News for today's 2018

Even Scottsdale bans potable water on golf courses

12:32 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cronkitenews.asu.edu/assets/images/13/11/5-golf-green-full.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://cronkitenews.asu.edu/assets/images/13/11/5-golf-green-inside.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><h2 class="entry-title"></h2><h2 class="entry-title"></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cronkitenews.asu.edu/assets/images/13/11/5-golf-sign-inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="http://cronkitenews.asu.edu/assets/images/13/11/5-golf-sign-inside.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> TOP: This golf course at DC Ranch is among those in north Scottsdale made green by reclaimed water produced by a treatment plant and distribution system funded by golf clubs. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Amy Gleich) BOTTOM: A sign at Grayhawk Golf Club in north Scottsdale notes that water fills its lake and irrigates its courses is reclaimed. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Amy Gleich) <h2 class="entry-title" style="text-align: center;">   Payson-Chaparral Pines deal   </h2><h2 class="entry-title" style="text-align: center;">  looks dumber and dumber   </h2><div class="entry-content">(Gazette Blog Editor's Note: Payson has agreed to sell potable water from Blue Ridge Reservoir to Chaparral Pines to water its private golf course - guaranteed for 49 years.) By AMY GLEICH Cronkite News Service SCOTTSDALE – Every morning and every evening, the sound of sprinklers fills the air at Grayhawk Golf Club. It takes 2 million gallons of water daily during the summer to keep Grayhawk’s Talon and Raptor courses green. And all 2 million gallons of it comes from Scottsdale’s toilets and drains, reclaimed by a city wastewater treatment plant and delivery system that Grayhawk and 12 other golf clubs funded to ensure their survival. The partnership dates to Scottsdale’s decision in the late 1980s to ban the use of potable water on golf courses and parks. “It would have been incredibly costly to try to do this alone,” said Gregg Tryhus, president and owner of Grayhawk Development. “If we hadn’t been able to share the costs we wouldn’t have been able to do it.” There wasn’t much of an option, though. “If you wanted a golf course, you had to pay the fee to build the plant,” Tryhus said. In the 1980s, pumping groundwater out of neighboring Carefree’s water basin was quickly becoming a problem for Scottsdale. Carefree threatened a lawsuit against the city as well as one of its largest golf clubs. In 1989, Scottsdale mandated that all of its courses use reclaimed water. The city issued a $5 million bond, and the 13 golf clubs came up with the other $14 million needed for the treatment plant and distribution system. With golf courses a big part of Scottsdale’s appeal to visitors and residents alike, it was important for the city and clubs to find a solution, said Tim Bray, president of Southwest Community Resources, the consulting firm that coordinated the partnership. “Golf courses have a huge impact,” he said. By 1996 all of the clubs and their 23 courses were on the system, and the clubs had paid back the $5 million from the city’s bond issue. “The city being willing to work with us speaks volumes to how important golf is in the Valley,” said Jeff Plotts, director of golf course operations at TPC Scottsdale. One of the most challenging aspects of the project was a 13.5-mile pipeline to carry the treated water from Scottsdale’s water campus to the water features on the courses. Having the clubs along a south-north corridor around Pima Road helped. Water scarcity forced Scottsdale to look at wastewater in a new light, said Annie DeChance, public outreach manager for the city’s Water Resources Department. “It made us very innovative, and we were the first city in the Valley to come up with this concept,” DeChance said. “Wastewater is a continuous, reliable source.” But Plotts said it’s not just about the mandate for many superintendents. “We want to do the right thing environmentally. It doesn’t make sense to use potable water on a golf course,” he said. The courses’ demand for water decreases significantly during the winter, a time when seasonal visitors increase the amount of wastewater. Scottsdale uses the plant’s excess capacity during those months for groundwater recharge. “When you wash your hands in the sink or flush the toilet or take a shower, that water has to go somewhere and we have to do something with it,” DeChance said. “This is the way for us to make the most of it.” Patrick Watson, conservation services administrator at the Southern Nevada Water Authority and former superintendent of Terravita Golf Club in north Scottsdale, sees the switch to reclaimed water becoming more common throughout the Southwest. “The way golf courses are using water is evolving, and Arizona and other Southwest locations are the breeding ground for these changes,” Watson said. Unlike parks and other large turf areas using reclaimed water, golf courses offer more of a return on the investment because golfers pay greens fees, according to David White, co-director of the Decision Center for a Desert City at Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability. “Golf courses are a great place to use reclaimed water,” White said. “It’s the best bang for the buck for each gallon of water.” Scottsdale isn’t the only Arizona city using reclaimed water on golf courses. According to Fernando Molina, Tucson Water’s public information officer, that city has been using reclaimed water for 30 years. “All but one course in Tucson uses reclaimed water, but there’s no collective investment,” Molina said. “They individually pay the city for extensions to their courses.” Scottsdale’s partnership required a major upgrade as years passed. It turned out that the prevalence of salt-based water-softening systems was leading to salt levels high enough to kill grass, a problem that became apparent in the mid-2000s. “All the superintendents came to me and said, within four or five years we’re going to lose all of these courses,” Bray said. The solution: a $22 million expansion, funded by the golf clubs, that added a reverse-osmosis and micro-filtration system to Scottsdale’s water campus. “You have to ask what your options are. Investing together in the advanced water treatment facility was the only option,” said Paul Skelton, director of golf at DC Ranch. Losing golf courses wasn’t an option for Scottsdale. Winter visitors aren’t the only ones spending their money on golf – many residents also pay top dollar to play some of the best courses in the Southwest. “We knew that we were going to have to do something in order to keep the quality of life that Scottsdale residents are accustomed to,” DeChance said. Bill Kostes, superintendent at DC Ranch, said that the partnership has resulted not only in better conditions at his golf course but better conditions for Scottsdale golf overall. “Big picture of the whole system is that it’s been 20 years with only minor flaws; it’s been awesome,” he added. “P.S., it’s good for everybody.” <div style="text-align: center;">  Treating the water:   </div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Traditional treatment</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">• Basic filtration • Remove solids • Biological treatment • Filtration • Chlorination</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Additional treatment</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">• Microfiltration • Reverse osmosis • Final chlorination</div> </div>

