Random Musings

• North Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site update: small spill

  From an email from Rachel Loftin, the EPA's Project Manager -
  Dear NIBW Community Involvement Group -
  
  I am sending this to let you know of a release of untreated water which occurred on Monday, November 23rd, from a drain pipe which is connected to the groundwater extraction and [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 5:54pm EST
  

• The political prognostication thing is easy...

  Earlier today, I posted about how Sen. Chuck Gray (R-Pearce's saddle partner) was going to forego a re-election run next year in favor of pursuing "business opportunities."
  
  Contained in that post was the prediction that Republican Rich Crandall, one of LD19's state reps, would pursue the spot in [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 3:48pm EST
  

• Chuck Gray (R-LD19) not seeking reelection next year

  Chuck Gray, the winger state senator from East Mesa (with Russell Pearce covering West Mesa, Mesa is represented in the State Senate by all sorts of nutty), has announced that he won't be running for re-election next year in order to pursue as yet unspecified "business opportunities."
  [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 10:28am EST
  

• Barnes: the transcript

  Well, apparently the staff at the lege was in a hurry to wrap up before the holiday, so the video archives from yesterday's session of the House is already posted on the website. Click on the "video" link for "11/23/2009 - House Third Reading - Special Session 11/23/09".
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 2:42pm EST
  

• Ray Barnes: making Sylvia Allen look like an intellectual stalwart

  The video isn't up yet, but the reports are (Tedski at R-Cubed here; Jen at Mindless Mumblings of a Martyr Mom here).
  
  State Representative Ray Barnes (R-LD7) had a meltdown of epic proportions during Monday's meeting of the House of Representatives.
  
  He started by talking' [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 6:55pm EST
  

• Live blogging the House special session

  3:17 - House sets up sine die committee to inform Senate that its work is done. House in recess.
  
  3:16 - Bill passes 51 -4.
  
  3:16 - Barnes going now. He may be what Antenori looks like in 30 years or so.
  
  3:15 - Antenori still going.
  [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 2:11pm EST
  

• Live blogging the Senate's special session

  1:48 - Senate recessed.
  
  1:47 - Passes with 16 votes. Over to the House.
  
  1:46 - Sylvia Allen says that a tax hike was imposed because the state equalization tax was permanently repealed.
  
  1:45 - Cheuvront argues against the "cuts-only" mentality of the Rs in the lege.
  [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 1:26pm EST
  

• The Arizona State Senate: The cameras are on, but no one is at work

  Kind of like "the lights are on, but nobody's home," only applied to an entire caucus instead of just one person.
  
  It's 11:24 a.m. Do you know where your senators are? Cuz they sure ain't working on the budget...
  
  According to one source (info more than an hour' [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 11:23am EST
  

• Blowing sands, blowing smoke - the lege's schedule for today

  OK - the tentative schedule for the day at the lege is a Senate floor session starting at 10 a.m. (and given that it is after 10 now and there's no sign of activity, it's probably not going to start on time, if at all.
  
  Then, assuming success of [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 10:01am EST
  

• Time for a certain classless coward to step up and take responsibility for his action

  No, this isn't a political post, unless you consider anonymous violence and utter thuggishness to be valid forms of political expression.
  
  And while I've got a pretty low opinion of the AZGOP (as any regular reader already knows :) ), but even I don't think they are quite this' [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 5:23pm EST
  

• Bob Burns admitting that Democrats actuallly exist?

  And that maybe they matter?
  
  Next, you'll be telling me that Russell Pearce is going to resign his position, convert to Catholicism and become a priest so that he can minister to the poorest of the poor in Mexico. All as penance for the bile that he has spewed' [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 9:42am EST
  

• The coming week...

  As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies, except where noted, and subject to change without notice...
  
  
  This week's schedule is pretty sparse due to the holiday on Thursday, though there will be some excitement at the Arizona legislature early in the week.
  [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 11:42pm EST
  

• Rodney Glassman getting closer to a Senate seat

  ...A nativist winger knocking off McCain in the Republican primary would immediately make Democrat Rodney Glassman a serious threat to win next year's race for the U.S. Senate, if not the outright favorite.
  
