpose of supporting candidates who will proudly promote conservative values, such as the defense of the traditional family, the sanctity of human life and the promotion of individual liberty and free enterprise.

Turns out that the only place CWF expresses any concern for "working families" is in its name.

Among the many beneficiaries of its largesse over the years (according to FEC records):

Michele Bachmann, current Congresswoman and noted loon - $16K
Trent Franks, current Congressman and embarrassment to Arizona - almost $20K
Sydney Hay, industry lobbyist and Congresscritter wannabe - $6500
James Inhofe, current Senator and climate change denier - $10K
Rick Renzi, former Congressman and current indictee - $7500
Tom Tancredo - former Congressman and hardcore nativist - $13500

Not a lot of support for working families on that list, or among the hundreds of other candidates/officials that CWF has supported.

I'd call CWF an "astroturf" group, but other than the name, there is relatively little deception going on here - they've made it clear that they only support "working" families that are rich, white, conservative, Christian and don't actually need to work.


CBS News coverage of the Norton race in Colorado here.

Number du jour: 172 million

From Bloomberg -

BP Plc’s Macondo well released 4.1 million barrels of oil in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico before it was capped, a team of scientists said today.

An additional 800,000 barrels that flowed from the well after it started leaking were captured by BP, the U.S. government-appointed group said in its most specific estimate yet of the magnitude of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.


At 4.1 million barrels, the spill would be about 16 times the amount leaked by the Exxon Valdez, which released an estimated 257,000 barrels in a 1989 accident.

 As there are 42 gallons in a barrel of oil, that means that approximately 172,000,000 gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico.

The sad part is, as devastating to the Gulf Coast spill has been to the environment and people living and working in the Gulf and along the coast (and will be for at least a generation), the volume of the spill is a little more than 21% of the volume that the U.S. uses in one day.

Jon Kyl: Republican campaigner-in-chief

I don't like Jon Kyl - his politics are repugnant and he is far more interested in protecting the interests of Big Business than in protecting and representing the his constituents, the people of Arizona.

However, that doesn't mean that anyone should discount his intelligence or political acumen.

He knows that the one issue that the Rs can win on this fall is immigration, and as long as the average American is distracted by undocumented immigrants and not paying attention to the Republicans' efforts to obstruct an economic recovery for the middle and working classes, cut taxes for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, to foment a full-fledged return to the disastrous Bush-era policies that created the mess that we're in, they stand a very good chance of gaining control of one or both chambers of Congress in November.

So the following story in the Arizona Republic should come as no surprise -

U.S. Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl on Sunday expressed support for hearings on the 14th Amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

{snip}

"Well, actually there is a constitutional provision in the 14th Amendment that has been interpreted to provide that if you are born in the United States, you are a citizen no matter what," Kyl, R-Ariz., said Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation. "Now, there are limitations on that. For example, for the children of diplomats and so on. So the question is, if both parents are here illegally, should there be a reward for their illegal behavior?"

The quote from Kyl came Sunday on CBS' Face The Nation.  CBS News coverage of Kyl's appearance here.

The part of the Constitution under attack from Kyl (and Russell Pearce, and the rest of the nativist of the GOP) is the first clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which reads -

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

In his appearance on Face The Nation, Kyl alluded to the fact that the amendment doesn't apply to those, such as diplomats, who are immune to (not "subject to the jurisdiction" of) American laws.

Since the ability of Joe Arpaio et. al. to arrest, detain and harass brown-skinned people continues unabated, and I expect that lawyer-by-education-and-experience Kyl is cognizant of that fact, Kyl's intended targets for selective application of the Constitution are obviously *not* immune from American laws.

As such, no matter how much the nativists wish otherwise, the Fourteenth Amendment applies to undocumented immigrants.

Unless, of course, he wants to propose granting them diplomatic status...

OK - probably not. :)

Anyway, if any of Kyl's proposed hearings take place, you can be certain that Fox News and the rest of the R echo chamber will do everything that it can to ensure that the cacophony surrounding them drowns out discussion of any issue other than immigration.

