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Mary Rose Wilcox - Gun Grabber - Drug War Fan It's time to boot Mary Rose Wilcox out of office. Mary Rose Wilcox wants to jail marijuana smokers and take our guns away from us. Mary Rose Wilcox is one of the tyrannical Maricopa County Supervisors who voted to steal $1 billion from the tax payers of Maricopa County and give it to Jerry Colengelo to build his Bank One Ball Park http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2014/08/battle_royale_controversial_mary_rose_wilcox_is_in_the_political_fight_of_her_life.php Battle Royale: Controversial Mary Rose Wilcox Is in the Political Fight of Her Life By Monica Alonzo Wed., Aug. 13 2014 at 12:04 PM Mary Rose Wilcox was shot in 1997 by a transient who didn't like her politics. People say she was hit in a buttock, but she insists the wound was higher than that. Indeed, the gunman's hollow-point bullet shattered her pelvis. It also shattered her desire to remain in public office. Briefly. Some family members pleaded with her to walk away from her seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors at the time, but Wilcox decided to continue in the political arena. "What could I do?" a defiant Wilcox recalls. "If I left, he won. So I went back." Nearly 20 years later, she's in the final week of her bid for an open seat in Arizona's 7th Congressional District. She's running against three other Democrats: Ruben Gallego, a Marine and former state lawmaker; Randy Camacho, a social-studies teacher and former Congressional candidate, and the Reverend Jarrett Maupin, a firebrand who's gathering political support from churchgoers in South Phoenix. Immigration attorney Joe Peñalosa, an Independent, and Joe Cobb, a white Libertarian and perennial political candidate, also are in the race to represent a nearly 200-square-mile district that spans several communities, including Phoenix, Guadalupe, Tolleson, and southern portions of Glendale. It's a safe district for progressive politicos where 68 percent of voters are registered Democrats and 64 percent of 710,000 residents are Latino. Congressman Ed Pastor, who unexpectedly announced in February that he would retire, served the area for 23 years and easily captured two to four times as many votes as his opponents in the past decade. It's hard to remember a time when Pastor stirred up controversy. The August 26 primary race is far different. It's gotten ugly as Wilcox and Gallego have exposed each other's imperfect and messy political pasts, with each trying to cast the other as untrustworthy. It's a battle between Latino royalty in Phoenix: Wilcox (who uses the last name of her husband, Earl) and Gallego, a politically savvy, Harvard-educated, two-term state lawmaker. But the war of words pales, Wilcox maintains, when she remembers that somebody once tried to murder her. Wilcox recalls that in 1997 a man stood out in the auditorium where the supervisors convene. He appeared to be extremely uneasy. When the meeting adjourned, she recalls, he walked toward her. She hurried her steps but froze when she felt a gun at the middle of her back. Or was it pointed at her head? She can't remember. A blood-curdling scream escaped from her lips, jolting a security guard and a fellow supervisor to tackle the gunman, later identified as Larry Naman. But not before he'd fired his weapon. "It felt like a hot bolt of oil going through my leg. I just felt it explode inside me," she says. "I remember everything swirling around me." Wilcox says she later told Earl in the emergency room: "I don't want this job anymore. You take it." Mary Rose Wilcox can laugh about that day now, and she does during an interview with New Times at her South Phoenix campaign headquarters during a Saturday afternoon in July. She's wearing her usual sleeveless dress and bright red lipstick. She seems more like an abuela drinking coffee and sharing old family stories than a congressional candidate. But that's part of her disarming charm. She says Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who's now her political nemesis, even once told her, "I could never be mad at you . . . because you look like my mother." During her three decades in office, Wilcox cast votes that created thousands of jobs in Maricopa County, worked on projects that improved roadways through some of the most rundown neighborhoods in South Phoenix, and made it possible for poor children to attend baseball games, a boxing gym, and city swimming pools for free. Her work in the community -- and becoming the first Latina elected to the Phoenix City Council, in 1984 -- has earned her a lofty status among Latinos. She's also made political blunders along the way, and she spent the better part of two decades under clouds of controversy. Getting shot was the result of just one of them -- her yes swing vote to build a publicly funded baseball stadium, now Chase Field. Wilcox increased her net worth through land deals, with at least one in 2003 involving an acre purchased from Arizona Public Service for hundreds of thousands of dollars below market value. She didn't disclose that transaction even as she voted as a county supervisor on APS-related projects. In 2004, she scored a lucrative concessions contract designed for "disadvantaged" business owners at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. It was a time when she ran a successful restaurant, owned nearly $2 million worth of land, and was pulling in more than $120,000 a year between her county paycheck and retirement benefits. This didn't include her husband's income. The way she got her hands on the nearly half-million-dollar loan that secured her spot in the airport concession violated city rules, according to a 2009 Goldwater Institute report. She also faced criminal charges in 2004 for tearing down a century-old house on the city's historic property rolls -- without obtaining required permits. In the end, she pleaded not guilty, the charges were dropped, and she settled the case with a $10,000 donation to the Phoenix Historic Preservation Office. It's all served as political ammunition against her a decade later. Gallego, who's raised $435,000 in campaign contributions, has smeared Wilcox as a "political insider" who is "looking out for herself -- not us" in literature he's mailed to voters. Wilcox, who's raised more than $335,000 in contributions, in turn has blasted him. She's repeatedly criticized Gallego for his membership in the National Rifle Association and for earning a B+ rating from the gun industry's lobby. As she discusses reining in gun laws, it doesn't hurt -- politically speaking -- that she was shot. Yet polls commissioned by Gallego show that his anti-Wilcox talking points might be resonating more with Democratic voters. Two separate surveys, conducted in May and July by Lake Research Partners put Gallego six and eight points, respectively, ahead of Wilcox. The longtime politico shrugs off the poll, reminding voters how she's battled against Arpaio and his anti-immigrant policies and racially motivated raids and roundups -- that she's fought hard enough that he wanted to destroy her politically and used his cohort, former County Attorney Andrew Thomas, to try to make that happen. They failed to buckle the Latina, now 64. Yet, as a member of the old guard of community leaders, political sources wonder how much energy she has left. And whether Congress is the right place to put her to the test. Danny Ortega, a local attorney and longtime activist, argues that Wilcox "has a lot of fight left in her" but that Gallego has more. Whether she wins or Gallego takes the seat -- or an unlikely upset sends one of the other candidates to Washington (the race will be settled by a plurality of votes, and there is no Republican contender in November) -- Democratic Party leaders say the state of Arizona ultimately will come out ahead. They say the rabid competition will draw out more Democratic voters and inch Arizona ever closer to politically bluer skies. "It's not going to magically turn the state blue overnight," says D.J. Quinlan, executive director of the Arizona Democratic Party. "But I think it's a piece of the puzzle that's going to lead Arizona to be more and more politically competitive." A powerhouse political machine, Gallego has a hard time masking his contempt for Wilcox. He says his decision to run against her was an easy one. "I always knew that she was going to run, but I never thought she was good for the district," the 34-year-old two-term lawmaker says. "So I never contemplated stepping aside for her, for any reason. For other potential politicians, I probably would have thought about it, but not for her. This district needs a lot of work, a lot of attention, and I don't think she's really willing to do it." In one campaign pamphlet, he highlights the land deal between Wilcox and APS, letting voters know that in addition to getting the APS property at a "deep discount, [she] then rented it back to APS for tens of thousands of dollars." Wilcox responds that the utility needed a place to park its vehicles last year while it embarked on a nearby cleanup project. "APS says, 'We need to pay you.' So they did a contract with us," she says, adding that the lease expires in August. "But everyone else uses it for free." She says she and her husband don't charge the American Legion in Grant Park to use the property for overflow parking or for artists to use it to host community concerts or for the Democratic Party to use it for voter-registration rallies. In 2005, New Times wrote about the deal Wilcox got when she and Earl bought a one-acre paved lot from APS, which regularly has business before the county supervisors ("Sweetheart Deal," June 16, 2005). Phoenix real estate investor Michael A. Levine said at the time the "land should have gone for at least $675,000 and possibly for as much as $900,000" and even at a "fire sale" price, it would have fetched at least $450,000. The couple paid $152,750, and the timing of the land deal made it even more suspect. New Times wrote: Interestingly, about the same time the Wilcoxes opened escrow on the property in February 2003, a major downtown planning effort led by APS and sports mogul Jerry Colangelo was being secretly put together. Sometime in early 2003, downtown power brokers began work on a downtown master plan to guide a multibillion-dollar redevelopment project to transform the city's inner core over the next decade. The electric utility was among the insiders participating in the early stages of developing the master plan. And Mary Rose Wilcox had to be aware of the planning effort through her membership on the board of directors of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership -- a civic and business group that encourages development and played a leading role in developing the master plan. Colangelo told [New Times] in the fall of 2003 that he and other business and civic leaders wanted to keep their master plan out of the public arena for as long as possible to prevent land speculators from moving into the market and driving up prices . It was during this time -- when a limited number of people knew that a major downtown redevelopment plan was in the works -- that APS had sold its property at a rock-bottom price to Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and her husband. The 2005 New Times report by John Dougherty continued: Wilcox repeatedly voted on matters directly affecting APS, including high-profile issues such as where high-voltage power lines will be located and approval of a lucrative plan by an APS subsidiary, Northwind, to provide air conditioning to county buildings in downtown Phoenix. And she did it without ever officially disclosing that she had engaged in a major financial transaction with APS. Sam Castañeda Holdren, Wilcox's spokesman, says the parcels of land she and Earl have purchased over the years were bought with the expressed intention of revitalizing Grant Park, the barrio where Earl was raised. "The land . . . is empty lots and parking lots around Grant Park," he says. "This is a poor neighborhood, and Mary Rose hopes someday to build nonprofit veterans housing across from the park and neighborhood recreation center." Wilcox says she and Earl might even build a home there to replace the one they were forced to sell when Arpaio, working in concert with Thomas, slapped dozens of criminal charges on her with such gusto that a Superior Court judge said it was "the worst case of political vindictiveness" he'd ever seen. Arpaio and Thomas, since disbarred, accused Wilcox of forgery, false swearing, perjury, and a slew of felony conflict-of-interest counts. The former supervisor admits she could've done a better job over the years of filling out financial-disclosure forms. But she says she did nothing to deserve a laundry list of criminal indictments. As Arpaio waited joyful in the wings watching his political enemies squirm, Thomas charged Wilcox with making "false statements or omissions in . . . financial-disclosure statements from 2002 through 2009." Finally, Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo threw Thomas off the case based on evidence that Thomas had a conflict of interest in going after Wilcox because of "his efforts to retaliate against members" of the county Board [of Supervisors] and "his attempts to gain political advantage by prosecuting those who oppose him politically," including Wilcox. "His political alliance [with Arpaio], who misused the power of his office to target members of the [board] for criminal investigation," was another reason for his removal cited by the judge. One of