Tag Archives: Phoenix

Red Cross Reminder: Check Smoke Alarms when Turning Clocks Back

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PHOENIX – Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend and when majority of the country turns their clocks back, the American Red Cross reminds them to also take these steps to make sure their household is prepared for emergencies. The State of Arizona, this is a reminder to check and install smoke detectors.

“It’s important for everyone to make sure their household is ready,” said Colin Williams, Regional Communications Officer with the Red Cross AZ, NM, El Paso,TX. “A disaster like a home fire can happen anywhere, at any time. We urge people to take these steps now and know what they should do if an emergency occurs.”

  • Check smoke alarm batteries. When turning the clocks ahead, take a few minutes to replace the smoke alarm batteries and push the test button to make sure the alarms are working. It’s also a great time to check carbon monoxide detectors.
  • Install smoke alarms. If someone doesn’t have smoke alarms, install them. At a minimum, put one on every level of the home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Check local building codes for additional requirements.
  • Practice an escape plan. Make sure everyone in the family knows how to get out of every room and how to get out of the home in less than two minutes.
  • Get a kit. Keep disaster supplies in an easy-to-carry bag to use at home or carry in case ordered to evacuate.
  • Make a plan. Have all household members plan what steps they should take if an emergency occurs.
  • Be informed. Learn what emergencies can occur in the area and how officials notify residents should a disaster occur.

WHAT PEOPLE CAN DO: People can visit redcross.org/homefires to find out more about how to protect themselves and their loved homes from fire. They can also help by donating to Red Cross Disaster Relief by visiting redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Donations to Disaster Relief will be used to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.

AZGFD takes action to reduce threats to bighorn sheep population

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File Photo. AZGF Photo.

YUMA – Multiple incidents of domestic sheep escaping their enclosures in southwestern Arizona have put Arizona’s wild bighorn sheep population in peril. Starting as far back as late September, an estimated 300 domestic sheep escaped temporary grazing areas on private land. Some have been rounded up but an unknown number with contagious diseases known to kill bighorns are unaccounted for. The escaped domestic sheep dispersed into bighorn sheep habitat in Yuma County.

Because these domestic sheep were observed mixing with bighorn sheep that live in the area, the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has taken necessary steps to stop the transmission of disease. Domestic sheep have long been known to carry diseases for which bighorn sheep have limited defenses, and direct contact is not necessary to transmit disease. According to Mike Sumner, AZGFD regional supervisor, a small number of bighorns were euthanized to keep disease from spreading to other animals in the area.

“This is something no wildlife biologist wants to undertake, but to protect the 700-800 bighorn sheep that live in these mountains, we had to euthanize some individuals that had come in contact with domestic sheep,” said Sumner. “We value these individual animals, but must manage for the health of the whole bighorn population.”

On October 19, AZGFD personnel verified the presence of domestic sheep in bighorn habitat, and their owner gave the Department permission to remove them. Some of the domestics were found to be infected with contagious ecthyma, a painful disease which can prevent lambs from nursing and lead to mortality. The risk for disease transmission was considered high because of the length of time the domestic sheep were loose. Some domestic sheep as well as three bighorn sheep had to be euthanized.

In 2015, almost 40 percent of two bighorn herds in Montana north of Yellowstone National Park died after exposure to domestic ovine pneumonia. In the early to mid-1990s, domestic sheep and feral goats infected bighorns near Hells Canyon, Idaho, causing a catastrophic die off lasting almost a decade and killing 70 percent of the bighorn sheep populations spanning large areas of Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

AZGFD followed the guidelines of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, which recommend euthanizing bighorns that have likely associated or had direct contact with domestic sheep or goats to reduce the spread of disease. Similar actions were taken in Utah (2010), Washington (2013) and Nevada (2016) to protect the larger bighorn populations.

According to AZGFD Veterinarian Anne Justice-Allen, quarantining bighorns for observation and treatment was not an option because it would take 4 to 6 weeks of repeated sample collection and testing to learn if these bighorn sheep were indeed infected.

“Holding wild bighorn sheep for that period would be stressful and likely would cause several animals to die,” said Justice-Allen. “In addition, the Department has no suitable holding facility. Relocating them to a zoo was not possible because of the risk of disease transmission.”

The escaped domestic sheep caused other problems for the Arizona Department of Agriculture, law enforcement and health officials. More than 50 domestic sheep were found dead in a canal in the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District.

