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Marijuana fights Alzheimer’s disease, new study indicatesMarijuana fights Alzheimer’s disease, new study indicates Who says stoners can't remember anything??? Please don't tell the jackbooted thugs at the DEA about this. They think marijuana has absolutely NO medical value whatsoever. http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2014/11/29/marijuana-fights-alzheimers-disease-study-indicates/ Marijuana fights Alzheimer’s disease, new study indicates Posted on November 29, 2014 at 9:32 am by David Downs in Health, Science The anti-inflammatory cannabis may prevent Alzheimer's Disease later in life, researchers suspect (via Flickr - institut-douglas w/ CC license) Another study is adding evidence to the case for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease with the compounds in cannabis. Research published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease this September “strongly suggest that THC [the main active ingredient in marijuana] could be a potential therapeutic treatment option for Alzheimer’s disease through multiple functions and pathways.” More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s today. One in three seniors will die with Alzheimer’s or another dementia, and Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the nation, costing America about $203 billion in 2013. Chuanhai Cao and other researchers at the University of South Florida and Thomas Jefferson University wanted to investigate the “potential therapeutic qualities of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) with respect to slowing or halting the hallmark characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease.” So they treated Alzheimer’s research cells (N2a-variant amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP) cells) with THC and examined them for amyloid-β at the 6, 24, and 48-hour time markers. Amyloid-β is a type of protein that is linked to Alzheimer’s symptoms. The researchers found THC “to be effective at lowering Aβ levels … in a dose-dependent manner.” The main active ingredient in pot “directly interacts” with amyloid-β, “thereby inhibiting aggression”. THC was also effective at lowering other key Alzheimer’s Disease markers. Furthermore “no toxicity” was observed from the THC. The researchers also found THC “enhances” the function of the cell’s energy factories — the mitochondria. “THC is known to be a potent antioxidant with neuroprotective properties, but this is the first report that the compound directly affects Alzheimer’s pathology by decreasing amyloid beta levels, inhibiting its aggregation, and enhancing mitochondrial function,” stated study lead author Chuanhai Cao, PhD and a neuroscientist at the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute and the USF College of Pharmacy. “Decreased levels of amyloid beta means less aggregation, which may protect against the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Since THC is a natural and relatively safe amyloid inhibitor, THC or its analogs may help us develop an effective treatment in the future.” Other research in the same journal that month indicates THC boosts the body’s natural anti-Alzheimer’s fighting mechanism — the endocannabinoid system. Alzheimer’s Disease is thought to result from a lifetime of brain inflammation. Cannabis is one of the most safe anti-inflammatories in medicine. Some neuroscientists believe a bout of pot smoking in early adulthood may prevent Alzheimer’s onset later in life. Cannabis slows brain aging, Time reported in 2012. Smoking, vaping, or eating the pot molecules THC and CBD directly effects nerve cell function, reducing chronic brain inflammation, oxidative stress, and cellular dysfunction — all the while promoting stability of the human body’s internal environment (homeostasis) and healthy brain cells (neurotrophic support), studies show. “What we found was that not only did the single puff a day reverse the memory impairment but also restarted neurogenesis,” Ohio State University, Gary Wenk told the Seattle Post Intelligencer this year. Other studies have shown THC inhibits other key pathological markers of Alzheimer’s Disease. The U.S. government has patented marijuana molecule CBD as a neuroprotectant, evan as it maintains that cannabis is a schedule 1 drug with no medical use and high potential for abuse. The federal drug war is blocking deeper research into cannabis’ impacts on brain disease, Wenk states.
