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Arizona Man Sentenced to More Than 5 Years in Prison in Money Laundering and Tax Scheme

Wayne A. Mounts, a resident of Mesa, Ariz., was sentenced yesterday to 63 months in prison for his role in conspiracies to commit money laundering and to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), announced the Justice Department and the IRS today. On July 25, 2011, a federal jury in Phoenix convicted Mounts and his co-defendant, Gino Carlucci, of both conspiracies after an eight-day trial.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Settles with Arizona Department of Corrections Resolving Sexual Harassment Allegations

The department’s complaint, filed today along with the consent decree, alleges that Susan Peterson, a female correctional officer at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson, Ariz., was regularly subjected to verbal and physical sexual harassment by several of her male supervisors and coworkers from early 2005 through November 2008.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former Arizona State Representative Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud and Tax Evasion Related to the Misuse of More Than $140,000 in Charity Funds

Richard David Miranda, a former Arizona state representative, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona to a two-count information charging him with defrauding a charity of more than $140,000 and evading income tax related to those unlawfully obtained funds.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Freeport-McMoRan Corp. and Freeport-McMoRan Morenci Inc. Will Pay $6.8 Million in Damages for Injuries to Natural Resources from the Morenci Copper Mine in Arizona

The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior announced today that Freeport-McMoRan Corporation and Freeport-McMoRan Morenci Inc. have agreed to pay $6.8 million to settle federal and state natural resource damages claims related to the Morenci copper mine in southeastern Arizona.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Arizona Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Participating in International Child Pornography Ring

Joseph Hines of Tempe, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips. In December 2010, Hines, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit child pornography.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Department of Justice Files Lawsuit in Arizona Against Maricopa County, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Joseph Arpaio

The Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit in federal court today against Maricopa County, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio, arising from unconstitutional and unlawful actions by the defendants.



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Arizona State Representative Charged with Bribery, Fraud, Attempted Extortion and Making False Statements

The indictment charges Paul Ben Arredondo, 63, of Tempe, with one count of federal programs bribery, two counts of honest services mail fraud, one count of attempted Hobbs Act extortion and one count of making false statements.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former Arizona State Representative Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Wire Fraud and Tax Evasion Related to the Misuse of More Than $140,000 in Charity Funds

Former Arizona State Representative Richard David Miranda was sentenced today to 27 months in prison for defrauding a charity of more than $140,000 and evading income tax related to those unlawfully obtained funds.



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Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against the Twin Cities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, and Local Utility Companies Alleging Religious Discrimination

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against the town of Colorado City, Ariz.; the city of Hildale, Utah; Twin City Water Authority; and Twin City Power alleging a pattern or practice of police misconduct and violations of federal civil rights laws.



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Statement of Attorney General Eric Holder on the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Arizona v. The United States

Attorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today on the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Arizona v. The United States.



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Arizona-based Nextcare Inc. to Pay US $10 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

NextCare Inc., an Arizona-based company, has agreed to pay $10 million to settle federal and state allegations that it submitted false claims, the Justice Department announced today. NextCare is an owner of a chain of urgent care facilities with locations in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.



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Arizona Tax Defier Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Fraud and Tax Conspiracy

Richard Kellogg Armstrong, 77, of Prescott, Ariz., was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn to 108 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Judge Blackburn ordered the sentence to run consecutively to the 660 day prison term and $1,021,500 of fines cumulatively imposed upon Armstrong as punitive sanctions for 10 acts of contempt of court. He also ordered Armstrong to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amount of $1,678,834 and to forfeit two residences and a personal aircraft. The sentence was announced by the Justice Department’s Tax Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the IRS Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office. Codefendant Curtis L. Morris, age 43, of Elizabeth, Colo., is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 6, 2012.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Arizona Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years in Prison in Money Laundering and Tax Scheme

Gino Carlucci was sentenced to 188 months in prison for his role in conspiracies to commit money laundering and to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and for filing a false income tax return, the Justice Department and the IRS announced today. On July 25, 2011, a federal jury in Phoenix convicted Carlucci of both conspiracies and the tax crime after an eight-day trial.



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Justice Department to Monitor Elections in Alabama and Arizona

The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor elections on Aug. 28, 2012, in Lanett, Reform, and Phenix City, Ala., and Maricopa County, Ariz., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group.