  According to the latest Rasmussen Reports poll -
  Senator John McCain’s future in the [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 7:30pm EST
  

• Time to negotiate *for* the lege's Republicans

  Yup, time to contact some local hospitals and see if we can get a group rate for 53 admissions for "cranio-rectal dislodgement surgery."
  
  And if you can't figure out what that's a euphemism for, you aren't enough of a wiseass to enjoy this blog. :)
  
  From AZCentral.com [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 7:59pm EST
  

• Joint Legislative Budget Committee analysis of 4th Special Session budget bills

  Links courtesy the blog of the Arizona State Senate Democratic Caucus.
  
  Bill summaries from the JLBC here; JLBC numbers here (final result: $452 million in cuts and savings measures, but that is before any Republican committee or floor amendments.)
  
  Note: The Joint Committee on Capital [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 7:34pm EST
  

• Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman announces that he isn't running for statewide office anytime soon

  Of course, Hugh being Hugh, he didn't say it directly.
  
  From AZCentral.com (emphasis mine) -
  
  Four southeast Valley mayors challenged the Legislature on Tuesday to overhaul Arizona's tax system and think more creatively about how to solve the state's monumental budget problems.
  
  In the process, they' [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:35pm EST
  

• The coarsening of public discourse in Scottsdale

  Tuesday's meeting of the Scottsdale City Council was notable for some of the actual work (appointing David Richert as acting City Manager).
  
  
  However memorable as that may be, the meeting will be best remembered for the very snarky personal attacks from the floor on Council members and [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 2:15pm EST
  

• Arpaio defies court. Again.

  Some things never change, do they? Even when one of his deputies is caught on video rummaging through an attorney's briefcase, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio doesn't think that the laws that govern the rest of us apply to him or his.
  
  From AZCentral.com -
  
  A Maricopa' [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 11:30am EST
  

• Senate Approps meeting

  They're meeting in SHR109. It's available via the lege's live streaming function, which is good, because I didn't visit the Capitol today.
  
  The agenda is here.
  
  Meeting begins at approximately 10:15 a.m.
  
  SB1001, general appropriations - Cuts $144 million from K-12 Ed and $155 million from [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:13am EST
  

• Is Shadegg channelling his inner Hayworth?

  We'll know for certain if Shadegg announces his retirement from Congress in order to start a career in talk radio (not that Hayworth had any real choice about the timing of his retirement from Congress :)) )...
  
  From the Phoenix New Times -
  
  Congressman John Shadegg's theatrics' [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:27pm EST
  

• Special session: summary thus far

  They didn't actually do much today, so this recap will be brief -
  
  1. The Governor finally issued the official call for a special session of the legislature. The paperwork authorizing the 3 p.m. opening made it over to the lege a little before 1 p.m.
  
  2.' [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 8:33pm EST
  

• Congratulations to Doug Mings! Again!

  From an email from Ann Wallack, chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party -
  I have some good news to announce to all Maricopa Democratic PC's! Doug Mings, our stellar Executive Director for Maricopa County has been hired by Luis Heredia of the ADP to fill the position' [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 6:55pm EST
  

• Live blogging the start of the special session

  3:21 - House adjourning until Thursday at 10 a.m. Approps to meet at 8 a.m. Thursday.
  
  3:19 - Points of personal privilege, introduction of guests.
  
  3:16 - Senate committee to announce that they are ready to conduct business. House back in session. House rules suspended regarding reading of [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 3:01pm EST
  

• Special session notes

  Well, the Governor finally sent over the proclamation so that they can actually hold the special session.
  
  I arrived at the Capitol at roughly 12:40 p.m. for the D17 press conference. At that point, a little over two hours before the special session was scheduled to go off, [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 2:44pm EST
  

• The LD17 team stays strong

  In news that broke elsewhere (including R-Cubed and AZCentral.com), Meg Burton Cahill has announced that she will not seek another term in the Senate next year. For health reasons she is taking her public service career in another direction (her doctor advised her that a hostile work environment like the [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 2:05pm EST
  

• OK, now they say that a special session will happen this week

  Apparently, the tea leaves that I was reading earlier today were actually just grass clippings...
  
