Category: State News

BISBEE, Ariz. (AP) –The elections director of a rural Arizona county who pushed false claims that voter fraud was behind President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss is resigning five months after being hired. Bob Bartelsmeyer submitted his resignation last Friday and announced he would return to his previous job as elections director in La Paz County, more than 300 miles (483 kilometers) west near the California state line, KVOA-TV in Tucson reported Tuesday. A public information officer for Cochise County did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. According to his resignation letter, Bartelsmeyer’s last day will be Sept….

PHOENIX (AP) – Two federal lawsuits filed over former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision last year to place thousands of shipping containers along the U.S.- Mexico border have been dismissed after the state said it would pay the U.S. Forest Service $2.1 million to repair environmental damage. The Sept. 15 dismissal of the cases in U.S. District Court in Phoenix ends the fight over the double-stacked containers that were placed as a makeshift border wall in the summer of 2022. Ducey, a Republican, sued in U.S. District Court seeking to stop the federal government from preventing placement of the containers….

Effort organized by ADOT Adopt a Highway removed 214 bags of litter PHOENIX – Arizonans did their part on the recent National Cleanup Day by picking up 214 bags of litter along state highways through the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Adopt a Highway volunteer program.  Fifteen groups with 123 volunteers answered the call to participate in this special event on Saturday, Sept.16. Some of those groups have adopted highway miles through Adopt a Highway, while others joined in for the day.  One of those groups was the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, which had seven volunteers fill 13 bags with litter…

Effort organized by ADOT Adopt a Highway removed 214 bags of litter PHOENIX – Arizonans did their part on the recent National Cleanup Day by picking up 214 bags of litter along state highways through the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Adopt a Highway volunteer program.  Fifteen groups with 123 volunteers answered the call to participate in this special event on Saturday, Sept.16. Some of those groups have adopted highway miles through Adopt a Highway, while others joined in for the day.  One of those groups was the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, which had seven volunteers fill 13 bags with litter…

The Bureau of Land Management has opened a 30-day public comment period for an environmental assessment that analyzes a 10-year plan to remove excess wild burros and implement herd fertility controls in and near the Alamo, Big Sandy and Havasu herd management areas south of Kingman, collectively known as the Three Rivers Complex. The comment period will close Oct. 11. “We are committed to maintaining a healthy population of wild burros in the Three Rivers Complex, as well as being a good neighbor to the communities we serve,” said Kingman Field Manager Amanda Dodson. “The proposed plan will help us ensure healthy herds, protect native…

The Bureau of Reclamation on Sept. 14 increased the minimum amount of water that can be released hourly from Glen Canyon Dam. This adjustment, to 6,000 from 5,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), will help boaters better safely navigate the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon below the dam. Hourly releases will fluctuate from the low of 6,000 cfs to a high of 8,000 cfs through Wednesday, Sept. 20. “Daily releases split between 5,000 and 8,000 cfs during the nighttime and daytime, respectively, are the minimum releases authorized under environmental documents and have been in place since 1997. These low…