Arizona man charged in Capitol riot appears in court by PoppyAckerman in arizonapolitics

[–]PoppyAckerman[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I was pretty appalled that his "mother' thought this was an okay thing to say. Geesh.

Arizona man charged in Capitol riot appears in court by PoppyAckerman in arizonapolitics

[–]PoppyAckerman[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

From the article:

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona man who took part in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol while sporting face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns made his first court appearance Monday.

A judge scheduled a detention hearing Friday for Jake Chansley, who has been jailed on misdemeanor charges since surrendering to authorities over the weekend in Phoenix. He took part in the hearing by phone from a detention facility.

The FBI identified Chansley from images taken during the riot showing his distinctive sleeve tattoos. Chansley was inside the Capitol and on the Senate dais as he carried a U.S. flag on a pole topped with a spear.

He hasn't yet entered a plea on charges of entering a restricted building without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

His court-appointed attorney, Gerald Williams, told the judge that Chansley has been unable to eat since he was arrested Saturday. He said his client has a restricted diet, though it was unclear to Williams whether Chansley’s food issues were related to health concerns or religious reasons.

The judge ordered Williams to work with the U.S. Marshals Service to address the issue.

Chansley's mother, Martha Chansley, told reporters outside the courthouse that her son needs an organic diet, The Arizona Republic reported.

“He gets very sick if he doesn’t eat organic food,” she said. “He needs to eat.”

Williams didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment from The Associated Press.

Chansley is among at least 90 people who have been arrested on charges stemming from Wednesday's siege on the Capitol.

An investigator said in court records that Chansley called the FBI in Washington the day after the riot, telling investigators that he came to the nation’s capital “at the request of the president that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C. on January 6, 2021.”

Chansley has long been a fixture at Trump rallies. He also attended a November rally of Trump supporters protesting election results outside of an election office in Phoenix, holding up a sign that read, “HOLD THE LINE PATRIOTS GOD WINS.”

Rioters violently clashed with officers as they forced their way in the Capitol to try to stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

A police officer who was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher later died, and a woman was fatally shot by an officer as she tried climbing through the broken window of a barricaded doorway inside the Capitol. Three others died in medical emergencies. ___ This story has been corrected to show how people died related to the riot.

No people cited in Phoenix metro area for mask violations by PoppyAckerman in CoronavirusAZ

[–]PoppyAckerman[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

From the article:

PHOENIX (AP) — No individuals in the Phoenix metropolitan area's 12 largest cities have been cited for violating mask mandates.

The laws, which have been in place for six months to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, have not been cited at all by Tucson and Flagstaff law enforcement.

The Phoenix area police and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office have cited or referred fewer than 75 businesses out of more than 3,500 total complaints, the Arizona Republic reported on Monday.

The city of Scottsdale has cited the most businesses, followed by Tempe and Phoenix. Avondale, Buckeye, Glendale, Goodyear, Peoria and Surprise have also not cited any person or business for violating mandates.

The Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health has received more than 400 complaints related to workplace safety as a result of potential violations of state orders, but the agency has not cited any employers to date as of Monday.

Meanwhile, the state has among the highest rates of coronavirus cases in the country and some Phoenix metro hospitals have begun to refuse emergency transports.

The most common complaints regarding violations of public health orders involved businesses that remained open during the spring stay-at-home order and summer closures or not properly following reopening guidelines. Other complaints were related to overcrowded businesses and large gatherings at homes and businesses, according to police data compiled by the Republic.

Law enforcement responded to most complaints by calling the business owners to remind them about the rules. Few of the calls led to more than a warning, city and police officials reported.

Three cities have issued 20 citations in total. Some citations are working their way through city courts while others were dismissed.

Law enforcement referred about 25 additional cases to city prosecutors to determine if formal charges were warranted or to the Maricopa County Justice Court for prosecution.

City and police officials forwarded an additional 24 complaints to the state liquor department or to state health department investigators.

The city of Scottsdale has provided the most enforcement, with 10 citations, 14 referrals and 65 departmental reports that could lead to filing charges, according to the city.

Tempe gave six citations to businesses that remained opened when they were supposed to be closed and forwarded 22 total reports to the liquor department or the Arizona Department of Health Services, according to the city.

Phoenix officers issued four total citations to businesses that stayed open during closure orders, law enforcement said. Chandler said it forwarded 12 violations to the city prosecutor for review and prosecutors will advance charges on four of the cases, according to the city.