the deals that Thomas had begun to look into was her co-ownership of a Chili's franchise with Host International, the contractor for all food and beverage services at Sky Harbor's Terminal 4. Wilcox says it was Host that approached her, asking whether she wanted a part of the concession contract after she unsuccessfully applied to open an airport version of her and her husband's El Portal Mexican restaurant. In October 2009, the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank, published a report, High Fliers: How Political Insiders Gained an Edge in Sky Harbor Concessions, detailing how Wilcox and Host officials' partnership violated city and federal rules. The Goldwater report stated that in violation of city policy, Wilcox didn't pull any money out of her pocket to become a 30 percent owner of the Chili's. Instead, Host lent her the $450,000 buy-in money and then repaid itself out of Wilcox's share of the restaurant profits. And although federal rules dictate that each partner has to play an active role in the business, Wilcox didn't. At the time, Phoenix required that minority-owned, disadvantaged businesses be included in these billion-dollar concessions. The Goldwater report concluded that "firms certified as 'disadvantaged' often are little more than a name on the lease, brought in as partners by large concession companies to meet city-imposed goals. "Mary Rose Wilcox eked out a small profit from a Mexican restaurant she owned in South Phoenix before she used her race and status as the owner of a 'disadvantaged' business to land a lucrative concession deal at Sky Harbor International Airport," the Goldwater report said. "The long-entrenched Democrat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors reported $10,000 in profits from her El Portal restaurant in an August 2003 financial statement. In December 2004, Wilcox was brought into a joint venture to co-own a Chili's franchise, the only full-service bar and restaurant in the main lobby of Terminal 4. Seven months later, Wilcox reported profits of $113,000 from the Chili's deal alone." Despite all the allegations against her by Arpaio and other political enemies, Wilcox insists she didn't do anything wrong and that Arpaio and Thomas' allegations in the deal were vetted by Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk and Gila County Attorney Daisy Flores. "With the utter lack of motive or evidence of any unlawful economic or political benefit from the financial-disclosure omissions, a reasonable juror would conclude that these omissions were an oversight, rather than conduct knowingly perpetrated to deceive the public," Flores wrote regarding Wilcox. Just last month, Wilcox finally collected a $1 million-plus payout from the county for the anguish she and her family endured during the investigation by Arpaio and Thomas, who's running on the Republican ticket for Arizona governor. "Everybody criticized me [for taking the money], but people don't know what happened," she says. "I had to sell our house. We had a really nice condo, and we had to sell it just to pay our bills. Our business [at El Portal] trickled down to nothing. People were terrorized, and they just weren't coming anymore." She says she and Earl "had to use every penny from our retirement accounts." Wilcox continues, "Yeah, I sued because we had to pay my lawyer. A lot of that fee will go for taxes, and to the debt I incurred, and for the terror that went through us with Arpaio's intent to destroy me. But I didn't let him. I did not let him." Though Arpaio may have had an adverse effect on her business, her restaurant suffered other problems. In 2007, El Portal started getting a series of failing grades from county health inspectors. She eventually closed the popular spot for local lawmakers, political activists, and neighborhood leaders in 2010. The eatery reopened this year but closed again in April because it was losing money again. The El Portal building now is headquarters for the Wilcox campaign's field operations. Wilcox has dozens of volunteers who disperse from the restaurant to distribute literature highly critical of Gallego. Prominent among the onslaught of pamphlets was a set reminding people about Gallego's casting votes on gun-related bills that made the NRA proud. The gun lobbyists told him so by giving the former state representative a B+ approval rating that many right-wingers would be proud to have. The rating doesn't score political points in Arizona's hard-left-leaning 7th Congressional District. During her closing remarks after a political debate on PBS' Horizon with Ted Simon, Wilcox said Gallego may as well be a Republican since his NRA approval rating was the same as U.S. Senator John McCain's. In 2011, Gallego voted to allow mentally ill individuals who've been barred from owning weapons to petition the court to have their rights restored and to broaden instances in which people can use deadly force when defending themselves or their families against attackers. In 2012, he voted to ensure that no limits were placed on how many bullets could be packed into hunting-rifle magazines and to allow hunters to use sound suppressors on guns. That same year, he voted to allow law enforcement to sell guns seized from criminals to licensed gun dealers. Gallego says Wilcox is distorting the truth by omitting in her campaign literature that the votes for larger magazines and silencers on rifles were for hunters. Gallego's critics point out that criminals -- not just hunters -- have access to these rifles. Gallego compares these gun-related attacks to her supporters' backfired attempt to remove him from the race by questioning his 2008 name change. The flurry came up when Wilcox's people discovered that Gallego had changed his last name from Marinelarena (his father's last name) to Gallego (his mother's surname). Gallego proudly responded that he had done this to disassociate from his father and to honor his mother, who had suffered years of abuse at the hands of "that man." Wilcox's supporters filed a complaint about Gallego's name incarnations because they didn't find the court paperwork documenting the official change. Once that document was discovered, the complaint was dropped. "But that's Mary Rose for you," Gallego says. "She's taking something that was very deeply personal and a scary time in my life and using that opportunity to distract from her weaknesses. She's trying to hide from the record that she mostly used her office to enrich herself and her family." Gallego and his wife, Phoenix Councilwoman Kate Gallego, are doing well for themselves. They own three rental houses in Phoenix and live in a $300,000-plus home in a gated community at the foot of South Mountain. Not a bad accession for Gallego, who grew up sleeping on the floor of a tiny apartment with his mother and sisters and paid his way through Harvard University with scholarships and student loans and by cleaning toilets in student dorms. Although he'd been looking at signing up for a community college or a trade school, a leadership program during his sophomore year in high school widened his horizons. "I was with these young men and women from rich schools, and they were talking about going to these schools like Harvard and Yale and Princeton," he says. "I thought, 'Why can't I go to these schools?'" He took advanced-placement classes and applied to study in Greece for a summer. He couldn't afford to buy study guides for college-entrance exams so he went to the library and photocopied them, taking as many pages as he could afford. "I just sat home and studied for two years," he says. "You grow up really poor in that environment of domestic violence. I was sleeping on the floor. See, I didn't know I was going to make it into Harvard. Part of it was pure obsession because I needed to have hope for something because every day sucked. Every day." He says that same drive got him through heavy combat as a Marine serving in the Middle East. And it's earned him a reputation of being tough and temperamental. Gallego described himself as such during a 2008 interview with the Arizona Republic. He told a reporter that he loves political dogfights. "I want to be angry. I'm always angry," Gallego was quoted as saying. "I want to throw down some hail and brimstone, and this guy [Phoenix Councilman Michael Nowakowski] is like, 'It's not how I operate.'" In 2009, while working as chief of staff for Nowakowski, Gallego got into a spat with an intern, and she accused him of verbal harassment. At the time, the Republic reported that the 20-year-old college student filed a complaint against Gallego claiming he berated and intimidated her in front of co-workers. Gallego became upset with the intern and began yelling and pounding his desk so hard that it caught the attention of aides working in other offices. The intern also said Gallego was aggressive toward her, according to a 2009 article. The young woman's complaints filed with the city were dismissed. Gallego said at the time that he raised his voice at her because she was interrupting him and not listening. "I was a young manager [29 years old] and really do regret raising my voice," he recalls now. "It wasn't my finest moment, but I've learned from that." Whatever he may have learned, he hasn't shaken his aggressive side. "Look, I am aggressive, and I am because I think there is a lot of work that needs to be done," he says. "I think the history of Arizona, as of late, has seen just a lot of Democrats willing to accept the status quo. Not just from Republicans but even from themselves. I don't think the Democratic progressive community wins by having people rest on their laurels." People don't always take well to getting moved or pushed, he says. "At the end of the day, we're here for the working poor, the working class, and the gay community," he says. "And if you're not there to help, then really, why are you in politics?" The other candidates in the District 7 contest are political longshots. July's Gallego-commissioned poll showed that the best-known also-rans, Randy Camacho and Jarrett Maupin, were favored by 4 percent and 2 percent of voters, respectively. Jerry Duff, Camacho's campaign manager, isn't buying the results, though. "The real story is the change that's occurred over the past two months in this race," he argues. "The same firm polled likely voters in May and again in July in Arizona's 7th . . . According to their results, we know the following for sure: Gallego lost 6 percent of his support, Wilcox lost 8 percent of her support. Camacho gained 4 percent, and undecided voters increased by 8 percent. Imagine where this trend will take us . . .when the primary election happens?" One hurdle for the lesser-known congressional candidates has been fundraising. None has raised any significant political donations. Camacho, who ran for Congress in 2004, has taken in about $1,300 and lent his campaign about $3,000. Maupin's received about $9,000. As for Libertarian Joe Cobb and immigration attorney Joe Peñalosa, the former had donated about $1,000 to his campaign, and the latter (through June) had raised about $10,000 and fronted his campaign about $4,200, according to campaign-finance records. Peñalosa is the grandson of immigrant grandparents, and he worked his way through UCLA by preparing and serving food, washing dishes, and cleaning floors. He also worked as a landscaper alongside undocumented immigrants. He says his experiences, and those of his grandparents and undocumented co-workers, moved him to dedicate his life to improving the lives of those in the immigrant community. After graduating UCLA, he attended Arizona State University College of Law. It was during law school that he started working with an attorney on immigration cases. He's volunteered his legal services to Mi Familia Vota (My Family Votes) and provided free representation to the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition and to the United Farm Workers. He often shares his political and legal views on immigration-related issues on Spanish-language television and radio. He's been to Washington advocating for immigration reform and chides Capitol Hill Democrats for not making good on promises for immigration reform. "They had their chance in 2009," he said during a debate at South Mountain Community College. "President Obama: Democrat. The Senate was controlled by 57 Democratic senators. The House had 256 Democratic congress-persons. And it still didn't get done because it wasn't a priority to them." He roused the audience. Maupin also has shaken up audiences when he speaks about the desperate need for immigration reform. His candidacy, however, is dogged by a felony conviction that prevents him from casting a ballot in the August 26 election. Maupin reached a plea deal with the Department of Justice after he admitted that he falsely informed the FBI in September 2008 that former Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon was engaged in criminal activity. Maupin repudiated the false report as part of his plea agreement. All the candidates in the race believe they can fully replace Ed Pastor, revered by some for using his powerful position on the House Appropriations Committee to funnel federal dollars to Arizona and criticized by others for maintaining a behind-the-scenes profile on lightning-rod issues, principally immigration reform. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton says Pastor's been "one of the most effective members of Congress that we've sent to Washington, D.C., in the history of our state." Pastor "understood that getting things done for his cities in the district was way, way more important than partisan fighting," Stanton says. "He just never engaged it in." Pastor's influence, Stanton says, was key to every major transportation project in recent Valley history, including bus service, light rail, and improvements at Sky Harbor, including a new control tower. "Every significant transportation improvement that's occurred in recent Phoenix history is directly due to Ed Pastor's leadership," the mayor says. "And not just in the city of Phoenix -- that's in the entire region. We wouldn't have gotten light rail in the East Valley if he hadn't made that a priority as well." Voters will decide on August 26 who will sit in the seat Pastor occupied for nearly a quarter-century. Danny Ortega, although he's worked for decades alongside Wilcox, believes it's time for voters to support a young leader who can serve for decades to come. "To put it simply, those of us who have been involved in politics -- particularly in the Latino community -- for the past 45 years have to start thinking very seriously about allowing the young people who want to serve the opportunity to do something," Ortega says. "For me it's not old guard v. new guard. It's about allowing . . . young leaders to take on new responsibility." Ortega says the community has to look beyond a single office. "Who is it [in the community] that we can anticipate will be elected to public office beyond Congress? Who can we look to in the future to be a U.S. Senator? Who can we look to in the future to be a governor? And who has the energy, drive, and enthusiasm to go down that path? It definitely has to be someone who is young," Ortega says. Given how contentious the 7th District race between the front runners has been, state Democratic Party boss Quinlan anticipates that more voters than usual will be be motivated to cast ballots in this battle royale. "Primaries like this lead to more voter contact, which really is a positive thing from the perspective of Democrats statewide," he says. "[Such] campaigns energize more volunteers, and these volunteers talk to more voters. They register more voters. They turn out more votes." He says he believes there also is a better chance that those who participate in the upcoming primary will go to the polls in the November 4 general election. "I think what we have to do is harness the momentum of the primary, hopefully reconcile the differences caused by the primary, bring people back together," he says. "I think it could play a crucial role in [helping] a slate of Democratic candidates: Fred DuVal for governor, Felecia Rotellini for attorney general, Terry Goddard for secretary of state. This race has implications beyond the district itself."
"El Chapo" - The movie about Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán This movie starts Aug 22 at the Valley Art Theater on Mill Avenue & 5th Street in Tempe. I don't know if the movie is any good. But I won some free passes to go to a movie at this theater so I plan on seeing it. I think the movie will only be playing a week at this theater. When I was in college I used to go to Mazatlan a lot. Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was busted in one of the hotels in Mazlatan and it looked like he ran his business out of the hotel. Which is a decent hotel on the ocean. http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2014/08/el_chapo_guzman_cartel_capture_documentary.php Documentary Questions Whether Drug Lord "El Chapo" Guzmán Actually Was Captured By Matthew Hendley Thu., Aug. 14 2014 at 6:00 AM Not everyone is convinced that drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, head of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, actually was arrested by authorities earlier this year. Documentary filmmaker Charlie Minn, who's produced several movies about drug violence in Mexico, says he went to El Paso, Texas, after hearing of Guzmán's arrest in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico, and it didn't take long to hear people's disbelief. "I heard people kind of mumbling, 'I don't think it's him,'" Minn tells New Times. Guzmán's capture was a huge deal. After Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011, Guzmán replaced him as the most wanted fugitive in the world. He had been captured before but escaped from prison in 2001, and there were multimillion-dollar rewards for his capture. After his latest arrest earlier this year, officials said fingerprints, DNA, and handwriting analysis all prove the man they arrested is indeed El Chapo. Plenty of people remain unconvinced. The Los Angeles Times cited a poll of Mexicans that found about 42 percent of people believed Guzmán had indeed been arrested, whereas nearly 41 percent said he had not. Minn says this belief seems to lie in the general belief that Mexican officials can't be trusted, but admits that hearing from people during the making of his film, ¿Es El Chapo?, has made him a little skeptical as well. The public hasn't seen Guzmán since his arrest, as he's being held in a Mexican prison. There are no plans to extradite him to the United States, where he's wanted several times over. Some say the photo of him taken at the time of his arrest doesn't look like him. The Sinaloa Cartel hasn't seemed to suffer with his absence. He had an estimated net worth of $1 billion, yet his condo in Mazatlán looked extraordinarily cheap. Minn says the film is another attempt by him to capture the drug war through the eyes of Mexicans who are seeing it firsthand. His previous films focused on events around Juarez, the onetime murder capital of the world. "The political angle [of looking at the drug war] is expected and that's fine, but I wish more people would look at the humanitarian aspect," Minn says. "Let's talk about human lives for a second . . . my films tend to do that. While investigating people's disbelief in Guzmán's capture, Minn says he was surprised to find that a whole lot of people actually like the guy, as many people believed Guzmán helped the poor, created jobs, and protected and built up smaller communities. "What shocked me the most about this film was how loved he was," Minn says. "It would be like people in Phoenix lauding the Baseline Killer. I guess the only difference there is that the Baseline Killer didn't donate to the poor." Minn says his film is showing at the Harkins Valley Art on Mill Avenue in Tempe for a minimum one-week run starting August 22. Check out the trailer below:
Arizona Medical-Marijuana Patients Could Buy Pot in Nevada Dispensaries Under New Plan Looks like that jerk Will Humble will do his best to prevent Arizona Medical Marijuana patients from buy medical marijuana in Nevada. Of course the real solution is to get rid of this silly medical marijuana nonsense and totally legalize marijuana. Which includes legalizing growing of marijuana by private citizens. Just like it used to be before 1937. For useless information, most people don't know that Las Vegas used to be in Arizona. Paiute County was an Arizona county, but the Feds stole it from Arizona and gave it to Nevada before Arizona became a state. It initially was Lincoln County in Nevada, which was split once or more and now is Clark County which is where Las Vegas is. http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2014/08/arizona_medical-marijuana_patients_could_buy_pot_in_nevada_dispensaries_under_new_plan.php Arizona Medical-Marijuana Patients Could Buy Pot in Nevada Dispensaries Under New Plan By Ray Stern Tue., Aug. 12 2014 at 5:00 AM Medical-marijuana patients from Arizona and other states could shop legally at as-yet-unopened Nevada dispensaries under a plan being developed by Nevada authorities. Chad Westom, bureau chief of the Nevada Division of Public & Behavioral Health, said on Monday that his state's new medical-marijuana program will honor Arizona registration cards. Arizona's 2010 medical-marijuana law allows bona-fide patients from other states to possess marijuana, (though not to buy marijuana in AZ dispensaries, as this article previously said before we fixed that error.) As of yet, no other states have served Arizona patients. That's about to change. In 2013, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed a new law that calls for up to 66 dispensaries to open across the state. The first Nevada dispensaries are expected to open in Las Vegas and other cities and towns early in 2015. Dispensary operators would be able to decide for themselves if they want to accept out-of-state cardholders as customers, Westom said. Many clearly will, given that it will mean more business for them, he agreed. According to Nevada law, dispensaries could honor out-of-state cards as long as the state that issued the card has an official database of patients and "allows the Division and medical marijuana dispensaries in (Nevada) to access the database." Nevada officials hope to have an interstate-access agreement in place by 2016. It's unclear whether such a deal could ever be made with Arizona. Will Humble, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, told New Times in an email that he doesn't believe it would be possible: "Our (point-of-sale) system is specific to AZ cardholders and dispensaries." Humble added that the issue would require more research to be certain. However, Westom said that when the Nevada system is up and running by early next year, dispensaries won't need to access the Arizona system in order to honor Arizona cards. The plan is to have dispensary agents, before completing a sale, inspect the out-of-state card and have the customer sign an attestation that the card was valid. The maximum amount for purchase and possession of medical marijuana in Nevada is 2.5 ounces every two weeks, same as in Arizona. Westom wasn't sure, though, whether an Arizona patient would enjoy legal protection from law enforcement authorities in Nevada if caught in possession of marijuana, no matter where it was purchased, if no access to Arizona's database was allowed. Nevada's medical-pot law entitles out-of-state cardholders to possess marijuana, but the law states that the reciprocity provision's effective date is April 1, 2016. Without a way for a police officer to determine if a card from another state was valid, a patient could theoretically still be arrested for possession. The new system has some kinks, clearly. But by this time next year, Arizona patients may have substantially more options when it comes to buying their medical marijuana. Got a tip? Send it to: Ray Stern. Follow Valley Fever on Twitter at @ValleyFeverPHX. Follow Ray Stern on Twitter at @RayStern.
The spin masters at the Maricopa Sheriff's Office says everybody loves them. Did you expect anything else from Sheriff Joe's goons???? http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2014/08/14/mcso-sees-big-rise-complaints-just-hoped/14041229/ MCSO sees big rise in complaints – just as it had hoped Megan Cassidy, The Republic | azcentral.com 10:18 p.m. MST August 13, 2014 The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is on track to receive more than twice as many complaints this year as it did last year, and the upsurge, according to sheriff's officials, is exactly what they'd hoped for. Through June 30, the sheriff's professional standards bureau had fielded 355 allegations of misconduct against deputies and other employees in 2014, compared with 311 in all of 2013, according to the agency's records. But what appears to be an uptick in disgruntled citizens is actually the result of heightened community outreach efforts by the Sheriff's Office, officials say. In response to a federal court order to remedy racial profiling, the office began inviting the public to submit their reactions — positive and negative — to interactions with sheriff's personnel, said Capt. Russ Skinner of the court compliance and implementation division. Contact information for the internal affairs division is now displayed on posters outside headquarters, as well as an enhanced "contact us" section of the website that includes a Spanish translation. Information is also listed on official "receipts" distributed to everyone who comes in contact with a sheriff's official, regardless of whether a citation or warning is issued. "It's created a culture of accountability for everybody from the line-level supervisor to the commander of that district to be responsible for the conduct or investigated misconduct of an employee," said Capt. Steve Bailey of the agency's professional standards bureau. The complaint numbers were released as part of the Sheriff's Office's first quarterly status report to U.S. District Judge Murray Snow to demonstrate compliance with Snow's order to thwart racial profiling. Last year, Snow ruled that Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office had violated the constitutional rights of Latinos through many of his immigration- enforcement efforts. Snow later issued a 159-point order detailing how the Sheriff's Office would remedy the discriminatory practices. The exhaustive order required installing cameras in every deputy's vehicle; a court-appointed monitor; and increased data collection, including a computerized database used to track complaints. A key piece of complaint-tracking is the new early- identification system, which uses the comments to flag problem areas and deputies. "I think it's fair to say this process has exposed some shortcomings that we've experienced," Bailey said. "But it's given us a very good opportunity to correct them." The majority of the complaints historically have involved a rude deputy, Bailey said. But courtesy, he said, is part of being professional. "You're