Q&A with Phoenix Police Chief Garcia: Officers prepared to enforce SB 1070

by JJ Hensley - Sept. 19, 2012 09:41 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

Phoenix Police Chief Daniel V. Garcia's message has been the same since he took the department's top job in May: The city's officers will treat residents with dignity and respect while engaging in "policing with a purpose."

The enforcement of a controversial provision of Senate Bill 1070 will not change that, Garcia said, noting that officers will still need reasonable suspicion to contact someone -- and even more reasonable suspicion to contact federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents regarding the status of someone they have detained.

That suspicion cannot be built on language or ethnicity alone, Garcia said. But those may be among a number of factors outlined in training offered to police throughout the state or in Garcia's department.

Question: What changes will enforcement of this provision of SB 1070 bring?

Answer: The Phoenix Police Department has been preparing for this since July 2010. We've prepared for this for a long, long time. I don't think you're going to see mass arrests or anything like that in the city of Phoenix. The fact is we're still going to treat people with dignity and respect.

Q: What is out there that would prevent an officer from overstepping the line?

A: Reasonable suspicion is the key on both categories (contacting suspects and contacting ICE). I break it up into two categories because the first thing you have to have is reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred -- a "Part One" offense. In other words, burglary, robbery, theft, something in that category, or a violation of traffic code. You have to have that before you get to reasonable suspicion whether someone is here illegally or not, and I think people tend to forget that. They kind of brush it off, as if we're going to go straight to asking people about whether they're here (legally) or not, and that's not true.

Q: How could one of those traffic stops unfold?

A: You have to have reasonable suspicion in relation that a crime has occurred -- state law, county law, city law, federal law for that matter. We make a traffic stop, the individual does not have presumptive ID, a good driver's license, anything that signifies that he's documented and in our country (legally). At that point, if we have reasonable suspicion now -- based on other categories as well as facts and circumstances that lead us to believe that this individual is not here legally -- then, at that point we can address the other aspect of reasonable suspicion that they're here undocumented. At that point, we have an obligation to contact ICE and determine whether they're documented or not. Let me be clear about this: There's a big question as to how long we can detain somebody. To me, it's no longer than you would on a traffic stop on any other case. We'll make an attempt to contact ICE, and if we're successful, they'll give us the information we need. If not, we'll let the individual go. If we don't get an answer from ICE, we have no obligation but to let them go, or, in fact, if we contact ICE and they're not here illegally, then of course we're going to let them go. We are going to enforce the law, but we're going to do it with dignity and respect, and we're going to do it within the parameters of the law.

Q: What assurances can you offer to people out there who are afraid?

A: If you don't have a drivers license, don't drive. We're going to treat everybody with dignity and respect. We're going to follow our policing principles in relation to ensuring that we're policing with a purpose: Reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred, reasonable suspicion that will lead us to someone (who) is here illegally.

Q: What about officers who want ID from passengers during traffic stops?

A: The only person who has to have a driver's license in a vehicle is the driver. That doesn't prevent an officer from having a conversation with other people in the car. That does not prohibit us from doing that. But again, those other individuals do not have to have any kind of identification on them whatsoever. As far as I'm concerned, he can't at that point -- he has no reasonable suspicion.

Q: What instruction or policy if any is there on officers asking passengers for identification and using that to develop reasonable suspicion that they are in the country illegally?

A: An officer has a responsibility first and foremost with a driver of the vehicle. They either have a license or they don't. Based on reasonable suspicion of a crime, you're going to make your stop.

The second thing is, you're going to have to have reasonable suspicion that this person is here illegally. That's all pertaining to the driver. There's nothing that prohibits a police officer from having a conversation with the other occupants of the car, and I'm just talking a general conversation. I'm not talking about an investigative process. Now, as far as pushing that and taking it to another level in relations to a process of investigating someone being here undocumented, no, I don't support that.

Q: The law seems to allow for an officer who feels strongly about this law and is zealous about enforcement to ask everyone for ID and develop reasonable suspicion from there.

A: If an officer makes a determination that the driver is here and is undocumented, that opens the door for the other people in the vehicle, as well. There is a process where we have a lot of people transporting illegal aliens. That would open that. If the driver is here legally, then I don't think you have a position to ask anyone anything else.

Q: You mentioned traffic enforcement. We've seen other agencies target areas where day laborers gather as a traffic-enforcement issue. Do you anticipate that?

A: In relation to that type of activity, I believe very strongly that, right now, anytime you make that kind of a traffic stop, you're not going to be dealing most of the time with someone who is undocumented. You're going to be dealing with someone who is trying to get day labor. The driver of that vehicle is probably going to have identification.

Q: What is the reaction from ICE these days?

A: Sometimes, we get a response, and sometimes, we're not able to make contact with them. I can't be held responsible for ICE's actions or inaction.

Q: What instructions have you given officers on situations where there's no state law violation and ICE won't respond?

A: If ICE refuses to respond, then they're free to let go whoever they stop.

Q: On stop length ... do you expect to have a way to gauge that? Are you looking at a way to see if there are officers who are excessively stopping people?

