BISBEE WIRE #115/hospitals/post-mortum/events/bats/no vote vouchers/destroying books/u-haul/u been flocked?/headline u won't see
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editor: fred miller August 20, 2026 #115/August 26 |
Hello, This issue was delayed somewhat because I was in the hospital for nine days. I had wonderful care at every step of the way. Please do not read the following if you are uninterested in disease, organ recitals, hospitals, and medical stuff; you will be bored. On August 5, I went from feeling a bit warm in the car driving Anita to Tucson, to turning around and hurling at an I-10 off-ramp beyond Benson. Came home took a nap, went to the bathroom, kind crumpled rather than fell Anita, called Bisbee EMT and off I went. My journey was from home to Copper Queen emergency room to copper Queen hospital room to AZ ambulance ride to Tucson (they need shocks), to Northwest Medical and a double occupancy room moved to a single occupancy room to back home on August 13. CQ hospital took temp (102+.), lotsa blood samples, found bacteria, Dr. Galt was on duty had a couple good conversations, Dr. Avina came on, then consulted, and said 'get em out of here ' (They thought that there was better diagnostic equipment needed cause of possible Endocarditis. But then again maybe it was just they wanted me out of there....) Getting me out of there apparently means making a phone call to a central number with my diagnosis and need, the central number sends to all hospitals the info, and then a hospital takes me based on their expertise at the moment and avaiilbility. In short, I have an artificial bio heart valve (pig valve), and bacteria tend to be attracted to artificial stuff in the body because there is no natural immunity. That was the danger. At NW they said told us I had a staph infection, ran an echo, xray, catscan, and finally a few days later, an esophagal tube down my throat to look at my heart valve. No bacterial growth on the valve, antibiotics knocked back and then eradicated the Staph bacteria. (I didn't tell them that while lying in a vaguely uncomfortable bed at 3am, I summoned my little green round fuzzy defenders to killshot dark grey wooly round bacteria. floating around in my bod. They couldn't hide. I'm convinced that is how I turned the corner.Very therapeutic for me to mobilize my body's defenders to vanquish the intruders in a visible way.) Although at no time was I in pain, it was a very serious, like death, infection. Both at CQ and at NW I had very good, attentive, and compassionate care. Food at CQ and NW, very good. So I'm home, vitals are good, energy level good, stamina sucks. Anita gives me infusion shots three times a day, (6/2/10) and will do so for six weeks. The infusion company, Aspen out of Phoenix, sent a nurse the last night in the hospital to teach both of us the procedure to give the shots. If you are in a an urban area, the nurse could come to the house to shoot you up. The 'kit' comprised of a visible diagram showing how to lay out the alcohol pads, saline syringes for flushing, the antibiotic Cefalolin, and Heperin. The saline flushes one of the two 'ports' in my PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter) in my upper arm. The Heperin flushes the line of any 'material' that could lead to clotting. As to where I got it, I will never know. I was fortunate. Anita, my true blue partner, angel, nurse, and gofer, has taken care of me. Our neighbors, Evelyn and Deborah, stepped up to take care of our house, and walk charlieparker. Our friends M&C let Anita use a condo they have in Tucson so she didn't have to rent a place or drive back and forth. And we've had many good will calls and offers of help from cooking to getting us stuff. I feel very grateful that I live among good neighbors. From my experience, I would say that if you are feeling ill, can't find a source of your discomfort, take your ass to the emergency room and let them figure it out. fred ...............AROUND TOWN................ POST-MORTUM>>>>>>BISBEE MAYORAL PRIMARY ELECTION
There were four forums (Naco, 2 in Warren, 1 in OB that was live on air) that gave candidates opportunities to introduce themselves and address myriad questions from journalists and residents. Some of the issues that arose during the campaign are, in no particular order; transparency in Government, budgeting and the necessity for clear understandable explanations, rising city spending for declining populations, the slow shrinkage of the population/new resident growth, infrastructure planning, city marketing, clear communication, and involvement. Other vexing long term problems were identified during the campaign. Infrastructure-including retaining walls, water delivery systems, public safety/fire; and unhoused population. All issues needing long term solutions. With a budget a bit over $10 million, revenue slowly declining, expenses rapidly rising, this is the core issue that will have to be dealt with in the coming years. When paired with the somewhat sclerotic administrative apparatus influenced by former manager Pauken, it is clear that change has gotta come. >>>>>>> The background...