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Departments of Justice and Education Reach Settlement with Arizona Department of Education to Ensure That ELL Students Are Properly Identified and Not Prematurely Exited

The Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, today entered into a settlement agreement with the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) that requires ADE and Arizona public schools to offer targeted reading and writing intervention services to tens of thousands of English Language Learner (ELL) students who were prematurely exited or incorrectly identified as Initially Fluent English Proficient (IFEP) over the past five school years. The agreement also requires ADE to develop proficiency criteria that accurately identify and exit ELL students.



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Arizona Man Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Selling Access to Botnets

Joshua Schichtel, 30, of Phoenix, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for selling command-and-control access to and use of thousands of malware-infected computers.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Arizona State Representative Pleads Guilty, Admits Taking Bribe to Influence Official Duties

Arizona State Representative Paul Ben Arredondo pleaded guilty today in Phoenix federal court, admitting that he solicited and took a bribe in exchange for promises of official action both as a city councilmember and a state representative.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department to Monitor Election in Maricopa County, Arizona

The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor the municipal election on March 12, 2013, in the town of Guadalupe, in Maricopa County, Ariz., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Hospice of Arizona and Related Entities Pay $12 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

Hospice of Arizona L.C., along with a related entity, American Hospice Management LLC, and their parent corporation, American Hospice Management Holdings LLC, have agreed to pay $12 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting or causing the submission of false claims to the Medicare program for ineligible hospice services.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Arizona Businessmen and California Attorney Convicted for Hiding Millions in Secret Foreign Bank Accounts at UBS AG and Pictet & Cie

A jury convicted Stephen M. Kerr and Michael Quiel yesterday on federal tax charges stemming from their failure to disclose secret offshore bank accounts in Switzerland.



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Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, et al.


Editor's Note: For full disclosure, Tom Mann (joined by Norm Ornstein) filed an amicus curiae brief in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

James Madison would be pleased. The 5-4 decision announced today by the Supreme Court upholding Arizona’s use of the initiative to establish an independent redistricting commission is a model of constitutional reasoning and statutory interpretation. It underscores the essential connection between republican government and popular sovereignty, in which the people have the ultimate authority over who shall represent them in public office. The majority opinion quotes Madison to powerful effect: “The genius of republican liberty seems to demand . . . not only that all power should be derived from the people, but those entrusted with it should be kept in dependence on the people.”

Madison worried about the dangers of the manipulation of electoral rules to serve the immediate interests of political actors. He was himself the target of a gerrymander designed (unsuccessfully) to deny him a seat in the first Congress. The Elections Clause of the Constitution, by granting Congress the power to override state actions setting the time, place and manner of elections, was designed partly as a safety valve to contain the abuse of power by those in a position to determine which voters will hold them accountable.

Today’s intensely polarized politics drive major partisan campaigns to seize control of the redistricting authority in the states and to wield that power to boost prospects for majority standing in the House. Partisan gerrymandering is not the major source of our dysfunctional politics but it surely reinforces and exacerbates the tribal wars between the parties. A number of states have used the initiative device provided in their constitutions to establish independent commissions to replace or supplement the regular state legislative process in redrawing congressional and/or state legislative district boundaries. Such commissions are no panacea for partisan gerrymandering. Their composition and rules vary in ways that can shape the outcome. But the evidence suggests they can mitigate the conflicts of interest that are a part of the regular process and produce more timely plans less subject to judicial preemption.

The Court has upheld the right of those states to legislate electoral rules through a popular vote. Had the minority position prevailed, state laws governing many aspects of the electoral process would have been subject to constitutional challenge. And an important safety value available to the people of the states for responding to abuses of power by those in public office has been preserved.

This should not be read more broadly as a triumph of direct democracy over representative government. Many scholars who provided expert opinion supporting the majority opinion retain serious concerns about the overuse and misuse of initiatives and referendums. Instead, the decision strengthens the legitimacy of representative democracy by reinforcing the essential link between republican government and popular sovereignty.