Hunting/fishing license dealers will have option to charge convenience fee in 2019

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PHOENIX — Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) customers are advised that, effective Jan. 1, 2019, Arizona hunting and fishing license dealers will have the option to charge a convenience fee for license, tag and stamp sales at their locations. Licenses, tags and stamps purchased online from AZGFD or purchased at AZGFD offices are not subject to a convenience fee.

A change in the law (A.R.S. §17-338) allows dealers to “collect and retain a reasonable fee as determined by the license dealer in addition to the fee charged to issue the license or permit.” The law also eliminates the 5 percent commission that dealers currently deduct and keep from sales of licenses, tags or stamps. That means after January 1, the dealers will transmit to AZGFD the full value of the license for each sale and the dealers will retain the convenience fee, if any.

“The price that Arizona Game and Fish charges for hunting and fishing licenses, tags and stamps will remain the same as before,” said Doug Cummings, assistant director for support services. “Dealers will have the ability to charge a convenience fee, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will. It will be up to each dealer whether or not they charge a fee.”

Cummings pointed out that receiving the full monetary value of each license will benefit department programs, allowing more money to be put into wildlife conservation.

Game and Fish is stipulating that dealers who charge a convenience fee must post the amount in an area clearly visible to customers.

To buy a license online, visit https://www.azgfd.com/license/.

Getting a new license plate? No need to bring the old one back

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PHOENIX – Buying a vehicle that needs a new license plate, or upgrading to a specialty or personalized plate? The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division is reminding motorists that you don’t need to return an old license plate to the MVD.

“We’re working very hard to get Arizonans out of line and safely on the road, and part of that is letting people know it’s okay to keep an old license plate instead of taking time out of a busy day to go to an MVD office,” said MVD Stakeholder Relations Manager Jennifer Bowser-Richards. “The only exception occurs if a plate is mutilated or illegible. In that case, the law requires a vehicle owner to get a new plate,” she noted.

She added, “Customers do have the option of transferring their current plate when they buy a different vehicle, but quite often if it involves merely a standard plate, people will just want to get rid of it. We want to make sure they know an office visit isn’t needed to do that. We also urge people who may not want to keep a plate to put it in their recycling bin as opposed to simply throwing it in the trash.”

For more information on plates and placards, visit azdot.gov/mvd

Value engineering increases value, reduces delivery time for I-17 bridge project

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PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation’s original plan for improving the Interstate 17 bridges at Willard Springs Road south of Flagstaff called for replacing the decks in both directions over two summers, ending well into 2019. The project that’s underway, however, is replacing the bridges in their entirety by the end of November – at no additional cost.

The difference is thanks to a process called value engineering.

Once a project has been awarded, ADOT and contractors can use value engineering to systematically analyze the plans and identify ways to deliver improvements safely, reliably and efficiently for the lowest overall cost possible, looking for ways to improve quality and value while reducing time needed to complete the work. For ADOT to approve a contractor’s value engineering proposal, the change must either reduce cost or delivery time or both while adding value.

As an alternative to removing and replacing just the bridge decks at I-17 and Willard Springs Road, the contractor, Fisher Industries, proposed creating new bridge abutments as well by using giant steel plates attached to construction vehicles as molds around rebar cages. Once the concrete sets, the steel plates can be moved quickly, allowing crews to pour concrete for another part of the abutment.

Building abutments normally takes weeks. With this technique, being used for the first time on an ADOT project, it took only days for crews to create abutments for the I-17 bridges at Willard Springs Road.

“Once the abutments are built, the bridge work is the same that we’ve always done,” said Steve Monroe, senior resident engineer for ADOT’s North Central District. “It’s nice to have the contractor get in, get the job done in a much more efficient way and get out.”

The new bridges are expected to be ready prior to the long Thanksgiving weekend. For now, drivers are moving by the work zone along I-17 using two lanes. Willard Springs Road is closed under I-17 while work is occurring, but drivers who need to access Willard Springs can still do so use using the southbound lanes of I-17.

In addition to improving delivery time and value, having both bridges done in one season rather than two reduces the length of time drivers must deal with restrictions at Willard Springs Road.

The bridge improvements are part of a larger project to improve northbound I-17 from milepost 312 north to the Flagstaff area. Several miles of the interstate have been repaved along with new guardrail. Both the right and left lanes from milepost 312 to 315 have been completely rebuilt and are already being used by traffic.