A: All our traffic stops have a start time and end time. It's the officer coming on the air designating a traffic stop, and we'll review those stops, as well.

Q: Do you anticipate doing more of those reviews?

A: We're always looking at it as part of our management and supervision of our officers.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/09/19/20120919phoenix-police-chief-garcia-prepared-enforce-sb-1070.html
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Glendale considers giving budget role to residents

by Lisa Halverstadt - Sept. 19, 2012 09:45 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

Glendale residents could soon play a larger role in the city's budget process.

City staffers earlier this month suggested forming an audit committee that would review city financial statements and annual external audits and push for plans to resolve issues that come up during the process.

The five-member committee would include two Glendale residents, two council members and the city manager.

City Council members lauded the proposal at the Sept. 4 workshop.

"I love this," Councilwoman Joyce Clark said. "I love the idea of an audit committee and the layer of transparency it brings to Glendale government."

Mayor Elaine Scruggs said the committee would give residents more faith in the city's processes. "What people (have seen in the past) is that things are very closely held among a small group of people," she said.

The proposal comes as council candidates and residents raise questions about city spending decisions and the potential for additional cuts to city services in coming years.

Most candidates have called for a comprehensive, outside audit that goes beyond the routine reviews that government entities must complete.

In recent years, Phoenix-based accounting firm Heinfeld, Meech and Co. P.C. has reviewed city spending and revenue. The city will request bids from other companies next month.

This past year, the calls for additional oversight increased as the city faced a $35 million budget shortfall. The council cut department spending, eliminated 49 positions and hiked the city sales tax by 0.7 percentage point.

But the sales-tax increase, which is expected to generate about $20 million this year, could be eliminated with a proposed ballot measure that seeks to reverse the increase and require public votes on future tax increases.

Residents who support the measure say they should have been consulted before the council approved the increase in June.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/09/11/20120911glendale-considers-giving-budget-role-residents.html
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Phoenix still in League of Arizona Cities and Towns

by Dustin Gardiner - Sept. 19, 2012 09:47 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

Phoenix council members voted Wednesday night to renew membership in the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, but several said the influential association needs to be more transparent and improve relations with its largest member city.

The vote came three weeks after the council blocked payment of dues to the league, a move that shocked Valley municipal leaders. Phoenix Councilman Tom Simplot said the city's misgivings should be a "wake-up call" for the association.

"As the largest city in the state of Arizona, we need special consideration," Simplot said as he motioned to approve membership. "There needs to be better transparency."

Phoenix's spat with the league boiled down to a few primary concerns for council members: the $142,250 cost of membership and accusations that the league has not been transparent and has pushed an inappropriate agenda.

The league, a lobbying and education group, represents 91 cities and towns throughout the state. Proponents of the vote to renew membership have said that if Phoenix withdraws from the league, it would send the wrong message about regional cooperation.

Council members were once again split 5-4 over the issue, this time a majority voting to reaffirm membership. The minority appeared to support a motion by Councilman Sal DiCiccio to table the vote until the league would agree to abide by the Open Meeting Law and Public Records Law.

Ken Strobeck, executive director of the league, told the council that the organization is already required to adhere to state law in both areas. He said the league does not take any positions without direction from the mayors serving on its executive committee, which includes Phoenix's Greg Stanton.

Stanton, who voted to renew membership, said the league helps cities speak with a united voice to rural state lawmakers, who have an outsize influence and might pass bills that hurt Phoenix financially.

"I think the city made the right decision tonight," Stanton said after the meeting. "The league of cities is ... not a nameless, faceless bureaucracy."

DiCiccio and Councilman Jim Waring reiterated concerns Wednesday that the league has taken on an inappropriate role at the Legislature. They accused the league of hiding results of a poll in the spring that indicated Maricopa County residents largely supported a bill to move city elections to even years.

Strobeck said the poll wasn't intended to be released but was made available after DiCiccio requested it. The league and many cities have opposed consolidated elections, calling it an attack on local control.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/09/18/20120918phoenix-still-league-arizona-cities-towns.html
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Young Arizona immigrant gets deferred action

by Daniel González - Sept. 19, 2012 09:51 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

Carlos Martinez has two engineering degrees from the University of Arizona, but he has never been able to use them because he is an illegal immigrant.

But soon, the Tucson resident will be able to work legally after becoming one of the first undocumented immigrants in the country to be approved for a work permit under President Barack Obama's controversial deferred-action program.

Martinez, 30, said he was notified Friday that he had been granted permission to stay in the country temporarily for two years and that his work permit was being processed. He received a second notification on Tuesday that his work permit had been mailed. He expects to receive it as early as today, clearing the way for him to apply for jobs as a computer-software engineer, his dream job.

"I felt like crying. I couldn't believe it," Martinez said. "The first thing I did was go to church to thank God."

As of Wednesday, just 29 of the 82,361 undocumented immigrants nationally who have applied for deferred action have had their cases completed, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is not known if all those cases have been approved.

Under the program, undocumented immigrants granted deferred action can remain in the country for two years without the threat of deportation. They also receive work permits and can reapply after two years.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials initially said it could take several months for the applications to be processed. The first applications, however, were approved in about a month.

