ARIZONA—The primary elections to select those candidates for the November ballot will be held August 28th. Candidates include federal, State legislative and county offices. Although the primaries are to select individuals from the major parties, Independents and Non-Partisan voters may vote in the primaries on that day. The procedure is simple. Voters registered as Independent and Non-Partisan can go to the polls and request a ballot for either of the established parties. The exception is the Libertarian party which has chosen to hold a closed primary election.
Federal offices
As of this writing the Democrats have one candidate for the office of United States Senator to replace retiring Senator Jon Kyl. Richard Carmona of Tuscon is the Democratic candidate.
The Libertarians have Sheila Bilyeu of Flagstaff running for the vacancy.
The Republicans have five hopefuls. Representative Jeff Flake and Wil Cardon of Mesa received the most petition signatures and the choice of the Republicans will probably be one of those. The other choices include Bryan Hackbarth of Peoria, Clair Ban Steenwyk of Buckeye—both of whom are on the ballot having received requisite petition signatures. John Lyon of Glendale is registered as a write-in candidate so those voting for him can write his name in the appropriate slot on the ballot.
Senator Kyl will narrowly escapes a recall attempt by Leonard Clark of Phoenix who has filed recall petitions against Jan Brewer and Carl Seel.
For Representative for Congressional District 1 the Democrats will select between Wenona Benally Baldenegro of Flagstaff and former Representative Ann Kirkpatrick.
The Libertarians have Anthony Prowell of Tuscon on the ballot.
The Republicans will have a choice of Patrick Gatti of Show Low, Jonathan Paton from Oro Valley and Wade Douglas, a business man from Sedona. Gaither Martin survived a court challenge by Jonathan Paton and is still on the ballot.
State Offices
As of this writing, Arizona Legislative District 6 will choose between Democrat Tom Chabin of Flagstaff and Republican Chester Crandell from Heber, Arizona—the only two candidates for State Senator.
For Representative for District 6 the Democrats will choose Doug Ballard of Parks and Angela Lefevre of Sedona. The Republicans will place Brenda Barton and Bob Thorpe as their candidates. Continue reading →
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The fire ban enacted by the Coconino County Board of Supervisors last month has sparked a flood of questions from community members, visitors and staff.
While the ban approved May 16 specifically bans open grilling, campfires and fireworks, County residents and visitors are encouraged to use their best judgement when considering whether to engage in any activity that could spark a fire.
County officials have received numerous questions inquiring whether campfires, open barbecues, barbecue pits, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), chainsaws, firearms and open fires on private property are permissible.
Until extreme fire conditions improve, the County’s fire ban prohibits all open burning in unincorporated areas of the County, including the use of fireworks, other pyrotechnic displays, all open fires and campfires (in both developed and undeveloped campgrounds).
Those caught violating the open fire ban by using fireworks face up to 30 days in jail, one year probation or a fine of up to $500. Citizens are encouraged to check for restrictions in other jurisdictions before using any fireworks. Furthermore, state law allows authorities to charge those caught causing a situation with “conscious disregard for (high fire danger) circumstances & potential risk”.
Meanwhile, the County Parks and Recreation Department has also implemented fire restrictions on County parks. Those restrictions include the following parks: Fort Tuthill County Park, Sawmill Multicultural Art and Nature Park, Peaks View County Park in Flagstaff; Raymond County Park in Kachina Village; Cataract Lake County Park in Williams; and Louise Yellowman County Park in Tuba City.
In addition to the countywide fire ban, the following restrictions have been placed at County parks:
• Camping is permitted only in designated campgrounds at Fort Tuthill County Park;
• Smoking is strictly prohibited outdoors and only allowed in designated areas and/or in enclosed vehicles;
• Parking is prohibited on grassy forested areas and allowed in designated parking areas;
• Open fires are prohibited. This includes campfires, charcoal grills, torches, fireworks and candles. Only liquid gas stoves are permitted in improved areas (cleared of all vegetation, typically on a cinder or gravel surface).
Residents and visitors countywide are allowed to use (with caution) petroleum-fueled stoves or lanterns, and enclosed charcoal barbecue grills operated in residential yards. Special events may be allowed, with the approval of the County Board of Supervisors.
The Board’s decision to impose the ban was done in conjunction with increasingly strict fire restrictions placed on the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests and the City of Flagstaff. All three agencies have entered into Stage 2 fire restrictions, which prohibits all open fires, campfires in developed and undeveloped campgrounds and smoking outside of vehicles.
The use of any machinery that may emit sparks, such as chainsaws and welding equipment should be avoided during the extreme fire danger period.
Kaibab and Coconino National Forest Stage 2 Fire Restrictions
What: The following Stage 2 fire restrictions are in place on the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests.
