As Read in the Newspaper:
Bits and Pieces from the Arizona Daily Star - 2014
“If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed.
If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed.” - (Mark Twain)
Law allowing businesses to turn away gays goes to governor
PHOENIX — Gov. Jan Brewer is going to get the last word on whether Arizona business owners can cite their religion as a reason to turn away gays — and maybe others.
Rep. John Kavnagh, R-Fountain Hills, called laws that prohibit discrimination against gays “ironic,” given that the country was founded by those fleeing religious persecution, and now the descendants of those people are now being prosecuted and sued for exercising their own religious freedoms.
“All this bill does is protect the religious freedom that the people who began this country came here to establish,” Kavanagh said.
Will we soon see signs like this again? -mb
Suit to overturn Arizona gay-marriage ban filed
PHOENIX — Gays hoping to wed in Arizona should not look for legal relief soon.
The four couples who filed suit Monday to void Arizona’s ban on recognizing same-sex marriages are not asking U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick for an immediate injunction. That could have forced the issue into court within weeks...
Representative Steve Montenegro (R-Litchfield Park), Associate Pastor and Youth Pastor at Surprise Apostolic Assembly, recently announced the First Freedom Act a bill that would protect churches in the state from being forced to perform same-sex ‘weddings.’
Shortly after becoming governor of Arizona , Jan Brewer pushed through legislation to deny health insurance and other benefits to the partners of gay state and university employees. That overturned a personnel rule change advanced by Janet Napolitano, her predecessor.
A federal appeals court ruled the law illegal.
This comes under the "The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!" category. It seems there are some folks in the legislature who feel it will be the end of life as we know it if same sex marriage is allowed. And, you will hear some say: "We love the sinner, but hate the sin." Fine. Then continue to love the sinner and let god sort out the rest.-mb
Planned Parenthood fights state effort to cut off funding
PHOENIX — Planned Parenthood wants the U.S. Supreme Court to block a last-ditch effort by the state to cut off its Medicaid funds.
In legal briefs filed late Tuesday, attorney Alice Clapman said there is no legal basis for arguments by Attorney General Tom Horne that Arizona can pick and choose who is legally qualified to provide family planning services.
This applies only to abortion clinics. Abortion clinics have only women as patients. Enough said... -mb
Panel rejects AZ's bid to require proof of citizenship for voting
PHOENIX — In a rebuff to state officials, the head of the federal Elections Assistance Commission has rejected Arizona’s request to require proof of citizenship by those using a federal form to register to vote.
In a 46-page order late Friday, Alice Miller, the commission’s acting director, said Congress was within its rights to conclude that those seeking to vote need not first provide documentary proof of eligibility. Miller said the affidavit of citizenship, coupled with criminal penalties for lying, is sufficient...
Illegal immigrant vote-fraud cases rare in Arizona
Arizona has spent enormous amounts of time and money waging war against voter fraud, citing the specter of illegal immigrants’ casting ballots.
State officials from Gov. Jan Brewer to Attorney General Tom Horne to Secretary of State Ken Bennett swear it’s a problem.
But when state officials are pushed for details, the numbers of actual cases and convictions vary and the descriptions of the alleged fraud become foggy or based on third-hand accounts.
An examination of voter-fraud cases in Maricopa County shows those involving illegal immigrants are nearly non-existent, and have been since before the changes to voter-ID requirements were enacted in 2004.
Those daggone Mexicans! First they take all our the jobs picking peppers and washing dishes and now they want to vote. How dare they!! -mb
State proposal would gut local libraries, Huckelberry says
A bill floated by a Mesa Republican could force Pima County to shut several libraries and gut staff at others.
House bill 2379, written by Rep. Justin Olson,? seeks to limit how much the secondary property taxes levied by county free library, county jail and public-health-service districts can be increased.
HB 2379 would force the county to cut the library district’s operating budget by about $ 5.4 million, Huckelberry said.
Faced with that kind of shortfall, the county would be forced to close the
Dewhirst-Catalina, Sahuarita, Santa Rosa, Quincie Douglas annex, Geasa-Marana, Dusenberry-River, El Pueblo and El Rio libraries.
No comment needed here... -mb
New bill could allow teachers to carry guns in class
A new bill will go before state legislators that could allow teachers to carry guns in the classroom. Tucsonans seem to have mixed feelings about the idea.
