Monthly Archives: July 2013

Congress and the Justice Dept’s Dangerous Attempts to Define “Journalist” Threaten to Exclude Bloggers

Posted on by

Lawmakers in Washington are again weighing in on who should and should not qualify as a journalist—and the outcome looks pretty grim for bloggers, freelancers, and other non-salaried journalists.

On July 12, the Justice Department released its new guidelines on investigations involving the news media in the wake of the fallout from the leak scandals involving the monitoring of AP and Fox News reporters. While the guidelines certainly provide much-needed protections for establishment journalists, as independent journalist Marcy Wheeler explained, the DOJ’s interpretation of who is a “member[] of the news media” is dramatically narrower than the definition provided in the Privacy Protection Act and effectively excludes bloggers and freelancers from protection. This limiting definition is causing alarm among bloggers like Glenn Reynolds on the right as well.

While the DOJ’s effort to limit the scope of who can be recognized as a journalist is problematic, it doesn’t have teeth. Guidelines are, well, guidelines. But the report is part of a broader legislative effort in Washington to simultaneously offer protection for the press while narrowing the scope of who is afforded it. Importantly, Congress introduced federal shield bills in May—both ironically named the “Free Flow of Information Act of 2013”—that arguably would exclude bloggers, freelancers, and other non-salaried journalists from protection because they are not included within the bills’ narrow definition of who qualifies as a journalist.

If these bills—support for which the White House reaffirmed in its DOJ report—pass without change, Congress effectively will create two tiers of journalists: the institutional press licensed by the government, and everyone else. That’s a pretty flimsy shield if what we are really trying to protect is the free flow of information.

Read more at the Electronic Frontier Foundation

Project Appleseed coming to Flagstaff shooting range

Posted on by

Project Appleseed will be holding a clinic at the Northern Arizona Shooting Range in Flagstaff on August 24th and 25th at 8:30 am each day. The clinic will focus on rifle marksmanship skill.

The skill will include the six steps to firing a shot, natural point of aim, sling use and other skills in firing rifles. They also discuss the history of the beginning of the American War for Independence and the heritage of the nation.

The clinic costs $80 per man, $40 for each woman and under $20 for people under 18. Active duty military, law enforcement officers and elected offficials are free. The $7 range fee is not included and must be paid by all on entry. Your own rifles and ammunition are required. You can find more information at their web site.

Project Appleseed, according to their web site,

…is an activity of The Revolutionary War Veterans Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated to teaching every American our shared heritage and history as well as traditional rifle marksmanship skills. Our volunteer instructors travel across the country teaching those who attend about the difficult choices, the heroic actions, and the sacrifices that the Founders made on behalf of modern Americans, all of whom are their posterity.

“Our rifle marksmanship program complements our history and heritage. We teach the traditional American marksmanship skills,” their web site states.

The Northern Arizona Shooting Range is located on USFS Road 128A 3.8 miles past the junction of USFS Roads 82 and 128. It is east of Flagstaff and south of the Winona exit #211 on I-40. (Map and directions)

Lightning Strikes Three Killing Two

Posted on by

Fredonia AZ—Yesterday at about 3:00 pm a bolt of lightning struck in the area of the LeFevre  Scenic Overlook at MP 590.4 on Highway 89A about eight miles north of Jacobs Lake. Two visitors from a foreign country were pronounced dead at the scene and a non-related minor received non-life-threatening injuries. This highlights the dangers that thunderstorms represent.

A group of people were standing in the area of the overlook when a man and wife from out of the country were struck and later pronounced deceased at the scene.  A third victim who is a male minor also was struck by the lightning and knocked to the ground.  He was treated at the scene for non-life-threatening injuries.  He was transported to an area hospital by Kane County Utah Medical Transport.  The child was not associated with the two deceased victims and was traveling with several adult guardians.

After the lighting strike several other people at the overlook called the Kane County 911 Dispatch Center on their cell phones and reported the incident.  Dispatchers sent the Kane County Ambulance and notified the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.  The two deceased victims were transported to the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office located in Flagstaff.

Names of the two deceased victims are being withheld pending next of kin notification.  This investigation is being continued by Sheriff’s Detectives and the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Department recommends the following when thunderstorms are present. Chance of thundershowers exist through Saturday in the 40% to 50% range.

Lightning Safety Tips

Plan in advance your evacuation and safety measures. When you first see lightning or hear thunder, activate your emergency plan. Now is the time to go to a building or a vehicle. Lightning often precedes rain, so don’t wait for the rain to begin before suspending activities.

IF OUTDOORS…Avoid water. Avoid the high ground. Avoid open spaces. Avoid all metal objects including electric wires, fences, machinery, motors, power tools, etc. Unsafe places include underneath canopies, small picnic or rain shelters, or near trees. Where possible, find shelter in a substantial building or in a fully enclosed metal vehicle such as a car, truck or a van with the windows completely shut. If lightning is striking nearby when you are outside, you should:

Crouch down. Put feet together. Place hands over ears to minimize hearing damage from thunder.

Avoid proximity (minimum of 15 ft.) to other people.