Prohibited: Open fires; all campfires; charcoal, coal or wood stoves, including in developed campgrounds; the use of explosives; the use of any internal or external combustion engine without a spark-arresting device; welding or operating acetylene or other torch with open flame. Also prohibited is chainsaw use between 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Allowed with restrictions:
Smoking to within enclosed vehicles or buildings.
Discharging a firearm unless engaged in a lawful hunt.
Welding or operating acetylene or other torch with open flame.
Violation: Punishable with a fine up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment for up to six months.
Phoenix—While Arizona may win its battle over the watered-down SB 1070 due to the efforts of Governor Jan Brewer, the governor vetoed several other measures which the Legislature passed to enforce State sovereignty and the Tenth Amendment to the Bill of Rights. Among those were measures to prevent State agencies from enforcing provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act, a measure supporting county Sheriffs, and objections to international forces on American soil.
Vetoed by the governor was SCR 1008 and SB 1081 which would have given authority to the State and counties to declare emergencies in the forests and take action to clean them up. The governor recently signed the Four Forest Restoration contract with the “National Forest Service.” A main problem with this contract is that any money taken in from the resources leave Arizona.
The governor vetoed Senate Bill 1332 to demand that the federal government extinguish title to all public lands in the State relinquishing title to Arizona. In her veto letter she stated that the bill, “…appears to be in conflict with Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 and Article VI, Clause 2, as well as the Enabling Act.”
The first article mentioned is one that the federal government uses in their arguments.
“The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.”
While a Territory, it was constitutionally legitimate to form a “forest service.” With the Enabling Act mentioned—which allowed Arizona to form a Constitution—and the signing of that Constitution by William Howard Taft, Arizona is no longer a territory and this provision no longer applies.
The Constitution of the United States allows for certain properties for the federal government “To establish Post Offices and post roads” (I, Sect. 8, Clause 7), and the Seat of Government (3) and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature (4) for the Erection of Forts, (5) Magazines, (6) Arsenals, (7) dock-Yards, and (8) other needful Buildings (Article I, Sect. 8, Clause 17). None of these purposes gives Congress the right to form a National Forest Service, National Parks Service or other Bureaus to control lands within a State. The exception is waterways to ensure they are navigable. The federal government also argues Fifth Amendment authority to confiscate public and private land at will, but the Fifth Amendment was only meant to allow them to take land for their limited, allotted purposes. Article VI, Clause 2 is the so-called “Supremacy Clause.” This clause was only meant to give the federal government authority over those areas they were specifically given authority over by the Constitution of the United States. The wording of the Tenth Amendment of the Bill of Rights was meant to make that very clear.
Also in Article IV of the Constitution is a provision that gives the federal government the specific duty to protect the State from invasion. Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 and Title 32 §109 of the United States Code gives Arizona the authority to establish a defense force for the purposes of protecting Arizona citizens from invasion. Despite the claim of PBS, the Mexican drug cartels are known to be working with Hezbollah and Fox News has reported concerns by the Department of Homeland Security that they may be working with the terrorist group al-Qaeda. SB-1083 originally would have set up an Arizona Defense Force. A choir of Arizona media led by Senator Steve Gallardo (D-13) accused Arizona of setting up a “vigilante” group displaying their apparent ignorance to the definition of a vigilante group. One television media outlet said that the bill would hand guns out to untrained citizens and send them to the border. They did not mention the training, psychological testing, vetting process and command structure written into the bill. The bill was later changed by the author, Senator Sylvia Allen (R-5), in response to the concerns to create an Arizona Special Missions Unit. The governor did not have a chance to veto this bill which was killed in committee by House Speaker Andy Tobin.
Governor vetoed SB 1182 which would have prevented the State and any State agency from providing material support in implementation of Sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act. Despite the assurances by Representative Allen West of Florida, many groups advocate that these sections do not exempt American citizens from being apprehended by the military as “terrorists” without trial and being held indefinitely.
In an e-mail, Senator Allen wrote that the governor, “…said it was wrong to force law enforcement to have to decide rather to enforce state law over federal law. She was more worried about law enforcement than the citizens of this state who longer have due process under the Constitution, which by the way, law enforcement took an oath to uphold. The Governor was wrong on this one.”
The governor also vetoed HB 2434 which would have required federal law enforcement officers to notify the Sheriff of a county before conducting operations within their county. In the veto letter by the governor she wrote, “Rather than hinder the efforts of our federal law enforcement colleagues, we need to focus on collaboration. For example, the Arizona Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Center brings together local, state and federal law enforcement to jointly fight against terrorism and other serious crimes.” Apparently this does not consist of preventing terrorists from entering the country.