Didn't American Emperor Obama tell us he won the silly war in Iraq a few years back??? I swear to God I remember a convoy of American troops leaving Iraq after we won the war and kicked the alleged bad guy's *sses. I also thought we won that silly war in Afghanistan too, against whoever those alleged bad guys were. Oh well, I guess Emperor Obama lied to us just like Emperor Nixon did. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/11/27/islamic-state-central-command-iraq-air-campaign-airstrikes/70104262/ U.S. advisers stay out of harm's way in Iraq Jim Michaels, USA TODAY 7 a.m. EST November 27, 2014 WASHINGTON — In a concerted effort to avoid combat, U.S. advisers in Iraq are pioneering new techniques for calling in airstrikes against Islamic State militants. The procedures allow U.S. pilots to bomb targets without the need for U.S. advisers on the ground to work alongside Iraqi forces. U.S. military officials say the techniques include low-tech workarounds, such as Iraqi commanders using cellphones to request airstrikes.The requests are screened at a joint operations center far from the combat, where a team of American officials quickly verifies the information provided by the Iraqis before approving strikes. One center is in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish region, and one is in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The team uses reports from the ground commander along with what the pilot sees and independent "intelligence assets" before approving a strike, said Lt. Col. Edward Sholtis, a spokesman for U.S. Air Forces Central Command. Such ground support is needed to guide the pilots so they hit their targets. "This process usually runs its course in a matter of minutes, and if it takes longer it's because the situation requires it," Sholtis said in an e-mail. "It may not be an ideal system, but so far it has been pretty effective." The U.S. military has generally been reluctant to conduct airstrikes in support of ground troops without teams of Americans on the ground to help avoid hitting civilians or friendly forces. "The stakes for being right on airstrikes are very high, because missteps that alienate the population in ISIL-controlled areas plays into the enemy's hands," Sholtis said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. Military officials say they are refining techniques for providing close air support without exposing Americans to combat. The availability of extensive surveillance video from manned and unmanned aircraft has allowed U.S. advisers to monitor the battlefield without having air control teams in the thick of the fight. "Many hours are spent observing and reporting areas for civilian activity," said Capt. Tony Richardson, a spokesman for an expeditionary air wing in the Middle East, said in an email statement. He said a similar tactic has been used in Afghanistan where U.S. forces are no longer accompanying local forces in the battlefield. The military is taking precautions to keep the U.S. advisers In Iraq out of harm's way in the wake of President Obama's vow to avoid a renewed combat mission in Iraq, where Iraqi forces are trying to retake territory seized by the Islamic State militants. There are about 1,400 U.S. troops in Iraq now, and Obama approved sending up to 1,500 more. Some are defending U.S. facilities and others will help train and advise Iraq's armed forces. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said he does not see a need for U.S. advisers to accompany Iraqi forces now, but it may become necessary in the future, particularly when Iraqi forces launch an offensive to retake territory captured by the Islamic State. The Pentagon has said it will take months to train Iraq's security forces before they are ready to retake Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and other terrain from the militants. "I'm not predicting at this point that I would recommend that those forces in Mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by U.S. forces, but we're certainly considering it," Dempsey said this month. Large offensives in cities such as Mosul would require tighter coordination between rapidly moving Iraqi ground forces and U.S. aircraft. By contrast, the battle lines currently are largely static, making coordination of airstrikes less complex. The lack of U.S. troops on the ground still presents risks, since it requires investing trust in Iraqi forces, who may not be as careful about avoiding civilian casualties. Also, tribal forces battling the Islamic State may be tempted to call in airstrikes against rival groups. "There is really a question of trust," said Charles Wald, a retired Air Force general who led the coalition air campaign in Afghanistan that helped topple the Taliban. "If we were to really to do it well we would need some of our own people in there." But Wald added that the U.S. public has determined that the threat from the Islamic State is not worth the risk of losing Americans. "I think this is the best we could do right now," he said.
Dana Milbank: Hagel ouster a Bush-like move from Obama When I first started telling people that Emperor Obama was a carbon copy clone of Emperor Bush it really p*ssed off Democrats. Well other then the fact that Bush is a Republican and Obama is a Democrat. Sadly now a lot of the Democrats shake their head and agree with me. http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/nov/27/dana-milbank-hagel-ouster-a-bush-like-move-from/ November 27, 2014 in Opinion Dana Milbank: Hagel ouster a Bush-like move from Obama Dana Milbank When Barack Obama looks in the mirror these days, he must see a terrifying visage staring back at him: that of George W. Bush. In a cruel echo of history, Obama is morphing into the president whose foreign policy he campaigned to overturn. Obama on Monday morning sacked his Pentagon secretary, Chuck Hagel, after huge midterm election losses in the sixth year of his presidency, just as Bush did in sacking Donald Rumsfeld after midterm losses in the sixth year of his presidency. As with Bush, the ouster comes as a war in the Middle East is going badly – then, the Iraq War, now, the bombing of the Islamic State terror group. Rumsfeld’s ouster led to the surge in Iraq, and Hagel’s departure comes amid signs of an expanded role for U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria. And, as under Bush, this guarantees that Obama will leave his successor an ongoing U.S. war in the Mideast, quite possibly the sort of ground war Obama vowed to undo. The neocons who dominated the Bush administration feel some vindication watching Obama struggle to avoid repeating history. Dov Zakheim, a Bush-era Pentagon official, said Hagel was offered up as a “sacrificial lamb” by a White House trying to stall further escalation in Syria and Iraq. But “I just don’t think they have that luxury” of avoiding an expanded U.S. role, he said. “They’ll agonize as long as they possibly can, but the clock is ticking a lot faster than they anticipated.” White House officials insisted Hagel and Obama “arrived together” at the decision for Hagel to leave, but the stagecraft suggested it wasn’t voluntary – a hastily arranged event in the State Dining Room with just 20 people seated in two rows (a smattering of top White House officials, Cabinet officers and military types) providing exaggerated applause after Obama offered effusive praise of the man he was dismissing with no successor named. Hagel’s departure speech, pulled from his left breast pocket, said everything you need to know about why Obama agreed with Hagel that “it was an appropriate time for him to complete his service.” Hagel thanked the president and the vice president, his colleagues and the generals, the troops, Congress, his foreign counterparts and his family. But he made not a single mention of the war against the Islamic State. Hagel listed his accomplishments – the pullout from Afghanistan, strengthened alliances, reforms within the Pentagon – but said nothing about the renewal of war in the region that has bedeviled the U.S. for decades. And that almost certainly is the real reason behind Hagel’s departure. The Republican former senator, a decorated veteran and the first enlisted man to hold the top job at the Pentagon, was brought in to help Obama wind down wars and shrink the Pentagon. His strong ties to the military and his reluctance to use force (he had opposed the Iraq surge) made him an ideal man for the job, and his battle wounds from Vietnam gave him the moral authority to answer the chicken hawks who opposed the contraction of the military. But now Islamic militants have taken over much of Iraq and Syria, and even Jimmy Carter has said the Obama administration was too slow in responding. