Monthly Archives: June 2014

ADOT MVD addresses technical problems with the redesigned license

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new-driver-license-designPHOENIX — If anyone received a new driver license and it contains errors, there are some simple steps to take to get a corrected credential. The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division wants to advise customers who received a redesigned driver license that contains errors to return to any local area Motor Vehicle Division office, email ADOT, or call 602-255-0072 or 800-251-5866.

It is important for anyone receiving the redesigned credential issued after June 16 to verify all of the information contained on the card.

The ADOT Motor Vehicle Division values its customers and continuously strives to provide the best customer service. The agency apologizes for the inconvenience this issue has created for some customers.

On June 16, the ADOT Motor Vehicle Division implemented a new system for processing driver license and identification card applications. The new process provides many safeguards to prevent fraud and counterfeiting of the Arizona credential. The applicant no longer receives the permanent credential at the end of the application process. Instead, a temporary credential is issued. The latest technology has been employed into the production of the temporary and the permanent credential.

In the first week of the new central-issuance process, more than 45,000 credentials were issued.

The ADOT Motor Vehicle Division has taken several steps to identify the cause of the technical problem and to make immediate corrections. Once a customer contacts the agency either by phone or a visit to a local office to notify of an error with their driver license, a corrected, fee-free credential is immediately ordered and mailed. The replacement credential is expected to arrive within five business days from the date reordered.

ADOT to test ‘Wrong Way’ sign changes, add reflective pavement arrows at several Phoenix-area freeway interchanges

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300px-wrong-wayPHOENIX – New steps are being taken in the Phoenix area this week in efforts to get the attention of wrong-way drivers before they enter a freeway in the wrong direction.

Although Do Not Enter and Wrong Way signs already are in place along freeway off-ramps, new and larger versions of such signs will be installed and studied along the exit ramps at six freeway interchanges, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. In addition, signs will be placed lower on their posts to test if that could help in alerting confused or impaired wrong-way drivers.

Crews also will be adding pavement markers in the shape of large arrows pointing the right way along the exit ramps. Those pavement markers have reflectors to display the color red as a warning to any drivers going the wrong way on the ramps. The reflectors are already in use as part of the lane markings on freeways.

The decision to enhance wrong-way driver signs and markings and observe their effectiveness follows discussions between ADOT, the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and the state’s Department of Public Safety.

In recent weeks, the new signs were produced at ADOT’s Sign Shop in Phoenix.

The six interchanges where the wrong-way driver countermeasures are being changed or introduced were identified in an earlier research study as ones with a history of wrong-way vehicle incidents, according to an analysis of 9-1-1 calls made to the Department of Public Safety.

Over the next few days, crews will complete work to add the larger signs and the “wrong-way arrow” pavement markings along 13 off-ramps at the six interchanges, including three exits available to drivers at the Interstate 17 interchange at Carefree Highway (State Route 74).

The changes are being made at the following freeway interchanges:

  • Interstate 17 and Carefree Highway (State Route 74)
  • Loop 101 (Agua Fria) and Thunderbird Road
  • Loop 101 (Agua Fria) and Peoria Avenue
  • Interstate 10 and Ray Road
  • Interstate 10 and Wild Horse Pass Boulevard
  • Interstate 10 and Queen Creek Road (State Route 347)

The larger “Do Not Enter” signs along the ramps are increased in size from 30 by 30 inches to 48 by 48 inches. Beneath them, the new “Wrong Way” signs measure 48 by 36 inches. In an effort to make them even more visible, the bottom of the lower signs will be located three feet from the ground, compared to the seven-foot clearance for wrong-way signs at most of the other state-highway interchanges.

It is not yet known how long the new signs and other changes will be studied before a decision is made about an expansion of the program to other state freeway or highway locations. There are more than 100 traffic interchanges on the Phoenix-area freeway system and more than 475 interchanges along the rest of the state highway system.

ADOT and other public safety agencies work in support of the three E’s of highway safety: engineering, education and enforcement. The sign changes and the addition of the reflective pavement marker wrong-way arrows are examples of near-term engineering steps ADOT can implement and study as part of an overall effort to reduce the risk of wrong-way drivers.

SEALs want more ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ patches, 8 months after controversy

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image WASHINGTON — €” A military command that supplies U.S. Navy SEALs with new gear says it wants more shoulder patches emblazoned with “Don’t Tread on Me,” less than a year after a firestorm erupted after it was reported that the longstanding tradition could be ended.

U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command’s contracting office in Virginia Beach, Virginia, quietly announced its intent to buy more patches in a notice to industry published June 3. Companies interested in supplying them must be able to show they can obtain the materials used in numerous kinds of Navy uniforms, including those with desert and woodland patterns. The U.S. flag will have seven stripes that can be seen using infrared equipment, the command said.

The notice’s publication follows a controversy last year in which it was reported that Navy SEALs were no longer allowed to wear the “Don’t Tread on Me” logo, also known as the first First Navy Jack. Flown on U.S. vessels, the flag depicts a rattlesnake over red and white stripes.