speaking on behalf of the agency," he said. Many of the judge's compliance orders have been fulfilled, according to the report, but some still need to be implemented. An electronic data system now tracks traffic stops. More deputy sheriffs have been promoted to sergeant to allow deputies to report to one supervisor, and a training program has been developed to prevent racial bias in policing. Actual training, however, has yet to be completed, and patrol vehicles are waiting on bureaucratic hurdles to get their video cameras, officials say. So far, officials say, the department has produced close to 10,000 documents to comply with the court order. They are unclear on how many personnel hours have been dedicated to compliance, but said 13,000 alone have been spent investigating Charley Armendariz, a former deputy who hoarded IDs, license plates, drugs and torn-up citations in his home. "This is going to be a long process, but the reality is we're pouring in the resources and the time to make it right the first time," Skinner said. Snow's was a landmark ruling, the first to legally validate migrant advocates' long-held beliefs that Arpaio's enforcement efforts, while ostensibly about crime reduction, disproportionately targeted Latinos. Local civil-rights activist Lydia Guzman said the victory has begun to embolden the Hispanic community to air their grievances. Citizens have often feared a complaint would spark retribution from one of a community's regular patrol deputies, or simply fall on deaf ears. Guzman agreed that the most common criticisms she hears after a citizen's contact with a deputy are allegations of verbal abuse. The complaints are promising first steps, she said, but much of the community remains resentful of the Sheriff's Office, and it's clear that trust will be forged gradually. "I'm encouraged that (the Sheriff's Office is) acting on these, and I'm encouraged that the community feels more comfortable filing the complaints," she said. "People feel more confident, and even some of the deputies will recognize this isn't the same agency that it was in 2008." MCSO MISCONDUCT RANKING Misconduct is broken into several categories, ranging from unprofessional to career-ending. The following are categories of the Sheriff's Office's discipline matrix, according to the agency's policy manual, as well as examples of offenses that could qualify under each category. CATEGORY 1 Conduct, while against policy, has a minimal negative impact on the overall operations or professional image of the office and usually of a first-offense nature. Failure to correct the behavior or aggravating factors or circumstances may result in more severe discipline. Violations in Category 1 involve neglect or lack of understanding, as opposed to an intentional act. If acts are found to be intentional, these violations would move to Category 3 or higher. Example: A deputy has difficulty maintaining the required uniform. CATEGORY 2 Conduct that has more than minimal negative impact on the operations or professional image of the office; or that negatively impacts relationships with other employees, agencies or the public. The violations can also include repeated Category 1 violations. Example: A deputy is rude to a citizen and uses inappropriate language. CATEGORY 3 Conduct that has a pronounced negative impact on the operations or professional image of the office; conduct that has a pronounced negative impact on relationships with other employees, agencies or the public. Can also include repeated violations from Category 1 or 2. Example: A deputy is found sleeping while on duty. CATEGORY 4 Conduct that is substantially contrary to the values of the office or that substantially interferes with its mission, operations or professional image, or that involves a demonstrable serious risk to employees or public safety. Example: A deputy intentionally uses his sheriff's ID or badge to obtain free parking in a lot that requires payment. CATEGORY 5 Conduct that involves the serious abuse or misuse of authority, unethical behavior, or an act that results in an actual serious and adverse impact on employee or public safety, or to the professionalism of the office. Example: A deputy sees another deputy use excessive force on a person, does not attempt to stop the excessive force and fails to report the incident to a supervisor. CATEGORY 6 Any violation of law, rule or policy that: foreseeably could result in death or serious bodily injury or constitutes a willful and wanton disregard of the office values. The violations can also include acts which show a serious lack of integrity, ethics or character or can involve egregious misconduct. Example: A deputy sexually harasses a co-worker. CATEGORY 7 Automatic termination on first offense. Any sustained act or omission that by its egregiousness compromises the office in the eyes of the public, courts or in the opinion of the sheriff violates the trust placed in sheriff's personnel. Example: A deputy intentionally lies when questioned by a supervisor. Sheriff's officials say at this time they are unable to break down how many of the complaints fit into each category. F*ck the Bill of Rights, the 1st & 2nd Amendments, we are going to ban guns. Sadly that's how the royal rulers of Phoenix feel. I am sure the Founders created the 2nd Amendment so we could protect ourselves from these jerks in the city of Phoenix who seem to want to take our guns away from us. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/08/14/controversial-guns-save-lives-ads-return-phoenix-bus-stops/14041201/ Controversial 'Guns Save Lives' ads return to Phoenix bus stops The "Guns Save Lives" campaign billboard showed up outside 12 News' studios today. The leader of the campaign tells the "LunchCast" what it's all about. Dustin Gardiner, The Republic | azcentral.com 7:53 a.m. MST August 14, 2014 For nearly four years, Phoenix officials have fought to keep the politically and emotionally charged statement "Guns Save Lives" off city bus shelters. The city conceded that battle earlier this summer after it lost an appeals court ruling, and advertisements with the controversial statement have popped up at bus stops from downtown to northeast Phoenix. Aside from stirring conversations about gun rights, the case could have broader implications for how Phoenix regulates the content of ads on the bus and transit system. Civil-liberties advocates say it opens the door for more ads that blend political and commercial messaging. The dispute started in 2010, when city officials removed from Phoenix bus stops 50 ads with the words "Guns Save Lives" set against the backdrop of a red heart. Phoenix told the man behind the ad, gun-rights activist and author Alan Korwin, that its message is political and violated the city's policy against non-commercial advertising on buses and transit stops. AZCENTRAL Unlikely allies in Phoenix pro-gun advertisement case Korwin said the ad, which includes the words "Arizona Says: Educate Your Kids" and a mention of TrainMeAZ.com, promotes a website that links gun owners with training classes. He contends liberal-leaning city officials censored the ad because they disagree with its message. The Phoenix-based Goldwater Institute, a conservative government-watchdog group, defended Korwin, along with the backing of the liberal-leaning American Civil Liberties Union. They argued that the city's policy banning non-commercial speech is arbitrary and should be struck down because the Arizona Constitution offers greater free-speech protections in certain areas than the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted under the First Amendment. But the Arizona Court of Appeals took an unexpected twist on the case in its May ruling. A three-judge panel rejected Goldwater's free-speech argument because it hadn't raised the argument at trial court. That argument came after a county judge ruled in Phoenix's favor in 2012. AZCENTRAL Ban on Phoenix bus-stop gun ad is back in court The judge ruled that the city had created reasonable guidelines for what it will and won't allow on transit billboards. The appeals court also unanimously agreed that city officials had not lawfully applied its own rules for screening ads, creating a loophole that could allow others to post controversial ads. The judges said Phoenix's claim that its rules ban ads that include speech beyond a commercial message is inconsistent with its written standards, which require only that a "commercial transaction be proposed and must be adequately displayed." That led the court to rule that the city's standards allow for "blended" ads that propose a commercial transaction and include political or ideological speech. In Korwin's case, he promotes a firearms-training website while extolling the virtues of gun ownership. Christina Sandefur, an attorney for the Goldwater Institute, said the ruling "definitely opens the door" for more ads that use political messages to help sell a product. She said city officials had enforced the rules in a haphazard fashion, allowing messages that promote environmentalism or religion, but not Korwin's pro-gun posters. "Although the ruling was narrow, it put the city on notice that it needs to be more thoughtful and consistent about how it enforces their standards," Sandefur said, adding that Phoenix will have to enforce its rules as written. City officials declined to appeal the ruling to the Arizona Supreme Court, but the city is reviewing its policies in light of the appellate ruling. It's unclear if the city will attempt to rewrite its policy to exclude non-commercial speech. Spokesman Matthew Heil said the city won't comment on the ruling until it has completed its review, saying, "It's still a work in progress. We're still working through what those implications would be." But the city has previously questioned whether Korwin is being upfront about the intent behind his ad. In court filings, Phoenix calls the pro-gun ads "political rhetoric in the sheep's clothing of an ostensible commercial advertisement." Attorney David Schwartz argued that the city wants commercial pitches "that do not get into ideological, political debates as part of the proposed ad." The city had defended its policy banning non-commercial speech by pointing to federal court rulings concluding that the government can impose reasonable restrictions on speech that appears in a "non-public forum," such as proprietary advertising sales. Phoenix officials worry that promoting political speech on the city bus system will inevitably create controversy, potentially incite protests, stir accusations of political favoritism and affect transit-system revenue. But Korwin said the case wasn't really about any of those "legal manipulations." He said that despite winning his case on a "technicality," he's watching to see if the city will try to rework its policies in a way that allows officials to retain broad content-based discretion over the type of ads displayed. "They didn't want 'Guns Save Lives' in the public eye," Korwin said, adding that at least 500,000 people now see his ads every day. "You can't ban speech based on content, and that's what they want to do." Korwin said that his posters will remain at city bus stops through November and that he plans to launch a larger advertising campaign with newspaper ads and highway billboards. Sounds like some cops with a "kick ass first, think last" mentality in Houston are responsible for the deaths of 4 innocent bystanders. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/11/police-6-killed-in-houston-area-police-chase/13900145/ Police: 6 killed in Houston-area police chase Six people were killed when a high speed police chase ended with a crash in League City, Texas. Associated Press 3:38 p.m. MST August 11, 2014 LEAGUE CITY, Texas — Authorities say six people have been killed, including a family of four, when an SUV speeding from police struck another vehicle southeast of Houston. Dickinson police Capt. Jay Jaekel says 23-year-old Juan Garcia Ahuezoteco fled police Sunday night in a Dodge Durango. The Durango traveled into nearby League City where it ran a stop sign and struck a Honda Accord. Killed in the Honda were a married couple, 41-year-old Rafael Guererro and 38-year-old Alejandra Guererro, their unidentified 15-year-old son and the woman's 25-year-old brother, Gilberto Ortega Jr. Ahuezoteco and his passenger, Alejandro Molina, also were killed. The pursuit began when an officer in Dickinson attempted to pull over the Durango because it was operating erratically. Jaekel says Ahuezoteco was wanted on a felony count of driving while intoxicated. Personally I think the purpose of primary elections should be for each party to select their best candidate. Why they allow people to cross party lines and vote in a primary election of a party which they are not a member of doesn't make sense to me. In fact the Libertarian Party will only let Libertarians vote in our primary elections. Why should we let a bunch of Democrats or Republicans pick the "best" Libertarian candidate. With that in mind I think the parties should each foot the bills for their primary elections. Something the Libertarian Party also supports. Of course the Democrats and the Republicans all love government pork and want the public to pay for their primary elecitons. http://www.azcentral.com/story/laurieroberts/2014/08/13/independents-surging-to-get-early-ballots/14007859/ Independent voters engaging in record numbers Laurie Roberts, columnist | azcentral.com 2:25 p.m. MST August 13, 2014 Lost but now found: independent voters It appears that independents, long absent from primary elections, are