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has begun to float the idea of ground troops. Even recovering isolationist Rand Paul has called for a declaration of war. Obama, whether he likes it or not, is going to need a Pentagon chief to oversee this war he doesn’t want to fight. Obama went on at great length about the “class and integrity” of the “great friend” he was pushing out the door, praising Hagel for everything from drawing down U.S. forces in Afghanistan to working to reduce sexual assaults. Only in passing did Obama mention the war that threatens to dominate the last two years of his presidency. He said Hagel “helped build the international coalition” to fight the Islamic State and praised Hagel for his work on reshaping the military to “meet long-term threats while still responding to immediate challenges.” Hagel, a man of peace, can now at least enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, knowing he’ll be free of this new war once the Senate confirms a successor – no doubt after many I-told-you-so’s from Republican hawks about the Islamic State. For Hagel’s boss, being dragged into expanding just the sort of war he was elected to end, there is no such relief. Dana Milbank is a columnist for the Washington Post. Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank.
School teachers are always complaining how they are underpaid, but from this article it sounds like they do reasonably well. And these numbers are for a part time job that only last 9 months of the year. The average teacher in the Phoenix Union district gets $57,000 Starting teachers get almost $39,000. "The average teacher gets paid about $57,235 a year, and first-year teachers make $38,828" http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/11/25/phoenix-school-employees-salaries-wages/70052400/ How much do school employees make in Phoenix? Salary comparison: How much do school employees make? Caitlin McGlade, The Republic | azcentral.com 8:45 a.m. MST November 25, 2014 From the cafeteria cooks who plan and organize meals for thousands of hungry kids to the superintendent who plans and organizes the entire school-district operation, it takes a village to educate kids. It also takes a lot of money. The Phoenix Union High School District, for example, employs 1,617 teachers, 1,076 support staff and 84 administrators. It's the largest high-school district in Arizona. The average teacher gets paid about $57,235 a year, and first-year teachers make $38,828 — bringing the district to the top of the charts in Arizona for teacher pay. Topmastersineducation.com, a resource for educators, ranked the district 34th in the nation for highest starting-teacher pay. The group said rookie teachers at Phoenix Union make $7,000 more than the state average. The site also ranked Phoenix Union as having the highest-average salaries in the state. The site ranks and reviews masters in education programs and provides news and advice on the education field. It determined the highest-paying public school districts by cross-referencing data from the National Education Association, state education websites and statistics published by states. Phoenix Union Superintendent Kent Scribner said the district prioritizes pay to attract and retain skilled teachers equipped to handle a gamut of challenges facing students. And it works: Out of the 176 teachers hired this year, just 31 were new to the field. More than 70 had eight years or more of experience. Those teachers then must contend with a population that entered ninth grade far behind the "educational starting line," Scribner said. Seventy-five percent of students entering ninth grade in the district are not on the college and career trajectory, and 50 percent are in the lowest achievement quartile, he said. "Our teachers meet our students when they're 14 years old ... a great deal happens between birth and 14," Scribner said. ----------- Topmastersineducation.com, a resource for educators, ranked the Phoenix Union High School District 34th in the nation for highest starting-teacher pay. But how do other employees in the public-school system fare? Here is a glance at three major school districts in Phoenix, and what it pays to work in education. Position: Superintendent What it takes: The superintendent leads the district's governing board and supervises all district operations, is responsible for all of those operations and may establish regulations to manage the district. Phoenix Union High School District: $236,400. Deer Valley Unified School District: $172,458. Paradise Valley Unified School District: $184,605. Position: Principal What it takes: The principal is the instructional leader of the school, responsible for creating the school's vision, the academic achievement of students and the climate for student and staff success. Phoenix Union High School District: $90,459 to $110,892. Deer Valley Unified School District: $62,453 to $96,615. Paradise Valley Unified School District: $73,730 to $101,583. Position: Teacher What it takes: Teachers are responsible for creating the safe, challenging learning environment for students. Using knowledge of adolescent development and the content of their lessons, teachers must instruct a diverse student population and also answer parent questions, organize lessons and adhere to state testing requirements. Phoenix Union High School District: $38,828 to $77,117. Deer Valley Unified School District: Starts at $33,794. Paradise Valley Unified School District: $36,396 to $49,433. Position: Librarian What it takes: Librarians or information specialists must possess an in-depth knowledge of the library and its relationship to other school programs. They lead the evaluation and selection of materials available in the library and coordinate with teachers to offer instruction for students to help them understand how to use the materials. Phoenix Union High School District: $38,827 to $77,117. Deer Valley Unified School District: Starts at $33,794. Paradise Valley Unified School District: $14.65 per hour to $17.52 per hour. Position: Custodian What it takes: Custodians are responsible for cleaning, housekeeping and maintaining buildings. Phoenix Union High School District: $10.79 to $16.03 per hour. Deer Valley Unified School District: $10.02 to $16.46 per hour. Paradise Valley Unified School District: (head custodian) $19.05 per hour to $22.80 per hour. Position: Bus driver What it takes: The bus driver transports students, maintains discipline on the bus and assists students with disabilities in transportation. Phoenix Union High School District: $12.83 to $19.55 per hour. Deer Valley Unified School District: $11.90 to $19.04 per hour. Paradise Valley Unified School District: $17.06 to $20.41 per hour. Position: Cafeteria cook What it takes: The cook prepares and serves meals for student and faculty and must maintain a sanitary cooking and serving area. Phoenix Union High School District: $11.09 to $16.85 per hour. Deer Valley Unified School District: (food and nutrition cafeteria supervisor) $10.83 to $17.33 per hour. Paradise Valley Unified School District: (cafeteria manager) $17.57 to $21.02 an hour.