TOP: This golf course at DC Ranch is among those in north Scottsdale made green by reclaimed water produced by a treatment plant and distri...

Many Hispanic Catholics converting to Islam

11:15 AM Tukiyooo 0

<h2 class="entry-title"></h2><div class="entry-content"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cronkitenews.jmc.asu.edu/clients/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1-islam-man-full.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-34498" height="225" src="http://cronkitenews.jmc.asu.edu/clients/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1-islam-man-full-300x225.jpg" title="1-islam-man-full" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cronkitenews.jmc.asu.edu/clients/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1-islam-woman-full.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-34499" height="225" src="http://cronkitenews.jmc.asu.edu/clients/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1-islam-woman-full-300x225.jpg" title="1-islam-woman-full" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cronkitenews.jmc.asu.edu/clients/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1-islam-pages-full.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-34500" height="199" src="http://cronkitenews.jmc.asu.edu/clients/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1-islam-pages-full-300x199.jpg" title="1-islam-pages-full" width="300" /></a></div> TOP: Chris Cruz, born and raised Roman Catholic, said converting to Islam doesn’t make him any less Hispanic. He is a member of the Islamic Community Center in Tempe. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Elisa Cordova) MIDDLE: Sobida Espinoza, a member of the Islamic Community Center in Tempe, said converting to Islam caused her family to cut ties but gave her a new family through her religion. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Elisa Cordova) BOTTOM: The imam at the Islamic Community Center in Tempe said most new converts there are Hispanic. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Elisa Cordova) By ELISA CORDOVA  Cronkite News Service TEMPE – Chris Cruz was born and raised Roman Catholic but converted to Islam in large part because of its call for a healthier lifestyle, including a prohibition on drinking. But converting doesn’t make him any less Hispanic, he said. “Islam does not make you lose your culture,” Cruz said. “There’s a lot more to life than what we used to do. I grew up partying.” Sobida Espinoza, who like Cruz is a member of the Islamic Community Center here and was raised Catholic, and said she converted to Islam to find truth. “If you’re Hispanic it’s almost as if you are forced to be Catholic,” she said. “People are converting to Islam because they find the reality that isn’t defined in other religions.” Cruz and Espinoza aren’t alone. Ahmad Shqeirat, the center’s imam, or prayer leader, said that over the past few years most of the converts at his mosque have come from the Latino community. “It seems they are digging for their heritage,” he said. Shqeirat said Latino converts find similarities between Islam and the culture in which they grew up. Spanish is filled with Arabic vocabulary, he noted. Cruz said both Islam and Catholicism promote having large families, but he said his new religion offers more guidance on the family structure. That led his mother-in-law, who is also Hispanic, to convert, he said. “She noticed a big change in how we conducted ourselves and how our relationship had really grown,” Cruz said. “We don’t drink and we don’t have the big parties.” Nahela Morales, national Hispanic outreach coordinator for WhyIslam, an online resource about Islam and Muslims, said Hispanics convert because they aren’t happy with their lifestyles. “They are looking to fulfill a void that nothing else can fulfill,” she said. Morales said she believes many Hispanics don’t feel accepted in the United States because of illegal immigration and other issues. By converting to Islam, she said, they become a minority within a minority. “It’s still something very appealing,” she said. “They find that family that they lack.” Imam Didmar Faja of the Albanian American Islamic Center of Arizona in Peoria is opening mosque in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, because of interest from people there. He attributed that, in part, to problems stemming from drug cartels and other social problems. “It’s getting kind of weak, the family structure,” he said. “They are looking for other options to keep these rooted traditions with them.” Espinoza, who is single, said she was abandoned by her family when she converted. But as her family grew distant, she said, Islam became her new family and changed her life for the better. “I sometimes feel sad, but that also makes me stronger in the religion,” she said. </div>

