August 31, 2016

Aurora massacre survivors sued. How did 4 end up owing the theater $700,000?

They had survived brain damage, paralysis and the deaths of their children. For four years, they met in secret as a group. Now, they were finally prepared to settle with the Aurora movie theater that became the site of one of the deadliest massacres in U.S. history.

Marcus Weaver kept a calm facade, but writhed with anxiety within. His dreams often return him to the theater, the sounds of gunshots and the feeling of his friend’s lifeless body slumped against him. After he escaped, he found a bullet hole in his shoulder.

On a conference call, the federal judge overseeing the case told the plaintiffs’ attorneys that he was prepared to rule in the theater chain’s favor. He urged the plaintiffs to settle with Cinemark, owner of the Century Aurora 16 multiplex where the July 20, 2012, shooting occurred. They had 24 hours.

But before that deadline, the settlement would collapse and four survivors of the massacre would be ordered to pay the theater chain more than $700,000.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-batman-shooting-lawsuit-20160822-snap-story.html

August 31, 2016

State elections department to increase computer security

PHOENIX — State election officials are looking at an additional level of security after fears earlier this year that the voter database had been hacked.

Matt Roberts, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said Monday the agency wants to implement “two-factor authentication” before anyone can get access to the list of registered voters. That would involve users providing more than just the sign-in name and password now required.

The move follows what Roberts said was the FBI telling state officials nearly two months ago there was a “credible threat” that the database had been compromised.

He said the state took the database offline and then examined it to see if any malware had been uploaded into it.

Read more: http://tucson.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/state-elections-department-to-increase-computer-security/article_87d9b341-edd7-5072-9fa2-a1c7c71df0f8.html

August 31, 2016

Supporters of marijuana legalization want new ballot description

PHOENIX — Supporters of legalized marijuana go to court Wednesday to argue that Secretary of State Michele Reagan is lying to voters about what the measure would do.

Attorney Kory Langhofer said there are three misstatements of facts in the description that Reagan is legally required to prepare for Proposition 205. And he will argue to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Blomo that he should order the language rewritten.

But Reagan spokesman Matt Roberts said there’s nothing wrong with the verbiage. And Roberts noted the language has been approved by the Attorney General’s Office.

The measure would allow anyone 21 and older to possess and use up to an ounce of marijuana as well as grow their own plants.

Read more: http://tucson.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/supporters-of-marijuana-legalization-want-new-ballot-description/article_6f18f1d3-59a9-5c4d-bd1b-991861ee9597.html

August 31, 2016

Arizona Supreme Court lets minimum wage initiative stay on ballot

PHOENIX — Arizonans will get to decide in November whether to hike the state's minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020.

In a brief order this afternoon the Arizona Supreme Court said challengers, led by the Arizona Restaurant Association, waited too long before challenging the petitions. The court said the plain language of the statute gives foes just five days.

The justices specifically rejected arguments by attorneys for opponents that they should read the deadline for challenges to mean five business days, excluding weekends. Chief Justice Scott Bales, writing the order, said words mean what they say.

"When the Legislature wants to designate the meaning of 'days' in election statutes to be something other than calendar days ... it has done so expressly,'' he wrote.

http://tucson.com/business/arizona-supreme-court-lets-minimum-wage-initiative-stay-on-ballot/article_5d68774a-6f03-11e6-b6bc-7bb1c7cf4aa3.html (short article)

Cross-posted in the Arizona Group.

August 31, 2016

Arizona Supreme Court lets minimum wage initiative stay on ballot

PHOENIX — Arizonans will get to decide in November whether to hike the state's minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020.

In a brief order this afternoon the Arizona Supreme Court said challengers, led by the Arizona Restaurant Association, waited too long before challenging the petitions. The court said the plain language of the statute gives foes just five days.

The justices specifically rejected arguments by attorneys for opponents that they should read the deadline for challenges to mean five business days, excluding weekends. Chief Justice Scott Bales, writing the order, said words mean what they say.

"When the Legislature wants to designate the meaning of 'days' in election statutes to be something other than calendar days ... it has done so expressly,'' he wrote.

http://tucson.com/business/arizona-supreme-court-lets-minimum-wage-initiative-stay-on-ballot/article_5d68774a-6f03-11e6-b6bc-7bb1c7cf4aa3.html (short article)

Cross-posted in Omaha Steve's Labor Group.