Critics of the program say the speed at which some of the applications have been approved raises concerns about fraud and suggests the program's main goal is to score political points for Obama among Latino voters as the election campaign heats up.

"The only deterrent to fraud is thoroughness," said Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that opposes the program. "Given what we know about how the immigration bureaucracy normally works, (the speed of approvals) raises all those questions."

The reason behind the sudden expediency may be "political, if you want to get the political dividend," Camarota said.

The program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is aimed at undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. when they were minors, are under age 31 and have lived continuously in the U.S. for five years.

Obama has said he was motivated to administratively allow undocumented immigrants to apply for deferred action because Congress has failed to pass the Dream Act, a bill that would allow undocumented high-school graduates brought to the U.S. as minors to become citizens if they completed at least two years of college or served two years in the military.

But some Republicans in Congress have called the program a "backdoor amnesty" that rewards illegal immigrants.

As many as 1.7 million young illegal immigrants in the country may be eligible to apply, including 80,000 in Arizona, according to some estimates.

Obama announced the program on June 15. The federal government began accepting applications on Aug. 15.

Martinez said he applied on the first day because he was eager to get a work permit so he could begin pursuing his career.

He said he was surprised he was granted deferred action so fast.

"I was prepared to wait four to six months," Martinez said.

He said he is originally from Cananea, a mining town south of Naco in Sonora. He said he was 9 when his family brought him to the U.S. 21 years ago. They used border-crossing cards to enter legally through the Naco Port of Entry but then remained in the country illegally.

Despite "not speaking a word of English" when he came to the U.S., Martinez said he graduated from Cholla High School in Tucson with a 3.93 grade-point average and was accepted at four universities: Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and the University of Miami in Florida.

He chose the UA because he could not afford to pay room and board if he attended a university away from home.

Martinez said he graduated with a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering in 2003 and a master's degree in software-systems engineering in 2005.

He said he has never been able to use his degrees because, as an illegal immigrant, he cannot work legally in the U.S.

"I have had job offers, but because of my legal status, they couldn't hire me because I was living in the U.S. illegally. They could not sponsor me, either," he said.

To earn money, he said, he cleans yards.

Carmen Cornejo of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition, an advocacy group, said she believes Martinez is the first undocumented immigrant in Arizona to be granted deferred action. She knows of several undocumented immigrants from the Phoenix area who are in various stages of being granted deferred action.

As more are granted deferred action, she expects more will apply.

"A lot of people are taking a wait-and-see attitude (before applying)," she said.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/09/19/20120919arizona-young-immigrant-gets-deferred-action.html
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Bob Beck, regular at Cubs spring-training games, dies at 91

by Jim Walsh - Sept. 19, 2012 09:36 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

For more than 80 years, no one was a more devoted Chicago Cubs fan than Bob Beck, a fixture at Mesa's Fitch Park and Hohokam Stadium for the team's spring training and at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

But even eight decades of following the team wasn't long enough for Beck, who died Thursday at 91. In that time, Beck never got to see his beloved Cubs win a World Series -- their last title was in 1908, 13 years before Beck was born.

Beck remained a mainstay at Fitch, where the Cubs practice in early spring training, and at Hohokam, where they will play Cactus League games for one more season, even though in recent years, he could see only shadows through years of macular degeneration.

"I feel bad for him, that he didn't get to see them go to the World Series," said Linda Beck Olson, Beck's daughter and owner of the iconic chain of Chicago textbook stores founded by her father.

"If they ever get to the World Series, the whole family would represent him," Beck Olson said. "He is one of many."

Jim Hendry, the Cubs' former general manager, said he always wanted to assemble a championship team for Beck and other dedicated fans.

"That did hit me. It was about people like Bob; you wanted to win for them," he said. "A lot of people are fans, and loyal fans, but Bob took it to a different level."

Scott Nelson, director of baseball operations for the Cubs, said he was proud to be Beck's friend for decades.

"He was just part of the family,'' Nelson said.

Even though the team didn't win a World Series during Beck's lifetime, "I know it still filled his life with a lot of joy.''

A Chicago native, Beck grew up near Wrigley Field, where he often sneaked into games. He even got busted for ditching school by going to a ballgame when he was 8. His mother heard a radio announcer describe a boy walking along a fence and realized it was her son.

Beck never was a dreamer, however, refusing to allow his passion for the Cubs to cloud his sense of reality.

Every year, Beck and his friends would come to Fitch for the first day of early spring-training drills and assess the team's chances.

Beck would use his sense of humor as a defense mechanism to deal with all the disappointments he'd experienced following the Cubs, but he also witnessed many of their finest moments. They included Hall of Fame catcher Gabby Hartnett's "Homer in the Gloamin'," a twilight shot that helped clinch the 1938 pennant. He also witnessed Ernie Banks hitting his 500th home run.

Beck would sit in the front row at Hohokam Stadium, peering through binoculars that were never strong enough.

Beck Olson said her father had macular degeneration for at least 20 years and had been a winter resident of Mesa for at least 30 years.

"It sounds corny, but the crack of the bat means more to me now," Beck told a reporter with The Arizona Republic during an interview for a Cactus League story in 2000.