about to make an appearance in a big way in Arizona's Aug. 26 primary. This, I know, because right-wing GOP leaders are calling to close the primary system. "The nominating process, I think, should be reserved for those individuals who are of the party," Maricopa County Republican Party Chairman A.J. LaFaro recently told the Arizona Capitol Times. "We'll absolutely be looking very hard for that before the (2016) election." No surprise there. LaFaro represents the tea party faction of the GOP, the crowd that has dominated GOP politics in Arizona. They have a disproportionate influence for one simple reason: they vote in the primary. And given the make-up of our political districts, whoever wins the primary in most congressional and legislative districts, sails into office come November. Meanwhile, independents, who since 2000 have been allowed to vote in the primaries, have been MIA. This year, however, a few things have changed. First, independents now are the largest block of potential voters in the state. They long ago surpassed Democrats and this year they passed Republicans. But even then, longtime political strategists pooh-poohed their influence, correctly noting that the indys haven't chosen to flex their considerable muscle. Now, however, they're showing signs of awakening. Two years ago, a pitiful 7 percent of Arizona independents turned out in the primary, while overall turnout was 28 percent. In Maricopa County, only 43,500 independents voted in 2012 – 21,500 by early ballot and 22,000 on election day. Thus far this year, 78,383 independents in Maricopa County alone have requested early ballots for the Aug. 26 primary, according to Daniel Ruiz, of the Maricopa County Elections Department. Of those, about 46,888 independents have requested Republican ballots. That's more than voted altogether in 2012, when only 43,500 Maricopa County independents voted – 21,500 by early ballot and 22,000 on Election Day. The message is clear: independents will have a say in who sits in the Legislature and in statewide offices this year. Is it any wonder that tea party types are grumbling about the need to overturn the will of the electorate -- the voters who created the system we have in 1998 -- and close the primaries? They're looking at 2016 to put something on the ballot. Fortunately, there also will be a move in 2016 to open up the primaries even more, a logical move given the surging number of people who are rejecting the two dominant political parties. Look for a new, improved top-two initiative that would eliminate partisan primaries and allow us to elect state and county officials as we do city officials. A plan that would level the playing field for independents voters, who now must jump through extra hoops in order to vote early, and for independent candidates, who must jump higher than their party counterparts to even get on the ballot. Look for the Republican and Democrat parties to fight a top-two initiative. Again, that is. But that's a fight for another day. On this day, voters still have time to request an early ballot for the primary. The deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. In Maricopa County, you can request an early ballot here. Elsewhere, contact your county's Election Department. When the Legislature gets its kook on, readers always ask me who elects these people. The answer is simple. If you didn't vote, you did. I don't know if John Huppenthal is a liar who will say anything to get elected. But sadly most politicians are. Sadly most politicians follow the money and vote for and make laws that will give government pork to the special interest groups that helped get them elected. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2014/08/12/huppenthal-posts-video-accusations-flip-flopping-common-core/13973217/ Huppenthal posts video after 'flip-flopping' accusations Mary Beth Faller, The Republic | azcentral.com 5:39 p.m. MST August 12, 2014 Arizona schools chief John Huppenthal posted a video Tuesday affirming his support for the state's new academic standards after accusations that he had reversed his position on the issue. He told TheArizona Republic that the video clarifies which parts of the standards he supports and reiterates his plan to review them. Arizona's College and Career Ready Standards, also known as Common Core, has emerged as a key issue in the election for state superintendent of public instruction. Huppenthal, who is running for re-election, spent his first term supporting and defending Common Core, a national program that Arizona adopted in 2010. The math and English standards, which were fully in place for the 2013-14 school year, are a set of academic guidelines that determine what concepts students should know and at what grade level. Huppenthal is facing a Republican primary opponent who has focused her entire campaign on repealing the standards. Common Core has been criticized as federal overreach by many conservatives, including Diane Douglas, the GOP candidate. Last week during a debate with Douglas, Huppenthal said, "I never supported Common Core." He went on to say that he never supported the entire Common Core agenda, including the proposed science standards, which have not been adopted. Many, including David Garcia, a Democratic candidate for the office, accused Huppenthal of "flip-flopping" on the issue. Garcia and his Democratic primary opponent, Sharon Thomas, support the standards. The 90-second video was posted to YouTube and e-mailed to the state's teachers on Arizona Department of Education letterhead Tuesday. In the e-mail message, Huppenthal said he posted the video because his message "has been misrepresented." In the video, he says he supports "standards that prepare our students for success in college and career and life." He goes on to address points often brought up by conservatives: "I will always oppose any standard that presents an unbalanced bait on science topics like climate change," and "I will always oppose any standard aimed at denigrating our founding fathers and the U.S. Constitution." Huppenthal's video reiterates his plan to hold a series of forums on revising the standards. He told The Republic that he is planning an elaborate, multistage hearing process that would involve the next governor and national and state experts, as well as educators, parents and community members. "We need to separate the concerns about the standards and the concerns about the curriculum, lesson plans and textbooks,'' he said. "With sufficient depth, you can clear up the confusion and put policies in place that are pleasing to the entire political spectrum." The primary election is set for Aug. 26, and early voting has been underway for a few weeks. Huppenthal said it was appropriate to send the message using his office. "In my view, it was necessary because to a certain extent, the political environment is destabilizing the education environment," he told TheRepublic. "My first priority is to stabilize the educational environment, and that was my motivation to send it out." Douglas on Tuesday said that Huppenthal "does not address any of the serious concerns raised about the Common Core,'' specifically citing concerns over math education. "I will leave it to Arizona voters to determine if, once again, Mr. Huppenthal's use of the (Arizona Department of Education) logo and taxpayer resources to send this campaign message to our education community is appropriate,'' Douglas said. Both Garcia and Thomas also released statements Tuesday saying that the video was evidence that Huppenthal had again changed his stance. I suspect if pot wasn't selling for $300+ and ounce in Colorado sales would be a lot higher (pun intended). If the government wouldn't tax the krap out of marijuana and micromanage the sale and growing of marijuana, a pound of marijuana shouldn't cost any more then a pound of potatoes or tomatoes. Yea, sure the marijuana connoisseurs would be smoking the $50 a pound stuff, but most of us commoners would smoke the $2 a pound stuff. http://www.azcentral.com/story/lindavaldez/2014/08/14/colorado-recreational-marijuana-taxes-below-expectations/14033583/ Colorado: Even the stoned can avoid taxes Linda Valdez, columnist | azcentral.com 2 a.m. MST August 14, 2014 Colorado hoped to get $100 million in recreational pot taxes this fiscal year. That's been revised down to $30.6 million because even the stoned know how to avoid taxes. Revenues from the first six months of legal recreational sales came in more than 60 percent below expectations. Pot tourists go to Colorado to get high on recreational pot, but apparently locals are using medical marijuana, which is taxed at a lower rate. A special legislative group is meeting to come up with a plan for how to turn this around. Raising taxes for something that's been sold as "medicine" might be a hard sell. Meanwhile, the dramatically lower-than-expected tax revenue undercuts one of the best arguments for legalizing recreational use. In states that have legalized pot as medicine, the financial benefits of legalizing recreational use may not be that impressive. That changes the debate. It would be an ironic twist if medical marijuana – which was primarily a ruse to legitimize pot – turned out to be a barrier to full legalization. Campaign promises are as impractical as ever I suspect that T.G. Fisher is like me and thinks the only time elected officials are not lying is when there lips are not moving. http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/letters/2014/08/13/campaign-promises-are-as-impractical-as-ever/14038105/ Campaign promises are as impractical as ever T.G. Fisher, 7:57 p.m. MST August 13, 2014 I sense something is missing from the campaign promises I hear from my TV set. Or several things. For openers, I have not heard one candidate pledge to walk on water. And not one has promised to turn Arizona's rock-hard water into Merlot. Not yet, anyway. The one I am really anticipating is the promise to feed Tucson with five tortillas and two tilapia. At least the candidates are not making really absurd promises, like turning politicians into honest and productive citizens or bestowing a mantle of wisdom on the Legislature. —T.G. Fisher, Phoenix Sadly politics seems to be more about mud slinging to get elected, rather the debating the issues. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2014/08/13/gop-rivals-use-obama-weapon-primary/13988147/ GOP rivals use Obama as weapon in primary Mark Olalde, The Republic | azcentral.com 11:22 a.m. MST August 13, 2014 President Barack Obama's face leers from the shadows, the corners of his mouth slightly raised in a sinister half-smile. The edited image of the president greeted Scottsdale voters in a political mailer sent late last month that implied the Democratic president is somehow linked to Scottsdale Councilman Bob Littlefield, a Republican candidate for the state House of Representatives. Invoking Obama's name and likeness has become a favorite tool to attack opponents in Republican primaries. Even when they are races for offices that have no contact with the highest office in the land. Campaigns competing in races for the Legislature, the Corporation Commission and governor — and the independent expenditures supporting them — are all employing the tactic in mailers, campaign signs, TV commercials and endless debate rhetoric. The rationale behind the strategy is clear: With Obama's approval ratings hovering in the low 40 percent range, linking your opponent — no matter how tenuously — to an unpopular president might make you look better by contrast. "It's classic negative campaigning with often not even a shred of truth, and the anti-Obama fever is so strong in some circles that it's poison," state Sen. Bob Worsley said. Worsley, who faces a Republican primary challenge in District 25, has come under attack from an independent expenditure group trying to label him as a supporter of Obama's signature Affordable Care Act because he voted to expand the state's Medicaid program. Many of the ads are strikingly similar: • District 15 Rep. Heather Carter supports "Obamacare," according to a mailer, sent last year, and funded by the conservative non-profit Americans for Prosperity. • Democrat Terry Goddard is pictured next to Obama in an Arizona Free Enterprise Club mailer accusing Goddard and other candidates for secretary of state of failing on border security. The group is spending heavily to influence the GOP primaries for secretary of state and Corporation Commission, among others. • Attorney General Tom Horne financed a TV ad attacking his GOP challenger, Mark Brnovich, for having a border plan similar to Obama's. Horne's was one of the few Obama attacks financed directly by a candidate. "You have everybody from the state treasurer to the secretary of state talking about how they're going to stand up to Barack Obama and secure the border," said Robbie Sherwood, executive director of the left-leaning non-profit ProgressNow Arizona. "It's silly, but they must believe it's going to be effective in their primary." Sherwood said the tactic can be more effective in GOP primaries because Republican primary voters are more conservative, and more opposed to Obama's policies, than general-election voters. Favored angles of attack include Obamacare, border security, federal encroachment in education and renewable energy, but experts said the desired effect is simply making a link between an opponent and the unpopular president. Doing just that, an attack ad naming gubernatorial hopeful Scott Smith as "Obama's favorite mayor" aired early in the primary. Smith's spokesman, Drew Sexton, said voters