Authors

Image Source: © Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
      
 
 




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Better schools or different students? Immigration reform and school performance in Arizona


Donald Trump has made waves during this year’s election cycle by taking a hard line on illegal immigration. This, however, builds on years of heated debate among policymakers. It is also an enduring hot-button issue in Arizona, which has passed several immigration laws over the years.  In 2010, the passage of SB 1070 brought national attention to this debate.  Deemed the strictest immigration law to date, SB 1070 sought to achieve “attrition [of illegal immigrants] through enforcement” by requiring law enforcement to detain any person whom they believed to be residing in the country illegally. Although SB 1070’s effects on individuals and families have been well documented, little is known about its impact on students and schools. To this end, we sought to estimate the relationship between the passage of SB 1070 and school-level student achievement.

We anticipated that anti-immigration policies would primarily affect children from the families of undocumented immigrants. Such effects could be observed in different ways. For instance, the emotional and psychological distress of these children could result in a decline in average test scores at the school-level. On the other hand, students might have left the country or the state under the threat of being deported in which case school-level test scores would rise (since these students often perform below their peers). To this end, we considered three scenarios: 

  1. Immigrant children remain in the state but experience higher levels of stress.  As a result, average school-level test scores will drop while Hispanic enrollment remains the same.
  2. Children of undocumented immigrants leave the state, which results in a drop in Hispanic enrollment accompanied by an increase in school-level test scores.
  3. Or, the first two scenarios occur simultaneously and we do not observe any change in test scores since the two effects would cancel each other, but note a slight decrease in Hispanic enrollment.

In order to see which of these hypothetical scenarios is supported by the data, we first estimated the relationship between the passage of SB 1070 and average school-level reading test scores. We then attempted to unpack the mechanism through which such an effect might have taken place. To this end, we used publicly available data on school-level achievement and enrollment collected by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). Given the targeted nature of the policy and the demographics of immigrants in Arizona, the majority of whom are of Hispanic or Mexican descent, we focused on schools that traditionally enroll large proportions of Hispanic students. We identified schools with high (more than 75 percent) shares of Hispanic students as those whose average achievement and student composition are most likely to be affected by immigration reform. We contrasted changes in school-level achievement and enrollment in those schools with schools that enroll less than 25 percent Hispanic students, as these schools are less likely to experience any changes as a result of tightening immigration laws.

Figures 1 and 2 show trends in the average percentage of students passing the state reading test and average Hispanic enrollment at these schools between 2006-2007 and 2011-2012.           

Figure 1. Average Percent of Students Passing AIMS Reading

 

Figure 2. Average Hispanic Student Enrollment

Clearly, the rate of growth in school-level reading scores was much higher for high Hispanic schools after the passage of SB 1070 in 2010 (Figure 1). At the same time, there was a significant decrease in Hispanic enrollment in these schools (Figure 2). Thus, it appears the second scenario is likely driving the patterns we observe.

The data also suggest that the trends for high Hispanic and low Hispanic schools started diverging before the passage of SB 1070 - after the 2007-2008 school year.  This happens to be the year that Arizona passed an even more restrictive, though less controversial, immigration law – the Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA). LAWA required Arizona business owners to verify the legal status of their employees using E-Verify, an online tool managed by the federal government. Although LAWA used a different mechanism, similar to SB 1070 it sought to achieve the attrition of undocumented immigrants from the state. 

We then would anticipate both laws to have similar effects on school-level achievement and Hispanic enrollment. Indeed, we estimated that LAWA likely led to an average increase of roughly 4 percent of students passing the state reading test at high Hispanic schools. This was accompanied by an average loss of 38 Hispanic students per school. Because the passage of SB 1070 was preceded by the passage LAWA as well as a language policy that would have affected treatment schools, disentangling the effects of these two policies is not straightforward. However, based on our analysis, we estimate that SB 1070 is associated with an average increase of between 1.5 percent and 4.5 percent of students passing the state reading test at the school-level accompanied by an average loss of between 14 and 40 Hispanic students. 

Despite the fact that we cannot pin down the exact magnitude of SB 1070’s effect on school-level achievement, our analysis shows that when Arizona passed restrictive immigration laws in 2008 and 2010, it looked as if the state’s lowest performing schools were improving rapidly. This, however, likely had more to do with the changing composition of schools as an indirect though anticipated effect of immigration policies than with policies aimed at improving student achievement. 