Beck enjoyed his game-day conversations with old friends and the atmosphere of the ballpark, even though he also had lost much of his hearing.

Bud Page, former head of the Mesa Hohokams, a civic organization that sponsors the Cubs every spring, said Beck was a Hohokam for 28 years.

Beck and his wife, Nadine, bought a condominium within walking distance of Fitch Park decades ago and became winter residents so they could spend more time with their Cubs.

"Bob Beck was an ambassador of the Hohokams," Page said.

Beck helped them keep a good relationship with the team and worked behind the scenes to keep them training in Mesa.

"He always knew the management, he always knew the coaches, he always knew the general manager" Page said.

Beck would wear his Hohokams uniform to the annual Cubs Convention in January and help the Mesa delegation encourage fans to come to Arizona for Cactus League games, according to Page.

"He thought it was very important to be a Hohokam. He was so proud," Beck Olson said.

Beck will be remembered Sept. 29 at a party in Chicago at Bernie's Tap and Grill, a favorite hangout across the street from Wrigley Field, where his friends will enjoy free hot dogs and beer.

Beck Olson said her father was still talking about the Cubs on his deathbed at Chicago Northwestern Memorial Hospital, remembering their crushing loss to the San Diego Padres, 3 games to 2, in the 1984 National League Championship Series.

"He was kind of delirious. He was remembering the 1984 series. He said, "We only have one more game to win,' " Beck Olson said.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/09/17/20120917bob-beck-cubs-spring-training-games-dies-91.html
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Incomes, poverty rise in Phoenix

by Ronald J. Hansen - Sept. 19, 2012 11:25 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

Household incomes in Phoenix rose last year, but poverty also increased as housing values, health-insurance coverage and preschool enrollment tumbled in the city at the same time, newly available Census Bureau data show.

Taken as a whole, the key indicators suggest the city continued to struggle to escape the grip of the economic downturn. Figures for Arizona also show a state that often lags the nation.

Median household income in Phoenix reached $43,960 in 2011. That was $6,500 below the national average and in the middle of the 25 most-populous cities in the country by that measure, according to the Census Bureau's latest American Community Survey.

In Arizona, median household incomes fell 2.9 percent, adjusted for inflation, to $46,709. That's a steeper decline than the 1.3 percent drop in income nationally. For the U.S., median income fell to $50,502.

Median Phoenix incomes grew $1,700 from the 2010 estimate without adjusting for inflation.

While median income appears to have climbed, insurance coverage fell.

An estimated 22.7 percent of Phoenix residents lacked health coverage in 2011. By comparison, 15.1 percent were uninsured nationally.

In 2010, 22.1 percent of Phoenix residents were uninsured. As the city's overall population estimate grew by about 24,000 in 2011, its uninsured population grew by 13,000.

Arizona was one of five states where insurance coverage grew last year because of public programs rather than private insurance. This was driven partly by an increase in coverage for adults between 19 and 26 years old, the Census Bureau reported.

Median home values in Phoenix came in at $137,500 for 2011. Nationally, homes were worth $173,600. In 2010, the Census Bureau estimated Phoenix homes were worth $158,600.

The estimated number of vacant housing units in the city fell from nearly 90,000 in 2010 to fewer than 86,000 last year.

The percentage of Phoenix families living in poverty grew from 17.5 percent in 2010 to 18.4 percent last year. Statewide, poverty jumped from 17.4 percent of Arizonans to 19 percent last year. Nationally, 15.9 percent lived below the poverty line in 2011, an increase of 0.6 percentage point from 2010.

In education, 27 percent of preschool-age children were enrolled in school compared with 47 percent for the nation. A year earlier, 32 percent of Phoenix children were enrolled in preschool.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/09/19/20120919phoenix-incomes-poverty-rise-last-year.html
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Sheriff Larry Dever's death stuns Cochise County

by Richard Ruelas and Rebekah L. Sanders - Sept. 19, 2012 10:10 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

For more than 15 years, Larry Dever was sheriff of Cochise County. His corner of Arizona was once known for a wild gunfight at Tombstone, but became increasingly known for violence associated with human and drug smuggling.

Dever was brought up in the county, in the no-stoplight town of St. David. In spirit and mostly in fact, he always remained in rural Arizona.

Leave condolences for the Dever family | Remembrances | Dever dies in car crash | Arizona politicians react to Dever's death

His death in a single-vehicle crash brought out responses at every level Wednesday -- in the small towns of southeastern Arizona's border county, and in the halls of power in Phoenix and Washington.

The rural sheriff had achieved national prominence as an opponent of illegal immigration. His deep, calm voice sometimes contrasted with the shrill shouting on cable TV. Dever was passionate about his aims, but kept his emotions in check, and his trademark cowboy hat ever-present on his head.

The demeanor was genuine, those who knew him said.

"That wasn't an act," said Cochise County Supervisor Pat Call, "That was Larry. Absolutely."

Dever died at age 60 on Tuesday night, when his pickup truck crashed on a rural road just south of Williams in northern Arizona, where he had apparently headed to join one of his sons for a hunting trip.

