Monday, October 5, 2020
WASHINGTON – A federal judge reiterated her order Thursday that the Census Bureau continue its count until Oct. 31, saying plans to end earlier were “erroneous … unlawful” and they undermined the credibility of the count.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Lucy H Koh came just five days before the bureau said it planned to stop field operations, contrary to Koh’s order from last month.
At stake is congressional representation and the potential loss of federal funding that could be skewed by an undercount. An official with the Arizona Complete Count Committee has estimated that a 1% undercount could cost the state $62 million a year in federal funding, or $620 million by the next decennial census in 2030.
WASHINGTON – News that President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19 led to well-wishes from Arizona lawmakers Friday, a scrambling of the president’s planned visits to the state next week – and some grumbling about the lack of safeguards at previous Trump rallies.
The White House announced Friday morning that Trump and first lady Melania Trump would be quarantining at the White House after both tested positive for the virus, which a staffer had contracted earlier in the week.
By Friday afternoon, doctors had transferred Trump to Walter Reed Medical Center out of “an abundance of caution.” He was expected to remain there for several days and was reported to be “fatigued but in good spirits.”
Saturday, October 3, 2020
Thursday, October 1, 2020
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his debate comments on the right-wing extremists known as the Proud Boys, but reaction from officials in Arizona ranged from dismissal to dismay.
The furor began Tuesday night during the nationally televised debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, when Trump was asked to condemn violent groups like the Proud Boys. He said they should “stand back and stand by,”
That set off alarm bells for Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, a Marine veteran who said others in the audience immediately noticed Trump’s choice of words.
“We Marines know what it means to be told to ‘stand by.’ It means get ready to fight,” Gallego tweeted. “Trump’s words tonight are a dangerous call to get ready for action. We need to heal this country, not divide it more.”
Tags: proud boys , trump , biden , election , white supremacy , Image
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
A ban from Facebook has apparently done little to slow Brian Kolfage, charged last month for defrauding thousands in a “build the wall” effort, and who regularly uses personal attacks and misinformation to sic his online following on perceived detractors.
This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for The Brief weekly to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues.
War hero. Veterans advocate. Family man.
It was an image years in the making. Brian Kolfage had lost three limbs in an Iraq bomb blast in 2004, making him the most badly wounded airman to survive the war. He had become a motivational speaker, was the subject of sympathetic news profiles and was even a guest at former President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in 2012.
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
This story was co-published with The Arizona Republic, a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network.
Aubrie Sloan expected to start sixth grade in a virtual classroom where she would learn from her teacher each day and engage with classmates for the first time since the coronavirus forced her school to close in March.
Instead, she marks her attendance at Kaibeto Boarding School, on the western side of the Navajo Nation, by texting or calling her teacher each morning. Then she dives into paper packets the school delivers to her home, breezing through assignments that her mother says aren’t a challenge because she already knows the material.
Aside from two phone calls from her teacher, the 11-year-old has received little instruction from the federally-operated school since classes started nearly two weeks ago.
Tags: native american , Image
Jeff Jeans once described himself as a “hardcore conservative Republican.”
But after he moved to Arizona and lost his job, he lost the health insurance that came with it. A year later, Jeans lost his voice and was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer.
Without the ability to pay for medical expenses on his own, Jeans received health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act, the Obama-era health care reform law enacted in March 2010.
After receiving coverage for medical expenses he couldn’t afford on his own, Jeans is now a staunch advocate for the law he once adamantly opposed.
A day before tonight’s first debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, Jeans shared his story at a virtual press conference hosted by Arizona Democrats discussing the Affordable Care Act and Trump’s opposition to the health care law. He shared the same testimony as a guest speaker at the Democratic National Convention in August.
“I made a pact with God when I was in my hospital bed that if I lived through this, I was going to share my story,” Jeans said. “Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, I’m alive today.”
Jeans shared the story resulting in his political conversion, while state Rep. Kelli Butler of District 28 and Amanda Aguirre, president and CEO of the Regional Center for Border Health, shared their opinions on the importance of voting to secure the safety of the Affordable Care Act as the president tries to dismantle it.
In June, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act. On Nov. 10, one week after the general election, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for the case seeking to overturn the ACA.