Despite this, the Arizona Department of Education took credit for these gains. Similarly, Arizona was recently recognized as one of the nation’s leaders in growth on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) over the last ten years. Although wrongly attributing these gains may seem harmless at first glance, it is important to remember that Arizona is viewed by many as a model for controversial education reforms like school choice and high-stakes accountability. It is easy to imagine how policymakers might look at increasing test scores in Arizona and wrongly attribute them to these kinds of reforms. That’s not to say that these policies don’t have merit. However, if other states adopt education policy reforms under the assumption that they worked in Arizona, then they might find that these policies fail to deliver.

Authors

  • Margarita Pivovarova
  • Robert Vagi
Image Source: Jonathan Drake / Reuters
     
 
 




arizona

Arizona Art Museum Seeks to Define Sustainability

From a painter's satirical take on 1950s images of a bucolic world to




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Clever rainwater garden grows squash and corn in Arizona desert

When you've got a lot of driveway runoff, some careful landscaping can put it to good use.




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Arizona State management school holds graduation ceremony via robot

Arizona State plans to use robots during the graduation ceremony for its Thunderbird School of Global Management. The school's dean, Dr. Sanjeev Khagram, and Juili Kale, one of its soon-to-be graduates discuss.




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Missing Idaho kids' uncle died of blood clot in Arizona

A pulmonary blood clot killed the brother of an Idaho woman who’s facing charges in the disappearance of her children — a case that attracted worldwide attention with revelations of her doomsday beliefs and connection to three mysterious deaths. Autopsy and toxicology reports were released Friday for Alex Cox, who died in Arizona in December. In July, Cox fatally shot his sister’s estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in what he said was self-defense.





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The Tuxon, A Modern Boutique Hotel, Named The First Design Hotels™ Property In Arizona

The Tuxon, a modern boutique hotel in the heart of Tucson, has joined Marriott International's coveted Design Hotels™ portfolio, an exclusive collection of hotels celebrated for their individuality, thoughtful design, and unique, discoverable pleasures. The new hotel, the first-ever Design Hotels™ property in Arizona, will debut in Summer 2020. Guests of The Tuxon will also have access to Marriott International's unrivaled loyalty program, Marriott Bonvoy. The Tuxon joins the Design Hotels™ network of the world's most sophisticated hospitality brands with properties that span a wide variety of fascinating locales - from world capitals and mountaintops to off-the-beaten-path escapes. As a Design Hotels™ destination, The Tuxon will tap into an engaged community of travelers who seek original, inspiring experiences in new and intriguing places. Each year, more than 400 hotels apply to become members of the Design Hotels™ portfolio. Only five percent are approved, and the chosen few are r...




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Boy, 16, arrested for 'raping two women in brutal attack that rattled small Arizona community'

A teenager from Scottsdale, Arizona has been arrested for allegedly raping two women, including a neighbor who lives in his apartment building. DNA evidence linked the 16-year-old boy to the assaults, which happened one week apart on Oct. 18 and Oct. 24, police said.




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Boy, 16, arrested for 'raping two women in brutal attacks that have shaken small Arizona community'

A teenager from Scottsdale, Arizona has been arrested for allegedly raping two women, including a neighbor who lives in his apartment building. DNA evidence linked the 16-year-old boy to the assaults, which happened one week apart on Oct. 18 and Oct. 24, police said.




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US election polls show Trump pulling Texas and Arizona back into his column

Two red states that once looked liked they could be snatched up by Hillary Clinton are now trending back Donald Trump's way – while the two party hopefuls are tied in another.




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Arizona CBP agents find two migrants in a car trunk and send them back across the Mexico border

CBP agents detained and quickly deported two Honduran migrants who were found hiding in the trunk of a car that was stopped Sunday near Gila Bend, Arizona.




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Lori Vallow's brother, 51, had Narcan in his system but died of NATURAL CAUSES, Arizona coroner said

Maricopa County Medical Examiner has concluded that Alex Cox (left), 51, died of natural causes. Cox, the brother of 'cult mom' Lori Vallow (right), fatally shot her estranged husband Charles Vallow.