(this is my own analysis. Full disclosure, I worked on the Burkert campaign.) CF initially pulled a packet for Ward II, as did Cynthia Conroy. However 3 days before the deadline he stopped the council packet, pulled a Mayor packet, and hurriedly gathered signatures to qualify for the ballot. I believe the reason for this was the rumor that Mel Sowid was going to run for mayor, his seat would then be vacant and either Flanagan or Conroy could be appointed to fill his seat. When Sowid declined to run, Flanagan hastily pulled a mayor packet. Whether he had encouragement and support, as he later did, from the mayor and some council members, I do not have personal knowledge, but it is a very reasonable assumption. I think he thought he was going to walk. As an overall assessment, I think that Flanagan clearly underestimated AB, likely thought he would have an easy run for mayor against the declared 4 yr resident, younger, female Burkert, and opted for that. The minor candidates, Setter and Waniak were likely of no significance. Given his campaign, in retrospect, there was not a groundswell of support for his race but likely a few people urging him on because of the perceived 'weakness' of the field. This miscalculation caused him to try and play catch-up to Burkert the entire campaign as she began a vigorous encompassing, and energetic campaign. Another catch-up indicator was Conroy attended 'coffee with Amy' events taking copious notes. Those 'positions' copped from AB were later seemingly modified and articulated by Flanagan. His FB page was up after hers, his attempts at public events were modeled after hers. And CF had some ghosts in his past particularly as Warden of the Douglas prison and later as the head of Child Protective Services. He failed to explain those situations clearly and, as a result, spend a good part of the campaign trying to explain they weren't his fault. Burkert meanwhile held weekly public events, was at the Saturday market every week listening to concerns, had a very successful parade float with the Melissa Reeves band and several supporters handing out candy to kids. She also was (and still is) on a listening tour, one on one with a number of business owner, non-profit leaders, and residents. The public accessibility combined with frequent social media posts revealed her to be an inspirational figure for many residents that have been kind of gloomy about city gov. She constantly exhorted that we have problems, we have some solutions; pitter patter let's get at er (from a canadian tv show, Letterkenny). And that resonated, maybe better than any other one thing. We can do it! Together. All the above noted, it is my opinion she was the better candidate, the one who consistently listened to people, was accessible, and relied on her background as an accountant, business consultant, and business owner. CF however did heavily rely on previous experience in jobs that were perceived as state administration and bureaucratic and top down. He offered managerial experience of large state enterprises as the main reason he should be elected. Ultimately, she offered a realistic assessment of where the city is currently and offered some specific suggestions that would lead us into a future of more participatory, communicative city government. She did, in fact, inspire people. And that is no small thing these days of gloom and doom and AI talking points, and people who just can't seem to talk with people. At all points of contact, she gleaned information that has turned out to be the scaffolding of issues for her campaign. This information gathering enabled her to talk specifically, while Flanagan talked in generalities. >>>>>>>> The Campaign Finance Reports (this information can be found here) As best I can figure from the reports was that the total campaign for mayor cost roughly $10k from all parties.Both Setter and Waniak spent less than $500 and were not required to report. AB In her final report through July 21 received $6052 in donations. She spent $5048. AB reported through June 30, the critical spending/donation period, $5747 in donations, and $4332 expenses. She contributed $1620 of her own money. 