Flagstaff Today - News and Photos

Miss America Jennifer Berry tells students at Ganado to beware of alcohol, make good choices for their life

GANADO, Ariz.- She had never been to the Navajo Nation before. But that did not stop Miss America 2006 Jennifer Berry from sharing the most basic and important of Navajo teachings with the 1,000 students who had come to see her: that their choices are up to them.

Miss Berry was greeted with thunderous applause as she took the stage at the Ganado Pavilion here Friday.

Her visit to the Navajo Nation was arranged by the Office of Navajo Nation First Lady Vikki Shirley, who is the Four Corners spokeswoman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Accompanying Miss Berry was the First Lady, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., and Miss Navajo Nation 2006-2007 Jocelyn Billy.

Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice-President

A “power rating” of members of Congress released last week by the nonpartisan company Knowlegis of Fairfax, Va., lists Arizona Sen. John McCain as the 11th most-powerful of the 100 U.S. senators. Arizona’s other Republican senator, Jon Kyl, is listed as the 13th most powerful.

In the 435-seat retiring House, Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., is listed as the most powerful Arizonan, ranked 27th in the chamber….

…. Their findings, which can be viewed at www.congress.org, also indicate that GOP Rep. Rick Renzi comes out as the second-highest-ranked Arizonan in the House behind Kolbe, placing 101st overall.

Arizona Republic

While the country’s been conducting a war on terrorism, defense contractor ManTech International Corp. has seen its revenues nearly double, amounting to almost $1 billion in its last public report.

The Virginia company has hired four firms to lobby Congress on its behalf and received military contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Flagstaff, has received more campaign money from top managers at ManTech, where his father is a senior vice president, than any other donor — $36,200 so far, according to data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Arizona Daily Sun

Carlis Chee considers himself a wanderer by nature. “I like to move around,” he said. “The Navajo are known throughout history to be nomads.”The artist has traveled across the United States with art in tow, mounting shows at all of the major cities. “I would drive my truck and haul all of my stuff,” he said.

“I’ve paid my dues. I spent a lot of time in hotels and small cafes throughout the Midwest. I look back at all of the connections I made, and it has really paid off.”

His latest journey: from the Southwest to the mid-Pacific.

Honolulu Star Bulletin

On Sunday at 2 a.m., Daylight Saving Time ends. We move the clock back one hour to return to Standard Time, giving us a 60-minute bonus, so we really shouldn’t complain….

….Exceptions to the Rule
On April 2, 2006, the entire state of Indiana joined 48 other states in observing Daylight Saving Time. Previously many counties remained on standard time.

Daylight Saving Time is still not observed in Hawaii and most of Arizona. The exception in Arizona is the Navajo Nation, which also extends into Utah and New Mexico.

NPR

U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi’s 13-point lead over Democrat Ellen Simon in the general election has remained exactly the same since a similar poll this past month, according to Northern Arizona University’s Social Research Lab.

A recent third poll called Majority Watch, using an automatic calling system that’s untested in congressional surveys, finds Simon ahead by five points.

Not surprisingly, Simon’s spokesperson points to the Majority Watch poll as the most accurate, while the Renzi campaign says the NAU polls are the best.

Verde Independent

Two of the three candidates vying to represent the 1st District in Congress will be in Flagstaff on Saturday morning facing off in debate.

Democratic congressional candidate Ellen Simon and Libertarian congressional candidate David Schlosser will attend and have held similar debates around the district.

With less than two weeks until Election Day, two-term U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Flagstaff, will not participate, he has said via a spokesman.

As of Thursday evening, his office had not answered questions posed by the Daily Sun about what Renzi would be doing instead on Saturday.

Arizona Daily Sun

WASHINGTON — The government would end its long and controversial responsibility for managing American Indian trust lands under a proposed change to a bill settling a decade-old lawsuit by Indians against the government.

Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., and vice chairman Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., filed the bill last year to overhaul the trust system and end the lawsuit. The senators had discussed settling for $8 billion as recently as July, but they have struggled to find a plan all sides can accept.

The latest proposal, posted this week on the committee’s Web site, is endorsed by the Bush administration.

Indians claim in their class-action lawsuit that the government has mismanaged more than $100 billion in oil, gas, timber and other royalties held in trust from their lands dating back to 1887.

washingtonpost.com

Reports that federal authorities are scrutinizing Representative Rick Renzi about a land deal are likely to impact his re-election bid only days before the November seventh election.

That’s according to Renzi’s lawyer and Arizona’s Democratic party chairman.

KVOA

In Arizona, it’s the most important issue among likely voters. But consensus on how to act is elusive.

Much of America hit the pause button this fall on the flaming debate over illegal immigration, once it became clear Congress would not act before the election. But not Arizona.

Here in a state where the wave of border crossers is so great that it washes over every aspect of life, illegal immigration is a flash point in virtually every political race this fall. Moreover, there’s a candidate for every view - from those saying “send ‘em back and bar the door” to those who’d provide a path for citizenship for some undocumented workers.

csmonitor.com

In spite of last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for Arizona to require voters to show identification before casting a ballot, public opinion polls show several incumbent right-wing congressmen in deep trouble.

In Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, in a race for a seat vacated by the retirement of Republican Jim Kolbe, Democrat Gabrielle Giffords is way ahead of Republican Randy Graf. Graf, who is the darling of the anti-immigrant militias, is so far to the right that he has been repudiated by many Republicans, including Kolbe. However, he has been endorsed by Arizona Sen. John McCain, who sometimes tries to pose as a moderate. Giffords, who began her campaign last spring refusing to call for withdrawal from Iraq, has gradually shifted her position and is now calling for ending the occupation by the end of 2007.