  Nothing has been posted on the websites of the lege or the governor, but according to the AZ Republic, there will be a special session of the lege starting this week. (The [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 8:57pm EST
  

• Big announcement regarding LD17 tomorrow at the lege

  From a press release -
  Sen. Burton Cahill to announce retirement; Reps. Schapira, Ableser to reveal who will vie for state Senate, House seats
  
  PHOENIX - State Sen. Meg Burton Cahill and state Reps. David Schapira and Ed Ableser will hold a press conference 1 p.m. Tuesday at the [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 7:41pm EST
  

• Edward Woodward dies at 79

  Most of the readers of this blog probably aren't familiar with the name, but Edward Woodward was the star of one of the most iconic 80s TV shows, The Equalizer.
  
  Woodward was a highly-respected actor in England. Before accepting the role of Robert McCall, a retired and disillusioned Cold' [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 6:36pm EST
  

• Special session tea leaf reading

  Not much to update as yet, but here goes...
  
  The latest rumors are A) that they will try to pull off a one day special session on Thursday, and B) that they'll try for next week before Thanksgiving.
  
  There are obstacles to those potential plans.
  
  As for' [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 12:46pm EST
  

• The coming week...

  As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies (except where noted) and subject to change without notice.
  
  This is shaping up to be a busy week as most political entities try to clear as much work as possible off of their dockets before the [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 11:07am EST
  

• Republicans behaving badly: STO meeting shenanigans

  On Thursday, Rep. David Schapira (D-LD17) and the Bipartisan Task Force on the Private School Tuition Tax Credits Program held an open hearing on Thursday at the State Capitol to solicit public testimony on the state's troubled STO program.
  
  A number of citizens, from all over the state,' [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 9:13pm EST
  

• When you outlaw laws, only outlaws will have laws

  Tedski at Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion has covered this already, but it's worthy of more coverage.
  
  Especially in light of the apparent fizzling out of next week's likely-to-remain-a-rumor special session of the lege to address the ongoing budget deficit...
  
  Russell Pearce likes to tout himself as [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 6:49pm EST
  

• A little light reading for a good cause...

  A couple of books have hit the streets recently, and both are worthy of picking up.
  
  - The first up is the cookbook "How To Roast An Elephant." It was put together by D20 Democratic activists Jean Cappello and Judy Wade with nearly 200 recipes submitted by Maricopa County [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 2:38pm EST
  

• Not good news for Jan Brewer's nascent campaign

  From AZCentral.com -
  Pew report: Ariz. ranks among worst facing budget woes
  
  Arizona lags only California in the magnitude of its state budget woes, according to a new report released today.
  
  The state's high foreclosure rate, year-over-year drop in tax collections and yawning budget gap make it' [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 1:13pm EST
  

• Apparently, it's my week for going "hmmmm..."

  ...well, in between coughs and sneezes and sniffles, anyway. :)
  
  This is definitely one of those times when I wish I had better sources at the Capitol.
  
  
  First, there was the scheduled (and then cancelled) meeting of the lege's Joint Committee on Capital Review that was supposed' [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 11:44pm EST
  

• Congressman Harry Mitchell - "Honoring Our Nation's Veterans

  From an email message from Congressman Mitchell -
  This Veterans Day, I want to make sure we all take a moment to give thanks to our men and women in uniform. I sought out a seat on the House Veterans Affairs’ Committee because I believe that the best way to [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 11:15pm EST
  

• Quelland on his way out

  From AZCentral.com -
  For the second time this year, a state authority has determined that Rep. Doug Quelland must forfeit his office over campaign-finance violations.
  
  On Monday, a state administrative law judge upheld the May finding of the Citizens
  Clean Elections Commission that Quelland violated a number of [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 8:15pm EST
  

• Best wishes on a speedy recovery to State Sen. Al Melvin

  Like everybody I know (and I expect most of the readers of this posting), I've had family members get cancer. The fight against it, successful or not, is usually painful, always stressful, and invariably expensive, both financially and emotionally.
  