Navy personnel closely associate the logo with the global war on terrorism because then-Navy Secretary Gordon England authorized it on May 31, 2002, as the official jack, or maritime flag, for the Navy for the duration of the global war on terrorism. The entire Navy began flying the Navy Jack on Sept. 11, 2002, the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It has been widely worn on the left shoulder by sailors deployed in war zones since then, including SEALs.

Read more at Stars and Stripes

#fsFIRE Official Update to yesterdays house fire in Flagstaff

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Photo courtesy of Flagstaff Fire Dept.

Photo courtesy of Flagstaff Fire Dept.

FLAGSTAFF – OFFICIAL UPDATE FROM FFD.

At 18:00 on Monday evening the Flagstaff Fire Department responded all 7 units and a Battalion Chief to a residential house fire in the 5800 block of Abbey road. First arriving units reported heavy fire from the residence. An initial exterior attack was immediately initiated with heavy application of water and foam.

Due to the complexity of the fire and the potential for fire spread into the adjacent urban interface, other partnering agencies were called for assistance. The US Forest Service responded to the scene to assist in extinguishing small spot fires, caused from burning embers, in the wooded area near the home.

Read more at FLAGscanner

Jewelry store clerk saves store goods and maybe life with a firearm.

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jim-andersonFLAGSTAFF – On June 24, 2014 at approximately 1115 hrs., two black male subjects entered the Jim Anderson’s Jewelry store at 2300 N. Fourth. The two subjects brandished handguns and attempted to rob the store.

The clerk was armed and responded by shooting towards the assailants. Neither of the assailants were injured and they left the store in a blue impala rental vehicle. The vehicle was located in the neighborhood area on Skyline. A ground search is being conducted at this time.

The two subjects were described as (1) B/M 6-2-6’3 wearing a white shirt and jeans, the second suspect (2) was described as a B/M 5’8-5’9. Both subjects should be considered armed and dangerous and if any observed or contact call the Flagstaff Police Department at 774-1414.

The Flagstaff Police Department is asking for public assistance in locating these two suspects and or any other information which will assist in the investigation of this crime. If you have any information regarding these two suspects or this crime please consider calling Silent Witness at 928 774 6111.

(Source: FLAGscanner.com)

Brenda Barton to hold town hall meetings in Williams and Flagstaff

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BARTONArizona State Representative Brenda Barton and crew will be holding town hall meetings in Williams and Flagstaff today and tomorrow. They will be in Williams at the City Hall on First Street from 11:30 to 1:30 pm today and in Flagstaff at 4:30 tomorrow at the Fourth Street Professional Building, 2501 N. 4th Street.

From there, they will continue to Sedona and the Arizona Cottonwood Chamber, ending at her home in Payson, Arizona

The Fundamental Changing of America

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Opinion by Lyle Rapacki
GetInline1

Ignoring the “Silent Majority” of Americans, we are witnesses to one of the greatest tragedies in human history…the transformation of America from the nation that stood as a bright light of hope, of protection, of leadership and examples to a world needing such hope, and protection, and leadership. The transformation of America from a country unlike any other in the world because of our form of government by the people, rather than a Ruler or Dictator; exceptional because each citizen had an opportunity to succeed in whatever endeavor they chose, rather than being relegated to remaining in a serf condition. The transformation of America whose laws and civility, in great measure, were founded on Judeo Christian beliefs, with these beliefs taught in school, employed in government, and recognized and supported by the courts, and endorsed by WE THE PEOPLE of these united States of America. We are witnesses to the most radical demographic transformation ever orchestrated upon a country, the deliberately planned and implemented agenda to collapse our Nation’s sovereignty and standing as the leader and Protector to the Free World.

President Theodore Roosevelt clearly stated: “The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities.” The Elites in both political parties whose objective is to create a New-World Order and remove all national sovereignty, have deliberately avoided securing our Nation’s borders so as to bring about a multilingual, multiethnic, multicultural Tower of Babel. Not loyal to America, no allegiance to our values and principles, with no respect for our traditions and heritage, those running across our borders intend to cash-in on all America has to offer, while remaining loyal to their country of origin.

Historically Italians, Germans, Poles, Swedes, Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and so very many other immigrants chose to come to America to assimilate and proudly become Americans, all the while remembering and celebrating their country of origin. From Asia to Africa, from Latin America to Europe immigrants came to our shores and gladly and proudly sang “God Bless America” and to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Not today! The flood of illegals pouring into America with the full knowledge and support of the Obama crew are part of the planned destruction of United States sovereignty.

Read more at The Olive Branch Report

Manhunt Monday: Attempted murder suspect at large

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alejandro-narreraPHOENIX (CBS5) – A suspect wanted on charges of attempted homicide is on the loose and Phoenix police need help tracking him down.

Alejandro “Alex” Narrera, 23, allegedly shot a 17-year-old in the head after an argument on May 17.