IF INDOORS… Avoid water. Stay away from doors and windows. Do not use the telephone. Take off headsets. Turn off, unplug, and stay away from appliances, computers, power tools, & TV sets. Lightning may strike exterior electric and phone lines, inducing shocks to inside equipment.

SUSPEND ACTIVITIES for 30 minutes after the last observed lightning or thunder.

INJURED PERSONS do not carry an electrical charge and can be handled safely. Apply First Aid procedures to a lightning victim if you are qualified to do so. Call 911 or send for help immediately.

KNOW YOUR EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS.

Not so quick, smart meter.

Posted on by

WILLIAMS—at the May 23rd meeting of the Williams City Council, the council voted to install “advanced metering infrastructure” or “smart meters” in place of analog meters.

Residents in Sedona fought their City Council to prevent a $75 dollar fee and an additional $30 a month to opt out of the program. The State of California requires an opt out program for their utility companies. Texas is considering legislation banning the use of the technology altogether because of privacy concerns violating the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

According to the minutes of the meeting, Mayor John Moore, “…expressed concern for the control of individuals’ power service.”

The minutes record that Joe Carter answered that the when an individual comes in to pay their bill, staff will update the system, and services would be restored as soon as payment is made; all of this would be done by the push of a button.

Brenda Hazlett of APS added, “This process is actually faster than if they were to dispatch a meter reader to go out and turn service back on.”

This assessment did not bear out the morning of Tuesday, July 23rd for residents at 118 W. Route 66 in downtown Williams. Glen Davis, a resident of the apartments, returned home about 10:45 to find his electricity out. He confronted APS and was told that the electricity was out due to non-payment.

The owner, Lea Bowden, checked with APS at about 11:32 and found that the payment made, but applied to a wrong account. Electrical power was not restored until approximately 12:15—43 minutes after the error was reported to APS. Power had been out for approximately two-hours.

Davis complained that while he knew of the power outage to replace meters, he was never informed of the actual date of the outage and never received one of the promised notification slips. He claims he has lost two DVD recorders on his computer and his computer has been acting up since they switched out the meters without his knowledge.

Man Arrested after Firing Multiple Shotgun Rounds in a Residence he Burglarized

Posted on by

Damage caused by suspect - Photo courtesy of Coconino County Sheriff's Department

Damage caused by suspect – Photo courtesy of Coconino County Sheriff’s Department

Blue Ridge, AZ—Thirty one year-old Justin Kincaid of Kincaid, JustinMaricopa, Arizona was arrested on Friday, July 19, 2013 at about midnight after breaking into an unoccupied home located in the Blue Ridge area. Kincaid is believed to have illegally occupied the residential structure for several days before he caused significant damage to the contents and structure of the home. He allegedly armed himself with a shotgun he found inside the residence and fired it many times breaking some of the windows. It is believed he broke out the rest of the windows by other means. When deputies and other assisting law enforcement officers arrived Kincaid continued to discharge the shotgun inside the structure.

On Friday at about 5:15 pm the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office received six 911 calls from neighbors who reported hearing multiple gunshots in close proximity to their homes. The callers could not see the suspect, but described the shots as being fired continuously. Neighbors congregated at one of the homes in the immediate area. Deputies arrived, began to search the area on foot and were able to hear multiple gunshots being fired. Deputies identified the home where the gunshots were originating from and established a perimeter and watched the structure from a position of safety. The suspect was playing loud music and could be seen pacing back and forth inside the house.

A Sheriff’s Lieutenant who was at the scene contacted the Flagstaff Police Department and requested that the FPD/CCSO SWAT team respond. Once the SWAT team was on scene they approached the residence in an armored vehicle and used an external speaker system to communicate with the suspect and convinced him to walk out of the residence unarmed. SWAT team members arrested Justin Kincaid without further incident.

After entering and searching the home deputies learned that vandalism to the interior of the structure was extensive and estimated cost of repairs and replacement to be as much as $100,000. It appeared that Kincaid targeted most everything breakable, to include shooting out or otherwise shattering every window (about 35, some very large), all mirrors, multiple high-end kitchen appliances and a large crystal and china collection. During their search deputies found 54 expended shotgun shells.

During an interview with Kincaid, detectives learned that he left the residence of a relative on July 14 and drove to Blue Ridge with the intentions of camping in the forest. He drove around Starlight Pines, claiming to be looking for forest access. According to the suspect he found a residence with an open garage door instead. Kincaid said he stayed in the garage until it was obvious that no one would be returning in the near future. At some point while the suspect was in the residence he became frustrated with his circumstances and did the previously described damage. Justin Kincaid is being held in the Coconino County Sheriff’s Detention Facility on charges of Second Degree Burglary, Felony Criminal Damage and Possession of a Firearm while committing a felony.

Draw results now available for 2013 fall big game hunts

Posted on by

For more than 121,600 applicants, the wait is over. Draw results for Arizona’s 2013 fall big game hunts are now available.

Draw results are available at https://az.gov/app/huntdraw/home.xhtml (click on “View results and bonus points”) or by calling (602) 942-3000 and selecting option two. Callers may get a busy signal due to the heavy call volume expected, and are encouraged to try again later.