HERITAGE NATIONAL NEWS STATE NEWS Many Hispanic Catholics converting to Islam

TOP: Chris Cruz, born and raised Roman Catholic, said converting to Islam doesn’t make him any less Hispanic. He is a member of the Islamic...

PetSmart makes Gazette's 'Good Business' list

7:51 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC2oVVMH7m769tX1SFVVq_FD7GPxjvXdcA5-9MNuChvalsVr_68adNAviQUv8jRW-jmCd80GVQ_4qiCd7fzEYWkywdRaUM95Ou5WpNyaHsYRwm6ejcnzq__SGXpLU6RJRSfXwXBILzz-_/s1600/header-logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC2oVVMH7m769tX1SFVVq_FD7GPxjvXdcA5-9MNuChvalsVr_68adNAviQUv8jRW-jmCd80GVQ_4qiCd7fzEYWkywdRaUM95Ou5WpNyaHsYRwm6ejcnzq__SGXpLU6RJRSfXwXBILzz-_/s320/header-logo.png" width="320" /></a></div>Over the past few years, we've recommended avoiding a number of retail establishments because they mistreat employees (WalMart and McDonald's), are homophobic (Chick-Fil-A), support divisive idiots like Rush Limbaugh (Aamco), and a variety of other reasons. We've also encouraged patronizing a smaller list of businesses that do the right things by their people and the causes they believe in (Costco, Starbucks).  Well here's one to put on your list of places that deserve your support - and we have an outlet right here in the Rim Country. According to an article in today's (Nov. 4) Arizona Republic, Phoenix-based PetSmart has signed an Arizona Unity Pledge supporting gay rights.  What that means is that PetSmart is committed to creating an environment that is free of discrimination and bullying against workers or members who are gay. That may not sound like a big deal, but it is.  A lot of companies are afraid to sign the pledge for fear of alienating homophobic customers. As an additional bonus, the local Payson PetSmart works closely with the Humane Society of Central Arizona to help find homes for abandoned and abused animals. So here's to PetSmart.  Please patronize them. (To read the entire article, click on <a href="http://news.azcentral.com/">news.azcentral.com</a>.  And for home delivery of the best newspaper in the Rim Country, call 1-800-332-6733.)

CONSUMER NEWS GOOD NEWS HUMANE SOCIETY LOCAL NEWS NATIONAL NEWS STATE NEWS PetSmart makes Gazette's 'Good Business' list

Over the past few years, we've recommended avoiding a number of retail establishments because they mistreat employees (WalMart and McDon...