In the final weeks before the weather turns too cold for paving, crews will focus on completing paving of both lanes between mileposts 312 and 316 and the right lane up to milepost 331 at Kelly Canyon Road. After a winter hiatus, crews will return when the weather warms to finish the project.

For more information, please visit azdot.gov/I17Paving.

Paving continues on Interstate 40 in northern Arizona

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The Arizona Department of Transportation advises northern Arizona drivers to plan for possible travel delays because of a ramp closure on I-40 at Parks on Monday. Crews are repairing 17 miles of pavement on I-40 between Parks and Williams. As crews pave I-40, they plan to close the westbound on-ramp at Parks (milepost 178) from 6 a.m. to noon. Traffic will be detoured to Bellemont (milepost 185) to re-enter westbound I-40.

Please proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down and watch for construction personnel and equipment.

AZGFD presentation posted online

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PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has posted a presentation on its website kicking off the 2nd phase of public input for establishing and maintaining a discretionary, dedicated funding source for public awareness and education.The Arizona Game and Fish Commission recently directed the Department to analyze ideas submitted by the public: the addition of a big game bonus point option, and the potential to expand revenue sources from non-traditional customers.

The public is invited to view the presentation (above), then submit comments specific only to the proposals via email (ideas@azgfd.gov) throughout a public input period that ends November 18.

AZGFD is also seeking feedback to specific questions at Answer Questions HERE regarding a big game bonus point option. This feedback will provide the Department with a preliminary glimpse of public opinion on the topic. Additional analyses and public vetting will be needed to fully assess the potential for this option.

The presentation and online feedback form also are posted at https://www.azgfd.com/agency/dedicated-funding-source/.

AZGFD will present feedback on the potential options for the funding source to the Commission at its public meeting December 7 in Phoenix.

Smartphone App and Citizen Science Program Helping Protect Arizona Waterways Wins National Award for Innovation

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PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Water Watch Mobile App and Citizen Science Program was awarded a State Innovation Award by the Environmental Council of States (ECOS). Smartphone users can download and open the app to easily submit photos and data for any stream, wash, river or lake in the state within a few minutes. Volunteers can also learn to gather water samples with training from ADEQ. These additional data are used by ADEQ scientists to update flow patterns, address water quality issues and identify waterbodies for future studies.

ECOS works to improve the capability of state environmental agencies and their leaders to protect and improve human health and the environment of the United States. The ECOS State Innovation Award recognizes outstanding state initiatives that can serve as replicable models for other states. Voting live at the ECOS Fall Meeting in Stowe, Vermont, attendees viewed video submissions and selected four winners from Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut and Colorado.“Smartphones have changed the way we gather information in our everyday lives,” said ADEQ Director Misael Cabrera. “By leveraging this technology and creating a vibrant citizen science program to include the public in our efforts to protect water quality, thousands of data points in both urban and remote areas of the state have already been submitted. We are honored by this recognition by ECOS members and are encouraged that other states may soon use our innovation to expand protection of their waterways.”

As Arizona gears up for more rain this weekend, ADEQ encourages people to download the Arizona Water Watch App and safely submit their observations as water drains from the mountains to the desert. At the touch of a fingertip on their Smartphone, anyone can become a Citizen Scientist, collaborating with ADEQ to expand our knowledge of the state’s waterways. After verification, data are plotted on an interactive GIS map of the entire state. The Arizona Water Watch Mobile App can be used even when out of range of cell phone service, as is common in the more remote areas of Arizona. Data are sent automatically to ADEQ when the phone returns to a service area.

Reducing inactive projects balance helps move ADOT improvements forward sooner

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PHOENIX – When a project isn’t using some or all of the funding committed to it because it’s become inactive, freeing that money as quickly as possible means the Arizona Department of Transportation can move forward sooner with other work that’s ready to go.

That’s the goal behind a comprehensive effort to reduce what is known formally as ADOT’s inactive projects balance. This balance is comprised of ADOT projects and local projects that haven’t used any of the funding committed to them in more than 180 days.

At its peak, ADOT’s inactive projects balance stood at $160 million, representing money committed to about 3,000 individual project phases including design, right-of-way acquisition and construction.

Today, ADOT employees responsible for project funding have reduced that balance to $50.4 million and are continuing to develop ways to reduce it even further.

“To some, it may sound like an achievement that only an accountant could love, but reducing our inactive projects balance is a win for all Arizonans,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “This allows us to be more nimble in getting limited transportation funding to other projects that will improve the quality of life in this state.”