  Some things are far more important than mere partisan politics,' [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 12:59pm EST
  

• The coming week...

  As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies (except where noted), and subject to change without notice...
  
  ...After the rare Saturday hubbub in the U. S. House (over health care reform), the House will be in recess for a week. Which probably explains [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 11:16am EST
  

• The Number 1 Reason Bob Burns And The Republicans Are Unqualified For Office

  Quote of the week, from AZCentral.com -
  "You've got to have a healthy host for the parasite." - Senate President Bob Burns, saying Arizona needs a healthy economy to provide the tax revenue that feeds the government.
  Ummm, yeah.
  
  With an attitude like that, something tells me' [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 11:12pm EST
  

• Harry Mitchell's reply to my letter from yesterday

  On Friday, I wrote a letter to Congressman Harry Mitchell (and the Blue Dogs). It must have been an incredibly eloquent and persuasive letter, given the success of tonight's vote (my supply of endearingly undue modesty is apparently running low :) ).
  
  Here is his reply, just received' [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 10:40pm EST
  

• H.R. 3962 passes - YESSSSSS!

  After more than 12 hours of debate on a Saturday, and nearly 100 years of delay, dallying, and outright obstruction, the House passed a significant health care reform measure.
  
  With a tally of 220 in favor, 215 against, and none voting present or not voting, H.R. 3962 [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 9:49pm EST
  

• Congressman Harry Mitchell - "History Calls"

  From an email from the Congressman (bolding theirs, but links are adjusted from their email to direct links) -
  
  Dear Friend,
  
  I want you to be among the first to know that when the House of Representatives votes on a health insurance reform proposal, I will be voting [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 6:06pm EST
  

• Watching the House debate on health care reform

  Just one thing that I wanted to note...
  
  They're currently considering an amendment to bar abortion funding under the public option in the proposed bill.
  
  It's interesting to observe that the vast majority of the Congressfolk opposing the amendment are women yet most of those supporting it are [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 5:58pm EST
  

• For sale: One Mucuous Factory

  Has an established record of efficient handling of periods of high productivity and then idling or producing minimal output for weeks or even months at a time. It is currently running at full capacity 24 hours per day.
  
  The output housing of this facility was handsomely designed in the [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 4:57pm EST
  

• More 2010 campaign committees...

  Wherein I narrow the focus of these posts to LD17, LD8, Scottsdale, and Tempe...and anything else that catches my attention. :)
  
  Some of these I've covered before, but for some of these races, a complete picture is appropriate.
  
  In the race for Governor, two of the big guns' [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 7:01pm EST
  

• Breaking news: Mitchell to vote in favor of H.R. 3962

  Apparently, the "power of bloggers" has swayed a member of Congress.
  
  Either that, or he looked at the same factors as I did, and has decided to vote in the best interests of his constituents.
  
  And while my ego would *love* to take credit for this, the news [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 5:54pm EST
  

• Betrayed.

  There's no other word for it. Civilized Americans have been betrayed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
  
  Earlier today, the House, by a 386 -17 vote, will 11 voting "present", passed H. Res. 893, congratulating....God, it hurts so much to put this in writing...the Evil Empire New' [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 4:26pm EST
  

• An open letter to Congressman Harry Mitchell (and the Blue Dogs)

  Normally, these “open letters” are something that I’ve written and submitted to a particular public official. As I am living in CD5 that usually means Harry Mitchell. They are written with a formal, respectful tone.
  
  This one is written more as a blog post, with a less formal tone [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 3:48pm EST
  

• Brewer is running

  From AZCentral.com -
  
  Republican Gov. Jan Brewer on Thursday will formally announce her intent to seek a full, four-year term in 2010, multiple sources close to the Governor's Office tell The Arizona Republic.
  
  Brewer, a Republican who automatically assumed the state's top office in January with the [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 8:03pm EST