The death left political leaders scrambling to determine how to handle the next election: Dever, running for a fifth term, was unopposed.

As his hometown mourned, some also mourned a voice they saw as firm but realistic in a larger political debate that had become overheated long ago.

A lawman's career

At St. David's unified elementary and high schools on Wednesday, the flag was at half-staff. A digital sign outside read: "We will miss you Sheriff Dever. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family."

The crossing guard outside the school knew Dever. So did everyone in a sampling of parents picking up their children from school.

A counselor at the high school, Susan Pollock, 51, a close friend of the Devers, said there was a heavy mood everywhere she went on Wednesday. "It's like a huge black cloud," she said. "There's such heavy hearts in our county."

Dever lived just up the street from the high school where he was a star baseball player. It's a home he and his wife moved into just as he was beginning his career as a deputy in the Cochise County Sheriff's Office.

Dever met his wife while they were students at Brigham Young University, said Pollock, who was acting as family spokesman Wednesday.

"She's a California girl that was swept away by this country cowboy with impeccable manners," Pollock said.

The two raised six boys. Three became police officers, one a firefighter and one joined the Army. The youngest is in pilot-training school in Cochise County.

Friends describe Dever as a doting father who often took his sons on hunting and fishing trips.

By 1982, Dever had risen to command the SWAT team for the Sheriff's Office. Years before, members of the Christ Miracle Healing Center and Church, an all-African-American congregation from Chicago, had settled in Miracle Valley, a community west of Sierra Vista and south of Benson.

Tensions had risen between members of the fundamentalist church and community members. So had perceived threats of violence. On an October morning, 30 heavily armed deputies approached the church's compound. Their announced aim was to serve traffic warrants. In the gunfire that followed, two church members were fatally shot. Several church members and deputies were injured. Dever took shrapnel to the head.

After the incident, Dever went to his friend, an emergency-room physician named Glen Kartchner, to see about removing the pellet. "He was that good of a friend that he could come over and say, 'Hey, could you look at it?' " Kartchner said Wednesday. The pellet was too deep to remove and wasn't a danger, so Kartchner said he suggested Dever keep it lodged there.

The incident would haunt Dever and the other members of the Sheriff's Office who took part, said William R. Daniel, who wrote a book about the events called "Shootout at Miracle Valley." They felt second-guessed as state and national leaders criticized their actions, he said.

Dever ran for sheriff in 1996, seemingly because it was the next logical step, said Call, who served as county supervisor alongside Dever for the past 11 years.

Dever originally saw illegal immigration as a federal issue. As illegal immigrants increasingly trekked through the remote deserts of Cochise County, the terrain saw increased signs of a smuggling route.

"He saw how illegal immigration issues were affecting his county," Call said, "and in his mind ... the federal government wasn't being really serious about solving it."

Dever began speaking out about what was happening.

"Twenty to 25 years ago, we would intercept smugglers right on the border fence," Dever wrote in prepared remarks for a congressional hearing in 2006. "It wasn't unusual to have some just give up. Today, the expected response to an attempted interdiction is a fight. ... The stakes are extremely high."

By 2006, his state profile increased by being asked to be part of a re-election ad for U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl.

In it, Dever and a series of other Arizona sheriffs were shown in quick shots, blasting Kyl's opponent, Jim Pederson, saying he "supported amnesty."

Kyl said Wednesday it was "probably (the) most memorable ad of the campaign."

By 2010, Dever had secured a federal grant that he was using to try to pay deputies overtime to increase patrols along a remote trail used by smugglers, Daniel said.

The corridor ran through his county, including the area of a ranch run by a friend of Dever's.

That is why he took the rancher's death so personally.

"He was crushed when Rob Krentz was murdered," Daniel said.

The politics

In March 2010, Krentz was found shot to death on his ranch. Investigators later said they followed foot tracks from the scene miles south, to the Mexican border.

The rancher's death, which has not been solved, made national news and Dever and his cowboy hat became ever-present on national cable news shows. Doing those shows required an hours-long drive to Phoenix or Tucson, putting Dever on the road early in the morning or keeping him there late at night.

Dever didn't seem to mind.

Call said that when he started as supervisor he bemoaned having to trek to the cities. He could spend four hours on the road for a one-hour meeting.

But Dever told him it sometimes meant your voice was the one heard. He called them "trips to the flagpole."

"That's something Larry showed me early on," Call said. "It's worthwhile making those trips to the flagpole to participate."

Dever's endorsement was highly sought after by political figures. Reaction to his death came from many of those same politicians.

Kyl remembered taking tours of the borderlands with Dever. "He had the knack of knowing how to get a lot of disparate groups working together on things," Kyl said, "especially as they related to the border."

U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake said he would remember Dever as "the rugged sheriff, straight-talking, tough and fair, the consummate lawman." Former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona called Dever a dedicated public servant.

Carmona and Flake are running for the open Senate seat created by Kyl's retirement. Both men had sought Dever's endorsement, but Dever had not announced whom he was supporting.

The loss

This month had already been a trying one for the Dever family. Dever's mother, Annie, died Sept. 4, Cochise County officials said at a Wednesday news conference. One of his six sons was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Dever was headed to White Horse Lake on Tuesday for a two-day hunting trip with one of his sons. The lake is about a six-hour drive from St. David.

