Writing by Susan Heavey; editing by Rami Ayyub and Alistair Bell
Arizona
Election denier Kari Lake to seek US Senate seat in Arizona -WSJ
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Kari Lake, former candidate for Governor of Arizona, attends the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., March 4, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Republican Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial candidate who has echoed former President Donald Trump’s false claims about fraud at the 2020 election, will announce a 2024 bid for the U.S. Senate, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, further complicating a potential three-way race in the battleground state.
Lake is set to launch her campaign challenging independent incumbent Senator Kyrsten Sinema on Oct. 10, she told the newspaper in an interview. Representatives for Lake could not immediately be reached for comment.
Arizona, which Democrat Joe Biden narrowly won in the 2020 presidential race, could help tip the balance in the divided Senate. It is also one of six states that could swing either to Republicans or Democrats in presidential votes, potentially playing a decisive role as Biden seeks a second term in office.
Lake has aligned herself with Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. A former television news anchor, Lake lost her 2022 bid for governor but has refused to concede the race despite losing legal challenges.
“We need to get a senator in there who is going to fight back and put America first,” Lake told the Journal.
Democrats currently hold the Senate 51-49, including Sinema and two other independents who caucus with them.
Democratic U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego is also challenging Sinema, who left the Democratic Party in December and has not yet announced her re-election plans.
Lake also faces Republican competition. Mark Lamb, sheriff for Arizona’s Pinal County, is seeking the Republican nod, the Journal reported. Blake Masters, a far-right Republican who lost his 2022 challenge to Arizona’s other U.S. senator, Democrat Mark Kelly, could also seek the nomination.
It’s unclear whether Lake could win support from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who has repeatedly drawn Trump’s ire. Lake told the Journal she will be in Washington next week and hopes to meet with the Senate’s top Republican, adding that she would back him as leader.
Meanwhile, Biden will use a Thursday appearance in Arizona to warn of the threat U.S. democracy faces from far-right MAGA Republicans, referring to Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan. Independent voters have also expressed concerns over Trump’s election fraud claims and legal woes.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Arizona
Homebuyers hitting walls in finding fire coverage in northern Arizona
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PRESCOTT, AZ — As more homes get built near wildland, homeowners and prospective homebuyers in fire-prone areas are finding it hard to get insured.
Neighbors in Prescott are asking local and state representatives for more help in navigating insurance changes as people increasingly report being dropped by carriers, denied renewals, or denied altogether while trying to buy.
Realtor Michelle Clustka said she personally knows people who’ve been in this position.
“They have been denied by 45 different insurance companies, yeah, it’s the wildfire insurance,” Clustka said. “Most of them are denying them on a blanket level, it’s the area. They’re not even getting the opportunity to say come look at the property, it’s been Firewised.”
A “Firewise” community means that neighbors have worked together to minimize fire risks, create defensible spaces around homes and spread education about best practices.
Insurance broker Lori Sell said even with Firewise designations, companies are tightening down their wildfire scoring for properties in areas near forests and other high-risk spots.
“It’s affecting not just real estate, but you think about builders and title companies where properties can’t get closed,” Sell said. “It’s become a really big issue.”
Recently, the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions created the Resiliency and Mitigation Council which meets monthly to investigate the affordability and availability of insurance in forested areas and wildland-urban interface areas.
Arizona
Cardinals Must Answer This Offseason Question
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The Arizona Cardinals are at a crossroad in their rebuild process. When stripping a team down to its bones, one can afford a year or two of missed playoffs, some poor performances and general disappointment – but Arizona must face this question going forward.
The Cardinals have yet to make a signing or trade for a genuine, impact player during this regime. That’s understandable, considering the complete and utter teardown that had to occur in year one of the rebuild.
But as Arizona creeps ever closer to playoff contention, they won’t be able to do it without some top-tier talent.
Is Ossenfort (and the rest of the front office) capable of luring top-end talent to the desert?
It’s not necessarily a question as a result of Arizona missing out on marquee free agents, but rather an uncertainty that derives from a muscle that has yet to be flexed.
It was clear in 2023 that the Cardinals were more inclined to part with talented players than sign them. In 2024, the strategy was all about raising the floor of play, adding depth, and bringing in developmental talent through the draft.
