Arizona
Some upsides of Arizona’s summer heat
PHOENIX – As we adjust to extreme heat this summer in Arizona, we thought, why not look on the bright side? Surely there are some good things about 110, right?
When you’re sweating, it’s tough to see the upside of high temperatures, but we asked some people out and about in Phoenix to find something positive about the heat.
“There’s no good thing about the heat,” a resident said, but we beg to differ.
One of the good things: traffic is lighter.
Winter visitors have bailed and Valley residents are seeking cooler climates.
Next up, hot temps are better for allergy sufferers.
Allergist Duane Wong was definitive about the benefits of high heat.
After a wet winter and high pollen counts, his patients welcome the hot temps in summer.
“Now that it’s here, not that we’ve hit a hundred degrees a few days in a row, now we’re starting to see pollen counts start to drop. It’s really been a great thing this summer, he said.
Looking to cool down and save money?
Local resorts have slashed prices to lure residents to enjoy staycations.
Four Peaks Brewing Co. is offering $4 pints of beer on any day that reaches a temp of 104 or higher.
Also dropping in price is a round of golf. In fact, it’s plummeting – sometimes by more than 50%.
Another good thing: heat is good for your aches and pains.
“My grandparents came from California. They moved to Buckeye for the heat,” a man said.
Another said, “It helps my arthritis and everything like that.”
Arizona
Newest Arizona members of Congress sworn in during opening day in DC
Gary Farmer is an actor, musician, and activist whose made a career in indigenous media. His performances in television and film have received rave reviews. The1989 film “Powwow Highway”, in which he stars, was just inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Arizona
Yassamin Ansari, Abe Hamadeh set to become Arizona’s newest members of Congress
Arizona District 3 Congresswoman elect Yassamin Ansari talks victory
Congresswoman elect Yassamin Ansari gives victory speech on Nov. 5, 2024, after being elected to represent Arizona’s 3rd district in Congress.
Arizona’s two newest U.S. House members are set to get sworn into their posts as the 119th Congress gets underway.
Republican Abe Hamadeh, a lawyer, and Democrat Yassamin Ansari, a former Phoenix vice mayor, are expected to take their oaths of office on Friday, shortly after the House resumes session.
Hamadeh will replace Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., who is retiring from Congress to serve on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
He will represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, an overwhelmingly Republican area that covers parts of Maricopa and Yavapai counties, including Glendale, Peoria, Sun City West and New River.
Propelled by an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump, Hamadeh defeated a crowded field of other Republicans in Arizona’s July 30 primary election and sailed to an easy victory in the Nov. 5 general election.
Hamadeh, a self-described “America First warrior,” largely echoed Trump’s positions on the campaign trail. He will serve on the House Veterans Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee.
Ansari will represent Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District, a stretch of Maricopa County that includes parts of Phoenix and Glendale. She is replacing Democrat Ruben Gallego, who has swapped his House seat for a U.S. Senate seat. Her House committee assignments have not been announced.
During the primary election, Ansari hewed closer to the political center than her opponent, former state Sen. Raquel Terán of Phoenix. Ansari ran on a progressive platform but staked out more centrist turf on issues like policing and U.S. foreign policy toward Israel.
She beat out Terán by just 39 votes, and, like Hamadeh, won her November election in a landslide.
Ansari plans to join the House’s Progressive Caucus, the Democrats’ most left-leaning faction on Capitol Hill.
Arizona
3 arrested in connection with good Samaritan's killing in Arizona
Three people were arrested this week in connection with the death of a good Samaritan in Arizona last month, officials said.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department identified two of the three people arrested Monday as Jack Upchurch, 40, and Elmer Smith, 19. The third person is 16 years old. NBC News does not typically identify minors accused of crimes.
The trio were arrested in connection with the death of Paul Clifford, 53, whose body was found near a smoldering car northeast of Tucson last month.
Sabrina Vining, a woman who identified herself as Clifford’s daughter in an online fundraiser, said her father disappeared after he left his house at 11:30 p.m. Dec. 23 to help a “stranger with a stranded vehicle.”
NBC affiliate KVOA of Tucson reported that Clifford’s family reported him missing after, they said, a strange man knocked on Clifford’s door and asked for help with his car.
He was later found dead, the sheriff’s department said. It did not provide a cause or manner of death.
Officials said they received information Monday about a possible location for the three suspects.
Detectives searched the area and obtained a search warrant for a property, which the Pima Regional SWAT team carried out.
The suspects barricaded themselves inside a home and eventually called 911 to negotiate a surrender, the sheriff’s department said. They left the residence and were taken into custody.
The sheriff’s department did not release any information about a motive or how it connected the suspects to Clifford’s killing.
The three suspects were booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Center on felony arrest warrants, officials said.
It was not immediately clear whether they have legal representation. Jail records do not list attorneys for any of the three.
Upchurch was being held on a $1 million bond, Smith on $1.025 million bail and the minor on a half-million-dollar bond, according to jail records.
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