Around 6:40 p.m., after the sun had set, the Coconino County Sheriff's Office said, Dever ran off the gravel road after a curve on Forest Service Road 109. His three-quarter-ton pickup truck flipped end over end. A witness who had been driving behind Dever saw a cloud of dust, then the pickup, which was again resting on its four wheels. The witness said there appeared to be no signs of life, a sheriff's spokesman said.

"He lost control," said Gerry Blair, a sheriff's spokesman, "but we don't know why he lost control."

In St. David, Pollack remembered the mark Dever left on others in town, including her teenage son.

Pollack said that Dever caught her son, Will, shooting a BB gun at road signs. Dever took the boy to his mother and made him explain what he had done and why it was wrong.

A year later, Dever was leading her son's Boy Scout troop when some of the boys exploded some black powder that caused a fire on a nearby mountain. Dever made the Scouts clean up the damage.

Pollack said Dever saw good in her mischievous son and took the time to teach him right, rather than simply punish him for doing wrong.

Today, Pollock said, her son is in training to fly Black Hawk helicopters with the U.S. Army after graduating from high school with honors and completing a two-year church mission.

"He could have turned (Will) into a juvenile delinquent," Pollock said. "Instead of embarrassing him, he taught this son of mine a big lesson."

Dever's chief deputy, Rod Rothrock became acting sheriff until the general election, Cochise County officials announced Wednesday. State statute allows a party to place someone's name on the ballot in event of a death. The deadline for printing ballots for the November general election is Friday, according to the county.

Cochise Republican officials scheduled a meeting for today at noon to decide whose name to put on the ballot. Four candidates, including Rothrock, expressed interest, said Matt Creegan, chair of the county Republican Party.

Dever was running unopposed in the general election.

Call said that months ago, after nomination deadlines passed, he called Dever to congratulate him on his virtually guaranteed fifth term as Cochise County sheriff, the longest anyone had served in that position. Johnny Behan, the first sheriff of Cochise County and sheriff at the time of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, served just 19 months.

Call said it will be hard to find someone who can fill the void in leadership left by Dever. He said that had Dever been around a bit longer, he might have helped push the illegal immigration debate toward a rational end.

"He had the knack to bring it home, to bring the larger issues of illegal immigration down to the level where even people who live inside the Beltway could understand it," Call said. "He was speaking for us, not just for himself, and that was refreshing."

Republic reporters Dan Nowicki, Michael Clancy and Megan Thompson contributed to this article.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/09/19/20120919sheriff-dever-death-stuns-cochise-county.html
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Group plans ads attacking Arpaio

by JJ Hensley - Sept. 19, 2012 09:57 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

Sheriff Joe Arpaio's massive financial advantage over his challengers in the November election is well documented and on display on Valley airwaves daily as television advertisements tout his 20 years in office.

But an independent expenditure group formed late last month aims to raise money to highlight the sheriff's mistakes and buy airtime for ads focusing on fiscal mismanagement, misguided investigations and other issues. The group said its ads will be designed to appeal to a base of conservative voters who view some of the sheriff's projects with increasing skepticism.

The founders of Citizens for Professional Law Enforcement have a track record of success. The group's chairman, Phoenix attorney Jesse Wulsin, and its treasurer, Phoenix attorney Stephen Benedetto, were also behind a non-profit political group named Phoenix Citizens United that targeted Mayor Greg Stanton's opponent in last year's mayoral race.

Independent expenditure committees are not allowed to contribute money to a candidate, but they may spend money to influence an election. State law prohibits a candidate from having any involvement in the operation of an independent campaign committee.

Phoenix Citizens United was the subject of a complaint filed last year with the Arizona Secretary of State's Office alleging campaign-finance violations during the Phoenix mayoral race. That investigation is open and ongoing, according to a spokesman for Secretary of State Ken Bennett.

As an independent committee, the anti-Arpaio group does not expressly endorse either of his two opponents, former Scottsdale Police Lt. Mike Stauffer, an independent, or former Phoenix police Sgt. Paul Penzone, a Democrat.

The independent committee plans to focus on financial issues in Arpaio's office instead of attacking his treatment of inmates and undocumented immigrants, as many of his critics and prior opponents have with little success, said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, a co-chairman of the group. The recent decision by the U.S. Justice Department to close a long-running criminal probe into Arpaio's agency without filing charges does not detract from that message, he said.

"No matter what the DOJ came down with, if you look at the mismanagement, the lack of control over spending, the misappropriation of time and energy to chase down a conspiracy theory using taxpayer dollars, those are the issues that are appealing to these people, including to Republicans, with this campaign," Gallego said. "The history of Sheriff Joe in terms of misappropriation of funds, targeting political enemies and using tax dollars to do that is what's going to drive participation."

Arpaio has been criticized by his opponents for raising more than $7.5 million for his campaign largely from out-of-state donors. Arpaio critics also have made an issue of the fact that a former sheriff's captain lost his job this year for lying to investigators about his role in the Sheriff's Command Association, a political-action committee that raised money from affluent, out-of-state donors. That money was used to run ads against Arpaio's opponent in 2008.

