The black bear that last week fatally mauled an Arizona man who was building his dream home was neither rabid nor starving, perplexed officials found.
The beast was found to be in “good condition with no apparent signs of disease,” according to Arizona Game and Fish Department necropsy results released Wednesday.
“An examination of the stomach found human remains consistent with the injuries found in the victim,” AZGFD wildlife veterinarian Dr. Anne Justice-Allen ruled.
“Additionally, native vegetation and seeds were found inside the bear. The amount of body fat on the bear indicated it was in good nutritional condition.”
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The male black bear — likely between 7- to 10-years-old and weighing 365 pounds — also tested negative for rabies.
The results only deepen the mystery into the aggressive attack last Friday on Steven Jackson, who was sitting at a picnic table sipping coffee on his wooded property in the Groom Creek when the bear launched its attack.
Steven Jackson was killed in an unprovoked black bear attack on his Arizona property.Annie Be/Facebook
The animal dragged the 66-year-old about 75 feet down an embankment and began mauling Jackson, whose desperate screams alerted neighbors.
Neighbors tried to thwart the attack by honking and yelling, but the animal refused to let go until one local fired his rifle and killed the bear.
By that time, however, Jackson had already succumbed to what officials called “horrible injuries.”
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Attacks by black bears — the only bear species found in Arizona — are highly rare.
Officials ultimately determined that the bear acted in an unprovoked predatory attack.
The adult male bear was neither starving or suffering from any diseases, a necropsy revealed.Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
Jackson was remembered as “the happiest guy” who had a passion for the outdoors.
He had been visiting his patch of property in the Groom Creek area from Tucson to fulfill his dreams of building a home in a heavily wooded patch of wilderness, his family said.
Jackson was building his dream home on the plot of land the animal mauled him.Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
Jackson was building the home with plans in mind to “grow old together” with his partner of 15 years Annie Cooke.
“This morning awoken to the aroma of coffee brewing in the air…yet there was no coffee… Almost Every morning, for 15 years, Steven would get up before me to start the coffee,” Cooke said on Facebook.
He would often come to me if I was still sleeping with a cup in hand and blow across the top of the cup to awaken me with a warm playful smile, “Good Morning Annie, coffee is brewed”….this pain is so consuming at times.
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Neighbor David Montano told 12News Jackson spent hours working on his property and was always welcoming to passing community members.
Jackson died before neighbors were able to kill the attacking bear.Everloved.com
“He was just the happiest guy. I mean it was like he had no problems in the world. He just only cared about making people happy and living a great life for himself,” Montano said.
“He was looking forward to enjoying the rest of his days in his favorite place in the whole world.
Samford Bulldogs (9-2) at Arizona Wildcats (4-5, 0-1 Big 12)
Tucson, Arizona; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Wildcats -19.5; over/under is 168.5
BOTTOM LINE: Samford is looking to keep its five-game win streak intact when the Bulldogs take on Arizona.
The Wildcats are 3-1 in home games. Arizona averages 83.4 points and has outscored opponents by 12.4 points per game.
The Bulldogs are 2-2 on the road. Samford averages 19.1 assists per game to lead the SoCon, paced by Rylan Jones with 6.1.
Arizona’s average of 6.3 made 3-pointers per game is 1.2 fewer made shots on average than the 7.5 per game Samford allows. Samford averages 19.5 more points per game (90.5) than Arizona gives up to opponents (71.0).
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TOP PERFORMERS: Caleb Love is shooting 36.6% and averaging 13.3 points for the Wildcats.
Jones is averaging 10.5 points, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals for the Bulldogs.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Arizona Public Service (APS) electric customers with solar panels will still need to pay a relatively new monthly fee after the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) voted in favor of the grid access charge.
Commissioners reaffirmed the fee in a 3-1 decision on Tuesday. The APS grid access charge (GAC) was approved in February and came under fire after opponents said it discriminated against residential solar customers by increasing rates.
“In general, all costs related to such services should be equitably distributed to each class of service. As demonstrated… residential solar customers are paying less than 70% of the costs to serve them,” Judge Belinda Martin said.
Proponents of the upgraded charges say there is a cost shift in place now and that the restructured charges will balance costs between the two types of customers.
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“$61 million were imposed on APS’ residential customers that do not have solar. That means about one million customers have been paying the bill for those that have solar on their homes,” said Jim O’Connor, an ACC chairman.
APS says the fee is a fixed charge that helps recover the costs of maintaining services and equipment. Regulators say that solar customers rely on APS’ power grid to provide electricity when their systems aren’t working, which is why the increase is justified.
Still, groups like the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association (AriSEIA) disagreed, saying that utility provider miscalculated the cost of service to solar customers.
“APS testified that if the ACC eliminated the solar fees, the difference would be $.25 to residential customers. Despite the evidence, the ACC will penalize solar customers several dollars per month and approved an amendment to increase it in APS’ next rate case, which is anticipated to be filed in 2025,” the association said in a news release after the ruling.
“The evidentiary record makes it clear that solar customers are subsidizing non-solar customers and yet APS and the ACC continue to penalize solar customers with unfounded and discriminatory fees,” said Autumn Johnson, the executive director of AriSEIA.
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In a news release, the ACC said critics of the opinion have “mischaracterized the GAC as a ‘solar tax’ on about 184,000 Arizonans with rooftop solar.”
“I understand no one wants to pay more on their bills, but this is about parity and fairness for all ratepayers,” said Commissioner Kevin Thompson. “I hope there’s a day when homeowners can live completely free from the grid, but we are not there now. I believe all costs related to providing service should be equally and fairly distributed among all classes of customers, and we have a duty to address cost shifts and subsidies when they exist.”
AriSEIA said an appeal is likely early next year.
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Arizona Cardinals beat New England Patriots in season-critical win
Sports writers Theo Mackie and Bob McManaman discuss the Cardinals 30-17 win over the Patriots and the long odds on a future playoff spot
The Arizona Cardinals will be in the Week 17 spotlight.
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The Cardinals’ road game against the division-leading Los Angeles Rams has been scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28, in a matchup at SoFi Stadium in LA.
The game will be televised nationally on NFL Network and locally on NBC.
The Saturday slate will kick off with the Los Angeles Chargers at the New England Patriots, followed by the Denver Broncos at the Cincinnati Bengals with the Cardinals-Rams matchup capping the tripleheader. Like the Cardinals-Rams game, the other two games will also be broadcast on NFL Network.
The Saturday schedule:
Chargers at Patriots, 11 a.m. MST
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Broncos at Bengals, 2:30 p.m. MST
Cardinals at Rams, 6:15 p.m. MST
For the Cardinals, the Saturday night game could have significant playoff implications. They are one game behind the Rams in the NFC West standings. Depending on results this week, a win could put them ahead of Los Angeles or draw them even. Plus, a win would give the Cardinals the tiebreaker, having already crushed the Rams, 41-10, back in Week 2.
Two other games under consideration were the Colts at Giants and Falcons at Commanders, both of which move to Sunday, Dec. 29.
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The Falcons-Commanders game flexes into the Sunday Night Football slot, replacing Dolphins-Browns.
The Colts-Giants game will be played Sunday afternoon in New York.
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