15 other donors were noted. As well as several in-kind donations. Her major expenses were Observer ads and campaign signs. CF's reports are filled out incorrectly, and therefore give an incomplete picture of his campaign. In the report through July 21 he reported $2900,with $2056 spent. CF reported through June 30, the critical spending/donation period, spending was $3656, with $2396 of that his own money and three other donors noted. Although he ran at least one full and a couple quarter page Observer ads, there is only one notation for $300+ for those expenditures. Other major expenditures were VFW hall rental, and yard sign material (but the actual sign costs were not included) It is a very incomplete report. _____ In summation, this was a good campaign because over four months, problems, solutions, opportunities, resources within our city were identified and two very different approaches to how to proceed. Both of the campaigns were principled, and there was no personal animosity displayed by AF and CF. Although it seemed as if CF thought he was characterized wrongly by some AF supporters and were too vigorous in their criticism, in reality there were legitimate questions about his background that he failed to comprehensively address that irritated some AB supporters. One kind of humorous criticism that seemed to sting CF was an accusation he was an 'old white guy' used derogatorily. Well he is, and even though I be one myself, old white guys don't have the best track record. ______ In a post-election public comment, Mayor Budge incorrectly stated AB's campaign cost $10k (Whoops! he added contributions and expenditures!) but then went on to rue how money in all races, national/state/county is even influencing the mayor's campaign, pointing to the cost of the current campaign. He mentioned he spent under $500 on his campaign in 2024. This from someone in city government for 15+ years with high name recognition. I thought his subtext not said, was that AB 'bought' the election. The stats show that there were many donations unsolicited that flowed to AB's campaign, while CF had a couple. He personally donated more than $700 more than AB did to her campaign. AB did not solicit donations, people voluntarily gave her money because they believed in her, her message, and her campaign. That is the difference when money is considered in any race; is it going to influence a candidate? Is that the purpose of the donation? Or is it to offset the modern costs of advertising? A resounding no. _________ Ward II race...not close The Terry Priestely vs. Cynthia Conroy was not close. Priestly issued cogent statements and was concise in his answers at forums and on the radio. Conroy did not and was not. Ward I...no race Cooper Raphael earned a write-in status on the ballot at the last minutes. As a result she received 70 or so votes more than what was needed to win. The clerk's office did not publicize the availability of official write in status (Lori Reynolds declared she was running and then a couple months later declared, she was not running, it was too late for any candidate to be listed.) and Raphael only learned a day before the deadline. ______ Final results as of July 30. In the mayor’s election Amy Burkert has won a decisive victory over Charles Flanagan with a 909 to 593 vote. A 56.42%/36.81% margin. The two other candidates, Jonnie Waniak had 58 votes, Carl Stetter had 48 respectively. The total votes cast for mayor was 1610. The mayor race had a turnout of 42% (1610 votes of 3831 registered) And that indicates significant interest in the issues being presented by the candidates This is the breakdown… Ward 1 Cooper Raphael won with 190 write in votes, 61 unauthorized non counting write in Ward II Terry Priestely won handily, beating Cynthia Conroy by 177 votes 407-183, a 69%-31% margin. Ward III Trish Damon Ward 3 355 votes running unopposed won a two year term. Anna Cline Ward 3 338 votes running unopposed won a four year term
The mayor’s race broken out by precinct Ward I (OB Bisbee) 599 voted (1276 registered/47%) Burkert…428 71.3% Flanagan…141 23.5% Stetter…23 3.83% Waniak…7 1.17%
Ward II (Warren) 596 voted (1349 registered/44.2%) Burkert … 328 54.94% Flanagan…221 37.02% Stetter…12 2.01% Waniak…35 5.86%
Ward III (Don Luis) 412 voted (1203 registered 34 .2%) AB…153 36.96% CF…231 55.80% Stetter…13 3.14% Waniak…16 3.86% (Flanagan, who won by 77 votes over Burkert in San Jose, was likely aided by Damon and Cline running unopposed. The two women publicly supported him and he got a ride on their coat tails.) ++++++++++ STATEWIDE CONTESTS FOR THE NOVEMBER GENERAL ELECTION Early Voting begins October 7, Congressional Districts For District 6 representative…Mendoza (d) vs Ciscomani ® For District 7 representative (Bisbee)…Grijalva(d) vs Guitierez ® State Offices....Election Deniers and voter restricters take center stage. Governor…Katie Hobbs (d) vs. Andy Biggs (r) vs Teri Hourihan (nol) Secretary of State…Fontes (d) vs Kolodin (r) Attorney General…Mayes (d) vs Peterson (r) Treasurer….Mansour (d) vs Norton (r) Supe of Public Instruction…Ruiz (d) vs Yee (r) Corporation Commissioner Pratt, Hill (d) vs Thompson, Heap (r) In LD21/ Bisbee/border district, a bit of Tucson State Senator Rosanne Gabaldon (d) vs Esteban Flores ® State Representatives Consuelo Hernandez & Miranda Lopez vs Christopher Kibbey ® only one repub running. In LD 19/Most all the remainder of the county, a bit of Tucson State Senator write in Bob Karp, (d) vs Gail Griffin ® State Representatives Jackie Anderson & Aiden Swallow (d) vs David Gowan & Lupe Diaz ® For Cochise County results go here ++++++++++ 33% WATER RATE HIKE PROPOSED BY AZ WATER Arizona Water Company filed a rate application proposing a 33% Eastern group (Bisbee and other cities) rate increase, with a formula rate plan for annual adjustments over five years. Proposed Bill Impact Breakdown