Republican extortionist Renzi gets 36 months

4:54 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYuy-mLWvopE96Tdfy7kP9Sn8WCsoeXBzMi8SmE2YM0hoRlthTYrQTtnvln5lJwYYTK0zoMqGc1Qdwc5N7vaHGm1Zh_ImS1svC3T_-SRbzgaAEsbVyUr1AncvmzA22B3JCPk_lV-8W4ka/s1600/DSCN0374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYuy-mLWvopE96Tdfy7kP9Sn8WCsoeXBzMi8SmE2YM0hoRlthTYrQTtnvln5lJwYYTK0zoMqGc1Qdwc5N7vaHGm1Zh_ImS1svC3T_-SRbzgaAEsbVyUr1AncvmzA22B3JCPk_lV-8W4ka/s400/DSCN0374.jpg" width="365" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">WASHINGTON – Former U.S. Congressman Rick Renzi (who represented District 1, including Payson) was sentenced today to serve 36 months in prison following his June conviction by a federal jury in Tucson, Ariz., for extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and racketeering. Renzi’s co-defendant, James Sandlin, was also sentenced today to serve 18 months in prison for his role in the extortion, bribery and money laundering scheme. Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Strange of the District of Arizona, Special Agent in Charge Douglas G. Price of the FBI’s Phoenix Division, and Special Agent in Charge Dawn Mertz of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement following sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Bury. Renzi, 55, of Burke, Va., and Sandlin, 62, of Sherman, Texas, were convicted on June 11, 2013. Renzi was found guilty of 17 felony offenses including conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right, racketeering, money laundering and making false statements to insurance regulators. Sandlin was convicted of 13 felony offenses including conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right and money laundering.  “Mr. Renzi abused the power – and the corresponding trust – that comes with being a member of Congress by putting his own financial interests over the interests of the citizens he had sworn to serve,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.  “He fleeced his own insurance company to fund his run for Congress, and then exploited his position for personal gain.  Mr. Renzi’s conviction and today’s sentence demonstrate the Justice Department’s commitment to fighting corruption at the highest levels of government.” “Former Congressman Renzi disregarded his oath to uphold the law, ignoring the interests of the people he was elected to serve in favor of his own interests,” stated First Assistant U.S. Attorney Strange.  “The sentences imposed today reinforce the fundamental principle that no one, including an elected official, is above the law.” “When our elected officials betray the trust of the American people it strikes at the very core of our democracy,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Price.  “The sentencing of former Congressman Rick Renzi illustrates the commitment by the FBI and our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute corruption at all levels.   Today’s sentencing is a reminder that when a public official violates the public's trust they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.” “The public expects its elected officials to be honest, to be trustworthy and to show respect for the law," stated IRS Special Agent in Charge Mertz.  “Those in public office should be held to a higher standard and are not exempt from criminal prosecution.  The prison sentence imposed today should serve as a wake-up call to other public officials who believe there are no consequences for betraying the public trust.” </div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal">         According to evidence at trial, Renzi, then a member of Congress from Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, promised in 2005 to use his legislative influence to profit from a federal land exchange that involved property owned by Sandlin, a real-estate investor.         At the time, Sandlin owed Renzi $700,000 in future payments from their business dealings, and Renzi threatened proponents of the land exchange that he would not support it unless they purchased Sandlin’s property in Cochise County, Ariz.  When they refused, Renzi promised a second proponent of a land exchange that he would support the exchange if they purchased Sandlin’s property.  According to an agreement reached in May 2005, Sandlin was paid $1 million in earnest money, out of which he paid $200,000 to Renzi.  Just before Sandlin received the $1.6 million balance owed on the exchange, he paid an additional $533,000 to Renzi.         Evidence at trial further showed that from 2001 to 2003, Renzi engaged in insurance fraud by diverting his clients’ insurance premiums to fund his first campaign for Congress, and he subsequently sent false letters to his insurance customers and provided false statements to various state regulators who were investigating his activities.         This case was investigated by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.  The prosecution was handled by Trial Attorneys David Harbach and Sean Mulryne of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gary Restaino and James Knapp of the District of Arizona.</div></div>

LOCAL NEWS NATIONAL NEWS SIGN OF THE TIMES STATE NEWS Republican extortionist Renzi gets 36 months

WASHINGTON – Former U.S. Congressman Rick Renzi (who represented District 1, including Payson) was sentenced today to serve 36 months in pr...

