Monthly Archives: June 2014

ADOT Director Honored by Arizona-Mexico Commission

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jhalikowskiPHOENIX – At the recent Arizona-Mexico Commission plenary session, the organization recognized Arizona Department of Transportation Director John S. Halikowski for his work co-chairing the commission’s Transportation, Infrastructure and Ports Committee, spearheading the Transportation and Trade Corridor Alliance, and for his keen understanding of infrastructure issues facing border communities.

This year, the Arizona-Mexico Commission awarded the Tony Certósimo Award to Halikowski, who, according to the group, “has committed to fostering improved relations with Mexico for numerous years. His leadership has advanced Arizona’s important cross-border agenda with Mexico and has embraced the mission of the Arizona-Mexico Commission in support of a mutually beneficial bilateral relationship.”

During the award’s presentation, Arizona-Mexico Commission Executive Director Margie Emmermann applauded Halikowski for “understanding the marriage of infrastructure and economic development” and for championing this new vision throughout Arizona and beyond through his various Key Commerce Corridor efforts.

The award is given to an individual who embodies all that the Arizona-Mexico Commission strives to accomplish, according to the organization. The honor is named after the first executive director, who was influential in formalizing the Arizona-Mexico Commission by establishing its bylaws and developing the group as a nonprofit membership organization.

“John Halikowski deserves the Certósimo Award as he has embraced the mission of the Arizona-Mexico Commission to improve the economic prosperity and quality of life for all Arizonans though strong collaborations,” according to the nomination. “He has demonstrated this in his work and actions with all levels of the public and private sector on both sides of the border, and truly understands the importance of the relationship with Mexico for Arizona and sets the example for the agency he leads.”

The award was presented June 20 as part of the closing ceremonies for the semiannual meeting between Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Sonora Governor Guillermo Padrés Elías.

“As the Arizona Department of Transportation turns its focus to the Key Commerce Corridors for the state, the critical linkages between Arizona and Mexico require attention and investment, not only for Arizona but for the entire U.S.,” Halikowski said. “I’m honored to receive this award, which reflects the good work being done every day at ADOT to improve all of our critical connections that support economic development and prosperity.”

SR 89A narrowed to one lane through the “switchbacks” this week

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FLAGSTAFF – ADOT maintenance crews will be cleaning out several culverts through the SR 89A “switchbacks,” between mileposts 387 and 390, Tuesday through Thursday (June 24 -26).

This seasonal maintenance is done in preparation of the upcoming summer monsoon, in anticipation of run-off from rain storms. The highway will be narrowed to one lane at times between 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.

Travel from Sedona to Flagstaff through the SR 89A switchbacks will be permitted during the maintenance, however short delays may be anticipated as the work is performed as flaggers guide traffic through the switchbacks.

Plane Crash in Northern Arizona Claims Two Lives

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Photo courtesy of the Coconino County SheriffCOCONINO COUNTY – A missing aircraft crashed in a remote area of the Navajo Indian Reservation in the northeast part of Coconino County. Coconino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue and Detectives along with Arizona Department of Public Safety Ranger Helicopter responded to the scene and confirmed two people were deceased.

The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) had been investigating the report of an overdue aircraft with two males aboard destined for South Carolina. The AFRCC found the aircraft had departed Las Vegas, NV sometime Friday June 20, 2014, landed in Page, AZ and then departed Page at 1:30 pm Arizona time. The pilot had not filed a flight plan. The AFRCC found the last cell phone contact with the pilot’s phone was off a tower at Navajo Mountain shortly after the take- off from Page. The AFRCC then contact the Civil Air Patrol Wings from several states, who launched a multi-state search Sunday morning June 21, 2014.

Four Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Wings were involved in the search across four states, including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. A ground search team was deployed to Tuba City from Arizona, and a Communications Team from Colorado was deployed to Page. At around 1:40 pm Arizona time, the Arizona Wing of the CAP located from the air the wreckage of a plane in a canyon. Wreckage matching the description of the missing aircraft was at the bottom of a remote desert area called Peach Canyon.