Experts: Obama's action should increase tax collections From this article is sounds like Obama wants to pardon all the undocumented immigrants so he and his Democratic buddies can shake them down for money??? Sadly politicians almost always do things for THE MONEY. Not the right reason. Like it's wrong to draw a line in the sand along the border and shoot people that cross it. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2014/11/21/experts-obamas-action-increase-tax-collections/19382127/ Experts: Obama's action should increase tax collections Bob Ortega, The Republic | azcentral.com 10:29 p.m. MST November 21, 2014 Undocumented immigrants who qualify for President Barack Obama's executive action, announced Thursday, will pay far more in new taxes than they will gain in credits, providing a significant boost to state and federal coffers, tax researchers predicted Friday. Legalizing millions of workers also will tend to push up wages for both immigrants and U.S. citizens, researchers said. Undocumented immigrants who qualify for deferral will be able to get work permits and Social Security numbers. They also must pay all relevant state and federal income and payroll taxes. Under the executive action, they will be eligible for child and earned-income tax credits, but will not be eligible for other government benefits, according to White House officials. "The net of that is undoubtedly going to be positive and pretty substantial," both at the state and federal level, said David Dyssengaard Kallick, a senior fellow at the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan New York think tank. RELATED: Obama's immigration action presents challenge for GOP RELATED: Obama on immigration: 'This is an American issue' RELATED: Inside and out, immigration's many sides on display "While estimates are obviously imprecise, about half of undocumented immigrants pay payroll taxes already, and about half file income-tax returns," Kallick said. Elaine Maag, a senior researcher at the Tax Policy Center, a Washington-based nonpartisan think tank, said undocumented parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents already qualify for child tax credits under current federal law. "More people will claim that credit, but overall, you'll see revenue go up," Maag said. Last year, taxpayers reporting less than $51,567 a year in earnings qualified for the federal earned income tax credit on a sliding scale. Federal taxpayers must have a Social Security number to qualify. About half of the states have a state EITC. Arizona does not have such a credit. Both Arizona's Department of Revenue and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee said they have not estimated the tax and revenue impact of Obama's executive action. However, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington-based think tank, estimated last year that undocumented immigrants currently pay about $10.6 billion a year in state and local taxes around the country and more than $374 million a year in Arizona. "Most of those are sales, excise and property taxes — taxes that don't depend on citizenship status," said Matt Gardner, the institute's executive director. The institute estimated that providing a legal presence to all the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country would boost state and local tax revenues by $2 billion a year and increase tax revenue in Arizona by about $54 million, most from gains in state income tax. Although Obama's executive action will allow 3.8 million to 4.3 million additional people to work legally, the basic dynamic is the same, and there would be a proportional gain in revenue, Gardner said. "There's absolutely going to be a wage boost; there will be in increase in income-tax compliance, and more will pay income taxes regularly," he said. "That's a win-win for states." The executive action allows undocumented immigrants who are the parents of U.S. citizens or of legal permanent residents to apply for deferred deportation for three years and to work legally, get Social Security numbers and pay taxes. The action also expands a 2012 program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Under the original deferred action, immigrants brought here as children age 15 and younger before Jan. 1, 2007, could apply for two-year deferrals from deportation and gain work permits. The expanded deferred action will cover those brought before Jan. 1, 2010. The White House estimated that the overall deferral programs would cover 5 million undocumented immigrants: about 4 million parents, about 270,000 newly eligible under the expanded deferred action, and about 700,000 who already have qualified for deferral under the original deferred action. The White House, based on a Congressional Budget Office study last year, released a report Friday estimating that over the next decade, the executive action will reduce the federal deficit by $25 billion to $60 billion, depending on the economic assumptions used.