BTW - I'm not sure that a minority party Senator can call hearings on a given topic.  However, the Senate's rules can be rather arcance and antiquated ("antiquated" as in "harkening back to the time when there was less pure partisanship in D.C.") - so anything is possible.

Early ballot time - 2010 primary

Early voting has started, and those voters who have signed up for the Pernanent Early Voting List or have specifically requested a mail ballot for this election should have received their ballot already (or will receive it within the next few days.)

If you are not on the PEVL list or haven't requested a ballot for this specific election, you can download the sign up form for the PEVL here or request a ballot for a single election here.  The latest date to request an early ballot for the August primary is August 13.

My ballot is a Democratic one, specific to CD5/LD17/Maricopa County/University Lakes Justice Precinct, and can be found here. (Just for giggles, the Republican ballot for the same area is here; the Libertarian ballot is here; and the Green ballot is here.)

While I have determined who to vote for in the races where there are contests, I won't list those choices here.  All of the Democratic candidates are excellent choices (one of the advantages to being a Democrat in a state that is so dominated by Republicans is that anyone running as a D is someone who takes public service seriously) and I'll proudly support the eventual winners in the general election.

The candidates on my ballot, and their campaign websites, are (in the order listed on the ballot, not my personal preference.):

US Senate (vote for one)

Randy Parraz
John Dougherty
Cathy Eden
Rodney Glassman


U.S. Representative (CD5)

Harry Mitchell


Governor of Arizona

Terry Goddard


State Senator (LD17)

David Schapira


State Representative (LD17) (vote for two)

Ed Ableser
Ben Arredondo


Arizona Secretary of State (vote for one)

Sam Wercinski
Chris Deschene


Arizona Attorney General (vote for one)

Felecia Rotellini
David Lujan
Vince Rabago


Arizona State Treasurer

Andrei Cherny


Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction (vote for one)

Jason Williams
Penny Kotterman


Arizona Mine Inspector

Manuel Cruz


Arizona Corporation Commission (vote for two)

Renz Jennings
David Bradley
Jorge Luis Garcia


Clerk of the Maricopa County Superior Court

Sherry Williams


Justice of the Peace, University Lakes Justice Precinct (vote for one)

Meg Burton Cahill (no campaign webpage that I could find, but her state senate page is here)
Kathy Hayden


One of the more interesting races is one that isn't on my ballot - the race between Republicans Rick Romley and Bill Montgomery to serve out the remaining 2+ years of Andrew Thomas' term as Maricopa County Attorney.  No D is running for the spot, preferring to save up their campaigning energies for 2012.

The race there has boiled down to Romley's professionalism versus Montgomery's Arpaio-ism.  In a general election contest, Romley would win in a walkover, but since the race will be decided by the R primary voters, anything could happen.

Updates on this and the other races as they become available.

Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site Five-Year Review Process starting

This week, I (and presumably, most of the other households in south Scottsdale and north Tempe) received a notice from the EPA announcing the start of a Five-Year Review (FYR) of the remediation efforts in the Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site.  For most purposes, that areas has been divided into the North Indian Bend Wash (NIBW) site and the South Indian Bend Wash Site (SIBW).

A .pdf version of the FYR announcement is here.

The history of the site began with the discovery of groundwater and soil contamination in 1981, mostly of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) attributed to the disposal of industrial waste.  (more info available at the EPA's pages on the site, linked above).

The entire site covers approximately 13 square miles of Tempe and South Scottsdale, with Pima/Price Road serving as the eastern border, Scottsdale/Rural Road as the western border, Apache Boulevard as the southern border, and Chaparral Road as the northern border.  The NIBW/SIBW split occurs at the Salt River, north of Rio Salado Parkway in Tempe.

