Tag Archives: Phoenix

Alert to Congress: Nuclear evacuation may bog down

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Regulators and congressional investigators clashed Wednesday over a new report warning that in the event of an accident at a nuclear plant, panicking residents from outside the official evacuation zone might jam the roads and prevent others from escaping.

The report by the Government Accountability Office, which acts as the investigative arm of Congress, challenges a three-decade-old fundamental of emergency planning around American nuclear power plants: that preparations for evacuation should focus on people who live within 10 miles of the site.

The GAO found that people living beyond the official 10-mile evacuation zone might be so frightened by the prospect of spreading radiation that they would flee of their own accord, clog roads, and delay the escape of others. The investigators said regulators have never properly studied how many people beyond 10 miles would make their own decisions to take flight, prompting what is called a “shadow evacuation.”

As a result, the GAO report says, “evacuation time estimates may not accurately consider the impact of shadow evacuations.”

Read more at FOX 10 News

City Recruits Minority Lifeguards Even if They Can’t Swim

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In a staggering case of affirmative action gone wild, officials in a major U.S. city are actually recruiting minorities to be lifeguards at public pools even if they’re not good swimmers. It’s all in the name of diversity.

You can’t make this stuff up. It’s a real-life story out of Phoenix, the capitol of Arizona and the nation’s sixth-largest city. It has more than 1.4 million residents and, among its official mottos is “value and respect” of diversity. This means “more than gender and race,” according to the city’s official website. It also encompasses “uniqueness and individuality” and embracing differences. “We put this belief into action to provide effective services to our diverse community.”

Evidently officials are willing to compromise those “effective services” at 29 public swimming pools spread throughout the city. To diversify the lifeguard force, Phoenix will spend thousands of dollars to recruit minorities even if they’re not strong swimmers, according to an official quoted in a news report. Blacks, Latinos and Asians who may not necessarily qualify can still get hired, says the city official who adds that “we will work with you in your swimming abilities.”

There’s a good reason the city is hiring lifeguards that can’t swim. Public pools are largely used by Latino and African-American kids, but most of the lifeguards are white and this creates a huge problem. “The kids in the pool are all either Hispanic or black or whatever, and every lifeguard is white and we don’t like that,” says a Phoenix official quoted in the story. She added that “the kids don’t relate; there’s language issues.”

Read more at Judicial Watch

Heavy metal gets attention of the Arizona House.

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PHOENIX—Republican representative Thomas Forese has introduced two pieces of legislation aimed at metal theft.

HB 2261 would amend the criminal code of the ARS 13-1820 concerning the theft of metals. A person would commit metal theft if “without lawful authority” the person knowingly:

1. Controls ferrous metal or nonferrous metal that is the property of another with the intent to deprive the other person of the metal.
2. Obtains ferrous metal or nonferrous metal that is the property of another by means of any material misrepresentation with intent to deprive the other person of the metal.
3. Comes into control of lost, mislaid or misdelivered ferrous metal or nonferrous metal that is the property of another under circumstances providing means of inquiry as to the true owner and appropriates the metal to the person’s own or another’s use without reasonable efforts to notify the true owner.
4. Controls ferrous metal or nonferrous metal that is the property of another knowing that the metal was stolen.
5. Unless acquired in the ordinary course of business by an automotive recycler or a scrap metal dealer, the inferences listed in section 13‑2305 apply to any prosecution under subsection A, paragraph 4 of this section.

Ferrous metal is defined as metals that will attract a metal while non-ferrous metal will not.

For the purposes of prosecution, the value of the metal would include the damage to the property from which the metal was stolen which occurs during the theft.

As an additional means of combating metal theft, the Legislator has also introduced HB 2262 which would amend sections of ARS Title 44 relating to the licensing and record keeping of scrap dealers in Arizona.

Currently scrap dealers are required to register with the Department of Public Safety and keep records of any transactions they make in metals exceeding $25. The new law would require them to keep records of all transactions.

It would also add certain records that scrap dealers must keep. It would also allow cities and counties to add regulations aimed at recovering the cost of enforcing this law.