The shooting took place at 4:19 a.m. in the area of 38th Avenue and McDowell Road. The teen survived but suffered critical injuries.

Narrera is described as 5’9″ tall and weighs 150 pounds. He has a tattoo of a pit bull on his shoulder and has an identical twin brother.

He was last seen driving a 2000 green Ford Expedition with Arizona plates “670-rhz.”

Senators McCain and Flake Bring Attention to I-11 Benefits

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mccain-flake1PHOENIX – As the Interstate 11 and Intermountain West Corridor Study advances, it continues to gain attention from lawmakers in the nation’s capital. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Department of Transportation Director John S. Halikowski today expressed appreciation for the efforts of U.S. Senator John McCain and U.S. Senator Jeff Flake to propose an amendment expressing the “sense of the Congress” in support of the proposed Interstate 11.

The proposed amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2015 expresses support for I-11 based on “significant enhancement for the western United States” for commerce, tourism, international trade, economic vitality and competitiveness on the global stage. In addition, the proposed amendment supports extending I-11 south to the international border with Mexico and north to the Canadian border.

The proposal lends support to an initiative led by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to study and construct I-11 as a critical economic link for Arizona and the Intermountain West region. Governor Brewer has been a strong advocate for the benefits of I-11, and has worked to focus attention on the proposed corridor.

“Not only will Interstate 11 create jobs in Arizona and Nevada, it also will integrate and increase the global competitiveness of the entire Southwest region,” said Governor Brewer. “I am very pleased to see strong bipartisan support at the local, state and federal level of this significant economic initiative.”

Halikowski expressed appreciation for the attention given to I-11 by lawmakers in Washington, D.C.

“As a corridor creating a stronger connection between Arizona and international markets, in addition to forging a more reliable, safer route between Phoenix and Las Vegas, Interstate 11 has benefits for the entire region,” he said. “ADOT appreciates the support of Senators McCain and Flake in highlighting the critical need for I-11 as a driver for continued economic expansion in the Intermountain West region. It is through leadership like this that we can continue looking forward, assessing our current and future needs and how to raise the funding to support those needs.”

In addition to Senators McCain and Flake, the amendment is supported by Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.).

The Arizona and Nevada departments of transportation have been working together since 2012 on the Interstate 11 and Intermountain West Corridor Study, which includes detailed corridor planning of an interstate link connecting the Phoenix and Las Vegas metropolitan areas, while extending the corridor through southern Arizona to Mexico and potentially north to Canada. Congress designated the future I-11 corridor between Phoenix and Las Vegas as part of the current surface transportation bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).

The Interstate 11 and Intermountain West Corridor Study is a two‐year, multiphase, high‐level study examining the feasibility, benefits, opportunities and constraints of a proposed new interstate highway corridor. The study is expected to be completed this summer. Funding to construct this new corridor has not been identified.

Public meetings for the study are scheduled for June 25 from 6-8 p.m. in the Phoenix area and on June 26 from 4-7 p.m. in Las Vegas. A public meeting in Tucson was held on Wednesday. Through July 18, the public can also participate in a virtual meeting, reviewing the latest project information and providing feedback online. This month-long virtual meeting will be hosted on the project website, i11study.com.

ADOT initiating recycling program at rest areas

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adot-logo-03aPHOENIX – Visitors to rest areas along state highways will begin to notice recycling containers onsite since the Arizona Department of Transportation started a recycling program at three rest areas with plans to expand it statewide.

The program involves partnering with recycling vendors to install 8-cubic-yard bins and smaller blue containers at the rest areas for travelers to use for their recyclable trash. The vendor will collect the recyclables at least once a week.

Rest areas currently participating in the program include McGuireville rest area along I-17, Hassayampa rest area along US 60 and Ehrenberg rest area along I-10 near the California state line.

“With each site visit I make to our rest areas, I see how necessary recycling is,” said Bobby Wheeler, rest area manager for ADOT. “There are large amounts of plastic bottles and aluminum cans tossed in waste receptacles that go to a landfill without first being separated. We need to do the right thing and ensure recyclable materials are actually getting recycled.”

One of the vendors that will be collecting recyclables at the McGuireville rest area works with Rainbow Acres in Camp Verde to provide jobs for developmentally disabled adults sorting plastics and aluminum.

“A crew comes from the Rainbow Acres ranch five days a week where five ranchers and two of our staff members will sort all of the plastics and cans,” said Jill McCutcheon, executive director of Sedona Recycles, Inc. “We couldn’t do the work without this great group of people.”

The rest area recycling program is being implemented at no cost to ADOT. The recycling vendors will be overseen by Infrastructure Corporation of America, the private entity which manages the operation and maintenance of the rest areas through a public-private partnership with ADOT. ICA has been supportive in getting the recycling program in place and operational.

As more recycling vendors across the state join in the program, more rest areas will be able to participate. ADOT’s goal is to implement this program at all rest areas along the state highway system.

“We are glad that we were contacted to provide recycling at the McGuireville rest area,” McCutcheon said.