Sheriff’s detectives were transported to the scene by the Arizona Department of Public Safety Ranger Helicopter based out of Flagstaff. Due to the remote nature of the canyon, access to the wreckage could only be made by helicopter. The bodies of the deceased were removed and transported to the medical examiner’s office in Flagstaff.

While positive identification of the victims will be made by the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office, the pilot is believed to be 47 year old Charles Trotter of Liberty, SC and the passenger is believed to be 15 year old Dakota Jacks from Pickens, SC. Dakota is reported to be a friend of the pilot’s family. The cause of the crash will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Libertarian Candidate Thwarts 2nd Republican Attempt To Bump Him From The Ballot.

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Photo Hess for Governor Web Site

Photo Hess for Governor Web Site

PRESS RELEASE – Arizona’s Republican leadership just got another black-eye, in their relentless attempts to keep Libertarian candidate for Governor, Barry Hess, off of the ballot. In a series of shady middle-of-the-night dealings last year, Republican leaders pushed HB 2305 to the Governor’s desk with exclusively Republican support; to make it almost impossible for Libertarian candidates to get on the ballot. In many instances, HB2305 required Libertarian candidates to gather more signatures for their nomination than there were members of the Libertarian party.

In September of last year, Hess led the largest and most diverse coalition in Arizona history to send HB2305 to the ballot, instead–by Citizen’s Referendum. It was the first successful such effort in almost 30 years, with almost as many attempts.

Republicans were set back on their heels and scrambled to repeal their own legislation in an effort to hide the issue from the Voters in November.

Last week, the GOP funded a challenge to 37 of Hess’s nominating signatures which would have left him 5 short of the required number needed to appear on the ballot to represent the Libertarian Party. Hess’ legal teams immediately found no less than 12 of the disputed signatures were in fact valid, and today, the County Recorders weighed in to verify 20 of the disputed signatures as valid. The suit was dismissed.

Hess commented, “We were never concerned about the numbers not being there, but now we’re concerned about the obvious frivolousness of the challenge, and the potential of fraud on the Court having been committed by only identifying the ‘throw away’ member of their club who agreed to be the Plaintiff; and not the real party behind the scheme.

It seems the goal is to shield GOP candidates from having to actually address the issues, and defend their positions on the campaign trail. Maybe the problem is my polling ahead of most of their candidates; whatever the case they must have wanted me off the ballot pretty badly to put up big money for a frivolous suit. What surprises me the most is that Snell & Wilmer would lend their credibility to these grade-school attempts to avoid having to compete for elected office.

Navajo Code Talkers leader defends Redskins name

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code-talkers-redskins(November 28, 2013)—A leader of the Navajo Code Talkers who appeared at a Washington Redskins home football game said Wednesday the team name is a symbol of loyalty and courage — not a slur as asserted by critics who want it changed.

Roy Hawthorne, 87, of Lupton, Ariz., was one of four Code Talkers honored for their service in World War II during the Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Hawthorne, vice president of the Navajo Code Talkers Association, said the group’s trip was paid for by the Redskins. The four men met briefly with team owner Dan Snyder but did not discuss the name, Hawthorne said. Still, he said he would endorse the name if asked, and the televised appearance in which three of the Indians wore Redskins jackets spoke for itself.

“We didn’t have that in mind but that is undoubtedly what we did do,” Hawthorne said when asked if he was intending to send a statement with the appearance. “My opinion is that’s a name that not only the team should keep, but that’s a name that’s American.”

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Read more at NFL.COM

Gov’t Confirms Authenticity of Contract Request for ‘Escort Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children’ at the Border

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A recently discovered government request for “escort services for unaccompanied alien children” dating back to January is raising questions about whether the government was planning for a surge of illegal immigrants this year as amnesty talks heated up in the United States.

The request specifically says it was preparing for 65,000 undocumented children.
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The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed the request to TheBlaze, which is for transportation companies to escort children from the U.S.-Mexico border to relocation facilities throughout the United States. The conservative website Weasel Zippers was among the first to notice it.

