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The Goldwater Institute has sued the city of Phoenix to stop so-called pension spiking, mainly among police officers and firefighters. That practice allows workers to cash in unused vacation or sick time before they retire, which increases their pensions, and it has been an issue in this month’s city council elections, as some of the candidates in districts 4, 6 and 8 spoke about at the forums hosted by KJZZ.
Sept. 20, 2013
With the Valley under an excessive heat warning from 10 a.m. Tuesday until 8 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service
is predicting more unseasonably hot temperatures. Meteorologist Matthew Hersch
says there’s a ridge of high pressure sitting over Arizona, but that relief is in sight.
Sept. 20, 2013
Wells Fargo Bank announced it will lay off nearly 300 employees in Tempe as part of a nationwide cutback. Wells Fargo earned a net income of $5.5 billion in the second quarter this year. It was a record, but rising interest rates have made the company’s home refinancing business less profitable.
Sept. 20, 2013
The Valley’s food truck scene has grown significantly over the past several years, and now some operators are moving to a…less mobile…environment.
Jeff Kraus parked his food truck for good when he opened Crepe Bar in Tempe, but is looking to get back on the road.
Sept. 20, 2013
Federal officials have agreed not to try to capture and relocate wolves that enter Arizona, from Mexico. The United States Fish and
Wildlife Service has been involved in a reintroduction program for the wolves
for nearly two decades, but the announcement that Mexico was launching its own
reintroduction program, just south of the border, caused complications.
Sept. 20, 2013
The boards of directors of two Valley health care companies
have signed off on a deal to form a system-wide affiliation. Scottsdale
Healthcare and John C. Lincoln Health Network earlier this year announced plans
to form Scottsdale Lincoln Health Network.
Sept. 20, 2013
Jeep tour operators will now be able to take passengers out in a small part of Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Jeep tours will be resuming in a section of Scottsdale's McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
Sept. 20, 2013
Arizona Sen. John McCain met with President Obama Monday to discuss the possibility of limited strikes on Syria. McCain told NPR’s Steve
Inskeep Tuesday that he believes approving the resolution is an absolute
necessity.
Sept. 20, 2013
Arizona’s
senior senator is planning a series of events to help veterans get the services
they need more quickly.
Arizona Sen. John McCain. (Photo courtesy of Office of Sen. John McCain)
According to a Center
for Investigative Reporting analysis, the average wait time for Phoenix veterans
filing new disability claims with the U.
Sept. 20, 2013
Phoenix
police said they are treating the death of an aspiring teenage boxer as a
homicide, after his parents found him dead in his home Tuesday. Sergeant Trent
Crump said 17-year-old Alexis Urbina-Ochoa was home from school Tuesday morning
and last seen alive at 10:30 a.
Sept. 20, 2013
A new report said the state's economy is showing some signs of life. Retail sales in July were up 9 percent from last year for the best July report in 6 years. Economist Dennis Hoffman of Arizona State University said what makes the growth amazing is that it is taking place with little impact on Arizona's 8 percent jobless rate, but the year-over-year spending increase at bars, restaurants and hotels was much smaller.
Sept. 20, 2013
The British-owned chain of Fresh & Easy grocery stores has been sold to a billionaire from California, and some locations will be closing.
Fresh & Easy has several locations across the Valley, including this one on Indian School Road in Phoenix.
Sept. 20, 2013
Arizona midwives
are seeking permission to give their patients potentially life-saving drugs. As
it stands now, midwives now face felony charges if they buy, carry or administer
medication. So, the
Arizona Association of Midwives is looking for the ability to use items like eye
ointment for newborns and anti-hemorrhaging drugs.
Sept. 20, 2013
Nearly $100 million in unpaid fines have gone uncollected in Maricopa
County. A program run by several constables has
started to put a small dent in that amount. The Maricopa County Constables Warrant Program gives
deputies jurisdiction to arrest people who have unpaid fines for misdemeanors.
Sept. 20, 2013
The Navajo Nation is asking FEMA to declare a major disaster
for the area, after heavy rains and floods damaged homes, roads and
infrastructure in many Native American communities. Navajo nation
spokesman Ernie Zah says the Tribe has already spent more than a million
dollars to cope with the damage from several different storms.
Sept. 20, 2013
High school freshmen in Arizona who want to take career and technical education courses could be out of luck next school year. The new state budget adopted this spring eliminates funding for 9th graders in subjects like engineering, culinary arts and automotive repair.
Sept. 20, 2013
Ranchers who lease forest land may not be allowed to graze cattle in areas burned by the largest fire in Arizona’s history. As KJZZ’s Paul Atkinson reports in our series on the aftermath of the Wallow Fire, ranchers may have to look elsewhere to feed their cattle this year.
Sept. 20, 2013
KJZZ's Theatre Critic Robrt Pela reviews Desert Stages Theatre's production of Hairspray: The Musical which runs through August 7th. Robrt Pela is a columnist at New Times and a staff writer at Latino Perspectives Magazine.
Sept. 20, 2013
The Obama administration proposes fixing No Child Left Behind by letting states apply for waivers from certain NCLB provisions. In exchange, states must agree to establish new college and career-ready standards, ways to train more teachers and principals, and to use a data system that provides more flexible and targeted accountability.
Sept. 20, 2013