The bill would allow school districts to let any teacher or staffer carry a gun as long as they complete a 24 hour training class. The training would include mock scenarios and how to properly handle and store the gun.
Supporters say the legislation would protect children and staff while opponents argue the guns could end up in the wrong hands.
What's next - a bill which will allow students to carry firearms? -mb
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Bill allowing discrimination on religious grounds is offered
PHOENIX — A veteran state lawmaker is pushing legislation that would allow businesses to discriminate against gays, and potentially women and Jews, as long as they were acting on sincerely held religious beliefs.
SB 1062 would allow businesses sued in a civil case to claim they have a legal right to not provide service to an individual or group because it would “substantially burden’’ their freedom of religion.
Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, said the measure is aimed specifically at preventing what happened in New Mexico, where courts said a gay couple could sue a photographer who refused to take their wedding pictures. But Yarbrough said his legislation could also be interpreted to allow motels with vacant rooms to refuse to rent to gays. More...
As you might expect Mr. Yarbrough's attempt to legalize discrimination generated a few letters to the editor. Here is just one. -mb
Yarbrough’s ‘freedom’ is simple bigotry
Re: the Jan. 16 article “Bill allowing discrimination on religious grounds is offered.”
What Sen. Steve Yarbrough seeks to protect can be accurately described as the “sanctity of bigotry.” Clearly, he is a pious and devout Christian, as his interest in defending intolerance is obvious.
Should the Muslim owner of an Arizona motel be free to deny a room to a woman in labor because she and her husband, Joseph, are Jews? Should the gay owner of an antiques store be free to deny service to anybody who looks like a Republican?
Yarbrough’s freedom of religion stops at my civil rights. If a man is not prepared to do business with each and every member of the public, he should not open a business to that public. That is how it works in the United States of America.
It is people like Sen. Yarbrough who make me think just maybe we are not too bad off in West Virginia. But, that never lasts long. -mb
Just 2 chemicals leaked in river, company says
A second chemical was released during a spill that contaminated the water supply for 300,000 West Virginians, state officials said Wednesday, though the newly identified substance appears to be less toxic than the coal-cleaning agent already known to have leaked.
"Less toxic"? Know one really knows that since the toxicity of the coal-cleaning agent is still not known. -mb
State officials sharply criticized the company at the center of the Jan. 9 spill for failing to report the presence of the second chemical and ordered them to disclose everything that leaked into the Elk River from their storage tank by 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Freedom Industries responded by the afternoon that only those two chemicals, which are sometimes paired during coal processing, seeped into the river.
"Having to order them to provide such obvious information is indicative of the continued decline of their credibility," said Randy Huffman, secretary of the state's Department of Environmental Protection. More...
"Department of Environmental Protection"? Also known as the "Department of Environmental Prostitution".
This agency gets it's marching orders from the Governor's office. Our Governor's are little more than Coal Whores who drop their pants and hold out their hands. - mb
Panel rejects AZ's bid to require proof of citizenship for voting
PHOENIX — In a rebuff to state officials, the head of the federal Elections Assistance Commission has rejected Arizona’s request to require proof of citizenship by those using a federal form to register to vote.
The ruling is yet another significant setback for Arizona’s effort to enforce the 2004 voter-approved law. The state had argued all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court that it has a constitutional right to demand citizenship proof, only to be rebuffed last year.
In a 46-page order late Friday, Alice Miller, the commission’s acting director, said Congress was within its rights to conclude that those seeking to vote need not first provide documentary proof of eligibility. Miller said the affidavit of citizenship, coupled with criminal penalties for lying, is sufficient.
“Arizona’s evidence at most suggests that 196 of 2,706,223 registered voters, approximately 0.007 percent, were unlawfully registered non citizens around the time that Proposition 200 took effect,” she wrote.
Attorney General Tom Horne said over the weekend that he does not believe the legal fight is over. He intends to take the issue back to federal court. More...
A great use of taxpayers dollars. Why spend them on Education when you can spend them on a non problem which targets minorities?
Obama: Pot is not more dangerous than alcohol
WASHINGTON — President Obama said he doesn’t think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.” More...
This comes under the "comparing apples to oranges category".
There are approximately 88,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol use each year in the United States and in 2010 approximately 10,228 people died in drunk driving crashes.
The number of people who have died from marijuana overuse: None. According to one frequently cited study, a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount of THC in a joint in order to be at risk of dying. -mb