Read more at The Blaze

SEE ALSO BizPac Review

New excuse: My dog kept me awake all night

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sleeping-with-dogPHOENIX – Along with the dog ate my homework, kids can now add the dog slept with me as an excuse why they are late for school. The Mayo Clinic in Phoenix conducted a study of sleep deprivation and claim a link to owners allowing pets to sleep with them. Some scientist warn of Zoonoses, or the transmission of disease from pets to owners from allowing pets to sleep in beds.

Web MD says 53% were disturbed by pet bedroom sharing. Medical Daily claims 63% have some sleep deprivation by sharing bed with a pet.

More than half of pet owners (54%) said they shared their bed or bedroom with their dog (58%) or cat (42%) Sowjanya Duthuluru, MD told MedScape. He said that is “quite a lot.” The Web MD site also cites:

Sleeping with pets isn’t unusual in this country. According to a recent survey of pet owners by the American Pet Products Association, nearly half of dogs sleep in their owner’s beds. The survey found that 62% of small dogs, 41% of medium-sized dogs and 32% of large dogs sleep with their owners.

Several stories quote Lois Krahn, M.D., Mayo Clinic psychiatrist and author of the study.

“The study determined that while the majority of patients did not view their pets intolerably disturbing their sleep, a higher percentage of patients experienced irritation — this may be related to the larger number of households with multiple pets. When people have these kinds of sleep problems, sleep specialists should ask about companion animals and help patients think about ways to optimize their sleep.”

She also noted:

“One patient owned a parrot who consistently squawked at 6 a.m. He must have thought he was a rooster.”

Could zoonoses explain the mental instability of Canadian actor James Eugene Carrey?

Could zoonoses explain the mental instability of Canadian actor James Eugene Carrey?

According to the document “Zoonoses in the Bedroom” by Bruno B. Chomel and Ben Sun (PDF)—which is not the title of the latest hot adult novel—transmission of disease from pets to human can occur from kissing animals on the mouth and sleeping with them. Particularly flea and tick infested animals.

During a 1974 outbreak of plague in New Mexico, USA, 7 cases of bubonic plague were investigated. One patient noticed flea bites the morning after he allowed his flea-infested cat to share his bed. Similarly, in a series of 23 cases of plague related to cat exposure, a 9-year-old boy from Arizona had handled and slept with a sick cat. Another case, which occurred in 1983 in New Mexico, was likely acquired after indoor/outdoor cats slept with the patient.

Listening to Ted Nugent is not the only way to contract Cat-Scratch Fever. The document stated that cat-scratch disease can be transmitted in the bedroom.

Cat-scratch disease is mainly transmitted to humans when they are scratched by a cat that harbors Bartonella henselae–infected fleas and flea feces. However, a few documented cases have been associated with sleeping or being licked by a household pet.

The report admits that zoonotic infections acquired by sleeping with a pet are uncommon and more cases of disease transmission are caused by kissing animals.

However, severe cases of C. canimorsus infection or plague in humans have been documented. More zoonotic agents that are transmitted by kissing a pet or being licked by a pet have been identified, especially zoonotic pathogens that are commensal in the oral cavity of carnivores, such as Pasteurella spp. and C. canimorsus.

The document recommends the common sense step regular veterinary visits. Immediate steps should be taken to rid pets of flea and tick infestations.

So the lesson here is that instead of telling the little dog to move over because A new dog’s movin’ in, you should just kick him out. Then spray the dog house.

Nighty-night.

See Also Science Daily, NBC News

Texas leaders order “surge” to secure border

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texdpsTop Texas officials directed Department of Public Safety troopers late Wednesday to begin a surge to secure the Texas-Mexico border in the wake of a growing number of immigrants flooding into the southern part of the state.

Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus signed off on a plan to spend $1.3 million a week to try to combat the problem, even as a group of conservative state lawmakers asked them to call the legislature back to work in a special session to address the situation.