Recent news reports are that Russian troops are training in Colorado at the Denver Airport to fight terrorists (See Right-wing Extremist document). HJR 2001, proposed by Representative Harper (R-4) and Senator Gould (R-3) was written prior to that knowledge and opposes the use of international force in America to enforce unratified treaties and authorizes resistance against any international force infringing on the United States Constitution. The governor said, “Many terms are undefined or ill-defined which leaves this measure vulnerable to misuse, confusion and unintended consequences.”
The Resolution only shows Legislative support for the Constitutional right of American citizens to resist foreign invasion as granted by Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 aforementioned, and the Second Amendment (See Federalist Paper No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 24, 25 & 29 ) the Ninth and Tenth Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
Justice Noah Haynes Swayne in the Cherokee Tobacco Case (78 u.s. 616, 20 L.Ed. 227, 11 Wall. 616 (1870)) wrote, “It need hardly be said that a treaty. cannot change the Constitution or be held valid if it be in violation of that instrument.” That sentiment was upheld by Justice Horace Gray who authored the decision in UNITED STATES v. WONG KIM ARK, 169 U.S. 649, 18 S.Ct. 456, 42 L.Ed. 890 (March 28, 1898), “…as will appear by tracing the history of the statutes, treaties, and decisions upon that subject, always bearing in mind that statutes enacted by congress, as well as treaties made by the president and senate, must yield to the paramount and supreme law of the constitution.”
In 1913, Elihu Root published his lecture Essentials of the Constitution in which he wrote, “The constitution provides that ‘This constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.’ Under this provision an enactment by Congress not made in pursuance of the constitution, or an enactment of a state contrary to the constitution, is not a law. Such an enactment should strictly have no more legal effect than the resolution of any private debating society.”
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.—The Coconino County Board of Supervisors has approved a ban on open burning on public and private lands in the unincorporated areas of the County. The ban takes effect Wednesday, May 16 at 10 a.m. and will remain in effect until fire danger conditions subside.
The ban includes all open fires, campfires, fireworks and other pyrotechnic displays on private and public lands in the unincorporated areas of the County. Excepted from the ban are petroleum-fueled stoves or lanterns, enclosed charcoal barbeque grills operated in residential yards and special events specifically approved by the Board of Supervisors.
“The continued dry weather has made for dangerous fire conditions throughout the County and much of the state,” said County Supervisor Chairman Carl Taylor. “It’s our hope that imposing this ban will help to avoid additional devastating wildfires that threaten our communities.”
The Board’s decision to impose the ban is in conjunction with fire restrictions placed on the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests, the City of Flagstaff and Coconino County Parks and Recreation.
Citizens are reminded to use caution when smoking cigarettes outdoors and to completely extinguish them.
The use of any machinery that may emit sparks, such as chainsaws and welding equipment should be used with caution during the extreme fire danger period. Be prepared and have fire extinguishing equipment readily available.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.—Coconino County officials applaud an announcement today by the U.S. Forest Service and Gov. Jan Brewer that a contract has been awarded to restore the health of four overgrown National Forests and reduce the risk of devastating wildfires.
Coconino County and several northern Arizona organizations have been integral in helping shape the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI). The initiative aims to restore forest ecosystems on portions of the Coconino, Kaibab, Apache-Sitgraves and Tonto National Forests.
“This initiative is a once-in-a-life-time project that has the potential to enhance forest health and our rural lifestyle with outcomes that will resonate on a national level,” said County Supervisor Mandy Metzger. “I applaud this long-awaited announcement to restore our forests across northern Arizona. The significance of the 20-year contract is key as it guarantees a steady wood supply and ensures lasting benefits for Coconino County.”
The 4FRI project was selected for funding under the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), which was established in 2009 to foster collaborative, science-based restoration on priority forest landscapes around the country.
The aim of the program was to establish job stability, achieve a reliable wood supply and restore the forests to good health, which would reduce the costs and risk of devastating wildfires. Metzger added that the project would also work to clean and protect surface and groundwater supplies across Arizona and provide for increased habitat for wildlife.
“I’m really excited to see that this contract has been awarded,” said County Supervisor Matt Ryan, whose district rests in Kaibab and Coconino National Forests. “There has been a lot of work done regionally by multiple stakeholders. We have all been working toward this end and look forward to beginning these healthy treatments to our forests.”
Those stakeholders include conservations, scientists, local governments and industry leaders and others who have worked for years on 4FRI.
Tuesday, April 17th the showing will be at Northern Arizona University sponsored by their “Hot Topics” program. The movie will start at 6pm followed by a moderated discussion. On Thursday, April 19th the movie will show at the Fray Marcos Hotel in Williams in the Santa Fe Room from 7pm to 9 pm.
