Monthly Archives: February 2021

Coconino County Congratulates Supervisor Liz Archuleta On Appointment by the Biden-Harris Administration

Posted on by

FLAGSTAFF — Coconino County congratulates District 2 Supervisor Liz Archuleta for her appointment with the Biden-Harris Administration.

“I am very honored to take this next step in public service. Serving the people of Coconino County has been a treasure. As I leave the Board of Supervisors, my heart will always remain with the community I call home and which has been so good to me,” said Supervisor Archuleta.

Under Supervisor Archuleta’s leadership, the County has advanced the cause of diversity and equity with the creation of the County’s Diversity Councils. The Supervisor spearheaded the effort to create the Colorado Plateau Water Advisory Council to protect and guard our most precious resource. During the Schultz Fire and Flood, the County, with Supervisor Archuleta in the forefront, demonstrated resilience as our leaders and residents learned from and rebuilt after the Schultz Fire and subsequent catastrophic flooding and applied those important lessons to the Museum Flood Mitigation efforts. Most recently, Supervisor Archuleta served as Chair of the Board during a period of unprecedented challenges given the impacts of COVID-19. Supervisor Archuleta again provided strong leadership during this emergency, which has resulted in the County being a leader once again within Arizona.

Supervisor Archuleta held significant leadership roles in the community serving as Chair of United Way of Northern Arizona and Flagstaff Symphony, she served on the Boards of Flagstaff Leadership Program, YMCA, and Arizona Cactus Pine Girl Scout Council, and as Trustee of the Nature Conservancy. As a community organizer she helped establish the Sunnyside, Southside and Plaza Vieja Neighborhood Associations. Her leadership was recognized by many, including as an Arizona Latina Trail Blazer, The Athena Award, and the Diversity Leaders Award from Diversity Leadership Alliance.

Supervisor Archuleta has served 24 years as a member of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors with numerous leadership positions on the County Supervisors Association of Arizona, the Arizona Association of Counties, the National Association of Counties, and the National Association of Latino Elected Officials.

Chairman Matt Ryan expressed the County’s congratulations and gratitude to Supervisor Archuleta. “Coconino County has made tremendous progress over the last 24 years because of Supervisor Archuleta’s leadership and passion for public service. She has served as Chair during our most difficult times, including the current pandemic. We will miss our colleague and friend, but we are happy for her transition to a new level of public service. We know Liz will bring her energy, innovation, and steadfast commitment to public service to the federal government. On behalf of all of Coconino County we thank you Supervisor Archuleta, for your tremendous commitment and dedication to serving our County,” expressed Chairman Ryan.

“Twenty-four years ago, I was called to serve my community as the first Latina to be a member of the Board of Supervisors. Little did I know, as I took that step into public service that it would be such an incredible journey, an opportunity of a lifetime. It is with sorrow and pride that I resign from my position. My heart is full of gratitude for the people who embraced me over the years. Each person who let me into their homes and hearts, who shared their struggles and aspirations enriched my life. I thank you. I thank you for entrusting me as your representative. I will carry that trust, the stories, the dreams with me to Washington D.C. to continue my public service” stated Supervisor Archuleta.

Supervisor Archuleta will resign from the Board of Supervisors this evening. Under Arizona law, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors will appoint a replacement for the District 2 Supervisor seat. Supervisor Archuleta will be invited to the County Board in the future for an opportunity for residents to express thanks and recognize her service to the County. Personal messages of congratulations can be emailed to tmunoz@coconino.az.gov.

ADOT officers combat human trafficking through training, awareness

Posted on by

PHOENIX – Human trafficking is a growing worldwide problem and one of the most powerful enforcement tools to combat this crime is part of the essential mission of the Arizona Department of Transportation Enforcement and Compliance Division.

This division is comprised of certified law enforcement officers many of whom are assigned to the various ports of entry on the state’s borders. While operations at these ports focus on commercial vehicle safety, collecting fees and enforcing weight limits, it turns out these ports are a vital and strategic line of defense against human trafficking.

Commanders and their staff from the Enforcement and Compliance Division at ADOT’s commercial vehicle ports of entry are trained to identify warning signs of human trafficking. These can include things such as unusual tattoos, a person’s unwillingness to speak and carrying large amounts of cash without explanation.

Since 2019, this training, which explains the demand for human trafficking and how this crime is perpetrated, has become part of the standard training for ADOT officers. The enforcement division is developing online training so ADOT highway workers will also be ready to spot the signs of human trafficking.

“As the state’s transportation agency, ADOT is in a critical position to help stop human trafficking and we take that role very seriously,” said ADOT Director John Halikowski. “ADOT’s commitment to transportation safety includes not only drivers, but the victims of this horrible practice.”

Meanwhile, dozens of vehicles driven by officers with ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division have bumper stickers aimed at directing those who need help or who see signs of trouble to EndSexTrafficking.AZ.gov or 888.373.7888, resources offered through the Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family.

Capt. Dave Curry of ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division is a member of the Arizona Human Trafficking Council created by Governor Doug Ducey to help make Arizona a leader in combating this crime.