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Arizona man, 26, is TRAPPED in Moscow airport after Russia shut its borders over coronavirus

Trenton Thurber had been trying to make it home to Tucson via JFK from Sheremetyevo International Airport on March 30 when his flight was canceled. 'There's no way to get out', he said.




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Homicide detectives are investigating the death of Arizona man who drank fish tank cleaner

Gary Lenius, 68, died in March after he and his wife Wanda both drank the fish tank cleaner that contained chloroquine phosphate. Detectives say it is normal protocol for homicide to look into it.




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Donald Trump reveals plans to travel to Arizona and Ohio and wants to bring back campaign rallies

President Donald Trump on Wednesday revealed plans to travel the country in the next few weeks that could eventually lead to the return of his massive campaign rallies. 




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Trump gets out of the WH for first time in weeks with weekend in Camp David ahead of Arizona trip

Donald Trump will leave the White House for the first time in more than a month as he departs for Camp David Friday night after the president has expressed his desire to get out of Washington, D.C.




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Trump makes a break for Arizona tomorrow - but will he wear a mask?

President Trump will begin traveling in earnest on Tuesday, with a planned trip to a Honeywell plant in Phoenix, Arizona where masks are being made to combat the coronavirus pandemic.




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Coronavirus: Donald Trump 'MIGHT' wear mask on Arizona visit

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he 'might' wear a mask during his visit to an Arizona factory that expanded to make N95 masks in response to the coronavirus epidemic.




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Coronavirus US: Trump says he wore face mask at Arizona factory

Trump claimed he did wear a mask behind the scenes when he visited a factory in Arizona that makes the face coverings, but asserted he was told he didn't need to don one during the plant tour. 




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Trump is ridiculed for touring Arizona mask factory while 'Live and Let Die' blares from speakers 

The bungled PR stunt at a mask manufacturer in Arizona yesterday set Twitter alight, with many pointing out it came as the president piles pressure on states to ease lockdown.




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Arizona border sheriff says Mexican drug cartels pose ISIS-like threat

An Arizona border sheriff says Mexican drug cartels like the one behind the Mormon family massacre pose an ISIS-like threat as authorities fear the same group could be running drug operations in Utah.




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Democrat delegate Jerry Emmett casts Arizona ballots for Hillary Clinton aged 102

Jerry Emmett, 102, was given the honor of reading out Arizona's votes for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.




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Joe Biden storms ahead of Bernie Sanders in poll in Arizona on eve of Super Tuesday III

Former vice president Biden now holds a 20 point lead over Sanders in Arizona in a new Monmouth poll as a group of populous states prepares to vote Tuesday.




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Joe Biden wins Florida, Illinois AND Arizona

Joe Biden easily won Florida, Illinois and Arizona over Bernie Sanders on Tuesday, further cementing his position of probable 2020 Democratic nominee over the democratic socialist.




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Bernie Sanders will 'assess his campaign' after Joe Biden sweeps Illinois, Florida and Arizona 

Sanders' campaign manager said the socialist will be having 'further conversations.' The next primaries are three weeks away. Biden took Florida, Illinois and Arizona easily on Tuesday.




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Arizona Republican congressional candidate suspends campaign after overdose

Safford City Councilman Chris Taylor, a married father-of-two, was found unresponsive at his home last week and had to be revived with Narcan, prompting him to pull out of the congressional race.




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Endangered Arizona Republican senator snaps 'You're a liberal hack!' at CNN reporter

Republican Sen. Martha McSally lashed out at a CNN reporter Thursday morning, calling him a 'liberal hack' and blowing off his question. '




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Robots to the rescue! Arizona students in lockdown will still get their graduation day

Juili Kale's dreams to receive her master's degree diploma in a ceremony cheered on by her family were dashed by the coronavirus - until robots came to the rescue.




arizona

Robots to the rescue! Arizona students in lockdown will still get their graduation day

Juili Kale's dreams to receive her master's degree diploma in a ceremony cheered on by her family were dashed by the coronavirus - until robots came to the rescue.




arizona

Robots to the rescue! Arizona students in lockdown will still get their graduation day

Juili Kale's dreams to receive her master's degree diploma in a ceremony cheered on by her family were dashed by the coronavirus - until robots came to the rescue.