The department issued 49,471 hunt permit tags for deer, turkey, javelina, bighorn sheep, buffalo and pheasant.

Tags for successful applicants are expected to be mailed by Aug. 9, 2013. Refunds will be mailed no later than Aug. 19, 2013.

Any leftover hunt permit tags will be made available for purchase. The list of leftover tags will be posted at www.azgfd.gov/draw when it is available, along with the 2013-14 Arizona Hunting Regulations and other draw-related information.

For those who qualify, military hunts will also be available for Fort Huachuca. Interested sportsmen and sportswomen should call (520) 533-7083 or (520) 533-8763 for additional information.

Coconino lifts fire restriction due to monsoon weather

Posted on by

Stage 1 fire restrictions remain on US Forest Service property

monsoon-01

FLAGSTAFF—Monsoon rains allowed Coconino County to lift its fire restrictions earlier this month, but stage 1 fire restrictions remain in the Coconino and Kaibab forests. The Williams watershed opened for hiking, but some areas of Coconino may still be dry and present hazardous fire conditions.

Ample monsoonal rainfall throughout Northern Arizona has brought much needed moisture to tinder-dry forests and area landscapes. Fortunately the rainfall lessened the danger of fire from thunder. Careless acts with fire could still start a blaze, however.

Under Stage 1 fire restrictions on federal land:
• Fires, campfires, charcoal, coal and wood stoves are allowed in developed campgrounds only.
• Smoking is allowed only in enclosed vehicles, buildings or in developed campgrounds.
• Using a device that is solely fueled by liquid petroleum or LPG fuels that can be turned on and off is allowed in areas that are clear of flammable materials.

This has prompted the Northern Arizona Shooting Range to open again with a clay pigeon shoot scheduled for the weekend of August 10 & 11 and another scheduled for September 7 & 8. Conditions could change, so you should contact the range to see if these activities are still available.

Long range predictions are for excellent chances of precipitation through Wednesday with chances of scattered thunderstorms through next Saturday.

USDA Requires Magicians To Have “Disaster Plans” For Their Rabbits

Posted on by

To say that American businesses are over-regulated is a bit of an understatement. In very small print, the USDA spends 14 pages to spell out regulations specifically pertaining to rabbits and requirements that need to be met to keep one’s “rabbit license.”

A 1965 law required that labs obtain government licenses in order to use animals for testing purposes. But in 1970, that law was amended to include not just labs, but any entity that exhibits animals. Like zoos and circuses. But because the regulations written to enforce these laws are so vague and wordy like every other law and regulation we have, anything can be said to “exhibit” animals. Not just the big things like zoos.

Apparently, magicians who use rabbits as props for their tricks are not at all exempt. So, they too must obtain a license to “exhibit” their pet rabbits. And since they have to have the proper government license to do so, they must follow all the regs associated with maintaining that license. They have to pay $40 a year, give their animal regular vet care and submit to random house searches.

But now they’ve apparently got a new requirement needed in order for these magicians to hold on to their “rabbit licenses.” 54-year-old magician Marty Hahne knows about it, because he got a letter from the USDA asking him for a “disaster plan” for his rabbit, Casey. You know, like, “What does Marty the Magician plan on doing to make sure his rabbit is safe in case of a flood, a hurricane or an earthquake?” This is not a joke.

Read more at Last Resistance

Colorado town considers licensing bounty hunters to shoot down drones

Posted on by

Drone season opens in Colorado using Joe Biden rules.

But if anyone accidentally shoots down a remote-controlled toy airplane, the proposed ordinance warns, “the owner of the toy remote control aerial vehicle shall be reimbursed for its full cost by the shooter.”

The tiny town of Deer Trail, Colo. — barely more than a wide spot on Interstate 70 about 55 miles east of Denver, population 546 — is considering an ordinance that would authorize licensed bounty hunters to shoot down unmanned aircraft violating its “sovereign airspace.”

A six-page petition circulated by a resident says that the threat of surveillance from drones — regardless of who is piloting them — is a threat to “traditional American ideas of Liberty and Freedom” enjoyed by Deer Trail’s “ranchers, farmers, cowboys and Indians, as well as contemporary citizens.”

Therefore, drone incursions are to be seen as acts of war.

According to the proposed ordinance, which will be considered by the town council at its next meeting on Aug. 6, prospective bounty hunters can get a one-year drone-hunting license for $25.

Proposed bounties will be $25 for those turning in the wings or fuselage of downed aircraft and $100 for mostly intact vehicles. To collect the bounty, the wreckage must have “markings, and configuration … consistent with those used by the United States federal government.”

Such “trophies” then become the property of Deer Trail.

The ordinance spells out the rules of engagement. Shooters must use shotguns, 12-gauge or smaller, firing lead, steel or depleted uranium ammunition and they can’t fire on aircraft flying higher than 1,000 (a determination made using a range finder or a best guess). No weapons with rifled barrels allowed, and no tracer rounds.

An “engagement” is limited to three shots at an aircraft every two hours. Being unable to bring down the drone within those guidelines, the petition notes, “demonstrates a lack of proficiency with the weapon.”

Read more at the Daily Caller