Complaints against independent expenditure committees are common, and Arpaio's camp could raise questions about Citizens for Professional Law Enforcement. But the nature of the committee allows Penzone and Stauffer to maintain a distance from the fundraising group while enjoying the benefits of campaign attacks on Arpaio.

"We feel, unlike with what the sheriff did with SCA, we're certainly going to be complying with the law and being transparent as possible," Gallego said. "Our goal is, at the end of the day, to inform the public about Arpaio's shortcomings, and we will be partnering with any donors and, of course, complying with the law in terms of financial disclosure."

Arpaio's campaign has dealt with a variety of other campaign groups, some targeting the sheriff and others ostensibly raising money on his behalf.

The sheriff's campaign had $4.3 million on hand as of early August, and Arpaio's campaign manager, Chad Willems, said the campaign would show similar results on a finance report due late next week.

"There are several groups out there that are purporting to be doing a variety of different things. This is just another one of them," Willems said. "We're just going to continue to run our campaign."

A pro-Arpaio committee, Americans for Sheriff Joe, requested contributions from donors around the country based in part on the rumor that billionaire liberal George Soros was going to bankroll an anti-Arpaio group. Americans for Sheriff Joe has raised more than $2.2 million, according to the most recent filing, but spent more than $1.8 million on operating expenses.

Penzone, meanwhile, has reaped the rewards of the Democratic Party's work on his behalf. Earlier this week, state Democratic Party executive director Luis Heredia sent an e-mail to supporters as part of a "nationwide call to action" to generate financial support for television ads on Penzone's behalf. The effort raised $24,000 in a single day, according to Penzone's campaign.

Penzone's campaign welcomed the arrival of Citizens for Professional Law Enforcement as another sign that Penzone, the former public face of Silent Witness, was gaining the traction to unseat Arpaio.

Stacy Pearson, Penzone's campaign manager, said three things were needed to successfully challenge Arpaio this year: "A strong contender, which voters get in Paul Penzone. There had to be continuing missteps by Arpaio, which he's demonstrated in 'birther' investigations and ongoing sex crimes. And there had to be citizens that got involved beyond complaining. Those groups mobilizing, that's going to be the difference between what happened in 2008 and what happens in 2012."

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/09/19/20120919group-plans-ads-attacking-arpaio.html
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Parker, Sinema press economic prescriptions for District 9

by Rebekah L. Sanders - Sept. 19, 2012 09:55 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

Standing in front of heavy equipment at a small business in industrial Phoenix, Republican congressional candidate Vernon Parker promised to push for changes in Washington to help companies hire workers if voters in District 9 elect him.

Parker was visiting Arizona Hi-Lift as part of a "Road to Prosperity" tour he is taking of businesses to talk about creating jobs. Though two of Parker's visits were in the swing district, his west Phoenix stop on Tuesday landed him in Democrat U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor's district. Parker's campaign says policies in Congress affect all businesses, no matter the district.

Parker and his District 9 Democratic opponent, Kyrsten Sinema, are courting voters concerned about the economy in pursuit of the newly created toss-up seat, which covers north-central Phoenix, part of Paradise Valley, south Scottsdale, Tempe, west Mesa, west Chandler and Ahwatukee Foothills.

Sinema also touts ideas for spurring job growth. She released a detailed, 12-point plan during her primary bid, which she won Aug. 28.

While Parker and Sinema agree that families and small businesses need help, they offer differing opinions on what the government should do, reflecting the partisan debate taking place in the presidential election, as Arizona's 8.3 percent unemployment rate hovers near the national rate of 8.1 percent.

Parker, following the GOP platform, advocates lower taxes, fewer federal regulations and replacing the Affordable Care Act. Sinema, taking cues from Democratic talking points, calls for raising taxes on the wealthy, offering tax breaks for technology research and investing in infrastructure.

Business groups echo Parker's call for cutting red tape.

Farrell Quinlan, Arizona director for the National Federation for Independent Business and a former Republican lobbyist, said that some regulations are important but that others merely make doing business harder. He said that although states and cities also make regulations, it's the federal rules that have ballooned.

"We could regulate ourselves right out of any recovery from this recession," Quinlan said.

But critics say regulations are essential to protecting health, worker safety and the environment. Washington Post fact-checkers note that the Obama's administration has issued fewer regulations in the first three years than the same period under President George W. Bush. However, the number of "economically significant" rules increased under President Barack Obama.

Parker, flanked by Arizona Hi-Lift owner Doug Click and Republican state Treasurer Doug Ducey, blamed the sluggish recovery on "uncertainty" caused by regulations.

"There are certain things that get under my skin," Parker said. "When you have a regulatory system that is uncertain, coupled with the highest corporate income tax in the world, jobs are fleeing America and they are going overseas. When I get to Congress, I am going to work with both parties to ensure that we bring jobs back to America and that we preserve small businesses such as this."

Parker added that the federal deficit and Obama's health-care reforms stifle job growth.

