Ducey Told "You Got Played" As Scottsdale Announces 5 Schools Closed

On Sunday, Arizona State Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita called out Governor Doug Ducey after the Scottsdale Unified School District announced 5 schools would be closed this week due to a staffing shortages.

Ugenti-Rita tweeted: “@dougducey you got played. You gave them everything they asked for, 20×2020 and for what..? They are walking out on our kids.”

https://twitter.com/MichelleUgenti/status/1333272641684135937

Ugenti-Rita was referring in her tweet to an increase in school funding secured two years ago through a package proposed by the governor. Critics argue the additional funding did nothing to improve educational services for students.

Arcadia High School, Chaparral High School, Desert Mountain High School, Cocopah Middle School and Mountainside Middle School will close on Monday, November 30, due to a lack of staffing, according to the District.

Read more: https://arizonadailyindependent.com/ducey-told-you-got-played-as-scottsdale-announces-5-schools-closed/

Do the People of Arizona Really Want Jake Hoffman Writing Arizona Election Law?

What were Voters in LD 12 and Rusty Bowers thinking when it comes to Jake Hoffman?

The voters in Arizona Legislative District 12 and State House Speaker Rusty Bowers have told the residents of the Grand Canyon State over the last three weeks that, when it comes to Jake Hoffman, potential crime does pay.
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How did they do that?

Remember that Mr. Hoffman has been accused of the likely crimes of:

• “Underpaying underage labor (conservative teenage activists apparently linked to Charlie Kirk’s Turning Points organization) for trolling conservative, Pro-Trump, Anti Biden, and Anti-Democratic Party leaning content. That breaks minimum wage statutes.
• Creating many bogus social media accounts that were operated by the underage underpaid labor force.
• Creating a candidate for Legislative District Five, Randall Sand, that does not exist. Let us say that again. Randall Sand does not exist. This is a clear case of election fraud.

Despite these revelations, the voters in Legislative District 12 elected Mr. Hoffman to serve in the Arizona State House.

Read more: https://blogforarizona.net/do-the-people-of-arizona-really-want-jake-hoffman-writing-arizona-election-law/

Feds: No Evidence of 'Wild' Claims by Skinhead Informant Who Slept With FBI Agent

The FBI found no evidence that a Phoenix FBI informant who slept with his agent handler committed the massive security breach he described after his arrest in California earlier this year, court documents show.

Phoenix New Times covered the story of informant Samuel Mattia and local FBI agent Mikaila Hughes in an April 30 article, relating from explosive court files how Hughes destroyed her marriage, shot down her career, put family members in danger, and helped cause the firing of Goodyear's police chief last year because of her affair with a violent, skinhead gang member who has spent much of his life in prison.

Mattia is now fighting a federal charge of cyberstalking for allegedly threatening to email revenge-porn photos if she stopped seeing him. He later sent the photographs to the FBI and Hughes' husband, Justin, a Goodyear deputy police chief. (Court documents refer to the Hugheses only as M.H. and J.H.)

One intriguing and troubling aspect of the tale was how Mattia reportedly told the FBI after his arrest in February — on an unrelated domestic-violence charge — that Hughes had given him access to weapons and restricted data.

Read more: https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/goodyear-police-informant-fbi-agent-affair-samuel-mattia-mikaila-hughes-11515310

Arizona uses federal COVID-19 money to reduce state spending

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has funneled nearly $400 million of federal coronavirus relief funds to state agencies to help pay for operations, allowing them to return some of their original budget allocations to the state treasury.

Ducey's office touts that move as prudent budgeting that will help the state avoid a severe fiscal crunch but it stretches federal rules on how states can use the federal money, the Arizona Capitol Times reported.

Congress didn't allow states to use Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act money to replace revenue lost because of the pandemic, and Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation’s Center for State Tax Policy, said some states have chosen to liberally interpret guidance provided by the U.S. Treasury Department.

“Most states have avoided what might be interpreted as directly disregarding the guidance, but many have been flexible in the interpretation of that guidance in hopes that ultimately the Treasury will be similarly flexible in the accountability standards,” Walczak said. “Nonetheless, what’s being proposed in Arizona is a very aggressive interpretation.”