Please don't burn and loot stores. The owners didn't screw you, the government screwed you. If I was a protester the first place I would burn down would be city hall, followed by the police station. Those are the people that are oppressing us. Not the owners of private businesses. Of course I am against violence and don't recommend that. http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/letters/2014/11/27/ferguson-riots/70115378/ You burned your town: Happy now? Scott Anderson 5:49 p.m. MST November 27, 2014 It's apparent now that many of the protesters carrying signs in Ferguson, Mo., were not looking for "justice," but rather the lynching of a White police officer. For the Black parents wondering how to keep their teenage kids from being killed on the streets, a start might be to instill in them (A) Do not rob stores; and (B) Do not attack police officers. Of the looters, I would ask: Just as in Watts and other neighborhoods around the country, you've burned down your town, destroyed the livelihood of your neighbors. How does that make you feel? — Scott Anderson, Green Valley
Don't shoot up condemned with drugs, just shoot them I am against the death penalty. Innocent people have been executed in the past and innocent people will be executed in the future. That's the reason I am against the death penalty. That's not to say there arn't *ssholes who don't deserve it. But it really p*sses me off when the state murders people by giving them drugs. If you ask me I suspect the bureaucrats who carry out these murders want us to the the murders are humane and peaceful and it's just like giving the person murdered a sleeping pill to send them off for a good nights sleep. So they can wake up refreshed the next day. Sure when the state shoots people it's a violent death, but at least it portrays the death penalty for what it it. http://www.azcentral.com/story/ejmontini/2014/11/30/death-penalty-execution-drugs-firing-squad-arizona-utah-lawsuit/70110228/ Don't shoot up condemned with drugs, just shoot them EJ Montini, columnist | azcentral.com 10:35 p.m. MST November 29, 2014 Prior to the botched execution of Joseph Rudolph Wood, during which the convicted killer gasped and snorted for nearly two hours before dying – two hours -- Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals suggested that instead of shooting up a condemned man with drugs that we just … shoot him. I agree. The state would save itself a lot of time and trouble and expense over the procurement and use of drugs. And, it would be more honest. We're killing a guy. So kill him. Or, as Kozinski wrote, "Using drugs meant for individuals with medical needs to carry out executions is a misguided effort to mask the brutality of executions by making them look serene and peaceful—like something any one of us might experience in our final moments…The firing squad strikes me as the most promising. Eight or ten large-caliber rifle bullets fired at close range can inflict massive damage, causing instant death every time. There are plenty of people employed by the state who can pull the trigger and have the training to aim true." After Wood's ugly death, a lawsuit was filed claiming the drug cocktail used in lethal injections is public record. Last week that suit was put on hold and the Arizona Department of corrections agreed to not seek any death warrants until an independent review is complete. The state also agreed to study the changes in protocols and making them public. It's a waste of time. There will always be problems with drugs. And if we happen to reach a time when there are no problems then we are doing something even worse. Taking a human life should never appear to be routine. Peaceful. That would make killing someone too easy for us to accept. It should not be easy to accept. Instead, Arizona should do what Utah is doing. It was reported recently that Utah's Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee overwhelmingly approved a proposal that would make the firing squad the primary method for carrying out capital punishment if lethal injection was not an option. Utah is one of two states where the firing squad is legal, although only for inmates who selected that method of execution before May 3, 2004. Oklahoma also has a firing squad, as well as lethal injection and electrocution. (What, no stoning?) I'd eliminate any "options." Firing squad only. Utah Rep. Paul Ray called a firing squad "one of the most humane ways to execute someone." Really? As if "execute" and "humane" belong in the same sentence. The best course would be to abolish executions. It would save the state millions and millions of dollars in legal costs and special housing for inmates. And it might save our souls. But if we're going to continue killing people we should stop pretending it can be humane. As Judge Kozinski wrote: "Sure, firing squads can be messy, but if we are willing to carry out executions we should not shield ourselves from the reality that we are shedding human blood. If we, as a society, cannot stomach the splatter from an execution carried out by firing squad, then we shouldn't be carrying out executions at all."