“We hope to see many of you there, and please spread the word to those who have participated in any way with the efforts to join us. Some of your friends and neighbors who are local might be interested,” the Coalition email stated.
“We have invited the County Supervisors, P&Z Commissioners & Staff, and others to attend either of the viewings, and some have indicated that they are going to try to be there.”
They would like an RSVP if you plan to attend to arrange enough seats.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Coconino County District 1 Supervisor Carl Taylor was named as the County Board of Supervisor’s next chairman during the Board’s regular meeting Tuesday.
Supervisor Taylor, who has served as chairman twice before, said he was honored for yet another opportunity to represent the Board and County residents as chairman.
“It is always a tremendous honor and privilege to serve the County as chairman. I look forward to carry out this duty on behalf of the Board and the residents we represent,” Supervisor Taylor said.
Supervisor Taylor replaces outgoing District 5 Supervisor Lena Fowler as chairwoman. The Board also voted unanimously to name District 2 Supervisor Liz Archuleta as vice-chairwoman, replacing District 3 Supervisor Matt Ryan.
Outgoing Chairwoman Fowler thanked her fellow supervisors for the opportunity to lead the Board since being named to the spot in August. Fowler was the first Native American to hold the post in County history.
“The County is well managed and it’s because of the support of our dedicated staff and our fellow elected officials,” Fowler said. “We all work together for the greater good of the residents of Coconino County.”
Supervisor Taylor begins his duties as chairman April 1.
FLAGSTAFF — In the Mayoral race in Flagstaff, Jerry Nabours leads with 3632 votes followed by Al White with 3302. Paul Kulpinski received 1919 votes with Paul Reilly receiving 557. There were 38 write-in votes.
In Williams, Mayor John Moore took 66% of the vote over former mayor Ken Edes. Moore received 439 to Edes 218 votes with 41% of registered voters going to the polls.
When asked about the vote, a voter in Williams commented, “I didn’t know Edes had that much kin in Williams.”
Frank McNelly and James Wurgler were the top two people seeking City Council spots with 488 and 470 votes respectively. Bobby Patricca came in third with 314 and Craig Fritsinger received 297 votes making a run-off election between the two in the next election cycle.
In Fredonia, Alvin Johnson received 57% of the votes for city council over Dustin Riddle; 230 votes to 164.
In the Tusayan recall election, Robert Evans received two more than the 54 votes for Greg Bryan. Clarinda Vail received 54 to the 53 votes received for Al Montoya. In the recall of Cecily Maniaci, Craig Sanderson received 71 votes tallying to 85.54% against 12 votes for write-in candidates.
In the race for board members of the Kaibab Estate W. Fire District, Pat Whitted took 80 votes followed by Douglas Gorniak with 77. Robert Wilkins received 75 votes and Carol Miller and George Wallace tied with 74 votes each. Andy Velasquez received 19 votes.
This county-wide summary is based on non-canvassed results and they could change. For more detailed election results, go to the Coconino County Elections web site.
Online site offers registration for recreation programs and campsites
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.–— Coconino County Parks & Recreation Department has kicked off its new web-based registration and reservation system “CocoRec.”
CocoRec allows county residents and visitors to view and register for recreation programs and reserve campground sites and stables at Fort Tuthill County Park through the Parks & Recreation website at http://www.coconino.az.gov/parks/.
“Online registration for programs and campsite reservations are eco-friendly,” said County Parks & Recreation Director Judy Weiss, who noted that registrations and reservations could be made 24/7. “You save gas, reduce carbon emissions, save time and paper. Plus, you have the added convenience of registering anytime wherever you are with internet access.”
To view a catalog of available programs, campsites and stables visit the Parks & Recreation website and click the link to CocoRec. Before registering for any programs or reserving a campsite, or stable, individuals and families must establish an account by setting up a login and password.
Spring recreation programs include geocaching, navigating the outdoors and camping clinics for the less experienced camper. A list of summer offerings will soon be available as Parks & Recreation moves forward with year round recreation offerings.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – All Coconino County offices will be closed Monday, Feb. 20 in observance of the President’s Day holiday.
While the administrative offices at the Sheriff’s Office will be closed, Dispatch, Records, Patrol, and Detention will conduct business as usual. Please dial 911 for emergencies. For non-emergencies, dial 928-774-4523 to connect with the non-emergency Dispatch number or to leave a message for one of the administrative offices.
As always, County Public Works Department road crews will remain on standby to ensure roadways are cleared and passable in the event of snowfall.
The seven-day forecast shows a 30% chance of snow for the holiday. Sunday and Sunday night 50% chance is predicted lowering to 20% on Monday. Little snow accumulation is expected.