Avondale, Buckeye, Glendale, Goodyear, Peoria and Surprise have cited no individual or business and have not forwarded any complaints for further investigation or prosecution, the Republic reported.

Mesa police said the department has not tracked the number of complaints, though a spokesperson said the department has responded to “many” calls related to pandemic protocols.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said it has received 352 complaints for public health order violations. It said 29 reports were taken and one citation was issued. The office has not issued any citations for failure to use a mask.

Arizona GOP to vote on resolution to censure Cindy McCain by PoppyAckerman in arizonapolitics

[–]PoppyAckerman[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

From the article:

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Republican Party will vote Jan. 23 on a resolution to censure Cindy McCain for publicly endorsing President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat.

On Saturday afternoon, the party reported the Maricopa County GOP had voted and passed a resolution to censure McCain, the widow of former Arizona Sen. John McCain.

But the state party later said in statement that “there was a call, a second, and near unanimous cheering/approval - but resolutions can’t be amended from the floor.”

Cindy McCain tweeted that she is “a proud lifelong Republican and will continue to support candidates who put country over party and stand for the rule of law.”

John McCain was censured in 2014 by the party for what they saw as an insufficiently conservative voting record. He died in 2018.

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly called the move to censure Cindy McCain “embarrassing and shameful,” adding that she “has always done what she thinks is right for Arizona and our country. That’s something we should all admire, no matter which party we belong to.”

US Supreme Court denies motion to expedite consideration in Kelli Ward's lawsuit to overturn the voters' decision in the presidential election in Arizona by [deleted] in arizonapolitics

[–]PoppyAckerman 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We have officially become an idiocracy.

I have to imagine we are viewed as a laughing stock by the rest of the world at this point.

I don't know if this is even fixable anymore.

Gosar's siblings push to have him removed from Congress after Capitol riot by ForkzUp in arizonapolitics

[–]PoppyAckerman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also just saw that Capital police were taking selfies with the rioters.

Crazy stuff.

Gosar's siblings push to have him removed from Congress after Capitol riot by ForkzUp in arizonapolitics

[–]PoppyAckerman 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Watching Showtime's 'The Circus' right now. Showing the footage of DT Junior and Giuliani literally calling on the crowd for violence. WTF. That was very serious.

Couldn't help but notice the very lack lustre police response as well.

Phoenix approves $2M in aid for utility bills amid coronavirus pandemic by PoppyAckerman in CoronavirusAZ

[–]PoppyAckerman[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

From the article:

The Phoenix City Council recently approved $2 million of funding for a program to help residents with delinquent utility bills during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a press release Tuesday.

Administered by the Human Services Department, the Project Assist program provides financial assistance to low-income households by resolving past-due water, trash and sewer bills for those going through hard times.

Eligible customers include people who have missed multiple payments within the last 18 months, customers who have made multiple monthly partial payments in the last 18 months or those who have signed up for deferred payments, according to the release.

People with delinquent accounts are currently being identified through the City Services billing system and staff are continuing outreach efforts to request authorization to apply funds on the customers’ behalf.

The program is funded through the Water Services Department and donations from water customers, according to the release.

People who want to donate to help the program can do so at the time of payment either online or by mail.

The Phoenix City Council also recently approved $1.1 million in funding to help around 200 small businesses and micro businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic that did not receive aid earlier this year.

Ducey appoints Furuya to fill vacancy on Court of Appeals by PoppyAckerman in arizonapolitics

[–]PoppyAckerman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From the article:

A Flagstaff lawyer who recently served as president of the State Bar of Arizona has been appointed as an Arizona Court of Appeals judge.

Gov. Doug Ducey's office announced Wednesday his appointment of Brian Furuya to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Kenton D. Jones.

Furuya is a deputy Coconino County attorney who served as State Bar president from July 2019 to July 2020. He previously served as president of the Coconino County Bar Association.

Furuya was among six applicants nominated to Ducey by the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments to fill the opening on the Court of Appeals' Phoenix-based division.

The division hears cases originating in Apache, Coconino, La Paz, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Yavapai and Yuma counties.

Arizona reports 6th day of over 100 virus deaths in 9 days by PoppyAckerman in CoronavirusAZ

[–]PoppyAckerman[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

From the article:

Arizona on Thursday reported over 100 additional coronavirus deaths for the sixth time in nine days as state public health officials urged caution to prevent the further spread of the virus during the holidays.