I am not sure what is going on here, but I suspect the State of Arizona is trying to steal this guys land. This is the first time I have posted an article on Facebook about this guy, but I have posted articles about the guy on listservers before. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/tempe/2014/11/29/historic-junkyard-adobe-tempe/19687355/ How a historic gem ended up in a Tempe junkyard Richard Ruelas, The Republic | azcentral.com 12:10 a.m. MST November 30, 2014 The adobe house was built back around 1877 by a Mexican immigrant when the area along the Salt River was mostly farmland. There were no fences or signs as there are now, indicating that the land belonged to the Arizona Territory, entrusted to it by the federal government. As the years passed, the adobe house stayed put. The city of Tempe changed around it. The river was dammed up and stopped flowing. The area around the dried-up riverbed became easily ignored. Who would want to live by the dried-up riverbed, where people dumped trash in the shadow of a railroad trestle? The dirt just outside the adobe house stopped holding crops and hogs and started filling up with construction equipment, the new preferred trade. Then, the water flowed again, filling a man-made lake. The area drew restaurants, bars and high-rise condominiums. Meanwhile, the adobe house became lost in a place that started looking more like a salvage lot and, increasingly, more out of place. Today, the lot around the house is home to, among other things, three motor homes, the cab of a semitruck, a bus, an antique car, two jet-powered skis, two attachments that would turn a bicycle into a pedicab and one tub of motor oil. Across the street to the south, a multimillion-dollar restaurant has been constructed. Just east of the house, another million-dollar restaurant is being built. And while the blocks around it have been subjects of scores of real-estate deals, the adobe house and its junk-covered lot have passed hands only once. The place was sold by a family named Gonzalez to a family named Martinez. That happened in 1892. Jesus Martinez died at that adobe home. So did his grandson. The great-grandson, Steve Sussex, was born in the adobe home and spent his childhood there. His children, the great-great-grandchildren of Jesus Martinez, have lived off and on in the adobe home in recent years. One lives there right now. But probably not for much longer. Arizona has prevailed in court action that essentially says the Sussex family has trespassed on state land for more than 120 years. Sussex's attorney has appealed the case to the Arizona Supreme Court. The high court has yet to decide if it will hear the case. But even if he wins, Sussex sees the end is in sight. The land is too valuable to be used the way he has used it for decades — filling it up, spot by spot, with with motor homes, building supplies and engine parts. "It's a high-rent district now," he said during a tour of his property. Sussex, 74, only hopes that when he does move, he is treated as a longtime owner being forced off his land. He wants a cash settlement. The state says he's a squatter. He's due nothing. The plaster is falling off the 1860s adobe home Steve Sussex's great grandparents build near downtown Tempe.. Sussex is battling the state, and will most likely battle the city of Tempe soon, on whether his family gets to keep it. (Photo: Charlie Leight/The Republic) A historic junkyard "Let me see if I can find the light switch without tripping over something," Sussex said as he walked in what was his grandmother's bedroom, part of the original adobe structure. What Sussex feared tripping over was all the stuff, relics left behind from those who have inhabited this historic property. The Gonzalez-Martinez house, as it is known on the National Register of Historic Places, is not a typical piece of architectural history. The floors have boxes of videotapes and knick-knacks stacked on unsteady cabinets. Some windows and doors have been boarded up to keep out drifters, efforts that have proved partly successful. And the exterior of the property has taken on the cluttered look of the interior. Sussex, who was raised in the home, said he moved out in the 1960s and into a Tempe neighborhood less than a mile away. However, the dirt lot around the adobe home became handy. In back of it, he built additions to the original homes, as well as a shed or two for tools and storage. In the 1980s, he started running a painting and drywall company out of the property. He leased offices to another contracting company that parked its vehicles on the lot. He also became fond of racing motorcycles and midget cars. The 1-acre parcel became an outdoor garage. "I'm kind of a junker at heart," Sussex said. Once he retired, the lot became less organized. "(My wife) don't let me keep this stuff around the house, so I have to keep it here," Sussex said. A recent incomplete census of the property showed the motorhomes, the truck cab and the bus and a variety of other vehicles. There's lumber, bricks and two ovens. Sussex said he spotted a stack of windows at a construction site ready to be thrown out. They were too good to become trash, he said. So, he hauled them here, figuring that someone he knew could eventually find some use for them. Then, there's the furniture. Sussex looks for discarded chairs and couches that would fit into the collection around the fire pit. Sussex gathers friends there to drink beer. The fire pit draws the attention of the residents in the condominium complex across First Street. Firefighters come responding to complaints. They tell Sussex he's not doing anything wrong, but they have to check it out because somebody complained. "Them people over there hate looking over here, and I like it when they hate that," he said. "They're looking at the junkyard," Sussex said. City steps in Before the city created Tempe Town Lake, the area around the Salt River bed, dry since the construction of Roosevelt Dam, was no showplace. "It's where old refrigerators and things went to die," said Dennis Cahill, a former Tempe city councilman who grew up in Tempe. "It was pretty nasty." The riverbed was the spot where industrial businesses, like Sussex's contracting company, flourished. Then, four developers bought the neighboring property, which had held a dive bar called Sail Inn. The four thought the recently opened Tempe Town Lake would bring new development to the area. One of them, an