Regardless of whether or not these free agents were successful (and some weren’t), those types of moves are, intentionally or not, a plea for fans to trust the process, rather than giving them something to get riled up over.
Names like Justin Jones, Bilal Nichols, Sean Murphy-Bunting and Mack Wilson Sr. headlined 2024’s free agent acquisitions, to varying levels of success.
Marvin Harrison Jr. and Darius Robinson were added in the first round of the draft to be impact players, though neither truly played up to the expectations laid on them as rookies.
So now, caught up in the swirling rumors of free agency, Ossenfort has his work cut out for him. Can he bring a top-end talent to the desert? Is there enough in place to lure players looking to compete for playoff victories and Super Bowls to the Cardinals?
Ossenfort has already shown he’s willing to open the checkbook, but there’s a line between overpaying to raise the floor of a group and dumping ill-advised salary into aging stars, a method all too familiar to Cardinals fans from the prior regime.
But so far, Ossenfort hasn’t had to make a huge splash move. That’s not to say he should go all-in on the first star that enters free agency, but Cardinals fans have already ceded two seasons of losing to trust in the process.
Now, the process has to deliver results, and adding a star is the extra mile Arizona needs. While Ossenfort has arguably done enough to justify confidence in the third-year GM, he needs to assert himself as an executive capable of pulling the best of the best.
A trade for Maxx Crosby or Myles Garrett, or even a free agent signing like Josh Sweat or Milton Williams (albeit not superstar-level players) would do wonders to instill faith in this fanbase, while helping prove that this rebuild isn’t a never-ending slate of middling talent and unproven rookies.
So while there’s plenty of time to make a smart, well-fitting move to raise the level of this team’s play, the patience clock is already ticking down, and Arizona cannot sit and watch elite talent sign elsewhere without putting up a fight.
Arizona
Why Arizona and a leading Big 12 analyst thought late foul call for BYU was incorrect
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Was this BYU basketball’s version of the Utah footbal game?
Not quite.
But another late, controversial foul call allowed these Cougars to pull off a signature win during the stretch run of the season.
This time, it was BYU men’s basketball going into the McKale Center and pulling out a 96-95 win over Arizona. The Cougars were down 95-94 with 13 seconds to play when head coach Kevin Young dialed up a look for his best player, Richie Saunders.
Saunders originally wanted a three at the top of the key, but it was taken away. He drove it to his right, pivoted a few times and then threw up a shot. Official Tony Padilla called a foul on Arizona that drew skeptics.
Saunders knocked down both free throws to give the Cougars a win.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd disagreed with the call.
“It is a bad call. I mean, whatever. What am I going to say? You hate for a game to be decided by that,” he said. “The guy is pivoting, pivoting, pivoting. Threw his shoulder into him, throws up a shot and falls down. A foul with two seconds to go.”
But Llloyd followed up by saying he didn’t think that’s why Arizona lost.
“I mean it’s the Big 12. That’s what I’m told. The guy who called it is one of the best refs. So we got to live with it,“ he continued. ”But take a step back, they scored 93 points up until that point on our home court. That is the problem. Me, my staff, and my players, that’s the problem. Not the officials. It would have been great to steal a victory if they don’t call that. But don’t put yourself in your position.”
Saunders said he wasn’t necessarily looking for a foul, but didn’t have anywhere to go.
“There is only so much time on the clock and trying to figure out how in the world I’m going to make something happen. Lucky he bit on the shot fake and I was fortunate enough to get to the line,” he said. “I practice that since I was a little kid in the church gym. That is what I practice.”
Young didn’t comment on the foul call, but did say he changed his late-game approach from the last time BYU was in that spot. It was on the road at Utah, where it ultimately lost in part because it didn’t get a clean look on the final possession.
“We were in a similar situation at Utah and I kicked myself for not having the right thing dialed up. So I spent a lot of mental time on that particular situation,” Young said. “The play broke down but we wanted to go to Richie. And he was able to make a play. That is what you have to do in that situation. Plays are great, but players got to make plays.”
One of the Big 12’s most prominent television voices, Fran Fraschilla, disagreed with the call.
“If that foul call was made during the NCAA Tournament, there would be a national uproar. Let’s put it another way, BYU’s Richie Saunders, who should be First Team All-Big 12, is a very astute player,” he wrote on social media.
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