could see through the ad, but they still had plenty of questions for the campaign that were spurred by the ad. "We've seen that some of our opponents in the governor's race are acting like they're actually running against President Obama," Sexton said. Nowhere is the effort to tie Obama to political foes more apparent than the Republican primary for the Corporation Commission, the body that regulates public utilities in Arizona. The groups behind the attacks are battling over two competing candidate pairings: Vernon Parker and Lucy Mason vs. Doug Little and Tom Forese. The non-profits, Arizona Free Enterprise Club and Save Our Future Now, which are not obliged to identify their donors, have already spent over $1.1 million either in support of Little and Forese or to oppose Parker and Mason. Much of it has funded Obama-related attacks, although the Corporation Commission has little interaction with the federal government or the White House. Pro-Little and Forese campaign signs carry the slogan "Fighting Obama," and a campaign mailer claimed, "Vernon Parker & Lucy Mason support Obama's job-killing energy agenda." Doug Cole, senior vice president of HighGround Public Affairs Consultants, said the Obama bashing will likely be more effective in down-ticket campaigns than high-profile races such as governor, where more voters are familiar with the candidates and understand the responsibilities of the office. "Once you get into other constitutional offices like superintendent of public instruction or Corporation Commission, a lot of voters aren't as well versed to what those roles are," Cole said. "So, they look to other issues or other associations to give them a barometer to what that person stands for or stands against." In Worsley's race, an independent group, Arizona Business Coalition, that supports him went after his opponent. The recent ad, which cost over $15,000, calls Worsley's challenger, Dr. Ralph Heap, a "hypocrite politician" and accuses him of making money off Obamacare. "It's just unfortunate," Worsley said. "I would rather see people say who they are and let voters decide between two people instead of using politics of destruction." Sherwood said the Obama-related attacks may fade once the general election rolls around. Candidates will moderate their tone as they seek to appeal to independents, not just conservatives, Sherwood said. "I think there has to be some sort of law of diminishing returns." http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/08/14/yes-you-can-record-the-police-and-maybe-the-police-should-be-recording-the-police/?hpid=z14 Yes, you can record the police. And maybe the police should be recording the police. By Andrea Peterson August 14 at 10:20 AM Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery and Huffington Post reporter Ryan Reilly were arrested Wednesday night while covering the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., following Saturday's police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. While eventually released, Lowery was detained for not packing up his bag fast enough while being forced out of the McDonald's he was reporting from -- and told by an officer to stop recording video of the encounter on his smartphone. But Washington Post editor Marty Baron noted in his statement responding to the incident that the order to stop filming was illegal. Courts have held that, as a general rule, individuals have a right to record law enforcement officers carrying out their duties in public spaces. And as the video archive of questionable police tactics from citizen observers grows, it's clear there's a certain benefit to keeping a digital eye on the police: Knowing there is a record of their actions can help put everyone on their best behavior -- or at least make sure there's evidence of misbehavior when it occurs. Many police stations have long recorded at least some of their officers' interactions with the public, most frequently through dashboard cameras that capture traffic stops. Indeed, elsewhere in the world -- such as Russia -- car owners often purchase their own dashcams to gather evidence for insurance purposes and to record their interactions with the police and others. But there's also a growing movement in the United States to have on-duty officers use body cameras to record their interactions with the public. Police officers in Rialto, Calif., started wearing cameras in February 2012. The result? The volume of complaints filed against officers fell by 88 percent compared with the previous year, and use of force by officers fell by almost 60 percent, according to the New York Times. The tactic adds an extra layer of accountability on police actions and creates a record that officers can fall back on if their account differs from that of an arrestee. Other jurisdictions have also started using cameras on officers. Police in Laurel, Md., started using them last summer. Not long after that, a federal judge ordered police officers in some New York precincts to use bodycams to monitor how they were enforcing the city's controversial stop-and-frisk program -- something then-mayor Michael Bloomberg opposed, even though he was generally in favor of increased surveillance elsewhere. Even the American Civil Liberties Union, which typically raises the alarm over practices that potentially infringe on privacy, has endorsed the idea. "Although we generally take a dim view of the proliferation of surveillance cameras in American life, police on-body cameras are different because of their potential to serve as a check against the abuse of power by police officers," the group argued in a position paper released last fall. Still, the civil liberties group did note the policy questions raised by the technology's use. Control over the actual device and its recordings is important, the ACU argues. "If the cameras do not record continuously, that would place them under officer control, which would create the danger that they could be manipulated by some officers, undermining their core purpose of detecting police misconduct," the group says. The ACLU also suggests that video be deleted after a certain amount of time unless a recording has been flagged -- and that period should be weeks, not years. There are other concerns, too, such as how to handle the recordings when officers enter a private residence. As technology progresses, other new privacy concerns will no doubt be raised, such as the potential for facial recognition technology to be run against police bodycam footage to create a record of an individual's movements. But so far it seems like keeping a digital eye on the police can be a powerful tool for checking the power imbalance between citizens and the law enforcement agents who interact with them. In the case of the Michael Brown shooting, much of the information we have comes from eyewitness accounts. If the police had an unedited video of the encounter, there would be little doubt about what exactly occurred, and perhaps accountability would be easier to achieve. Andrea Peterson covers technology policy for The Washington Post, with an emphasis on cybersecurity, consumer privacy, transparency, surveillance and open government. More of the old "Do as I say, not as I do" from our religious leaders, government masters and police??? http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/545/article/p2p-81082920/ Chicago police sergeant charged with fondling officer's young daughter By Peter Nickeas and Jeremy Gorner, Tribune reporters 8:12 am, August 14, 2014 A veteran Chicago police sergeant was charged with fondling the 9-year-old daughter of a police officer at a barbecue over the weekend, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office said. Dennis Barnes, 61, a patrol sergeant in the South Side's Wentworth police district, was charged Wednesday night with three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of attempted predatory sexual assault, said Sally Daly, the spokeswoman. Barnes was at the officer's home for a barbecue Saturday night in the South Chicago neighborhood when he allegedly fondled the girl, according to law enforcement sources. The girl told relatives and Barnes was confronted while still at the home, the sources said. Barnes, who was arrested on Tuesday, could appear in bond court this afternoon at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. pnickeas@tribune.com jgorner@tribune.com Reagan-Era Order on Surveillance Violates Rights, Says Departing Aide More of the old "I got a gun and a badge and that means you ain't got no Constitutional rights" http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/us/politics/reagan-era-order-on-surveillance-violates-rights-says-departing-aide.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSumSmallMediaHigh&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0 Reagan-Era Order on Surveillance Violates Rights, Says Departing Aide By CHARLIE SAVAGEAUG. 13, 2014 WASHINGTON — After President Obama delivered a speech in January endorsing changes to surveillance policies, including an end to the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ domestic calling records, John Napier Tye was disillusioned. A State Department official, Mr. Tye worked on Internet freedom issues and had top-secret clearance. He knew the Obama administration had also considered a proposal to impose what an internal White House document, obtained by The New York Times, portrayed as “significant changes” to rules for handling Americans’ data the N.S.A. collects from fiber-optic networks abroad. But Mr. Obama said nothing about that in his speech. So in April, as Mr. Tye was leaving the State Department, he filed a whistle-blower complaint arguing that the N.S.A.'s practices abroad violated Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights. He also met with staff members for the House and Senate intelligence committees. Last month, he went public with those concerns, which have attracted growing attention. When operating abroad, the N.S.A. can gather and use Americans’ phone calls, emails, text messages and other communications under different — and sometimes more permissive — rules than when it collects them inside the United States. Much about those rules remains murky. The executive branch establishes them behind closed doors and can change them at will, with no involvement from Congress or the secret intelligence court that oversees surveillance on domestic networks. “It’s a problem if one branch of government can collect and store most Americans’ communications, and write rules in secret on how to use them — all without oversight from Congress or any court, and without the consent or even the knowledge of the American people,” Mr. Tye said. “Regardless of the use rules in place today, this system could be abused in the future.” Mr. Tye, 38, is speaking out as Congress considers amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs how the N.S.A. operates domestically. The legislation resulted from the uproar over leaks by Edward J. Snowden, a former agency contractor. But the proposed changes would not touch the agency’s abilities overseas, which are authorized by Executive Order 12333, a Reagan-era presidential directive. The administration has declassified some rules for handling Americans’ messages gathered under the order, but the scope of that collection and other details about how the messages are used has remained unclear. “The debate over the last year has barely touched on the executive order,” said Jameel Jaffer, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer. “It’s a black box.” The Times interviewed nearly a dozen current and former officials about 12333 rules for handling American communications, bringing further details to light. The rules are detailed in an accompanying chart. By law, the N.S.A. cannot deliberately intercept an American’s messages without court permission. But it can “incidentally” collect such private communications as a consequence of its foreign surveillance. The volume of incidental collection overseas is uncertain. Officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the topic, said the N.S.A. had never studied the matter and most likely could not come up with a representative sampling. Mr. Tye called that “willful blindness.” Still, the number of Americans swept up under 12333 could be sizable. As the N.S.A. intercepts content in bulk from satellite transmissions and from overseas fiber-optic hubs, Americans’ messages in the mix can be vacuumed up. By contrast, when operating on domestic networks under FISA, the agency may engage only in targeted, not dragnet, collection and storage of content. Congress left the executive branch with a freer hand abroad because it was once rare for Americans’ communications to go overseas. But in the Internet era, that is no longer true. Continue reading the main story Large email companies like Google and Yahoo have built data centers abroad, where they store backups of their users’ data. Mr. Snowden disclosed that in 2012 the N.S.A., working with its British counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters, penetrated links connecting the companies’ overseas data centers and collected 181.3 million records in 30 days. Mr. Tye was a rebel within the system. Raised in a Boston suburb, he attended Duke University, Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, and Yale Law School. But his elite résumé and conservative appearance belie a history of nonconformity and social mission. At Duke, he avoided fraternities, wore his hair long, became a wilderness enthusiast and created his own major, fusing