attorney Sussex recalls, came over and talked to him about buying his land. Sussex said the thought was the city would abandon the dead-end street between the two lots and make for "one whole giant piece of property." Sussex said he told them he didn't want to sell. And looking back, "that's what started the whole big rigmarole," he said. "They went to the state and started stirring (things) up." Joseph Lewis, a developer and former City Council member, said he wasn't the reason for Sussex's troubles. Although, from the sound of it, he sort of wishes he were. "He's been trying for years to get a payday on property he never had title to," Lewis said. "I can't go plant myself on a city park and say years later that just because I've been there awhile that I own it." Lewis said he tried to purchase Sussex property in 2007, thinking of assembling a parcel of land that would include the upscale Traxx nightclub and a residential tower. But Lewis was well aware of the trouble behind the Sussex parcel. When he was a member of the council, from 1992 to 2000, he said, the property was discussed at City Hall. "The city's always been trying to find a resolution to that," Lewis said. Records and legal papers show that Tempe first approached the state about the parcels in 1988. The state agreed to sell the trust land at auction, and the city was the highest bidder. But there was a dispute with the railroad, which had a right-of-way along its tracks adjoining the parcel. The deal was halted for years. This was around the time the state first took steps to get Sussex off the land. Court records show that the State Land Department ordered Sussex off the property in 1992. Lewis said he remembered it being at Tempe's behest. "The state never really paid attention to it, it was such a small piece of land," Lewis said. "The city said, 'Can you work on getting this taken care of?' " The city reached a deal with the railroad in 2002. The deal made the city owner of the eastern half of the Sussex property, land that includes the adobe house. In 2004, the State Land Department sent Sussex a letter. It asked him again to leave the property and sign a deed that relinquished any claim of ownership. He refused. The state filed legal action against Sussex in April 2005. Steve Sussex strolls through a dirt lot. Tucked away Steve Sussex strolls through a dirt lot. Tucked away in the lot is an adobe home, on the corner of Farmer Avenue and 1st Street, that his great-grandfather built in the late 1800s, one the city deems historic. Sussex is battling the state, and will most likely battle the city of Tempe soon, on whether his family gets to keep it.(Photo: Charlie Leight/The Republic) The court case The tussle has dragged on ever since. And the arguments reach back to the establishment of the Arizona Territory in 1863. At that time, the government ordered the territory's land surveyed. Each square-mile section was given a number, and the federal government decreed that certain numbered sections be given to the territories and eventual states for use in funding schools. By the time Mariano Gonzalez, a farmer, built his adobe house in 1877, the land had already been surveyed as part of Section 16 and had been given to Arizona for its sovereign use. Gonzalez worked for Charles Hayden, who had established a ferry service across the Salt River and would establish a flour mill powered by the river's flow, according to Tempe's historical office. Jesus Martinez bought the home in 1892. According to Tempe's historic preservation office, Martinez would raise hogs on the land with Carl Hayden, son of Charles Hayden, who would become a long-serving senator from Arizona. An Englishman named Alfred Sussex, who came to Tempe by way of Canada to work on construction of the first railroad bridge over the Salt River, married Belen Martinez. They would end up living at the adobe home, which had the address of 302 W. 1st St. During the Great Depression, hobos would hop off the freight train and stay at shacks that the couple had built on the property, at least one of which still stands. In 1930, according to state records filed in court, Rosario Martinez, mother of Belen, applied for a lease for the property — legally known as Lot 1E of Section 16. She was granted the lease. But it was canceled for non-payment in 1934. Stephen Sussex, the son of Belen, married a woman named Betty and the couple had a son, Stephen, in 1940. He grew up his whole life believing, wrongly, that his family owned the land. At the time, the adobe house stood on railroad right-of-way. The western half of the property — the part that contained the outhouse and the clothesline — was on state trust land. In 1956, the land was sold at auction. Belen Sussex filed a notice with the state saying she had built structures on the land and wanted compensation. The state paid her $1,510. The land was sold to Ernest C. Mohamed, who was a fixture in stock-car racing and ran an earthmoving company on the site. The state took back the land for non-payment 15 years later. Sussex claims his family still treated the land as theirs during this time. He said Mohamed paid his family for a right-of-way to land near the river bottom where he parked his trucks. Sometime in the 1970s, Sussex started up his contracting business. By 1986, he leased out office space and land to Cahill Contracting, court records show. The business was co-owned by the former city councilman, Cahill and his brother. The state said that activity was the first clue they had that Sussex was on the land. The state's legal case was fairly simple: The family had no documents to show they owned the land; there was ample evidence to show they were trespassing on what had been trust land since 1860. Sussex's attorney, Jack Wilenchek, argued history and common sense. In his opening argument before a jury in August 2005, Wilenchek said, "The Sussex family has been on this land since 1892." He repeated the year 1892 while banging on the lectern. He then pointed to the state seal above the judge's bench, and the year 1912, commemorating statehood. "They were here before Arizona was even a state," he said. The court had already ruled before the trial that the Sussex family had trespassed. The jury was simply asked to determine how much money the family owed the state. Arizona asked for around $450,000. The jury awarded the state $1,500. The state enforced the court's ruling of trespassing by erecting a chain-link