The economy has improved since Obama took office. Since the worst of the crash, about 4.6 million jobs have been created and the pace of private-sector job creation is now greater than the pace in either of Bush's terms, according to the New York Times.

Republicans say that the recovery has not been fast enough and that their approach will lead to greater job growth. Democrats say that the country is on track but that it is taking time to come back after such a steep recession.

Though Parker plans to add detail to his proposals after the job tour, his basic plan is to reduce the corporate income tax, implement a small-business tax deduction and reduce the lowest tax rates for individuals. He wants to replace the health-care law with "private-sector initiatives" such as risk pools and buying insurance across state lines.

Parker wants Congress to vote on all federal regulations and to implement a moratorium on federal agencies creating new regulations during the transition between presidential administrations.

Sinema's plan addresses taxes and regulations but in different ways.

She believes the Bush tax cuts should be allowed to expire for Americans making more than $250,000 a year. She calls for eliminating tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas, increasing federal loans to small businesses, offering tax incentives for companies to invest in research and spending more on infrastructure.

On regulations, Sinema advocates a streamlined federal website so businesses can apply for permits in one place.

Quinlan said that doesn't solve the problem of burdensome regulations. "A better-fitting and streamlined straitjacket is still a straitjacket," he said.

Sinema argues that she is pushing for "common sense" solutions to help struggling families and small businesses rather than benefiting corporations.

Sinema spokesman Justin Unga said Sinema's plan would "create good-paying, high-tech jobs here in Arizona" while keeping "taxes low for 98 percent of Americans."

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/09/17/20120917parker-sinema-press-economic-prescriptions-district-9.html
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ASU new science, technology building to offer peek at lab work

by Anne Ryman - Sept. 19, 2012 10:04 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

Arizona State University opened its most expensive building to date on Wednesday, a seven-story research facility that houses dozens of high-tech laboratories devoted to space-science, renewable-energy and security and defense research.

ASU's most expensive building

Unlike most university buildings, where research is tucked away, the first two floors of the $185 million facility feature educational exhibits and glass-walled labs where the public can see scientists at work. One of the most notable exhibits is just inside the front door: a life-size replica of the Mars rover Curiosity, a craft that landed on the Red Planet in August. The rover has links to ASU because several scientists and alumni are on teams that operate Curiosity's instruments.

ASU officials planned the areas to give the public a look at what goes on behind the scenes.

"We want to use this building to motivate and inspire youth," said Sethuraman Panchanathan, senior vice president with ASU's Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development.

The facility, called the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV, was a long time in the making. The Arizona Board of Regents approved the project in 2008 even though the economy was in a nosedive.

Some regents had reservations about constructing buildings while the state cut the university's operating budget. ASU officials argued that the facility was necessary to expand research in vital areas.

Funding for the building came from research grants in which a portion of the grants could be used for capital expenses.

ASU officials say the building is the university's most expensive to date because of its size and specialized research functions. The facility is the largest research building on the Tempe campus, covering 293,000 square feet with 166 labs housed within its walls.

The expanded research space helps attract new scientists with grant funding, university officials say, and the benefits extend well beyond academia and into the local economy. Scientific discoveries can lead to patents and then startup companies that create jobs. Existing research also benefits from more and better space, they say.

The new building "is actually enabling our ability to really ramp up our space-based research," said Kip Hodges, director of ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration.

One of the most notable initial projects will be construction of an instrument for NASA's OSIRIS-REx, an unmanned spacecraft that will visit an asteroid after 2016 and return with a sample to Earth. The instrument will help scientists survey the asteroid and pick the best place to retrieve a sample. Visitors to the ASU building will be able to watch the instrument being assembled through windows in a first-floor lab.

In the past, space instruments have been built in California because universities typically don't have the facilities, said ASU professor Phil Christensen, who is building the instrument.

"The dream of mine has been ... to do this here on the ASU campus," he said.

In another lab, researchers are doing work for the Mars rovers Opportunity and Curiosity.

ASU professor Jim Bell is the lead scientist for the color cameras aboard Opportunity. He also is a science-team member for the newer Curiosity rover. He jokes that his former research space was the size of a "broom closet."

In the new building, Bell shares a glassed-in lab on the first floor. On Wednesday, he and a half-dozen other scientists pored over images that had been downloaded from Opportunity.

The concrete building, accented inside with red brick and wood, is designed to give an open feel, using glass and natural light to encourage faculty and students to connect, said Steven Ehrlich, one of the architects.

The carpet in the five-story atrium has a special scientific touch. Each square contains the image of a different crater on Mars, the moon and Earth. The images were taken by ASU instruments, and scientists picked out their favorite images to become part of the rug.

At Wednesday's grand opening, ASU President Michael Crow said the building will allow researchers to move forward on many levels, including making new discoveries and teaching the next generation.

"The way for us to be successful as a society is to teach the next generation better than we were taught, to enable them to do things that we couldn't do and can't do and can't conceptualize," he told the crowd gathered outside the building.

After Crow's remarks, a three-wheeled robot called RAVEN rolled through the ribbon in front of the building, "cutting" the ribbon and officially opening the facility.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/09/19/20120919asu-science-technology-facility-offer-peek-lab-work.html
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