DPS would also be required to submit a report every two years to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House identifying all scrap dealers in the State of Arizona. All law enforcement officer in the state to register with a free web site that would send detailed descriptions of stolen items to scrap metal dealers and other law enforcement agencies within 100 miles of the theft.

Senate Bill seeks to change vanity plates

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PHOENIX—There are currently three bills for new vanity plates working their way through the Senate.

SB 1116 Creates a disabled veteran special plate if $32,000 is paid for its implementation to ADOT by December 31, 2013.
SB 1343 Creates a Girls’ Youth Organization special plate (GYO plate) if $32,000 is paid for its implementation to ADOT by December 31, 2013
SB 2025 Creates a Fallen Hero special plate if $32,000 is paid for its implementation to ADOT by December 31, 2013.

If Democrat Steve Farley has his way, they will take a new shape. In response to complaints that officers complaining about the difficulty seeing the letters, the Senator has introduced SB 1206. The bill would change 24-2405 to read:

A special plate issued pursuant to this article shall have a standard design with one area on the plate that is a three inch square that is set aside for a logo or message. The department shall determine the standard design of the special plate, and the logo or message is subject to the approval of the department. This section applies to all special plates that are authorized pursuant to this article after the effective date of this section.

The Senator has also introduced SB 1198 which is aimed at preventing obscuring the readablity of license plates with coatings or electronic means. The Bill would add Paragraph D to ARS 28-2354 reading:

Unless authorized by the department, a person shall not apply a covering or any substance to the license plate or use an electronic device or electrochromatic film that obscures from any angle the numbers, characters, year validating tabs or name of the jurisdiction issuing the plate.

While there is a penalty for covering up the name of the State on a license plate, the bill does not appear to provide a penalty for violating the proposed provision.

See Also: Arizona bill targets hard-to-read license plates

Bill of Rights monument dedication in Phoenix on Bill of Rights day

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PHOENIX—The Bill of Rights Day celebration for Arizona will be particularly special this year. With the mast of the U.S.S. Arizona celebrating the remembrance of Pearl Harbor, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer will dedicate a monument to the Bill of Rights at the State capitol on Wesley Bowlin Plaza. Arizona will be the first to complete a monument dedicated to the Bill of Rights through the effort of Chris Bliss of My Bill of Rights.

During this season, the attention of kids and adults are directed more to the material matter that they will receive in ten days over matters related to their natural rights and liberties. Rarely is this season interrupted with ceremonies relating to the fact that on December 15th, 1791, Ten Amendments were added to the Constitution, “… in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its [the National government] powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.”

The Ten Amendments in fact it is the first of the Ten Amendments that protects the sanctity of this season and the right of people to worship God in schools and other public places.

On Saturday, December 15th from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Governor Brewer will dedicate a monument containing the inalienable Bill of Rights engraved on them.

The monument is part of an effort by Chris Bliss of the My Bill of Rights organization to get Bill of Rights monuments placed in civic spaces across the country. The organization hopes to promote awareness of the guarantees of the Bill of Rights through this effort.

In addition, the Phoenix Elks Lodge will host a $22 buffet dinner with cash bar and keynote speaker Russell Pierce. The Cartridge Family band is scheduled to appear and a portrayal of Patrick Henry by Dr. Lance Hurley. To RSVP for the dinner, call 602-942-9281. The dinner begins at 6 p.m.

Alan Korwin, author of several books on gun and self defense laws, will also be in attendance.

See Also: Committee for the Bill of Rights

Valley woman told she could not hand out free bottled water in summer heat

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By: Corey Rangel


PHOENIX — The City of Phoenix could face a lawsuit if the city doesn’t apologize to a Valley woman for telling her she could not hand out free bottled water to people in the summer heat.

Dana Crow-Smith said a City of Phoenix worker came up to her during the First Friday festival in downtown Phoenix last month and told her she was violating city code by handing out free water because she did not have a permit.

Crow-Smith and a group of others were there exercising their Christian beliefs by engaging people to talk about religion if they wanted.

Read more at ABC