fence around what it deemed the borders of the property. The fence stops when it hits the boundaries of the parcel owned by Tempe. Sussex drives around the fence with his pickup to get to his property. His attorney, Wilenchek, appealed the Superior Court ruling of trespassing to the Court of Appeals. The thrust of Wilenchek's legal argument is that the state knew that the Sussex family was on its land but didn't do anything about it until 2005. If the Land Department had brought a case earlier, the Sussex family might have had a chance to unearth documents that could prove rightful ownership. But because the state waited so long, it made for an unjust case. In legal terms, he was arguing the concept known as "laches." The state said — and the court has so far upheld — that "laches" doesn't apply here. Maybe it would apply if the state were buying or selling an ordinary piece of land. But this land is part of a sovereign duty found in the state's originating documents. State arguments and court rulings have emphasized that the state Constitution can't be ignored. Wilenchek's briefs have a flair for the dramatic, quoting both "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and John Locke. The final words in the appeal to the state Supreme Court are: "(W)here the law ends, tyranny begins." Meanwhile, the near-decade of legal wrangling has not slowed down development around the parcel. Vacant parcels are rare in Tempe, said Lewis, the developer and former council member. And the two next to the Sussex property have proved valuable despite the eyesore. Sam Fox, owner of a Phoenix-based chain of regional restaurants — Sauce, Olive and Ivy, Arrogant Butcher — purchased an old furniture warehouse on Farmer Avenue and First Street 18 months ago. Culinary Dropout at the Farmers Art District, the restaurant with the biggest kitchen in the Fox empire, is set to open in early December. Fox Restaurant Concepts owner Sam Fox gives a tour Fox Restaurant Concepts owner Sam Fox gives a tour of his newest location, Culinary Dropout's kitchen, which will be the largest in his restaurant group.(Photo: Jessie Wardarski/The Republic, Jessie Wardarski/ The Republic) Meanwhile, the old Sail Inn, on the opposite corner of Farmer and First, is becoming the Lodge, a high-end tavern run by Scottsdale-based chef Aaron May. "Only in Tempe," Lewis said, "could Sam Fox look at a building like that, knowing there was a junkyard across the street, and decide this is where he's going to build his biggest property to date." Downtown reimagined One late afternoon in November, Tempe's mayor and council, along with city leaders and businesspeople, walked a red carpet into the newly built meeting space at Culinary Dropout at Farmer Arts District. Guests snacked on pretzel fondue, goat cheese and kale salad and downed grapefruit cocktails. They pointed out the original wood beams from the factory that Fox, the restaurateur, was able to preserve. There was polite applause as Kate Borders, executive director of the merchants group, christened the rebirth of downtown Tempe. "We hope Farmer Avenue becomes the next generation of what Mill Avenue is today," she said. Across the street, Mike Ghormley, 68, a friend of Sussex's, was working on an engine. He had been looking around for a knife or other sharp object. He wanted to cut off the top of an antifreeze bottle and catch motor oil with it. "I know a lot of people would like to see it gone," Ghormley said. "But then again, this has always been an industrial property." In the restaurant, after the speeches, Mayor Mark Mitchell gave a brief interview with a radio reporter saying how he was glad Tempe was "repurposing the area." Asked by The Republic specifically about the Sussex property across the street, Mitchell said he didn't know the status of it. "It's been in dispute for years, but I don't know what's going on with it," said Mitchell. Robin Arredondo-Savage, a council member, said her family had known the Sussex family. She said it was important to hold on to the city's past, "but yet progress into the future, too." "It's about a good balance," she added. She called over the city manager, Andrew Ching, for an update as she said she also wasn't sure of the details. Ching said the city was waiting for the state's legal battle to finish. But if the state does prevail, "we will make the same arguments, sure," he said. "Whatever rights they have to one-half of the parcel would be the same as whatever rights we have to our half of the parcel." Arredondo-Savage said she wouldn't want to boot Sussex, though. "You don't want to step on anyone's toes," she said. "We want to work with them." Ugly history In 1986, Tempe petitioned to place the Gonzalez-Martinez house on the National Register of Historic Places. The adobe structure, according to the Office of Historic Preservation, was one of only three structures remaining from the first 10 years of the city's existence. It is a "rare local example of a house type illustrative of the lifestyle and settlement pattern of the predominantly Mexican population of early Tempe," the city said. While it is rare and illustrative, it is a structure only a historian could love. The adobe walls appear sturdy. But the wood frame at the roofline is rotted in spots. Most of the wood shingles on the roof are gone. Sussex first tried covering up the roof with cardboard. Last year, he put on corrugated tin. Sussex frequents Casey Moore's, an Irish bar that has also been deemed historic. The owner of the bar told Sussex that he received a plaque to put on his building. He asked Sussex when he would get a similar plaque. Sussex laughed, recalling the story. "My place looks so ugly," he said, "they don't want to put no plaque on it." A lightrail train rolls past the property of Steve A lightrail train rolls past the property of Steve Sussex in downtown Tempe.(Photo: Charlie Leight/The Republic) Sussex stood by a guardrail in front of the house. Behind him, construction crews put finishing touches on Culinary Dropout. To his right, a light-rail train zoomed past. Freshly broken glass lay in the dirt a few yards in front of him, a casualty of Sussex trying to move a busted dining-room table during a tour. Sussex thought about what will happen to the house when someone else inevitably owns it. "I think they'd probably bulldoze it, because it's worth more money to the city than to do something," he said. "But it'd be a shame. It is history." |