August 31, 2016

Phoenix Grand Canal plan moves forward with revisions, delays

Of the nearly 200 miles of canals that flow through the Valley, the Grand Canal in central and southeast Phoenix arguably is the most forgotten.

While many canals that meander through suburbs to the east and neighborhoods to the north are lined with paved trails, marked street crossings and amenities like public art and shade, the Grand Canal trail is less safe and picturesque.

The waterway's banks are mostly barren, and pedestrians and bicyclists lament that crossing busy arterial streets, where there are no signals or crosswalks, can be a dangerous ordeal.

But plans to transform the waterway into a thriving transportation corridor and gathering place are moving forward, with construction slated to start early next year. The vision, though, has faced delays and aspects of the plan have been scaled back.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2016/08/30/phoenix-grand-canal-plan-moves-forward-revisions-delays/89372714/

August 31, 2016

Sheriff Joe Arpaio breezes to primary win

Sheriff Joe Arpaio breezes to primary win as Recorder Helen Purcell, Schools Superintendent Don Covey struggle

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio sailed into the general election Tuesday, but early primary results showed two other county incumbents — Recorder Helen Purcell and Schools Superintendent Don Covey — in danger of defeat.

Arpaio, the controversial lawman who has been in office 23 years, is seeking a seventh term. He led his three Republican challengers comfortably in early results, and the Associated Press declared him the winner little more than an hour after polls closed Tuesday.

Pre-primary polls had shown Arpaio with a substantial edge over Dan Saban, a former Buckeye police chief; Wayne Baker, a retired sheriff's deputy; and Marsha Ann Hill, a former sheriff's animal posse volunteer.

None of the challengers raised enough money or made a big enough splash to reach voters. For Saban, it was a third attempt at the office. Even though the sheriff refused to participate in any candidate forums, his national fame and solid conservative base pushed him to victory.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/08/31/maricopa-county-primary-election-results-joe-arpaio-helen-purcell-don-covey/89301900/

August 31, 2016

'Error': Arizona's new elections site struggles in debut

The Secretary of State's Office, which oversees statewide elections, was supposed to be issuing the early results of races across the state close to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Instead, the website produced this message: "Error."

Twitter lit up with people complaining about the lack of results.

The website continued to intermittently produce results throughout the night, occasionally producing messages saying, "This site can't be reached" and "Service unavailable."

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/08/30/error-results-delayed-arizonas-new-elections-site/89618210/

August 31, 2016

Faults along Nevada-California border capable of causing major earthquakes, study finds

Half a dozen seismic faults along the Nevada-California border — including two within 60 miles of Reno and one about 100 miles from Las Vegas — appear primed to unleash a moderate to major earthquake, according to a new study.

A pair of scientists from Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, examined the behavior of a system of active faults east of the Sierra Nevada range in California over more than 1,400 years.

They found that six of those faults, from California’s Death Valley National Park in the south to Nevada’s Pyramid Lake in the north, now carry an estimated stress load high enough to trigger an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or greater.

The study by Alessandro Verdecchia and Sara Carena appears in the July edition of “Tectonics,” a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

Read more: http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/water-environment/faults-along-nevada-california-border-capable-causing-major-earthquakes-study

August 31, 2016

Trump, Clinton concentrate efforts on crucial Nevada

RENO — Politically, Nevada is the anti-California.

The GOP runs both houses of the Legislature. Brian Sandoval, the state’s popular governor, is a Republican. Just like California, one party holds every state constitutional office, only in Nevada, it’s the GOP that ran the table.

And in Nevada, there’s also an actual presidential race.

In California, the RealClearPolitics average of polls has Democrat Hillary Clinton burying GOP nominee Donald Trump by 52 to 30 percentage points. But the former secretary of state holds just a three-point lead in Nevada, putting California’s eastern neighbor near the top of the fall battleground list.

The travel schedule of the two campaigns shows just how important Nevada and its six electoral votes are to the candidates, who need 270 nationwide to become president.

Read more: http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/aug/30/trump-and-clinton-place-their-bets-in-nevada/