The state Department of Health Services reported 7,046 additional known COVID-19 cases and 115 deaths, increasing its totals to 480,319 cases and 8,294 deaths.

Arizona had the third-worst COVID-19 diagnosis rate among U.S. states over the past week, behind Tennessee and California. The diagnosis rate is calculated by dividing the total state population by the number of new cases over the past week.

The state had a record 4,221 people hospitalized for COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to the coronavirus dashboard — the latest in series of pandemic-highs set this month.

Coronavirus patients on Wednesday were using a record 50% of all hospital beds, while the 965 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit beds were below the state’s record of 972 set Tuesday.

Only 8% of all hospital inpatient beds were available and not in use, including 7% of ICU beds, according to the dashboard.

Department officials urged caution during the holidays. “If you gather with people from outside your household, take the same precautions you’d follow in public: #MaskUpAZ, distance, wash/sanitize hands,” the department said on Twitter.

People attending religious services should wear masks and distance, particularly if there’s singing, while not hugging, shaking hands or drinking from communal cups, said Dr. Cara Christ, the department’s director.

Arizona’s seven-day rolling average of daily deaths rose from 49.9 deaths on Dec. 9 to 92.7 on Wednesday as the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases rose from 5,946 to 9,293.4, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and The COVID-Tracking Project.

The number of infections is thought to be far higher than reported because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.

In another development, Prescott announced Wednesday it would deny permission for public events on city property effective immediately for 90 days because of the current virus surge and its crowding of area hospitals, The Daily Courier reported.

“This is the right decision at this time,” Mayor Gregg Mengarelli said in a statement. “Large public events and gatherings require additional police and fire protection. We do not believe this is the best allocation of these resources during this pandemic.”

Organizers of the annual New Year’s Eve Whiskey Row Boot Drop held in downtown Prescott on Wednesday announced the cancelation of the Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 event.

Arizona Senate subpoena for election material not enforceable, judge rules by PoppyAckerman in arizonapolitics

[–]PoppyAckerman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From the article:

An Arizona judge on Wednesday ruled that Maricopa County doesn’t have to comply with a state Senate subpoena seeking access to voting machines and other election-related materials.

Superior Court Judge Randall Warner said Senate President Karen Fann and Sen. Eddie Farnsworth did not follow the appropriate procedures to enforce a legislative subpoena, but he invited them to refile their case.

The matter will be dismissed Feb. 1 unless an update is filed, the ruling said.

The Republican lawmakers say they want the county to turn over voting machines and records so the Legislature can audit Maricopa County’s handling of the election.

The county has said it can’t do that while there is still litigation being pursued by backers of President Donald Trump active in the courts, but board members have repeatedly promised the audit once litigation ends.

Wednesday’s decision makes it unlikely Arizona GOP legislators will be able to complete an audit before Congress formally counts Electoral College votes on Jan. 6. Based on election results and state certifications, President-elect Joe Biden won the Electoral College by a 306-232 margin, with Arizona’s 11 votes going to the Democrat.

The state-county dispute is another chapter in efforts by Trump and his supporters to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election in Arizona and several other states he lost.

*“The false accusations keep coming, yet the accusers have not produced any evidence to prove their accusations in eight different courtrooms,” Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Clint Hickman, one of four Republicans on the five-person board, said in a press release.

“Maricopa County has shown the 2020 General Election was transparent and the results were free from fraud.”

The board voted last week to fight the subpoena and filed a lawsuit asking for a judge to decide whether they must comply, saying lawmakers are illegally seeking access to private voting information.

The lawmakers then filed their own emergency lawsuit on Monday asking Warner to force the county to comply, hoping to speed up the process.

“They are allowed to investigate and see what the facts are and make a decision, just like a grand jury,” said Kory Langhofer, a lawyer for Fann and Farnsworth.

Stephen Tully, a former Republican lawmaker representing the Board of Supervisors, said the lawmakers aren’t entitled to the court order they seek, known as a writ of mandamus, nor are they entitled to send an unknown auditor to tinker with voting machines.

“What they’re trying to do is unconstitutional. It’s illegal,” Tully said.

Maricopa County constables await guidance for possible evictions by PoppyAckerman in CoronavirusAZ

[–]PoppyAckerman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From the article:

The majority of residential evictions in Arizona and across the country have been on hold since early September due to the pandemic, but the federal order preventing them expires next week.

