Arizona
Arizona election officials push forward prep for 2024 count, despite constant threats
As election season gets underway, officials in a key battleground state said they are prepared to handle the task of counting and certifying ballots despite a rise in threats.
Nearly four years ago, the staff at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix was hounded by former President Donald Trump’s supporters, who pushed his false claims that votes in his favor were not counted.
Maricopa County election officials and workers have been harassed and threatened over those false claims long after the election was certified, according to Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer.
“This isn’t just a normal political lie,” he told ABC News. “This is a lie that then leads to targeting of people.”
Richer, a Republican who has been in his position since 2021, said he has taken steps to ensure that his office completes the certification process properly and transparently.
Richer has been offering public tours of his facility and posting live streams of many of the processes that take place there — from tabulating votes from voting machines to hand-checking the thousands of mail-in ballots that come in every election.
During a tour of the facility with ABC News, Richer showed how the ballot processing team takes on counting those mail-in ballots and how every aspect is thoroughly vetted.
“These are teams of different parties, so by the lanyard that they’re wearing, either Republican or Democrat — or yellow is an Independent,” he said of the ballot workers.
Richer said “millions of dollars” have been added since 2020 to help improve his office. But despite the transparency and extra resources, Richer said the police have made arrests against people who have threatened him and his staff.
“We’re talking about the stuff like, ‘we are coming to hang you, we are coming to shoot you,’” he explained.
Richer is facing a reelection challenge from State Rep. Justin Heap (R), who has been backed by state lawmakers who have also denied the outcome of the 2020 election. Heap did not respond to ABC News for comment.
When asked by ABC News about the large number of election denial claims coming from his own party, Richer said, “We’re better than the drivel that you might see on the 27th comment on a blog post.”
“But some of that has been elevated by people who are in positions of power and words matter, and words matter from these people,” he added.
Those words have already affected some Maricopa election officials’ future.
Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman said he won’t seek reelection this year following threats against him and his family since 2020. He is one of two Maricopa election officials who declined to run for reelection.
“Your own party is shoving knives in your back when you walk out the door. And it’s very difficult. It’s been very difficult to deal with for myself [and] my colleagues,” Hickman, a Republican, told ABC News.
Hickman said he received several death threats and at one point 100 people came to his house while he, his wife and children were home. Two sheriff’s deputies were stationed outside to guard his home.
“It’s horrible to talk to citizens and say, ‘Hey, can you come out and help run an election? Can you observe the election?’ I don’t want any part of that because of bad behavior, because of criticism,” Hickman said. “It’s ridiculously horrible. If you can’t get the best, expect the worst.”
Richer said that despite the threats, he is confident he and his team will conduct their duties this November.
“The board is committed. Their side of the operation is committed. Everyone understands the game plan. Arizonans are going to be able to participate. Their votes are going to count. It’s going to be valid. It’s going to be bipartisan. It’s going to be fair, and it’s going to be certified eventually,” he said.
Arizona
Drowning epidemic of 1989 led to many modern safety measures
PHOENIX — This year, 12 people have died in water incidents in Maricopa and Pinal counties. Four of those 12 deaths involved children aged 5 or under.
Several of these have occurred within the last weeks as temperatures rose across the Valley.
With the hottest months ahead, local officials are sounding the alarm.
The “drowning epidemic” of 1989
Jay Arthur, president of the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona and a former Phoenix Fire Captain, said drowning is an issue that has gripped the Valley for decades.
The issue was especially pronounced during the summer of 1989.
“It was basically considered an epidemic,” Arthur said.
There were there were 243 calls for drownings in Maricopa County from January 1988 through December 1989, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Fire departments in the Valley began to prioritize water incidents in 1989. This move has since became commonplace throughout the nation, Arthur said.
“They created a thing called the SWIM Team, and it stood for Stop Water Infant Mortality,” he added.
The SWIM Team was a taskforce that brought local fire captains together to tackle the issue of child drownings. That’s where common water safety phrases like “Just a few seconds” came from. It was a common thing first responders heard from parents when describing what led up to water incidents.
“We actually reduced drowning incidents from 103 to 48 in a year,” Arthur said.
That eventually became what is now known as the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona. Its goal is to promote water safety messaging.
Tips to fight the drowning epidemic
To this day, the coalition and local fire departments emphasize water safety prevention, notably the “ABCs” to prevent pool drownings:
- Adult Supervision: A sober adult should be with children in the water with the sole focus of watching the swimmers.
- Barrier: Pool fences and covers can prevent children from getting into the pool when unattended.
- Classes: Young children should be taken to swimming classes. Teens and adults should know CPR. Swimmers who have not taken classes should wear a life jacket.
Arthur believes the “B” of the “ABCs” is something all parents need to do to protect their children.
However, he also acknowledges that fences and other barriers can be expensive and may not always be an option.
“Locks, latches and alarms on your doors are really helpful and inexpensive,” he said.
In other words, lock down any access to the backyard so children cannot get into the pool by themselves. Keep those locks high so children can’t reach them.
“It’s not about being a great parent or not,” Arthur added. “When we have multiple kids, trying to feed the family, cook and clean, we divert our attention, and we can’t keep track of everyone every second of the day.”
When tragedy strikes
If an incident does happen, Arthur says it’s important to act quickly. Drownings can happen in seconds and may be totally silent.