The Arizona Water Company filed an application with the Arizona Corporation Commission under Docket W-01445A-26-0044 to adjust rates and charges. Public hearings and comment periods are scheduled, and intervention rights are outlined. The Arizona Corporation Commission will review the evidence and determine the final rates, which may differ from the proposals. Comments may be submitted by mailing a letter referencing Docket No. W-01445A-26-004, et al. to Arizona Corporation Commission, Consumer Services Section, 1200 West Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007, or To submit comments on the Commission's website (www.azcc.gov) click on "Divisions" and then "Hearing," scrolling down to "eFiling Services," and clicking on "Make a Public Comment in a Docket." For more information go here ++++++++++ SURVELLIANCE FLIGHTS OVER BISBEE, SOUTHERN BORDER Military contractor aircraft equipped with high-end surveillance gear has been flying along the United States southern border above Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for months. The Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security won’t elaborate on what the aircraft are doing. Since February, Metrea aircraft have been flying at high altitudes in loops along areas of the country’s southern border with Mexico over cities including Bisbee, Douglas, Laredo and El Paso. Go here for the longer article. ++++++++++ TRULY INSPIRATIONAL This interview by Jon Stewart with Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, is soooo good. It is such a welcome discussion. Whether a city is big or small, there are some basic principles of how a government can operate. Go here to get a good dose of optimism. 14:44 is where they really get going. ++++++++++ DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANIZATION SELECTED Gordly group was selected to provide marketing services to the city. The $98k contract + add ons will include cooperation with a soon to be formed ourism committee. The group was selected from 9 submissions to the RFP. The funds come from the bed tax. The council has voted to form a tourism advisory committee. to This may be where to go for an application, although there is nothing on the website. Note it is for the tourism commission on your application. Or if uncertain, email Nina Williams here It will take a couple readings at council so at least 30 days before they can begin member selection.
And speaking of the bed tax, I’m hoping Mayor Budge will follow through on his public commitment to propose a resolution to move the $140,000 of bed tax money that was moved to a now unneeded capital improvement fund back to the bed tax fund. The money, $100k, was voted to be given to Bisbee bikeways, if they needed it, but when the recent bids were unsealed the winning bid of $3856,000 for 1.3 miles of walk/bikeway along the pit, was covered without the $100 grand. The city marketing efforts are going to need it. <<<<<<Have you looked at discoverbisbee.com recently? omg! The site has been up for three years without a peep of protest from anyone on the council, the mayor, the former city manager, no one. It is so bad that not even one gallery is mentioned! Restaurants are on there...somewhere if you put it in a search bar, while tours get their own heading. It is indicative of the lack of oversight and lack of concern about marketing the city. Crapola!>>>>>> ++++++++++ SALES TAX INCREASE EFFECTIVE JULY 1 The county jail tax of .5% is now being collected effective July 1. for a long time. That effectively raises the Bisbee tax rate to 10.1%. ++++++++++ COPPER QUEEN HOSPITAL As part of her campaign, now elected, Amy Burket has been meeting with non-profit leaders, business owners, as well as making herself available to residents. Amy, with me tagging along, met for a hour with Rob Seamon, the CEO of Copper Queen Community Hospital. He was chock full of information about the hospital and we were all ears. A partial list of what the hospital has been doing. (I hope to have Mr. Seamon on KBRP magazine) We are truly fortunate to have the level of care available that we do. The hospital and clinic, Chiri clinic and pharmacy, Bisbee EMTs, AZ ambulance.
Because of a national economic environment of hospital ownership consolidation, I asked Mr. Seamon about potential buyouts, Mr. Season emphasized that the CQ board of directors wants to stay local and has resisted any offers to buy CQ. >>>>>An example of the consolidation is close to home, Sierra Vista's Canyon Vista hospital is owned by Lifepoint Health (LH). Last month, LH bought another eight hospitals bringing their total to 68 hospitals, 70 rehab-mental health units, and 300 other care sites they own and operate. This is a brief history of Canyon Vista Hospital.