Anyway, the purpose of the FYR is to evaluate the effectiveness of the remediation efforts in the Indian Bend Wash site.  It is expected to be completed by September of next year (2011), and the EPA is looking for input from both people who have knowledge of the cleanup operations and members of the general public who have information and/or concerns regarding cleanup activities in the area.

If you are interested in participating in this process, contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator for the site, Vicki Rosen, at 415-972-3244 or toll-free at 1-800-231-3075.  Her email is Rosen.Vicki@epamail.epa.gov.

Another point of contact regarding this site (for those who are interested) is Felicia Calderon, State Community Involvement Coordinator, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. She can be reached at 602-771-4167 or calderon.felicia@azdeq.gov.

More information on both the NIBW and SIBW can be found locally at Tempe Public Library, 3500 South Rural Road, Tempe, AZ 85282 (SIBW) and Scottsdale Public Library Civic Center Library, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (NIBW).



Have a good weekend!

Jan Brewer wants to tweak

...and no matter what one might think after watching the Capitol for the year-and-a-half that she's been ensconced on the 9th floor, it's not the "tweaking" of the crystal meth-induced hallucinatory variety*.

We think not, anyway.

From the AZ Rep's Political Insider -

With Judge Susan Bolton's injunction Wednesday against several key sections of Senate Bill 1070, some legal experts are predicting the law's most controversial provisions will never go into effect.


Appearing on "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" Thursday night, Gov. Jan Brewer said she had been in contact with legislative leaders Thursday to discuss making changes to the bill...

{snip}

"And there is a possibility that we might have to do a little tweaking. And I have been in contact today with the president of the Senate, President (Bob) Burns, and the speaker of the House, Speaker Kirk Adams, to get together and determine just exactly what it is maybe we might be able to do to tweak the bill to give them a little bit more satisfaction so that it would weigh more favorably on behalf of the state of Arizona."

Terry Goddard has spent his time in office fighting for Arizona and Arizonans, whether working to undermine smuggling cartels' finances or by protecting Luke Air Force Base and the jobs associated with it.  (Successfully, I might add.)

Jan Brewer has spent her time in office fighting for bigotry and nativists, whether working her way into the good graces of nativists by demonizing immigrants or by protecting the interests of private prisons and their lobbyists populating her senior staff.

And that will be Arizona's choice come November -

Goddard's lifetime of professionalism and public service, or Brewer's grandstanding and abuse of office.


* = Though I must say that after nearly four years of watching and writing about the likes of Pearce, Gould, Harper, et. al. in action, mandatory drug testing for Arizona's elected officials might be in order.

Just sayin'...

Billionaire fraudsters/GOP donors indicted: Will AZGOP, McCain, Kyl, and Schweikert return donations?

From ABC News -

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged billionaire Samuel Wyly and his brother Charles with fraud for reaping more than $550 million of illicit gains by trading stock in four companies while they were serving as directors.


Samuel Wyly, 75, and Charles Wyly, 76, were accused of concocting a sham web of trusts and subsidiaries in the Isle of Man and the Cayman Islands to conceal over a 13-year period more than $750 million of stock sales in Michaels Stores Inc, Sterling Commerce Inc, Sterling Software Inc and Scottish Annuity & Life Holdings Ltd.

The Wyly family (the brothers, their wives, and their children) have been huge GOP supporters over the years, giving millions to Republican candidates, committees, and front groups/PACs (like Swift Boat and Club for Growth).

Some of their largesse has reached into Arizona.

According to FEC records, they've given at least $5K to Jon Kyl's campaigns over the years, $3K to John McCain's Senate campaign since 1997 (and many thousands more to his PAC and presidential campaigns) and even $2300 in 2008 to David Schweikert's campaign in CD5 (that one was contributed by son Andrew, who hasn't been indicted as yet).

Also according to FEC records, Sam Wyly gave over $1100 directly to the Arizona Republican Party in 2004.

They really juicy stuff, however, was from a quick glance at the website of the Arizona Secretary of State - the Wylys gave over $700K to an Arizona-registered committee called "1648 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL STATE ELECTIONS COMMITTEE."