In northern Arizona’s 1st CD, which includes most of the Navajo Nation, progressive ACLU attorney Ellen Simon is leading incumbent Rick Renzi in the latest polls. Renzi has been described as one of the most corrupt members of Congress. Simon has the support of labor, the Sierra Club, Emily’s List and Navajo elected officials. She is calling health care a “right” and demanding an immediate end to the war on Iraq. Simon minces no words, describing Renzi as “a tool of big business interests, supporting gas, oil and pharmaceuticals over the average person.”

People’s Weekly World

On the campaign trail, I get a lot of quizzical looks when I tell people that the Federal government should use the same accounting standards that it requires of business.

Last August, USA TODAY detailed the difference between the keeping books for business and the Federal government. Instead of a $318 billion budget deficit in 2005, under the government’s accounting rules, the Federal budget deficit as measured by business accounting rules was actually $3.5 trillion for that single year.

In other words, the disastrous implications of a $318 billion gap between what the government takes from you in taxes and what it spends was actually ten times worse.

Now that we’re in election season, President Bush announced that the deficit is only $250 billion. The Senate Budget Committee’s ranking Democrat, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, reminded Americans that Bush is tapping Social Security revenue to help cover the deficit through off-budget borrowing. Accounting for that, Conrad said, would have added $550 billion to the deficit last fiscal year.

by David Schlosser

Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc.

Congressional District One Libertarian candidate David Schlosser correctly predicted in September that attacks between the two frontrunners in the race, incumbent Republican Rick Renzi and Democrat Ellen Simon, would get rougher as the general election nears.

Renzi said he warned Simon during an Arizona Republic editorial board gathering of CD1 candidates that if she went after his father, he would take off the gloves.

The Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has placed Renzi on its list of “Most Corrupt Members of Congress” two years in a row. Both times, it accused him of sponsoring 2003 legislation as a way to help his father.

Daily Courier

Two scandals broke last night with Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) at their centers. At first glance they have nothing in common. But a closer look reveals the deals now under federal scrutiny pivot on two central issues: Arizona’s fragile but important San Pedro River, and Renzi’s remarkable ability to aid his supporters by manipulating the waterway’s health.

In a nutshell: Renzi cut one deal in 2003 that helped take water out of the San Pedro River, financially benefiting a major political backer but potentially devastating to the waterway, which is said to be vital for millions of migratory birds. The congressman made a second deal deal in 2005 ostensibly put water back into the river — and made millions for another major political supporter and onetime business partner. Both are now reportedly under federal scrutiny.

TPMmuckraker

Dwindling federal Community Development Block Grants, plans to offer to start employer-assisted housing and a report on the city’s programs to reimburse developers for city fees when building affordable housing highlighted a staff housing report during a five-hour City Council work session Monday night.

The City’s new Housing Manager George Rodriguez told the council to be prepared for a decrease in the funding, saying $150 million was diverted to recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina and more than 50 cities have been added to the program, directly competing with
Flagstaff for federal funding.

Sarah Darr, the city’s land trust manager, told the council that the federal priorities had changed for the CDBG funds, moving toward projects that affect the greatest number
of people.

Arizona Daily Sun

David Schlosser, Libertarian candidate for US Congress in Arizona’s District-1 sent out one of the most badass press releases I’ve seen in a while. I think more of this is a good thing….

….Bravo Mr. Schlosser. You might also want to point out that exclusion like this goes beyond mere laziness, it’s actually a violation of the Society of Professional journalist’s highest code of ethics: “Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.”

Hammer of Truth

A 62-year-old man who vanished Monday afternoon while on a photography shoot in the rugged Paria Canyon wilderness area of northern Arizona was found by searchers early today.

The Coconino County sheriff’s office says James Aalberts was tired and thirsty but was O-K. It says he was able to return to his campsite and colleagues.

KVOA

Federal authorities in Arizona have opened an inquiry into whether Representative Rick Renzi introduced legislation that benefited a military contractor that employs his father, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

The officials said the inquiry was at an early stage and that no search warrants had been issued, suggesting that investigators had yet to determine whether there was a basis to open a formal investigation or empanel a grand jury.

Mr. Renzi, 48, a Republican who represents the First Congressional District, is a former insurance executive and real estate investor who was first elected in 2002. Almost from the start, he has been a target of citizen watchdog groups who have accused him of ethical laxity in office.

New York Times

A land deal involving Rep. Rick Renzi (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., is being scrutinized by the U.S. attorney’s office in Arizona, a law enforcement official in Washington said Tuesday.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity while the inquiry is ongoing, said the investigation has been under way for a few months and is still in its very early stages.

The official did not specify what land deal was under investigation.

A spokesman for the Arizona U.S. attorney, Paul Charlton, said he could not confirm or deny an investigation was under way.

Renzi also declined to comment, referring questions to his lawyer, former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods. The lawyer late Tuesday said Renzi was not aware of any investigation and had not been contacted by the U.S. attorney’s office.

Yahoo News

See also: Washington Post, TPMmuckraker

A new poll gives Arizona Republican Congressman Rick Renzi a decent-sized lead over Democratic challenger and Sedona attorney Ellen Simon.

Northern Arizona University’s Social Research Laboratory gives Renzi a 45 percent to 32 percent edge over Simon in the huge rural district that includes Flagstaff, Florence, Casa Grande, Payson and the Navajo Nation Indian reservation.

Business Journal of Phoenix