PHOENIX — The Arizona Humane Society is offering free adoptions for 10 days beginning Thursday due to caring for a record amount of animals.

AHS is caring for 1,650 pets, exceeding maximum capacity despite it only being the start of the summer. Temporary kennels have been set up at multiple locations as a result, including at AHS’ old Sunnyslope location.

“We’re feeling the pinch everywhere,” Steven Hansen, AHS president and CEO, said in a press release. “Clearing our adoption kennels of healthy pets now provides us with the best opportunity to continue to serve more sick, injured and abused pets across the Valley.”

Why is the Arizona Humane Society at maximum capacity?

The AHS Rescue, Cruelty and Pet Resource Center is seeing a 25% increase in calls per day regarding cruelty and neglect from owners.

Large dogs, especially those over 50 pounds, are waiting 10 more days than average for adoption.

Healthy animals that need a new home due to a previous owner’s housing or employment change aren’t being able to be accommodated quickly as a result of the full shelters, with a surrender time of six months.

AHS expects intake numbers to increase in the coming weeks. The Fourth of July holiday is a peak time for animals to go missing and with temperatures squarely in the triple digits, heat-related calls also rise.

“I’ve never been more grateful and proud of our donors, volunteers, Foster Heroes, rescue partners and staff,” Hansen said. “Our staff is exhausted and it’s taking an emotional toll, but they are resilient and our commitment to our mission has never been greater.”

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(Had a bit of an adventure in covering the game tonight…)

.

Out in New England, a town we’ll call “Bristol,”

I was at home with the game on TV.

Nighttime had found me at home on the sofa

Ready to write what Monitto would see.

.

Top of the first saw a dozing Monitto,

Larnach reached third but the lumber went slack.

During commercials it fast began raining;

Lightning soon flashed and the telly went black.

.

Thunder was rumbling; no light would turn on,

Branches blew strong in the wind;

Losing the Wi-Fi with thunderstorms ride I

Sought fast a solution, my humor chagrined.

.

As it rained there, I

Went for a light from my room up in “Bristol,”

Unplugged my laptop in case of a surge.

I switched to my cell phone in hope for a signal;

To cover this game was my singular urge.

.

Then to my fortune, my phone caught the signal;

Quickly I flipped to the game as it aired.

Only had missed barely half of an inning;

Back to the site where more comments were shared.

.

Top of the second, the bases were full,

Not a sole batter had gone.

Up came Miranda: a swing mighty grand, a

Shot clearing the bases – the rout it was on.

.

Innings passed, and

The Twins, they all hit with the crack of a pistol;

Soon we had six runs with none for our foe.

.

Out here in “Bristol,” the weather was mirthless;

Not so the offense alive in the West.

Five of our batters had hits in the plural;

All are the STUDS tonight, each is the best.

.

(I’d better name them or else you’d get mad;

Two each for Willi and Trev;

Three for Santana, Correa, Miranda:

Clearly a night for their motors to rev.

.

And the last of

The studs is the starter who shined like a crystal,

Gunning down batters with masterly ease.)

Only one DUD, and that’s Eversource Power:

Guys, fix the damn electricity, please!

.

(Yes, I’m aware there are too many line breaks;

Can’t get it right when you type in your phone.

Give it a day and I’ll clean up the format;

Meanwhile we’re still in the powerless zone.)

.

Oh, and the Comment, the Top of the Game:

It has to be Fillmore’s, I think.

Feeling so arty, he parodied Marty;

When I’ve got power, I’ll add in the link.

.

But concluding

The game came as fast as a midsummer mist’ll:

Four bullpen arms not allowing a hit.

No need to score, not a bit or a trifle,

Leading by five when your pitching won’t quit.

.

Now it is over, Monitto is sleepy.

(Call this a guide for pronouncing my name.)

Surely tomorrow’s another to rise for;

Meanwhile tonight, get some rest, and…

…good game.

PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes worries that the governor’s decision to use opioid settlement money to fund the Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry will cause problems in the future.

Mayes sued the state last week after the Arizona Legislature passed the budget and Gov. Katie Hobbs signed it into law. She wanted to block leaders from using $115 million in opioid settlement funds to remedy the budget deficits.

She received a temporary restraining order. However, a judge overturned it on Monday night.

“We obviously still disagree with the judge and his decision,” Mayes told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Wednesday. “It’s a sad day, I think, for Arizonans, especially in rural Arizona.”

Furthermore, she called the decision to sweep the opioid settlement funds into the Department of Corrections to backfill its budget an “absolute travesty.”

That spending was supposed to go throughout the state to prevent and treat opioid addiction, she said.

“They should not be allowed to do this,” Mayes added.

She said Hobbs and the Legislature could have used a $1.4 billion rainy day fund to plug the budget deficit.

“Instead, they swept these opioids funds, contrary to the consent decrees, which, by the way, were signed by six or seven different judges in Arizona,” Mayes said.

Opioid settlement money to be used to fund Arizona’s prisons

Mayes is worried that allocating opioid settlement funds to support the Arizona prison system will cause issues in the future.

After all, the millions of dollars from the opioid settlements come from pharmaceutical companies that agreed to pay to settle allegations that they perpetuated drug addiction across the U.S.

These Big Pharma powerhouses may see the Arizona budget’s use of these funds as a violation of their settlement agreements, Mayes said.

“You could see some of these pharmaceutical companies coming in to Arizona and trying to claw back their money because they believe it’s been misused,” Mayes said.

She said she plans to watch the Department of Corrections like a hawk. She wants to make sure it’s using the money to pay for services related to addiction treatment and prevention.

“I think that’s a danger,” Mayes said. “I think the Department of Corrections had better be ready to prove to me and to everybody else that they actually are spending this money on opioid addiction purposes.”