economics, computer science and mathematics. “I thought I was going to be a scientist,” Mr. Tye said in an interview. “But when I was graduating, I decided I wanted to do things that have more of an impact on real people.” After studying at Oxford, he researched hate groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center before arriving at Yale just as legal issues raised by counterterrorism policies after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were crystallizing. He joined a civil liberties litigation clinic. After Yale, he moved to New Orleans, where he represented poor people in housing-related problems. In early 2011, he landed a State Department job working on Internet issues. Then came Mr. Snowden’s disclosures. Mr. Tye had a vantage point on administration deliberations about proposed changes. By February, he was planning to leave the government and file a whistle-blower complaint. It yielded little. The House Intelligence Committee sent a letter saying it had “reviewed your allegations and has taken the action it deems appropriate in this matter.” The N.S.A. inspector general sent a similar letter, emphasizing that Mr. Tye had acknowledged that he did not know the rules for handling Americans’ messages. Brian Fallon, a Justice Department spokesman, defended the N.S.A.'s practices under the executive order as “respectful of the principles upon which the United States was founded and consistent with U.S. laws, including the Fourth Amendment.” The proposal to increase protections for American messages gathered incidentally under Executive Order 12333 — the quiet rejection of which provoked Mr. Tye — came from a review group Mr. Obama appointed after Mr. Snowden’s leaks. Its report recommended three changes for such messages. First, it said, analysts should purge them from the 12333 storehouse upon detection, unless they have foreign intelligence value or are necessary to prevent bodily harm. A similar rule already exists, but has another major exception: Analysts must send any information about crimes to the Justice Department. The officials would not say how often criminal referrals have resulted. Second, the review group said, prosecutors should not use incidental 12333 intercepts of Americans as direct evidence in criminal proceedings against them. In practice, officials said, the government already avoids doing so, so as not to have to divulge the origins of the evidence in court. But the officials contend that defendants have no right to know if 12333 intercepts provided a tip from which investigators derived other evidence. Third, the review group said, analysts should not search the storehouse for an American’s messages unless a court finds probable involvement with terrorism. Officials said a current rule permits analysts to query for an American’s messages if the attorney general says the person is probably an “agent of a foreign power,” a broader category. Usually, they added, the N.S.A. also gets a court order for prospective surveillance. The only recent exception, one official said, involved a dead suspect. The N.S.A. is also permitted to search the 12333 storehouse using keywords likely to bring up Americans’ messages. Such searches must have “foreign intelligence” purposes, so analysts cannot hunt for ordinary criminal activity. For now, the N.S.A. does not share raw 12333 intercepts with other agencies, like the F.B.I. or the C.I.A., to search for their own purposes. But the administration is drafting new internal guidelines that could permit such sharing, officials said. The administration secretly changed the rules in November 2010 to allow the N.S.A. to analyze Americans’ metadata — information showing who communicates with whom, but not content — gathered under 12333, Mr. Snowden’s leaks showed. The agency may do so without outside permission and for any foreign intelligence purpose, not just counterterrorism. That means there are fewer restrictions on the agency’s use of Americans’ bulk metadata when gathered abroad than when gathered on domestic soil under FISA and court oversight. The N.S.A.'s 12333 power would not diminish under the bill to replace the phone metadata program. Aware of leak prosecutions, Mr. Tye, who now works for a civic activist network, estimates he has spent $13,000 on lawyers to make sure he stays within the lines. He drafted a Washington Post opinion column about 12333 by hand to avoid introducing any classified information on an insecure computer, and submitted it for prepublication government review. But he said he felt compelled to speak out. Because of Mr. Snowden’s disclosures, he said, there is growing awareness that it is now possible for the government to collect a huge share of private communications. The public and Congress, he argued, should decide what the rules for that growing power should be. “We are at an inflection point in human history,” he said. Cops always consider "free speech" a danger to their activities. It looked really bad when the LAPD was filmed beating the living sh*t out of Rodney King and the police don't like things like that to get out. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_26335899/cops-ask-citizens-stop-tweeting-about-police-activity Cops ask citizens to stop tweeting about police activity By Donna Gordon Blankinship Associated Press Posted: 08/14/2014 09:23:41 AM PDT SEATTLE -- Police in Washington state are asking the public to stop tweeting during shootings and manhunts to avoid accidentally telling the bad guys what officers are doing. The "TweetSmart" campaign began in late July by a coalition of nine agencies, including the Washington state patrol and the Seattle police, and aims to raise awareness about social media's potential impact on law enforcement. Some have called the effort a step that could lead to censorship; others dismissed it as silly. Police, however, say it's just a reminder at a time when cell phones and social networks can hasten the lightning-quick spread of information. A social media expert at the International Association of Chiefs of Police said she's unaware of similar awareness campaigns elsewhere but the problem that prompted the outreach is growing. "All members of the public may not understand the implications of tweeting out a picture of SWAT team activity," said Nancy Korb, who oversees the Alexandria, Virginia, organization's Center for Social Media. "It's a real safety issue, not only for officers but anyone in the vicinity," Korb said. Korb said she is not aware of any social media post that has led to the injury of a police officer, but she said there have been a few close calls. Other times, tweets have interfered with investigations. In those cases, police tweet back and ask people to back off. Korb said citizen journalists generally respond well when the reasons are explained. "It's not that they don't want the public to share information," she said. "It's the timing of it." Social media speculation and reports challenged Boston police during the search for the marathon bombers. Two recent incidents led the Washington State Patrol to organize the "TweetSmart" campaign: the search for a gunman in Canada after three officers were killed and a shooting at a high school near Portland, Oregon. "I saw it personally as far back as Lakewood," said State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins, referring to social media traffic during the manhunt for a man wanted for killing four officers in Washington state in 2009. At the time, people speculated online about why police were combing a Seattle park while a search was on for the man, Calkins said. Calkins said police agencies can do their own preventative maintenance with social media by getting information out there when crime is happening. "We have to respond with a smart phone almost as fast as we respond with a gun," said Calkins, who along with Korb commended the Seattle Police Department for its use of social media. Department spokesman Sean Whitcomb said they use social media to engage the public and believe that getting public safety information out quickly will help minimize rumors and speculation. "We recognize there's a responsibility to use every tool at our disposal to keep the public safe," Whitcomb said. Seattle photographer Michael Holden said he saw a direct path between asking people not to share crime photos and eventually forbidding them to take them. Holden said citizens have good reasons to take pictures of police and he does not worry about criminals using social media to find out what law enforcement is doing. "I think the criminals are probably having more pressing concerns than checking Twitter," he said. Perry Merriel, a trucker from Ephrata, Washington, said he's not sure why the public needs a reminder to follow common sense on social media. "They are putting their lives on the line for you," he said. "It should go without saying: don't advertise what they're doing," he said. ------ Follow Donna Blankinship at https://twitter.com/dgblankinship More light rail pork on the way???? When it comes to Valley Metro Buses it costs the government 5 times what the collect in revenue to provide the bus services. Light rail is super expensive. I think it costs something like 10 to 15 times what they collect in revenue from train rides to provide the light rail service. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/08/12/phoenix-mayor-stanton-wants-expand-light-rail/13957029/ Citizen panel to draft light-rail growth plan Voters would decide on Stanton’s ambitious goal of tripling tracks. Caitlin McGlade, The Republic | azcentral.com 6:59 p.m. MST August 13, 2014 Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton wants to triple Metro light rail's mileage over the next 30 years. But to do that, the city would likely need to go back to voters to fund it. So Phoenix leaders on Tuesday announced that they have formed a citizen committee to draft light-rail expansions and street and bus improvements so they can bring it to voters next year. "The economy is improving," Stanton said. "This city is growing again. There is going to be more and more congestion. Unless we work hard to get ahead of the curve, things are going to slow down in this city." Mary Peters, a former U.S. secretary of transportation, will chair the committee, composed of former council members, business leaders and other residents. But the city also will look for resident input through talk transportation.org. The website asks visitors to describe their vision for transportation over the next 20 to 30 years, requests feedback for needed bus service and hosts updates about transportation news. The light rail covers 20 miles and runs through Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa, servicing 33 stations. The rail opened in 2008 and cost $1.4 billion to build. Additional extensions are underway in Phoenix and Mesa. Phoenix expects to spend about $21.9 million to operate the light rail this fiscal year, and will pay an additional overhead cost of about $463,900. But in 2013, fare revenue covered about $8.1 million of the city's operation and maintenance costs. Light rail has reached its 2020 ridership goal of 48,000 people a day, roughly 22,000 more than expected during the system's fifth year. Proponents say the rail has generated about $7 billion in economic investment and offers transportation options for people without personal transportation. "It's definitely about economic development, it definitely is about viability for this city ... but it is also about catching life's appointments," Councilman Daniel Valenzuela said. "In many neighborhoods, less than half of the people in those neighborhoods own a vehicle." But Phoenix's voter-approved transportation sales tax, Transit 2000, expires in 2020, and revenue will be $1 billion short of projections because of the Great Recession. The city relies on that tax and revenue from a county transportation sales tax, Proposition 400, to fund construction of transit upgrades. City leaders aim to extend Transit 2000, a four-tenths-of-a-cent-per-dollar sales tax, because the city would otherwise have enough funding to build only 4 or 5 additional miles of rail over the next six years. Colorado aims to produce more legal pot According to this article the price of marijuana on the black market is less then half of the price of legal marijuana in Colorado. "I am selling an eighth (of an ounce) for $60 when the street price is about $25." That means legal marijuana in Colorado cost and outrageous $480 and ounce, while black market marijuana costs $200 and ounce. If you ask me the street price of $200/oz or $25/gram seems a bit high. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/12/colorado-marijuana-sales/13915859/ Colorado aims to produce more legal pot Katie Kuntz, Rocky Mountain PBS I-News 10:15 a.m. EDT August 13, 2014 Seven months after Colorado legalized recreational pot, the state has an unexpected problem. It needs to grow more. Because even though sales have surged, only about 60% of the marijuana sold is the legal variety. The rest is either illegal or grown unregulated in the so-called gray market, where unlicensed citizens can grow for their own use. Colorado residents and visitors will consume an estimated 287,000 pounds of marijuana in 2014, but only about 170,000 pounds will come from legal medical or recreational outlets, according to a report commissioned by the state Marijuana Enforcement Division. The rest, about 118,000 pounds, or 41%, is expected to be produced by people who can legally grow up to six pot plants for personal consumption, registered caregivers who provide marijuana to medical patients, and black market producers, including gangs, who operate outside the Colorado legal system. As a result, Colorado state regulators are trying to increase the amount of marijuana produced and sold by legal retailers. "Right now, we are pretty significantly under what should be produced," said Ron Kammerzell, deputy senior director of enforcement for the state Department of Revenue. "What that does is, (it) raises the prices and if the price is too high, then we can't compete with the black market and that was our ultimate goal — we wanted to eliminate the black market," Kammerzell said. However, new data comparing demand for marijuana in Colorado with the legal supply suggest that criminal enterprises could stay in business. MORE: Colo. pot market far larger than predicted "Basically, the state is trying to ensure that the amount that is being grown in Colorado equals what the demand is," said Mike Elliot, executive director of Marijuana Industry Group, a trade association for the state's marijuana industry. "If there is too much, then people want to take it out of state or sell to kids (minors), and if there is too little, then the black market will fill in the gaps." Reducing the black market is not only a state goal but also a federal priority. U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole issued a memorandum last year that listed selling to minors, exporting marijuana out of state and enriching the black market as offenses to be avoided in order to keep the Justice Department on the sidelines in states where pot is legal. Although the state, federal government and legal marijuana businesses all hope to undercut the black market, their ideas about how to do so vary dramatically. Marijuana retailers say supply isn't the issue. The real problem is price. "After the cost of producing each pound, I still have to pay a 15% excise tax, licensing fees, huge rent because landlords overcharge marijuana dispensaries, and when I pay federal income tax I can't deduct like a regular business," said Brian Ruden owner of Starbud, Altermeds and Tree of Wellness medical and recreational outlets in Denver, Colorado Springs and Louisville, Colo. "I am selling an eighth (of an ounce) for $60 when the street price is about $25." On average, state, local and federal sales taxes on recreational marijuana are just over 21%, while the taxes on marijuana for medical uses are about 7.6%. The federal government still categorizes marijuana as a dangerous illegal drug, but it collects tax revenue on its legal sale in Colorado and Washington. The black market benefits from the high taxes, too — because its products can be sold for much less. "I have had locals come in here without their med cards, and ask what our recreational prices are and just turn around and leave," said Nelson Figueiredo, a "budtender" at Medicine Man dispensary in Denver. "They have friends who can sell them pot much cheaper." As the Colorado industry continues to grow, regulators hope to allow steady growth of the legal market. "We really want to do this in a very predictable and controlled way," Kammerzell said. "I think what we are seeing is that the biggest driver right now is supply, and that is what we intend to address." USA TODAY brings you this report in partnership with Rocky Mountain PBS I-News. Learn more at rmpbs.org/news. Pigs falsely arrest and beat up reporters with Washington Post in Missouri. I got a gun and a badge and that means you ain't got no Constitutional rights. Sadly that's how most pigs think. Even worse most courts side with these police thugs. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ferguson-washington-post-reporter-wesley-lowery-gives-account-of-his-arrest/2014/08/13/0fe25c0e-2359-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html?hpid=z2 In Ferguson, Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery gives account of his arrest FERGUSON, Mo. — For the past week in Ferguson, reporters have been using the McDonald’s a few blocks from the scene of Michael Brown’s shooting as a staging area. Demonstrations have blown up each night nearby. But inside there’s WiFi and outlets, so it’s common for reporters to gather there. That was the case Wednesday. My phone was just about to die, so as I charged it, I used the time to respond to people on Twitter and do a little bit of a Q&A since I wasn’t out there covering the protests. As I sat there, many armed officers came in — some who were dressed as normal officers, others who were dressed with more gear. Initially, both Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post and I were asked for identification. I was wearing my lanyard, but Ryan asked why he had to show his ID. They didn’t press the point, but one added that if we called 911, no one would answer. Then they walked away. Moments later, the police reemerged, telling us that we had to leave. I pulled my phone out and began recording video. Demonstrations, social media and talk shows swirled with anger aimed at both Michael Brown’s death and the violent protests that followed the shooting of the unarmed teen Saturday night Aug. 13, 2014 Police officers work their way north on West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Mo., clearing the road of people. Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP An officer with a large weapon came up to me and said, “Stop recording.” I said, “Officer, do I not have the right to record you?” He backed off but told me to hurry up. So I gathered my notebook and pens with one hand while recording him with the other hand. As I exited, I saw Ryan to my left, having a similar argument with two officers. I recorded him, too, and that angered the officer. As I made my way toward the door, the officers gave me conflicting information. One instructed me to exit to my left. As I turned left, another officer emerged, blocking my path. “Go another way,” he said. As I turned, my backpack, which was slung over one shoulder, began to slip. I said, “Officers, let me just gather my bag.” As I did, one of them said, “Okay, let’s take him.” Police used tear gas and smoke bombs to repel crowds who threw Molotov cocktails during another violent night in the wake of the shooting of the unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown. (AP) Multiple officers grabbed me. I tried to turn my back to them to assist them in arresting me. I dropped the things from my hands. “My hands are behind my back,” I said. “I’m not resisting. I’m not resisting.” At which point one officer said: “You’re resisting. Stop resisting.” That was when I was most afraid — more afraid than of the tear gas and rubber bullets. As they took me into custody, the officers slammed me into a soda machine, at one point setting off the Coke dispenser. They put plastic cuffs on me, then they led me out the door. I could see Ryan still talking to an officer. I said: “Ryan, tweet that they’re arresting me, tweet that they’re arresting me.” He didn’t have an opportunity, because he was arrested as well. The officers led us outside to a police van. Inside, there was a large man sitting on the floor between the two benches. He began screaming: “I can’t breathe! Call a paramedic! Call a paramedic!” Ryan and I asked the officers if they intended to help the man. They said he was fine. The screaming went on for the 10 to 15 minutes we stood outside the van. “I’m going to die!” he screamed. “I’m going to die! I can’t breathe! I’m going to die!” Eventually a police car arrived. A woman — with a collar identifying her as a member of the clergy — sat in the back. Ryan and I crammed in next to her, and we took the three-minute ride to the Ferguson Police Department. The woman sang hymns throughout the ride. During this time, we asked the officers for badge numbers. We asked to speak to a supervising officer. We asked why we were being detained. We were told: trespassing in a McDonald’s. “I hope you’re happy with yourself,” one officer told me. And I responded: “This story’s going to get out there. It’s going to be on the front page of The Washington Post tomorrow.” And he said, “Yeah, well, you’re going to be in my jail cell tonight.” Once at the station, we were processed, our pockets emptied. No mug shots. They removed our restraints and put us in a holding cell. Ryan was able to get ahold of his dad. I called my mom, but I couldn’t get through. I couldn’t remember any phone numbers. We were in there for what felt like 10 or 15 minutes. Then the processing officer came in. “Who’s media?” he asked. We said we were. And the officer said we were both free to go. We asked to speak to a commanding officer. We asked to see an arrest report. No report, the officer told us, and no, they wouldn’t provide any names. I asked if there would ever be a report. He came back with a case number and said a report would be available in a week or two. “The chief thought he was doing you two a favor,” he said. The Ferguson Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lowery’s detention. The following is a statement on the incident from Washington Post Executive Editor Martin D. Baron: Wesley has briefed us on what occurred, and there was absolutely no justification for his arrest. He was illegally instructed to stop taking video of officers. Then he followed officers’ instructions to leave a McDonald’s — and after contradictory instructions on how to exit, he was slammed against a soda machine and then handcuffed. That behavior was wholly unwarranted and an assault on the freedom of the press to cover the news. The physical risk to Wesley himself is obvious and outrageous. After being placed in a holding cell, he was released with no charges and no explanation. He was denied information about the names and badge numbers of those who arrested him. We are relieved that Wesley is going to be OK. We are appalled by the conduct of police officers involved. If you believe in Global Warming you might like this article. According to the article ants, yep, that's ants or hormigas in Spanish might save the world from Global Warming. http://www.teleguiaenespanol.com/Edicion/index.htm Las hormigas podrían enfriar el clima de la Tierra La población de hormigas pudo haber eliminado cantidades significativas de dióxido de carbono de la atmósfera. La problemática del calentamiento global es enorme, sin embargo, su solución podría depender de un pequeñísimo insecto: la hormiga. De acuerdo a un estudio publicado en la revista Geology, las hormigas contribuyeron al enfriamiento del clima terrestre conforme crecieron en número, convirtiéndose en los agentes climáticos biológicos más poderosos del planeta. El geólogo Ronald Dorn, de la Universidad Estatal de California, descubrió que ciertas especies de formícidos transforman algunos minerales de la tierra para segregar carbonato de calcio, mejor conocido como piedra caliza. En el proceso, eliminan una diminuta cantidad de dióxido de carbono, un gas de efecto invernadero, de la atmósfera. "Las hormigas están cambiando el medio ambiente", dijo Dorn. La creación de piedra caliza a causa de las hormigas es una versión a pequeña escala del proceso planetario de refrigeración masiva que tiene lugar en los océanos, conocido como secuestro de carbono. Los depósitos marinos de piedra caliza contienen más carbono "almacenado" del que está presente en la atmósfera hoy en día. Hace 25 años, Dorn enterró arena en seis sitios diferentes de las Montañas Catalina, en Arizona, y el Cañón Palo Duro, en Texas. Cada cinco años, desenterró un poco de arena y midió la descomposición de olvino y plagioclasa debido a la exposición al agua, la actividad de los insectos y la actividad química derivada de las raíces de los árboles. El experimento de Dorn reveló que las hormigas decomponen los minerales 50 a 300 veces más rápido que la arena depositada sobre el suelo intacto, ya que acumulan piedra caliza dentro de sus hormigueros. Si bien se desconoce exactamente cómo transforman los granos de arena en piedra caliza, pequeñas cantidades de dióxido de carbono quedan atrapadas en la roca. Phoenix City Councilman Michael Nowakowski is a big time supporter of the police state!!!!! http://www.teleguiaenespanol.com/Edicion/index.htm Aprueba Nowakowski contratación de policías para Phoenix El también Presidente de la Subcomisión de Seguridad y Veteranos del Ayuntamiento, agradeció al alcalde Greg Stanton, por su liderazgo en esta decisión. Como una gran noticia calificó el Concejal de Phoenix, Michael Nowakowski la contratación de 300 policías, ya que dijo que con esta medida aumentará la seguridad de la ciudad. "Esta es una gran noticia para los ciudadanos de Phoenix y contribuirá de manera significativa a la seguridad de nuestra ciudad y nuestros oficiales", comentó. El también Presidente de la Subcomisión de Seguridad y Veteranos del Ayuntamiento, agradeció al alcalde Greg Stanton, por su liderazgo en esta decisión. Además, agregó, quiero reconocer a los miembros de Seguridad Pública y al Subcomité de Veteranos. "Así como a los miembros del Consejo Thelda Williams, Kate Gallego y Laura Pastor que han hecho de la contratación de más agentes de la policía nuestra prioridad número uno". Y agregó: "Al igual que con todos mis colegas en el Concejo Municipal, vamos a seguir trabajando a nivel federal, estatal y local para buscar oportunidades de becas que ayuden en la reposición de nuestra fuerza policiaca. "Debemos continuar abogando por subvenciones adicionales y eficiencias presupuestarias que permitan esta contratación para continuar con ello. Es nuestra responsabilidad proteger a nuestras comunidades y que, como equipo, se mantengan enfocados en esta prioridad".