I'm assuming because of the name that's actually a federal soft-money committee that had to register in AZ because it expended money here, but appointed Secretary of State Ken Bennett has reduced the functionality of the SOS' website, so I wasn't able to look up the relevent reports (from 2000 and 2002).

That's still a LOT of money.

The AZGOP has been rather enthusiastic (occasionally justly so) in calling on AZ Democrats to return contributions from sources with tarnished reputations.

Now will they just as enthusiastically meet the standards that they hold Democrats to, or will they be hypocrites?

Note: that last is a rhetorical question.  I don't expect them to even blink over the Wyly money, much less express any regrets over accepting it.

Later...

BTW - this info was gathered in approximately 30 minutes of search time; somebody with more time could probably find evidence that the Wylys have contributed more money and exerted more influence over AZGOP politics than that which I've outlined here.

Protected Speech 101: Words - yes; terrorist acts - no

From website of the Arizona Republic -

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., has closed his Yuma district office for the day after staff discovered that a bullet had shattered a window earlier Thursday.



A news release from Adam Sarvana, Grijalva's spokesman, says police are investigating the vandalism and have not released details about a possible motive. Grijalva will re-open the office as soon as possible, his office said.

This isn't the first time that one of Grijalva's offices has been targeted, though it was just with threats last time.

Funny, but when someone disagrees with them, the first reaction of the "what part of 'illegal' don't they understand?" crowd is to break the law.  (Yes, I'm making the assumption that the person on the other end of the bullet was a ticked-off nativist.  The violence fits the M.O.)

Why is that?  Could it be that maybe their anti-immigrant fervor is rooted less in "respect for the law" and more in "hatred for people with brown skin"?

Yuma Sun coverage here.

Later...

More fun with signs...

Saw this one while out walking today...

I'm not questioning the whole "illegal immigration/Joe Arpaio" motif of the sign - Kavanagh is a long-time nativist, and even if he wasn't, nearly all the R candidates in the state have prostrated themselves before their twin gods of hatred and ignorance.

Nope, my question is far more basic than that (and a campaign platform of demonizing the "other" is pretty base) -


What district is he running to represent?


Now, *I* know that Kavanagh is a current state rep from LD8 and he is running for re-election there (yes, I'm a political geek), but how is the average person going to know that? 

Many might logically assume that he is running to represent the district in which the sign is located.  Certainly, most folks would find such an assumption to be eminently reasonable.

They would be reasonable, but utterly wrong.

The sign in the picture is located on the northwest corner of McDowell and Pima roads in Scottsdale, which is well within LD17 (south Scottsdale), not LD8 (north Scottsdale).

Besides the nativist shout outs on the sign, which is pretty much the campaign playbook for Republican candidates this cycle, the sign illustrates another point that I've been making -

Arizona Republicans consider elected office less a job representing constituents and more an opportunity to foist an extremist ideology off on everyone else.

Time to talk about other topics

The ruling by federal judge Susan Bolton blocking parts of the new anti-immigrant law in AZ should quiet things, at least until the case is appealed to the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.  But it won't.

People in AZ should now have the time to discuss Arizona's pathetic, among-the-nation's-worst K-12 education system, but they won't do it.

People in AZ should now have the time to discuss Arizona's unsafe school buildings, but they won't do it.

People in AZ should  now have the time to discuss Arizona's crumbling infrastructure and transportation system, but they won't do it.

People in AZ should have the time to discuss Arizona's gaping maw of a budget deficit, and the accounting tricks and wishful thinking used to "balance" this year's budget, but they won't do it.

People in AZ should have the time to discuss the state's structural deficit and Jan Brewer et. al's plan to make it better by making it worse, but they won't do it.

People in AZ should have the time to discuss the utter dysfunctionality of Arizona's government at all levels, but they won't do it.