Read more: https://mohavedailynews.com/news/40933/arizona-uses-federal-covid-19-money-to-reduce-state-spending/

New day dawns for pot users

Arizona’s new Proposition 207 likely will become law tomorrow, Nov. 30, enabling as many as three million residents to buy a small amount marijuana legally for the first time without a state-issued medical card and can get high in their home.

The new law, scheduled to take effect when state officials certify the results of the Nov. 3 election, promises millions of dollars for teacher training, substance abuse treatment, suicide prevention and even enforcement of impaired driving laws.

It also promises a host of challenges.

Police are preparing for more impaired drivers. The courts could see a deluge of requests for expungements of prior marijuana possession convictions.

Read more: https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/new-day-dawns-for-pot-users-tomorrow/article_4b9a9348-2f5e-11eb-b63b-0399782bee96.html

6th Arizona state lawmaker tests positive for COVID-19

PHOENIX (AP) — A sixth member of the Arizona Legislature has confirmed he tested positive for COVID-19.

Rep. Andrés Cano, a Democrat, announced on social media Wednesday that he is not symptomatic and is in isolation.

“COVID-19 cases are spiking throughout our Nation, and nobody is immune — even when precautions are taken,” said Cano, who was reelected earlier this month. “We are in this together and we can protect each other. I urge my fellow Arizonans to take care of their loved ones by avoiding large gatherings and wearing a mask at all times.”

Last week, Democratic Rep. Arlando Teller of Chinle announced he also tested positive and was isolating. The most serious case involved Rep. Lorenzo Sierra, who spent several days on a ventilator after becoming ill in October. He has now recovered.

Read more: https://yourvalley.net/stories/6th-arizona-state-lawmaker-tests-positive-for-covid-19,202522
(Daily News-Sun)

Finchem to lead election fraud 'hearing' for select lawmakers

PHOENIX — Unable to get permission for a formal hearing, a group of “select’’ lawmakers are having their own off-campus event Monday to hear evidence from the Trump legal team on the just-completed election.

But odds are you can’t get in to what’s been billed as an “urgent public hearing.’’

Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, said attendance is limited because of restrictions placed by the Hyatt Regency in downtown Phoenix where the event will be held. Even some who got Eventbrite invitations found that it is listed as “sold out’’ — though technically there’s no cost — and were placed on a wait list.

The move comes after House Speaker Rusty Bowers has rebuffed his efforts to call a hearing of the House Federal Relations Committee, which Finchem chairs, to look at ways the 2020 election could have been tainted.

Read more: https://www.pinalcentral.com/maricopa_monitor/news/finchem-to-lead-election-fraud-hearing-for-select-lawmakers/article_d95592c2-84a6-533d-b8da-7f1273fad434.html
(Casa Grande Dispatch)

BREAKING NEWS: Lottery Winner Finds Love

New lawsuit claims Beshear's COVID-19 order has 'criminalized' dinner for large families

Two families filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in U.S. District Court in Covington to try to stop his COVID-19 order limiting indoor gatherings to no more than eight people from two different households.

They claimed his latest emergency orders criminalize their daily family dinner and other household activities.

The 44-page lawsuit also is on behalf of several religious schools against Beshear’s ban on in-person classes as the virus escalates in the state.

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Wiest said the governor’s order is vague about limiting social gatherings. It says: “All indoor social gatherings are limited to a maximum of two (2) households and a maximum of eight (8) people. A household is defined as individuals living together in the same home.”

Read more: https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article247397605.html

Thanksgiving Day was Kentucky's second deadliest for COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic didn’t stop for Thanksgiving Day. In fact, Thursday was the second deadliest day and had the highest single-day case total since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than eight months ago.

Gov. Andy Beshear said 32 Kentuckians lost their fight with the coronavirus on Thursday and four died Friday, bringing the total number of state residents who have died from COVID-19 to 1,871.

“These new case reports are truly alarming,” the governor said.

According to state data, 3,780 Kentuckians were diagnosed with the virus on Thursday and an additional 1,747 cases were reported on Friday. A total of 171,755 state residents have tested positive since March.

Read more: https://www.state-journal.com/news/thanksgiving-day-was-kentucky-s-second-deadliest-for-covid-19/article_94e8c1dc-3107-11eb-89bc-c31b1c7d9e30.html
(Frankfort State-Journal)