Lifepoint Health in turn is owned by private equity company Apollo Global Management that owns 220 hospitals. Private Equity (PE) has come under increasing scrutiny for the focus on short term profits for investors that is garnered by cutting labor costs, increasing patient fees, and more. Because of the rapid expansion of PE buying healthcare firms there is growing concern about the amount of debt, taken on by rapid expansion, that may lead to closing of some rural hospitals. A senate report here has some research on Apollo Global.) (>>A Bisbee local note is that originally SVRHC was going to be sold to Carondolet/St. Mary's in Tucson, which would have curtailed some female health care specifically abortions. In 2011, a Bisbee woman/nurse/videographer Alison McCloud started a group and was joined by two other local women Carol Park and Sharon Strahan, in picketing five days a week for a year at the hospital to stop the sale. They got the National Women's Law Center involved, had three suits against SVRHC, and that resulted in St. Mary's dropping the acquisition quest and cleared the way for the sale to Sierra Vista Regional Care Hospital Partners.)++++++++++DEMS GO PUBLIC AT THE CONVENTION CENTERMule Mountain Democratic Club will open a voter information center inside the Convention Center.The space will open September 1, with hours Thursday through Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. MMDC will be serving as the local Democratic Party Campaign Headquarters and will disseminate information such as voter registration, the different methods of voting, candidate’s positions and backgrounds, and on the numerous ballot measures to be voted upon. Among the informational resources, the group will be promoting participation in the coming November 3 general election. ++++++++++ BACKYARD BATS/CITIZEN SCIENTISTSIf you would like to participate in a scientific quest to learn more about bats in So. AZ GFD is asking that you report bat presence or absence at your hummingbird feeder at least once per week, for whatever weeks you are available to observe. Consistent reporting will be the most helpful to their monitoring efforts, but even if you are a part-time Arizona resident or have a hectic schedule, they welcome your observations when you can. To participate this year, keep track at least once per week of how much your hummingbird feeder is drained overnight by bats, then go to the project webpage (www.azgfd.com/wildlife/backyard-bats) and fill out the online Weekly Data Input Form. There is more information about the program on the website. I've half-assed participated-at least it was some data-the past few years, luckily there are more diligent peeps than me. ..............EVENTS............... August 22...Artemizia Gallery, 1-4 reception. Local man & international photographer/artist David Rose is featured. free. artist as art as sculpture. August 24...groundbreaking for the Bisbee Bikeway project. 10:00 at Lowell/Erie St. entrance Sept. 5...Bisbee Bloomer Garden Tour Sept 12...A night of art and music. Bisbee Arts Commission art/preview of submissions for collaborative with Project Wildlife. Humblebees music, drinkies, fundraiser. Stock Exchange 6-8 pm Sept 19...TWIBFest 3 City Park Sept 25...Strengthen Non-Profits from within. 8:30-4:30, Legacy center in SV. From AI and fundraising to wellness and leadership, this conference is designed to help nonprofits recharge, refocus, and renew. Register here Sept 26...Oktoberfest Brewery Gulch noon-6 pm, $20 meal at Le Cornucopia. A benefit for Muheim House. Go here for meal reservations:lowellunited@gmail.com. Go to Eventbrite for tix and more info. Sept 27...Project Wildlife 3rd annual garden party, 5-7 pm upper vista park. It's a fundraiser so bring da dough. wander on the path, drinkies, music, and lotsa Art for sale, too! Go here for more info. (stop by and knock a greet, I'll be bartending-with a lot of assistance.) Oct 8 - Oct 11...Plein Air, artist sign up and more info here Oct 15...grant deadline for Bisbee Arts Commission. don't wait more info here Oct. 17...Bisbee Stair Climb Oct. 24...The B.R.A.T.S. (Bisbee Rolling Arts Transport Parade), Get going and build your own BRAT! More info here November 13 – 15...Sidepony 13 go here for info. Nov. 21...Spelling Bee! Friends of the Library very fun event. Get your team together St. Patrick's church. More to come. Go here for info. (stop by and knock a greet, I'll be bartending along with a bigwig from the city.) Nov. 26...Community Dinner at St.Joseph Nov. 27-28...Home Tour and Art Auction If you are so inclined to donate to support my work with the Wire, I would be most grateful. Click on the QR below. If using Zelle it is bisbeewire@gmail.com. Please send checks to 39 Hazzard/85603 ..............COCHISE COUNTY................ SUPES GET A HAND SLAP On July 7 at a supes meeting they went into an exec session with this agenda item: " Request that the County Attorney’s Office investigate whether the Attorney General exceeded her authority with respect to her office’s alleged interference with the proposed Aluminum Dynamics Inc. aluminum recycling plant in Benson, pursuant to A.R.S. § 11-251(14). That was bad enough but in exec session, you have to listen to it-there are no minutes posted-they amended the agenda item seemingly with the county attorney present to talk about AG interference in other businesses by the. A complaint was made to the state Ombudsman that the supes violated the open meeting law by going beyond what was on their agenda-from investigating interference in the aluminum company/citizen decision to the broader topic of interference with other business activities. That's a big no-no. And the ombudsman agreed with the complaintant and ordered the agenda item null and void. In response to the ombudsman finding that they violated the open meeting law, on July 28 at another session they had an agenda item to " Ratify the Board's direction to the County Attorney's Office to investigate whether the Arizona Attorney General exceeded her authority with respect to alleged interference in business development activities within Cochise County, pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.05(A) and A.R.S. § 38-431.05(B), in connection with actions taken at the July 7, 2026 Special Board Meeting" The supes changed the agenda item they were supposed to be discussing, expanded it to include interference in all business activities by the AG. THE ISSUE... ...is that the AG has threatened to use the state's nuisance law to hold companies accountable. The law has both a public and Private aspect. What supervisor Frank Antenori specifically was concerned with was the threat by the AG of using the public aspect "An unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public, such as health, safety, or community comfort." against some companies. He was nettled by Riverside Dairy in Cochise County settling with the AG after numerous complaints of excess pumping that caused wells to dry up. Mayes did not use the nuisance law. But because of the threat however, Riverside agreed to set up an $11 million groundwater fund. In another instance, the most vexing to Antenori was the threat of the application of the nuisance law against an aluminum company that wanted to build a recycling plant in Benson. Numerous public meetings where residents strongly opposed the location of the plant and the successful recalls of 3 council people involved in the siting led to the company withdrawing their application and their proposed plant to another state. Antenori's public fear is that other companies who might be interested in investing in the county will be scared off by the 'regulatory' actions of the AG and in the long term be detrimental to the economic health of the county. <><><><> NEW WELLS PAID FOR BY $11 MILLION FUND FROM RIVERVIEW DAIRY So far 22 wells have been redrilled and paid for by a fund set up by AG Kris Mayes, negotiated with Riverview Dairy. She used the threat of invoking the state's nuisance law. Riverview has also agreed to fallowing 2000 acres of alfalfa for a 12 yr period. In a WTF moment, the county supes have initiated an 'investigation' into the AG for 'misues' of the state law. That seems about right for the supes, attacking someone doing something by helping people their constituents stand up to corporations, is attacked. The board is led by Frank Antenori who wants no oversight by attorneys, or anybody, for county supe actions. Gee a state official sticking up for county residents when the county supe is protecting corporations and ignoring his constituent concerns, how unusual.... CROSBY SCUTTLES BIKE PATH IN SV Ya gotta wonder...Supe Crosby, the guy trying to get $200k from taxpayers for paying his legal bills for him having to defend himself from two felonies, both of which were because he did not follow county and insurance legal advice, yeah that one, turned down a couple mil of fed dough cause a projected bike lane on buffalo soldier trail would end at a state highway without a bike lane. His presentation, showing off his airplane pilot chops , had no relation to the proposed bike path. He showed no concern for bikers on BS trail road not having a designated bike lane which would have completed a connection to other shared use paths and called for in the city's long range transpo plans. ...............THE STATE................ VOUCHER REFORM MEASURE ATTACKED, KICKED OFF THE BALLOT The Goldwater Institute convinced the Supreme Court court to block the “Protect Education, Accountability Now Act” from the November ballot by disqualifying tens of thousands of voter signatures supporting it. The conservative Institute representing school voucher parents and school choice advocates, as well the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (watta fockin misnomer!) that more than 73,000 of those signatures should be disqualified because the circulators who collected them weren’t qualified or properly registered, or they included inaccurate or insufficient information on their petition sheets. In a statement released by SOS, one of the two main groups that put the initiative on the ballot; "On August 18, the Arizona Supreme Court delivered a devastating final blow to the Protect Education Act, and to the hundreds of thousands of Arizona voters who signed in just 14 weeks. These voters overwhelmingly expressed their desire to rein in our state’s $1 billion ESA voucher program and add guardrails for safety, accountability, and transparency to the private school funding program that’s bleeding Arizona public schools dry. Nevertheless, the Court ruled on a core issue of double counting duplicates, and in getting the call wrong, they deprived Arizona voters of their voice. In the end, the measure failed by only 3% of the signatures turned in.