People in AZ should have the time to discuss the fact that too many of our elected officials do nothing more than bring ridicule and scorn upon our state, but they won't do it.

People in AZ should have the time to discuss the collapse of the Ponzi-scheme like Arizona economy (people would buy or build houses and make a profit by selling them to the people who came after them, which worked fine until fewer people arrived in AZ than there were houses to sell to them), but they won't do it.

There are a lot of things that ail Arizona that the people here could finally focus on and work to address, but they won't do it.

It's easier to be distracted by the "it's all the fault of the Brown people!" crowd than to actually participate in and discuss civic affairs.

Unless the people in this state who actually care about it and its future refuse to allow themselves to be distracted by the histrionics and insist that the public discussion cover all relevent topics, not just the ones that Brewer, Pearce, and the rest want to use to scare the public.

Breaking: significant parts of SB1070 blocked by federal judge

This fight is hardly over, and the Republicans/nativists are sure to appeal the ruling, but this is still great news...

From the Arizona Republic -

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton has issued a preliminary injunction preventing several sections of Arizona's new immigration law from becoming law, at least until the courts have a chance to hear the full case.

Key parts of Senate Bill 1070 that will not go into effect Thursday:

• The portion of the law that requires an officer make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there's reasonable suspicion they're in the country illegally.

• The portion that creates a crime of failure to apply for or carry "alien-registration papers."

• The portion that makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to solicit, apply for or perform work. (This does not include the section on day laborers.)

• The portion that allows for a warrantless arrest of a person where there is probable cause to believe they have committed a public offense that makes them removable from the United States.

Parts of the law will remain in effect, including provisions allowing individuals to sue law enforcement agencies/political subdivisions who don't enforce immigration law enthusiastically enough and those making it a misdemeanor to harbor or transport undocumented immigrants.  Full hearings on the law will take place in the near future.

Terry Goddard, Arizona's Attorney General and a candidate for governor issued the following statement:

Jan Brewer played politics with immigration, and she lost.
Rather than providing the leadership Arizona needs to solve the immigration problem, Jan Brewer signed a bill she could not defend in court which has led to boycotts, jeopardized our tourism industry and polarized our state.

It is time to look beyond election year grandstanding and begin to repair the damage to Arizona's image and economy.

Perhaps now we in Arizona can focus on effective steps to fight border crime and keep our families safe. Now we can focus on steps, such as the ones I have been taking, to go after border crime and cut off the cash that flows to organized criminal cartels that smuggle thousands into the U.S.

Now, we should start making smart decisions about immigration - beyond sound bites, fear mongering and political stunts.

There were expected to be protests in downtown Phoenix, expressing objections to the law.  Now, however, the protests are expected to be from those opposed to the ruling.

Breaking news in a breaking news post:  I'm not sure if it is related to the ruling, though the timing is certainly eyebrow-raising, but the Downtown Justice Court building (NOT the federal court or Maricopa County Superior Court buildings in Phoenix) has been locked down due to a suspicious package.  No one is being let in or out of the building.  The MCSO has been called.  More info as it becomes available. (confirmed by a call to the Justice Courts administration office)

The text of the judge's ruling, courtesy the Arizona Republic, here.

Arizona Capitol Times coverage here.

CNN coverage here.

More candidate updates...

Edit later on 7/28 to update school board race info...

The Maricopa County Recorder's office has posted a list of candidates who have submitted petitions for non-partisan general election races.  The list is incomplete as the deadline for submitting petitions for those races is August 4.

Highlights (so far):

There are 6 candidates so far for the 5 open seats on the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD), better known as the Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project.

One candidate, Tim Bray, is a current member of the Board.  The other five who have already submitted petitions are challengers.  The sig requirement for the race is 200.  Most of the candidates gathered 350 - 720, except for challenger Arif Kazmi, a career engineer. 

He submitted over 1700. 

The next highest total so far is from Frank Fairbanks, the former City Manager of Phoenix.  He submitted a total of 714 sigs.