“ADOT takes several approaches to do our part to end this heinous practice here in Arizona,” Curry said. “From comprehensive training of officers and employees to raising awareness through bumper stickers on our vehicles, ADOT is serious about stopping human trafficking and saving lives.”

If you would like to learn more about how to help stop human trafficking, please visit EndSexTrafficking.az.gov. To report anything suspicious, please call 888.373.7888.

How Facebook “fact checkers” skew the truth

Posted on by

Opinion by Glen Davis
Research credit goes to J.d. Benfer.

Facebook “fact checkers” are freaking out about a meme with JFK talking about needing a strong militia. They twist it around to say that it does not say JFK was against gun control. As J.D. Benfer pointed out in his comment, the quote says nothing about gun control. A strong Second Amendment stance, of course, IS implied by the quote.

The quote is from a speech that can be found on the President Kennedy Presidential library online:

PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S COMMEMORATIVE MESSAGE ON ROOSEVELT DAY, JANUARY 29, 1961
January 29, 1961

This year, the celebrations of Roosevelt Day has special significance for Democrats everywhere; for we celebrate not only the triumphs of the past but the opportunities of the future.

Twenty-eight years ago Franklin Roosevelt assumed the leadership of a stricken and demoralized nation. Poverty, distress and economic stagnation blanketed the land. But it was not long before the great creative energies of the New Deal had lifted America from its despair and set us on the path to new heights of prosperity, power and greatness.

Today America is the richest nation in the history of the world. Our power and influence extend around the globe. Yet the challenges and dangers which confront us are even more awesome and difficult than those that faced Roosevelt. And we too will need to summon all the energies of our people and the capacities of our leaders if America is to remain a great and free nation — if we are to master the opportunities of the New Frontier.

The dimensions of our problems overwhelm the imagination. At home millions are unemployed and the growth of our economy has come to a virtual halt. Abroad, we are faced with powerful and unrelenting pressure which threaten freedom in every corner of the globe, and with military power so formidable that it menaces the physical survival of our own nation.

To meet these problems will require the efforts not only of our leaders or of the Democratic Party–but the combined efforts of all of our people. No one has a right to feel that, having entrusted the tasks of government to new leaders in Washington, he can continue to pursue his private comforts unconcerned with America’s challenges and dangers. For, if freedom is to survive and prosper, it will require the sacrifice, the effort and the thoughtful attention of every citizen.

In my own native state of Massachusetts, the battle for American freedom was begun by the thousands of farmers and tradesmen who made up the Minute Men — citizens who were ready to defend their liberty at a moment’s notice. Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. The cause of liberty, the cause of America, cannot succeed with any lesser effort.

It is this effort and concern which makes up the New Frontier. And it is this effort and concern which will determine the success or failure not only with this Administration, but of our nation itself.

Source: White House Central Subject Files, Box 111, “FDR”.

Other Information Sources:

“Know your Lawmakers,” Guns Magazine, April 1960.
“Letter to President John F. Kennedy from the NRA,” [NRAcentral.com].
“New Minute Men Urged by Kennedy,” The New York Times, 30 January, 1961, pg. 13.
“Kennedy Says U.S. Needs Minute Men,” Los Angeles Times, 30 January, 1961, pg. 4.
“Minutemen’s Soft-Sell Leader: Robert B. DePugh,” The New York Times, 12 November 1961, pg. 76.

The quote on the meme is clearly correct.

So you need to watch for this. When Facebook “fact checkers” cannot deny something outright, they twist it around.

Did the founders believe the same? Did they actually add the Second Amendment to prevent the government from becoming tyrannical and acting in opposition to the Constitution? I refer to Federalist Paper No. 29 written by the hip-hop guy Alexander Hamilton. The non-President on the ten-dollar bill whom is not being removed from our currency.

The attention of the government ought particularly to be directed to the formation of a select corps of moderate extent, upon such principles as will really fit them for service in case of need. By thus circumscribing the plan, it will be possible to have an excellent body of well-trained militia, ready to take the field whenever the defense of the State shall require it. This will not only lessen the call for military establishments, but if circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little, if at all, inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-citizens. This appears to me the only substitute that can be devised for a standing army, and the best possible security against it, if it should exist.

I could go on, but it is clear that the Second Amendment was not written to protect hunters. It did not protect muskets. The Second Amendment:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.

It states that the right to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. That means I keep and bear any arm in the arsenal of the United States military unhindered, so long as I am doing so lawfully, i.e. not robbing banks, killing people, etc. Although my M1 Abrams does have to be converted to tires if I want to drive it in the streets.

The argument that the founders could not foresee the development of arms today is false. They saw the progression from swords, to cannons, to rifles. The advanced concept of “rifling,” in fact, was invented by German gunsmiths right here in the good old colonies.

With all of this said, there are certain REAL common sense restrictions that can be applied. For example if you want to hang onto a case of grenades, they could be restricted to being stored in a bunker that would prevent damage to neighbors property should they explode. You cannot just set up an ad hoc shooting range on your property unless you have enough property to prevent your shots from reaching roads and neighbors property. In other words, your right to arms cannot interfere with the rights of your neighbors.