Daily Archives: May 7, 2014

Feds jumped on Arizona State Hospital after only one death

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ABC 15 photo

ABC 15 photo

PHOENIX – The Arizona Republic reported on March 14th last that the Arizona State Hospital would not loose federal funding. An investigation was prompted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicad Services after one patient died the previous September and six patients harmed themselves.

The Arizona State Hospital corrected security problems that allowed patients to harm themselves.

It took the unfortunate deaths of over 40 veterans in the Phoenix VA hospital alone to prompt an investigation. Recently it was learned that the Colorado VA hospital also falsified wait times although there are no reports of deaths as a result.

Long waits for treatment are not new to veterans who learn that some VA centers are better than others. The alleged “secret lists,” however, are a new twist in the care veterans receive at VA centers.

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Garland Prairie Road “Bootlegger” railroad crossing to be closed from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow

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FLAGSTAFF – Coconino County was notified today by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) that the “Bootlegger” railway crossing located on Garland Prairie Road about four miles east of Williams will be closed in both directions from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, May 8.

This closure is necessary for BNSF crews to repair and replace crossing planks and conduct rail maintenance work along several hundred feet of eastbound and westbound track.

Located between Parks and Williams and south of Interstate 40, the Bootlegger railway crossing provides access along Garland Prairie Road/Forest Service Road 146 between the Woods residential subdivision to the south and I-40.

During this closure, commuters between I-40 and the Woods subdivision will need to detour along Garland Prairie Road for approximately 19 miles. Please see the attached map for more information on this detour route.

Although this closure is exclusively related to a BNSF project, Coconino County Public Works is working with BNSF to notify local schools and first responders. Also, BNSF is placing a message board to alert motorists about this closure.

If you have any questions or require additional information about this project, then please contact Joe Pointer with BNSF at 928-241-0669.

Candidate Filing Opens For Aug. 26 Primary Election

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FLAGSTAFF – The 2014 election season has begun with 10 county elected offices up for grabs within Coconino County. Those offices include:

•Clerk to the Superior Court
•Constable – Flagstaff
•Superintendent of Schools (two-year term)
•Justice of the Peace – Flagstaff, Fredonia, Page and Williams
•Superior Court Judge- Divisions I, II and IV

The candidate filing period is now open. The deadline to file nomination petitions and paperwork to be a candidate is 5 p.m. May 28.

Declared partisan candidates will be listed on the August 26 Primary Election ballot. Primary winners and those running unopposed will then have their names placed on the November 4 General Election ballot.

Candidates running as an Arizona Revised Statute 16-341 candidate (nominated other than by primary) will only appear on the November 4 General Election ballot.

Non-partisan offices, such as school district governing boards, fire, water, sanitary and other special district board member seats will only appear on the November 4 ballot. These candidates have a different filing period.

For information about running for a seat on a school or community college governing board, contact the County Superintendent of Schools Office at 928-679-8070.

Those interested in becoming a candidate for an elected office within the County should visit the Coconino County Elections Office at 110 East Cherry Avenue in Flagstaff or call 928-679-7860 or 800-793-6181. Information is also available online at www.coconino.az.gov/elections. Click on “2014 Candidate Filing Information.”

American Legion Commander Dellinger calls for VA Secretary to resign

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American Legion National Commander Daniel Dellinger calls for resignation of VA officials.

American Legion National Commander Daniel Dellinger calls for resignation of VA officials.

In front of local media and a live Internet audience, American Legion National Commander Daniel M. Dellinger today called for the resignations of Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, Under Secretary of Health Robert Petzel and Under Secretary of Benefits Allison Hickey.

Dellinger cited poor oversight and failed leadership as the reason for calling for the resignations – something The American Legion hasn’t done regarding a public official in more than 30 years.

“Gen. Eric Shinseki has served his country well,” Dellinger said. “His patriotism and sacrifice for this nation are above reproach. However, his record as the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs tells a different story. The existing leadership has exhibited a pattern of bureaucratic incompetence and failed leadership that has been amplified in recent weeks.”