Chavez protest site may become national park

3:05 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cronkitenews.asu.edu/assets/images/11/09/19-chavez-center-inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="214" src="http://cronkitenews.asu.edu/assets/images/11/09/19-chavez-center-inside.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cronkitenews.asu.edu/assets/images/11/09/19-chavez-mural-inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="180" src="http://cronkitenews.asu.edu/assets/images/11/09/19-chavez-mural-inside.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><h2 class="entry-title"></h2> <div class="entry-content"> TOP: Latino leaders have worked to preserve the Santa Rita Center, which under a National Park Service plan submitted to Congress would become a national historic park. Chavez is said to have first uttered the phrase “si se puede” at the site. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Anna Consie) BOTTOM: A mural honoring farm labor leader Cesar Chavez adorns a wall at the Santa Rita Center near downtown Phoenix. In the 1970s, Chavez used the center to stage a hunger strike against an Arizona law that curtailed the rights of farm workers. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Anna Consie) By CHRIS COLE Cronkite News Service PHOENIX – A National Park Service recommendation could bring federal designation to the building near downtown where farm labor leader César Chávez is said to have first uttered “Sí se puede.” The Santa Rita Center is among five sites connected with Chávez’s life that the agency wants to turn into a national historic park. The recommendation went Thursday to Congress, which passed legislation in 2008 to review more than 100 sites connected to Chávez and his movement. “We’re excited because the center really deserves to be in there,” said David Adame, chief operating officer of Chicanos por la Causa, which purchased the center in 2004. “It’s a national treasure that we want to make sure that we can partner with other folks to highlight.” In 1972, Chávez chose the Santa Rita Center as headquarters for a 24-day fast, which he staged in protest of an Arizona law limiting the rights of farm workers. The fast’s ultimate goal was recalling then-Gov. Jack Williams. It was during that fast that Chávez is said to have uttered “Sí se puede,” which became the motto for the United Farm Workers. Chávez chose the center because it was located in his native state – he was born in Yuma – and in the middle of an area where many farmers lived at the time, said Marc Grossman, spokesman for the César Chávez Foundation and Chávez’s longtime personal aide. Chávez spent almost all 24 days at the center before being hospitalized near the end, he said. “César’s fast was the catalyst for heightened political awareness throughout Arizona,” Grossman said. “This was a movement that directly impacted the lives of millions of people.” Spreading the national historic park across five locations – the others are in California – is fitting because “the lens and scope of César’s labors are very broad,” Grossman said. “Out of 100-odd options, they had to select five of them,” he added. Five other sites in Arizona where Chávez lived and worked could be designated as National Historic Landmarks or included in the National Register of Historic Places, according to the Park Service. In Yuma, those sites include the remains of the homestead where Chávez grew up, the general store his father ran and the Laguna School building where he attended school throughout childhood. The other two locations are the United Farm Workers field office and the home where Chávez died in his sleep in 1993, both in San Luis. In 2007, the Santa Rita Center was listed on the Phoenix Historic Property Register. The idea of a national historic park in Chávez’s honor was based on the farm movement he founded that improved the lives of millions of Latino farm workers, said Mike Litterst, a spokesman with the National Park Service. The creation of a national historic park would enable protection for the largest number of significant locations, he said. The César E. Chávez National Monument, a Keene, Calif., site where Chávez lived and led the farm workers movement, would serve as the park’s cornerstone, the Park Service said. If Congress approves the national designation, the Santa Rita Center would be managed between the Park Service and Chicanos por la Causa, the agency said.   Adame, with Chicanos por la Causa, said his organization would appreciate the financial and communal benefits the recognition would bring. The group opens the center every once in a while for special community events and programs, he said. “It definitely needs significant work,” Adame said. “It’s hard to financially maintain. Our strategy would be to incorporate it into a mixed-use development.” Litterst, with the Park Service, said designating the center as a national park would draw more tourists. “It brings some prestige to that area with the recognition of national significance,” he said. Alfredo Gutierrez, former minority and majority leader in the Arizona State Senate, said that the center’s current recognition disappeared along with the vibrant Latino community that surrounded it. He said he believes that could change with the potential designation. “The sad part is that no one who visits there now would be able to understand the importance of (Chávez) being there,” Gutierrez said. “As far as people coming there to understand César’s story, I think (the recognition) is going to do that.” Grossman, who knew Chávez during the last 24 years of his life, said Chávez wouldn’t have allowed this type of recognition if he was still alive. “It’s happening because he’s not around to upset,” Grossman said. “I think it’s a reflection that his legacy and values are as relevant today as they were in 1972 during the fast at the Santa Rita Center.” <h4 style="text-align: center;">Proposed park sites:</h4>• The César E. Chávez National Monument, Keene, Calif. • The Santa Rita Center, Phoenix • The Forty Acres National Historic Landmark, Delano, Calif. • Filipino Community Hall, Delano, Calif. • Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz, Keene, Calif. • McDonnell Hall, San Jose, Calif. <h4 style="text-align: center;">Other Arizona sites:</h4>• Chávez family homestead, Yuma • Laguna School building, Yuma • General store ran by Chávez’s father, Yuma • United Farm Workers field office, San Luis • Home where Chávez died in his sleep, San Luis </div>

EDUCATION NATIONAL NEWS PARKS/REC STATE NEWS Chavez protest site may become national park

TOP: Latino leaders have worked to preserve the Santa Rita Center, which under a National Park Service plan submitted to Congress woul...