The most common reasons for projects becoming inactive include requesting funding too far in advance of needing to spend it, a local agency not invoicing ADOT in a timely manner and representatives failing to notify ADOT that a project or project phase is complete.

“Working across ADOT divisions and with local partners, our employees have identified problems that contribute to the inactive projects balance and developed sustainable improvements,” said Kristine Ward, ADOT’s Chief Financial Officer. “We have a clear path and process for continuing to reduce this balance and get even more projects going sooner.”

This effort is aligned with the agency’s use of the Arizona Management System championed by Governor Doug Ducey. It calls for all employees to identify ways to improve continuously improve processes and their value to customers.

The improvements include ADOT tracking inactive projects weekly and examining each project phase rather than the whole project when determining what has become inactive. Each month, a website lists inactive projects and projects that will be considered inactive in 30 days.

Employees developed a new policy on inactive projects spelling out that funding authorization should be requested only when a project phase is ready to proceed and providing a consistent process for closing out projects. ADOT representatives have made presentations about the policy and procedures at meetings of local government leaders in addition to conducting webinars for ADOT staff and those with local agencies.

Looking to reduce the inactive projects balance even further, ADOT now is focusing on ways to streamline the process for closing out project phases so the remaining committed funds can be released sooner.

Learn more about how the Arizona Management System works at ADOT by visiting azdot.gov/AMS.

ADOT detectives nab dealer for selling vehicle with false odometer reading

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PHOENIX – A Gilbert man who manages a used car dealership has been arrested for selling a vehicle with a false odometer reading in addition to other violations by detectives with the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General.

Mikel Martinez, 37, manager of Auto Link of Arizona, had recently sold a 2013 Chevrolet E2500 Cargo Van stating that it had 159,000 miles on it. Unbeknownst to the buyer, the vehicle had actually racked up over 303,000 miles.

The buyer originally came to OIG because Martinez had not provided the title or registration for the van. Martinez had also informed her that she was being financed through BHFC Financial Services; however, when the buyer contacted the company, it had no record of her.

ADOT’s Office of Inspector General took up the case and opened an investigation that led detectives to discover that the vehicle mileage on the title had been altered from when it was first titled to Auto Link of Arizona.

When Martinez was called in to OIG headquarters regarding the odometer tampering, detectives discovered that in addition to altering the mileage, Martinez removed the letter “C” designation on the vehicle’s title. A letter “C” indicates the true mileage of the vehicle is unknown. It was also discovered that he had a fictitious dealer plate on his vehicle that was made of laminated paper.

Martinez was arrested and booked at the Fourth Avenue Jail on Sept. 21 and is currently facing counts of fraudulent schemes, forgery, tampering with a public record, displaying a fictitious plate and odometer fraud.

While ADOT’s Office of Inspector General stands ready to assist those who’ve fallen victim to fraud, ADOT has car-buying tips that can be found on the agency’s website at azdot.gov/CarBuyingTips.

Beware of odometer fraud.

Check the odometer reading on the vehicle instrument cluster and compare it to what is listed on the back of the title from the seller and any odometer information contained in any vehicle history reports or repair invoices. Also check the title to see if the actual mileage is listed (Box A).
A typical vehicle is driven about 15,000 miles per year. If the odometer mileage of a vehicle shows much less than that average annual usage, it could be an indicator that the odometer has been rolled back, and worth further inspection.
Have a trusted mechanic check the odometer for signs of tampering and for wear on the vehicle to see if it’s in line with the displayed mileage. A mechanic can also check the vehicle computer for mileage.

Use good judgment and ask lots of questions. There are no stupid questions when it comes to protecting yourself in a big purchase. Do this:

Ask for identification to make sure the seller is the owner listed on the title.
Ask to see vehicle maintenance records.
Check the VIN on the inside of the driver’s door frame and on the top of the dashboard to make sure they match.
Check for VIN tampering such as the door frame sticker peeled off and replaced, and altered rivets on the dashboard plaque.

The most important thing to do is to take time and not rush the process. If the seller is acting suspiciously, unwilling to show ID or records or trying to rush the process, walk away. Take the time to find the right purchase.

Seek help if you’ve been scammed. ADOT is here to help victims of fraud involving vehicle titles, registrations and driver licenses. Call our 24-hour fraud hotline at 877.712.2370 or email fraud@azdot.gov.