Dellinger pointed to allegations from multiple whistleblowers of a secret waiting list at the Phoenix VA Health Care System that may have resulted in the death of approximately 40 veterans, that VA previously had acknowledged that 23 veterans throughout the health-care system have died as a result of delayed care in recent years, and a the findings of an investigation by VA’s Office of Medical Inspector that clerks at the VA clinic in Fort Collins, Colo., were instructed last year how to falsify appointment records so it appeared the small staff of doctors was seeing patients within the agency’s goal of 14 days, according to the investigation.

Read more at The American Legion

Sony Supersizes Data Storage With 185-Terabyte Cassette Tape

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Got Backup?

sony-tapes
The iPod let you put your entire music collection in your pocket. Now Sony has something that could let you put the world’s music collection in your pocket: a cassette tape that holds 185 terabytes of data.

To put that in perspective, the tape can hold about 60 million songs — far more than anyone could listen to in their lifetime (that would be about 17 million, assuming continuous listening for 100 years, even while sleeping, and 3 minutes per song). All of the printed works of the Library of Congress add up to only about 10 terabytes.

Read more at Mashable

A funny thing happened on the way to Home Depot in Fort Worth

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See story and video at NBCDFW.com Channel 5.

See story and video at NBCDFW.com Channel 5.

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – Members of a group in Texas to promote an open carry law in Texas got a little more attention than they bargained for according to a report by NBC 5 in Fort Worth.

open-carry-texas-01The demonstrators of Open Carry Texas—a group promoting an open carry law—were on the way to Home Depot and stopped off at a Jack-in-the-Box to order food. Edwin Harros said that they had a polite exchange as they ordered food.

After they left the restaurant, the employees were apparently frightened enough to call police and lock themselves in a cooler even though no aggressive action whatsoever was indicated. Police, of course, responded in force to confront the five demonstrators.

The police stated that they have no problems with protests or open-carry, but the demonstrators were not carrying an signs or indications of a demonstration and they were not notified that Open Carry Texas planned a demonstration. The group said they would seek advise of police in the future.

Home Depot spokespersons stated that they have no problems with guns or demonstrations either so long as the guns are carried in compliance with the law.

Texas is one of the few states that does not permit open carry of firearms.

Nigeria: One-Religion Ticket Can Win

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Opinion By Mahmud Jega, 28 April 2014

There are 26 political parties in Nigeria today, so there will be several Muslim and several Christian presidential candidates. It depends therefore on whose vote is split the most.

nigeriaThe political actors and newspaper columnists who rushed in the last two weeks to say that a presidential election ticket made up of two adherents of the same religion cannot win in Nigeria have not thought about this matter very carefully. Ordinarily I wouldn’t have written about religion and politics because I, for one, will not cast a vote for or against anyone on religious grounds. However, I am intellectually provoked by the firm assertion of some commentators that a one-religion ticket cannot win an election in Nigeria. It can, under some circumstances.

The flurry of commentaries was sparked off by a newspaper story which said the opposition APC is planning to field what in Nigerian politics is called a “Muslim-Muslim” ticket in 2015, i.e. General Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. “Religious balancing” is a very sensitive matter in Nigerian politics. It is taken for granted that the presidential ticket of every major political party must include one adherent each of the two major religions. Given this sensitivity, I was personally amazed that APC did not vigorously deny the story. Its tepid response allowed Femi Fani-Kayode, for one, to say that APC is trying to promote one religion over another. Some other commentators worsened matters by saying there is nothing wrong with a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Well, I am not saying it is a good thing or a bad thing. All I am saying is that in theory such a ticket or its obverse, a Christian-Christian ticket, can win an election in Nigeria.

The first reason for saying a one-religion ticket can win an election in Nigeria is because it has happened before. Usually, the best evidence that something can happen is if has happened before. Many Nigerians appear to believe that this scenario will not happen precisely because it happened before. Soon after the ill-fated June 12, 1993 election, the Christian Association of Nigeria [CAN] did say that it would not condone a Muslim-Muslim ticket again. It did not however say if it will tolerate a Christian-Christian ticket. No one can say for sure that the extraordinary combination of circumstances that produced the Abiola-Kingibe ticket in 1993 will never happen again in Nigeria.

Read more at All Africa