“Texas can’t afford to wait for Washington to act on this crisis and we will not sit idly by while the safety and security of our citizens are threatened,” Perry said in a statement. “Until the federal government recognizes the danger it’s putting our citizens in by its inaction to secure the border, Texas law enforcement must do everything they can to keep our citizens and communities safe.”

Perry, Dewhurst and Straus released a joint letter directing DPS officials to move forward with surge operations through at least the end of the calendar year, using any money allocated for the agency. They noted that previous law enforcement surge operations in the border proved effective.

This came as a number of state legislators asked for a special session to try to find their own solution.

Read more at the Star-Telegram

Mosquito-borne chikungunya virus hits U.S.

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ae_aegypti_ae_albopictus

Aedes aegypti (left) and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes are the most common transmitter of chikungunya. – CDC Photo

The drier than normal northern Arizona weather may actually have at least one bright spot this year. A mosquito-borne illness labeled chikungunya, that is prevalent in the Caribbean, has now appeared in the United States. The virus causes high fevers and intense pain after an incubation period of three- to seven-days.

The dramatic claim by Phoenix television news that the disease “may be” fatal is apparently meant to appeal to the “reality television” mentality of their audience. Yes, it “may be” fatal, but like Swine Flu almost always isn’t. The World Health Organization contends that it could be a factor in the deaths of some elderly.

There is no vaccine or cure for the illness, however. Treatment revolves around mitigating the symptoms as possible. The Center for Disease Control web site says that the disease has been transmitted to unborn children from a pregnant mother, but that is rare. In theory, they say, it could be transmitted in a blood transfusion but there have been no recorded cases of that happening.

According to FOX News, Dr. Jorge Parada, medical director of the infection prevention program at Loyola University, Chicago, and medical spokesperson for the National Pest Management Association, said.

“The mosquitos that transmit this infection are pretty widespread around the world, and that’s why the infection has been able to spread across the tropical Pacific and now into the Caribbean.”

He said that the spread of the disease is another consequence of our highly mobile society.

From the CDC web site:

Chikungunya virus is most often spread to people by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. These are the same mosquitoes that transmit dengue virus. They bite mostly during the daytime.

According to the World Health Organization, chikungunya is a viral disease first described in 1952 during an outbreak in southern Tanzania.

It is an RNA virus that belongs to the alphavirus genus of the family Togaviridae. The name ‘chikungunya’ derives from a word in the Kimakonde language, meaning “to become contorted” and describes the stooped appearance of sufferers with joint pain (arthralgia).

Their web site goes on to say:

“Most patients recover fully, but in some cases joint pain may persist for several months, or even years. Occasional cases of eye, neurological and heart complications have been reported, as well as gastrointestinal complaints. Serious complications are not common, but in older people, the disease can contribute to the cause of death.”

The CDC web site on chikungunya—not updated as of this writing—states that the disease was first noted in 2013 in the Caribbean and warned travelers about the transmission of the disease.

Dr. Parada echoes the sentiment of the CDC that bite prevention is the best medicine.

The CDC recommends a good mosquito repellent when going outdoors even during the day.

Collections of water, whether intended or not, are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Those in northern Arizona who may have stored some of what little moisture we have had should cover any water storage containers. Residents who transport water to their homes should check for leaks causing puddles to form and seal any leaks found.

In the event of a good monsoon season, residents should continually check for old tires or containers not meant for water storage and drain them. Check for leaks inside or outside the home which might provide a breeding puddle for mosquitoes and have them repaired.

Work on SR 89 in Prescott for the next two weeks

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PRESCOTT – Crews will be present on State Route 89 (White Spar Road) in Prescott over the next two weeks to complete miscellaneous work on the improvement project.

There will be intermittent lane restrictions between 6 am. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday through July 3. The speed limit will be reduced to 25 mph through the work zone.

Also, overhead utility work is scheduled Monday, June 23 through Wednesday, June 25 between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. Drivers can expect a single lane restriction.

ADOT advises drivers and bicyclists to proceed through the work zone with caution, comply with the reduced speed limit and be alert for construction equipment and personnel.