Anyway, no list of school board candidates is up yet.  I'm not sure if the County Recorder will list those or if that's left to each individual district.

Updates when available.

Edit on 7/28 -

Apparently, I'm not the only one whose mind turned toward some of the down-ballot races in the last day or so.  The Arizona Republic has a piece on its website regarding the high number of potential school board candidates in the Kyrene and Tempe Union High School districts.

That piece led to the website of the Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools, which contains a list of candidates who have submitted paperwork so far.

End edit...


In other news:

...There's been one *really* late withdrawal, this one from the race for the state senate seat in LD19 (East Mesa).  James Molina dropped out of the Republican primary there, leaving an all but clear path to the seat for current state rep Rich Crandall (R).  There is one Libertarian write-in candidate who has declared for the seat, but even if he qualifies for the November ballot, Crandall should cruise to the victory (no D is in the race).

Wouldn't it be embarrassing if Crandall lost the race to someone who wasn't even in it?  It's theoretically possible, as ballots have already been printed.  Even though he has dropped out of the race, Molina's name still appears on the ballot.

...The Brewer campaign is already taking a victory lap in the R gubernortorial primary, as they are refusing to participate in any debates with her lone remaining challenger in the R primary, Matthew Jette.

...On Monday, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will appoint someone to fill the seat of the ousted Doug Quelland (R-LD10) in the AZ House of Representatives.  The possible choices are: Kimberly Yee, Francine Romeburg, and Henry Grosjean.  I don't know anything about any of them other than Yee, who is a candidate in August's primary.  According to the Arizona Guardian (subscription required), Jan Brewer is supporting Yee for the appointment, which means she is probably completely unqualified for the spot.

While Quelland has been removed from the lege, he remains a candidate for election to the next lege.

Some might think this is a meaningless appointment as the lege's session has ended, and it may yet prove to be so.  However, there is a persistent rumor that there will be a special session after the elections in November to railroad through the Reps' corporate tax cuts bill. 

Which may explain Brewer's push for a pet candidate.

Later...

Unseemly corporate influence doesn't just come in the form of direct contributions

Came across this press release, and since it involved both Arizona elections and Arizona American Water, it really piqued my interest...

From the press release:

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arizona American Water will team up with members of the Arizona Investment Council, the Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association (GCSECA) and the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce to sponsor a candidate forum for the six candidates running for the two vacancies at the Arizona Corporation Commission. Each candidate will give opening remarks and then answer various questions by a moderator.


WHAT: ACC Candidate Forum

WHEN: Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

WHERE: Little America Hotel, 2515 East Butler Avenue, Flagstaff, Arizona 86004

WHY: All six candidates for the two vacancies on the Arizona Corporation Commission have expressed a commitment to participate in the forum. The candidates include: David Bradley (D-Tucson), Brenda Burns (R-Phoenix), Jorge Luis Garcia (D-Tucson), Renz Jennings (D-Phoenix), Gary Pierce (R-Mesa), and Barry Wong (R-Phoenix)

Arizona American Water, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 350,000 people.

OK, it's not a direct contribution, nor is it even a third party expenditure on a race.  What it is, however, is some "regulatees" ponying up some cash for the privilege of schmoozing with "regulators."

And if you don't think that this kind of investment can pay off for Arizona American Water and various utilities. you should remember that the Corporation Commission is the body that approves/disapproves utility rate hike requests, requests that can generate millions of dollars per year in addition revenues and profits for the utilities and their corporate owners like Pinnacle West (APS) and American Water (Arizona American Water.)

Oh, and AZAm Water's press release boilerplate about "providing high-quality and reliable water"?
Thousands of residents in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley would beg to differ.
 
 
BTW - I'm not *entirely* down on all of the ACC candidates who are participating in the corporate sponsored forum.   
 
Forecast high temp for Phoenix tomorrow: 101.
 
Forecast high temp for Flagstaff tomorrow: 78.
 
:)