“Get them out of the pool,” he said.
Remove the person from the pool and immediately begin CPR. If this is not done, then the chances of survival are grim, he added.
“We don’t ever want to see a child in a pool when we get there,” Arthur said.
Most of the time first responders arrive and the child is already out of the pool.
“You’ve got an emotionally charged scene,” he said. “A lot of times parents not doing CPR; they’re screaming … begging for us to being their child back to life.”
Doing CPR is critical because it increases the chances of survival — and the chances of a successful recovery. If you are performing CPR on a drowning victim, focus on helping them breathe. Don’t focus on compressions, Arthur said.
“If they wake up to a conscious level, are they going to wake up to a viable brain? To where they can function normally for the rest of their life? It’s all about you giving that breath,” Arthur said.
You can find a list of CPR classes offered throughout the Valley here.
Arizona
Arizona baseball returns home after losing first Pac-12 series in more than a month | ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com
Arizona lost its first Pac-12 series since falling in two of three games at Oregon last month (March 22-24) with its two setbacks at Washington this weekend.
All three games in Seattle were decided by one run — Arizona won Friday’s game 3-2 and then lost 4-3 on Saturday and 9-8 in 13 innings on Sunday.
Arizona (26-16, 14-7 Pac-12) is tied atop the conference standings with Utah (29-13, 14-7) with nine games remaining. The Utes swept last-place UCLA over the weekend in Salt Lake City.
Arizona will host Grand Canyon on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before playing Stanford in a three-game series at Hi Corbett Field starting Friday night at 6.
Arizona came close to leaving Seattle with a tie on Sunday. A cutoff time of 5:05 p.m. was set for the last inning to start because of Arizona’s travel plans back to Tucson. The 13th inning started at 5:03 p.m.
Washington’s Cooper Whitton delivered the walk-off RBI single to left field, scoring Cam Clayton from second base. Whitton had four hits and four RBIs in the game.
Arizona failed to hold an 8-3 lead going to the bottom of the eighth inning.
Whitton hit a three-run home run just inside the left field foul pole. Colin Blanchard followed with a double and Aiva Arquette tied the game at 8 with a single.
Arizona starter Cam Walty pitched five innings and allowed just three runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out six. He did not factor into the decision.
Right-handers Anthony Susac and Matthew Martinez both provided shutdown relief for the Wildcats in the late innings. The duo combined to post three scoreless innings while allowing just two hits.
Blake McDonald and TJ Adams each recorded their first three-hit performances for Arizona.
PAC-12 BASEBALL STANDINGS
Team | Rec | Pct | GB | Ovr | Pct | Stk |
ARIZONA | 14-7 | .667 | — | 26-16 | .619 | L2 |
Utah | 14-7 | .667 | — | 29-13 | .690 | W3 |
Oregon State | 12-8 | .600 | 1.5 | 33-10 | .767 | L1 |
Oregon | 12-9 | .571 | 2 | 29-14 | .674 | W1 |
USC | 11-9 | .550 | 2.5 | 21-23 | .477 | W1 |
Stanford | 11-10 | .524 | 3 | 19-22 | .463 | L1 |
Arizona State | 12-12 | .500 | 3.5 | 22-22 | .500 | L1 |
California | 12-12 | .400 | 3.5 | 26-16 | .619 | W1 |
Washington | 8-13 | .381 | 6 | 16-20-1 | .432 | W2 |
Washington State | 7-14 | .333 | 7 | 19-23 | .452 | W1 |
UCLA | 6-18 | .250 | 9.5 | 13-28 | .317 | L9 |
Saturday’s scores
Washington 9, ARIZONA 8 (13 innings)
Utah 12, UCLA 7
California 7, Stanford 4
USC 11, Arizona State 6
Oregon 7, Oregon State 1
Washington State 4, Fresno State 3
Pac-12 series Friday-Sunday
Stanford at ARIZONA
Utah at Oregon
California at USC
Washington at Arizona State
Oregon State at Washington State
Arizona
Interstate near Arizona-New Mexico line reopens after train derailment as lingering fuel burns off
LUPTON, Ariz. — Interstate 40 was reopened in both directions Sunday as fire crews continued watch over a controlled burn of remaining fuel from a freight train derailment near the Arizona-New Mexico state line, a local fire chief said.
Earlier evacuation orders have now been lifted.
“It’s all under control,” said Fire Chief Lawrence Montoya Jr., of McKinley County, New Mexico. “Our hazmat team is on site, along with our well-trained firefighters.”
Montoya, the incident commander at the scene, said the controlled burns were still consuming remaining fuel on some cars. He said no one was hurt in the Friday derailment of the BNSF Railway train near Lupton, Arizona, which occurred on the New Mexico side of the tracks, or during the subsequent firefighting operation.
For a time, the eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 were closed around Holbrook, Arizona, and the westbound lanes of the interstate were closed at Grants, New Mexico.
The New Mexico Department of Transportation reported Sunday that motorists should continue to expect heavy smoke in some areas, as well as long delays that could require them to seek other routes or postpone travel to the area.
Montoya said firefighters continued to remove debris from the area and that repair of the tracks was under way.
The cause of the derailment remained under investigation Sunday, said Montoya. He said investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and other federal agencies were at the scene.
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