The lengths that the voucher lobby went to invalidate signatures with scorched-earth legal objections shows just how terrified they are of Arizona voters actually having a say in how our tax dollars are spent, and how sure they were that Arizona voters would prioritize funding a robust public education system over private schools that pick and choose students and create a segregated system of haves and have-nots." The citizens initiative 212, headed by public schools advocacy organization, Save Our Schools Arizona, turned in more than 420,000 signatures to the secretary of state on the July 2 deadline. That’s well over the 256,000 signature threshold needed to qualify for the ballot. ++++++++++ EIGHT REPUBLICAN LEGISLATORS MEASURES ON THE NOVEMBER BALLOT... Eight of the ten propositions slated for the ballot survived judicial scrutiny. These eight were all put on by the lazyass legislature trying to circumvent popular votes and opinion. Stay tuned I'll be exploring these more in the coming months ++++++++++ CORP COMMISSION REPEALS ENERGY STANDARDS Another ice cream cone to the forehead award...The Arizona Corporation Commission, the state's elected utility regulatory board-all repubs, voted July 8 to repeal electric energy efficiency standards that advocates say have helped stabilize utility bills and grid reliability since they went into effect in 2011. The change layers onto a vote by the same board in March that undid the renewable energy standard, passed in 2006, which required regulated utilities to generate 15% of their electricity from renewables like wind or solar by 2025. State leaders, environmental groups and consumer advocates say these two repeals will cause energy demand and electricity rates to go up while committing the state to decades of unnecessary climate-warming air pollution from additional fossil fuel infrastructure. Go here for the longer article. ++++++++++YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK ON THE BORDER...Go here for a couple minutes.This short vid captures the essence of what is being done by those boot-licking politicians on our border. It truly is heart rending. The arrogance and ignorance is on full display. ...............EVERYTHING ELSE................ FEEDING THE MAW OF AI BY DESTROYING MILLIONS OF BOOKS Amazon is buying massive quantities of books, scanning them for AI training data, and destroying them in the process. This story about booksellers who reported a historical spike in sales starting in the past year. They suspected this spike in sales was due to AI companies acquiring any books they can in search of new training data. Printed books are valuable as training data because a lot of the text they contain is not readily available on the internet, which AI companies have already scraped. The data is also conveniently organized and, if the book was printed before 2022, is guaranteed to be free of AI-generated text, which can make any AI model that is trained on it worse via a recursive process called “model collapse.” Oftimes the books are destroyed by taking them apart for easier scanning, and sometimes individual pages are read and the books are intact. and more...The largest theft in US history continues unabated. In addition to scraping every bit of information on the web, including yours, AI companies search for more training data to improve their models, one company is offering old, printed books as an ideal source because they are guaranteed to be free of the very AI slop AI companies are producing. “The world's best AI training data is sitting on a shelf,” ISBNdb, a company that produces what it claims is “the world’s largest book database,” and that offers high-volume book acquisition services for AI companies, says on its site. “Books represent curated, peer-reviewed, domain-specific human knowledge, structured in a way no web crawl can replicate. Dense, edited, authoritative.” ++++++++++ 21 large health systems growing bigger After a brief post-pandemic lull, hospital consolidation is accelerating again, with large health systems expanding across state lines, absorbing independent hospitals and reshaping regional care markets. From portfolio resets and strategic exits to cross-market mergers and billion-dollar investments, these moves reflect how scale, capital access and geographic reach are becoming critical advantages in today’s healthcare landscape. ++++++++++ SOLVING THE BATTERY PROBLEM "As traditional lithium-ion batteries push boundaries in size and scale, alternative battery types could provide the same vital role in harnessing low-carbon energy – but without the scramble for critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel that have raised concerns for environmental protection and vulnerable communities. Unlike lithium-ion batteries, which have a finite number of charge/discharge cycles, many of these alternative battery technologies can be used indefinitely and recycled when the units reach the end of their 20-year service life. Already developers are turning to a large range of materials to store renewable electricity when it is available and use it to power everything from wearable technology to heating networks, factories and missiles."Go here for the article from The Guardian++++++++++FILE A COMPLAINTWell, yeah, the gutting of the US government protective agencys continue, but what was build over many years, will not be dismantled in a couple. That's why it's important to file complaints about fraud, shoddy products, bad service, or information theft. This is a list of where to file what. Go here for the article.