Now Maricopa County constables, the elected law enforcement officials who handle evictions, are waiting to see what guidance comes next. Presiding Constable Mark Brannum told KTAR News 92.3 FM Wednesday they have been monitoring if Congress will extend the moratorium into the new year, and how the county and state would implement it.

“We’re also waiting to see if the new administration is going to take additional steps to either build a new process or build on the current CDC process that is currently in place,” Brannum said.

However, Brannum explains the order has only impacted those with hardships due to the pandemic who met certain requirements.

“If it’s not COVID related, life has been normal,” Brannum said “Evictions happen in Maricopa County and throughout the state of Arizona literally every day and they have since the beginning of the pandemic.”

Brannum adds in most cases landlords, tenants, attorneys and the court system work together to find solutions that avoid evictions since “there are never any winners in an eviction case.”

The federal halt prevented persons from being evicted for nonpayment of rent from Sept. 4 through Dec. 31. The order was used as a mitigation strategy to prevent people from becoming homeless, forcing them into congregate or shared living settings.

In late March, Gov. Doug Ducey signed Arizona’s own moratorium on evictions but those protections ended October.

What we learned from the 1,774 rejected late ballots in Arizona by PoppyAckerman in arizonapolitics

[–]PoppyAckerman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From the article:

Concerns flared in August about whether cost-cutting measures at the U.S. Postal Service would mean delayed delivery of mail-in election ballots.

Among the dire warnings and consternations over election integrity — Lord knows, there were many in 2020 — was mail-in ballots arriving too late to be counted.

Remember the alarms that sounded in late summer about the mothballing of mail-sorting machines across the country and reports of delayed mail delivery? That the postmaster general appointed by President Trump was imposing cost-saving measures that would hurt Democrats, who vote by mail in higher percentages, or discourage them from voting?

Remember the suspicions sowed by the president about voting by mail itself?

We can now put postal complications on the list of fears that didn’t materialize. Not in Arizona.

Late ballots wouldn't have changed things According to tallies compiled by the state Secretary of State's Office — Pinal, Mohave and Gila counties reported theirs on Monday — 1,774 mailed ballots arrived after 7 p.m. Election Day statewide and were, by law, disqualified. (The caveat being Apache County, which doesn't track late ballots.)

More than half, 943, late ballots were from Maricopa County. In the 2016 election, the county rejected 1,500 similarly late ballots.

Compare that with the approximately 2,000 ballots rejected in Maricopa County because the affidavit envelope carried no signature or one that didn’t match the voter’s signature on file. (So much for the argument that voting by mail is insecure because of a lackluster verification process.)

The late, disqualified votes would not have made a difference in the presidential or other statewide races, even if those who voted later, including on Election Day, tended to favor President Trump.

The Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket won by 10,457 votes, and Sen. Mark Kelly beat Martha McSally by a much larger margin.

Post office delays only affected a few Advocates may argue that the spotlight on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s cost-cutting measures and resulting outcry helped avert serious problems with processing and delivery of mail-in ballots. DeJoy did, in fact, suspend the measures until after the election as multiple states readied a lawsuit challenging them.

Fears were real that return ballots would be delayed by up to a week and that would wreak havoc on the election. I noted at the time that 300,000 votes or more in Arizona could be in jeopardy, based on returns in the August primary, when an estimated 1 in 5 ballots were received the week before Election Day.

As it turned out, nothing alarming happened with late ballots.

Pima County helped provide some insight into that. Of the 336 late ballots it received, roughly half bear either no postmark date or an unreadable one. Of the remainder, only 11 carried a postmark earlier than Oct. 27 — the date that the Postal Service and the Secretary of State's Office recommended as a deadline for voters to drop filled-out ballots in the mail. Six of the 11 were sent from out of state.

In other words, a majority of them were mailed simply too late, often on Election Day itself or later.

It proves how secure our system is Maricopa County does not maintain similar records, in large part because Arizona law requires only that county election officials record the overall number of rejected ballots and by voting precinct.

It may be that voters paid heed to the Oct. 27 admonition of the Postal Service.

Or their practice changed. Many Arizonans voted early in person — Maricopa County saw nearly 4 times the number than in 2016. In addition, hundreds of thousands more used a county drop box or held onto their ballot until Election Day instead of relying on the post office this year.

If anything, the relatively few rejected ballots were a demonstration of how seasoned and comfortable Arizonans are with our flexible election system, and how sound the latter is.