++++++++++A SERIES EXPLAINING OLIGARCHYPaul Krugman is an economist. He has begun a series describing the history and functioning of the massive wealth transfer to a small number of people. Go here for the ariticle.++++++++++PERIOD TRACKERS SHARE DATAIf you are using one of the several apps to track your period, beware. Mozilla’s research underscores the security and privacy risks with using period tracking and other health apps that share data with third parties. Oftentimes this happens as background activity within the app, and isn’t visible to the user. It’s not uncommon for apps to share data with other services for storage, analytics, and payments, but sharing users’ information with third parties inherently carries risks, such as potential security lapses, data breaches, or having the data sought by law enforcement.Of the six apps tested by...Mozilla recommended Euki as “squeaky clean,” as the app was not seen to be sharing any data with third parties with its core features, and the user’s health data did not leave their device. Article here++++++++++THE TROOT ABOUT ALL THOSE LIFE HACKS ADSGo here for the Snopes article that debunks many of those claims.++++++++++AI DETECTORhttps://www.pangram.com/blog/ai-in-your-feed?ref=404media.co ++++++++++ HAVE YOU BEEN FLOCKED? Various websites exist where people can check whether they've been looked up in Flock's database, where Flock cameras are and how people can try to avoid them on trips. This is one site,deflock.org. Another for location of Flock and other cameras, dontgetflocked.com/maps. ++++++++++ WHO IS MOVING WHERE? UHAUL MOVING DATA June 25-June 26 https://www.uhaul.com/Articles/About/2026-U-Haul-Midyear-Migration-Trends-NATIONAL-REPORT-41817/
According to UHaul, young people are not moving to Arizona, but older people are. This report reveals some of the migration taking place throughout the nation. That said, UHaul has a bit over 50% of the DIY moving market. Analyzing 52 weeks of customer moves including the first six months of 2026, U-Haul data indicates the renter’s generation, or stage of life, plays a vital role in where their moving truck, trailer, or U-Box® moving container is going. Sorting by generation groups and based on each state’s net gain or loss of one-way U-Haul equipment from July 2025 through June 2026, the data shows:
<><> BOOMERS (born 1946-64) Top U-Haul net-gain states (July 2025-June 2026)
Top U-Haul net-gain metros (July 2025-June 2026)
GEN X (born 1965-80) Top U-Haul net-gain states (July 2025-June 2026)
Top U-Haul net-gain metros (July 2025-June 2026)
MILLENNIALS (born 1981-96) Top U-Haul net-gain states (July 2025-June 2026)
Top U-Haul net-gain metros (July 2025-June 2026)
GEN Z (born 1997-2012*) Top U-Haul net-gain states (July 2025-June 2026)
Top U-Haul net-gain metros (July 2025-June 2026)
* Customers must be 18 to rent a U-Haul truck and 16 to rent a U-Haul trailer Florida is the lone state with a top-10 net gain among all four generations. Texas ranks very high for everyone but Boomers, while Idaho makes it on three lists. Millennials account for the most one-way U-Haul transactions, followed closely by Gen X. Those generations total more than 60% of rentals. ++++++++++ FIRE TRUCK BUILDING CONSOLIDATION Why is it taking so long for a new Bisbee fire truck ? Maybe because...there have been 12 antitrust lawsuits filed accusing three firms of restricting competition and driving up costs. Some suits allege that the cost of fire trucks has doubled in the last decade and the delivery times have increased to three to four years. This began a decade or so ago when private equity companies bought smaller companies and consolidated them. Go here for the article. .............. WORD............... HEADLINES WE'D LIKE TO SEE (thanks and a partial tip of the hat to David Fitzsimmons) RFK JR. UNABLE TO CONNECT THE DOTS IN MEASLES EXPANSION GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL COMMITTED TO EXILE AND WANDERING IN THE DESERT W/O MOSES TAXIDERMIST SEEN LEAVING SENATOR McCONNELL'S ROOM SPAY AND NEUTERING SERVICE SEEN LEAVING CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES IN JANUARY SENATE REPUBLICANS ADOPT THE ORANGE LEMMING AS OFFICIAL MASCOT (related? I think so.) SMART CRYPTO MONEY FOLLOWS TRUMPIE JR. INTO POWERED WATER SCAM TRUMP WIDENS WAR, BOMBS AT WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER TRIUMPHANT TRUMP TELLS US 18 TIMES OVER 4 MONTHS THE WAR IS OVER, FRANK ANTENORI,COUNTY SUPERVISOR, DECLARES HE IS KING ISRAELI SETTLERS MOVE INTO LEBANON, GAZA, IRAN, BROOKYLN, LA; GOD GIVEN RIGHT DIAPER TRUCK SEEN IN THE WHITE HOUSE LOADING ZONE REFLECTING POOL CLOSED, STRAIGHT OF HORMUZ OPEN COURT CHIDES TRUMP ABOUT BALLROOM, CITES...CHEAP SUIT LIKE A SMALL HOTEL: NO BALLROOM |
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