Boehner refuses to meet with AZ delegation

4:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<h2 class="entry-title"></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cronkitenews.asu.edu/assets/images/13/10/22-boehner-pray-inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="266" src="http://cronkitenews.asu.edu/assets/images/13/10/22-boehner-pray-inside.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>After being told they could not meet with House Speaker John Boehner, the group of 44 immigration reform advocates stood in line in the hallway outside his office and prayed – and vowed to continue doing so for a week or until they get a meeting. (Cronkite News Service photo by Pei Li) By PEI LICronkite News Service WASHINGTON – They rode for 43 hours in a bus from Phoenix, hoping to appeal to House Speaker John Boehner on immigration reform, but when they arrived at his office in Washington they were turned away. So the group of 44 Arizonans gathered in the hallway outside Boehner’s district office Tuesday, singing and praying and vowing to wait – for a week or for a meeting with the speaker, whichever comes first. “We are interested in any minute or moment of the day he has for us, even that’s five minutes, we would accept any time at all,” said Ian Danley, youth programs director of the Phoenix-based <a href="http://nmphx.com/">Neighborhood Ministries</a>. “We will wait until that happens,” said Danley, who led the group Tuesday. The group left Phoenix on Saturday and arrived in Washington on Monday, with “moms, dads, children, and a lot of people of faith, DREAMers and students,” said Reyna Montoya, one of the advocates. She said they came to ask Boehner “to give a vote on immigration reform.” The Senate in June passed a comprehensive <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113s744es/pdf/BILLS-113s744es.pdf">immigration reform bill</a> that includes new language on visas, tough new border security requirements as well as a potential pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants who are in this country illegally. But that bill has stalled in the House, where Boehner has said he will not be rushed into considering the sweeping comprehensive Senate bill. Instead of putting the Senate bill on the floor, the House has instead considered a number of smaller measures, each of which includes part of the larger Senate package. House Democrats earlier this month tried to force the issue, introducing their own 1,100-page comprehensive immigration bill that mirrors the Senate measure – minus the tough border-security language. But that bill has yet to have a hearing, and a spokesman for Boehner said Tuesday that the speaker’s position has not changed. “The speaker remains committed to a step-by-step process to fix our broken immigration system,” said Michael Steel, the spokesman. The Arizona group had hoped to urge Boehner to allow a vote on any of the bills that included a pathway to citizenship. But they were greeted at his office Tuesday by an aide who offered to deliver their concerns, but who said the speaker’s schedule was full for the day and the office too small to accommodate the group. So the group prayed for about 20 minutes for Boehner to protect their families from deportation, before starting to sing and sway in the hallway. U.S. Capitol Police told them to keep it down and to stand along the side of the hallway, then watched as the group did just that. “We are coming with a lot of hope, with a lot of faith, we want him (Boehner) to know these families can’t wait any longer,” Montoya said. “We believe he as a man of God, as a Catholic, he can do the right thing for the nation.” Montoya called the trip a grass-roots effort, funded with $5 and $10 donations from friends and family and fueled with burritos made for the bus ride by their mothers. The group plans to sleep on the floor of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church while in Washington. Among the advocates was Jesus Magana, an Air Force veteran who said the “same country that I served and risked my life for is the country that is tearing my family apart” – his sister is in the midst of deportation proceedings. “I really love the military, I love my country,” said Magana, who planned to serve “until they kick me out.” “But I found a bigger fight back home,” he said of his family’s situation. “There is a lot of people who would like to speak to Speaker Boehner, and tell their story,” Magana said Tuesday. “Even if it’s 30 seconds, we would take that.” But when Danley tried Boehner’s office door, he found it locked. “Nobody is letting us in,” he said. That did not deter members of the group like Montoya, who graduated last year from Arizona State University and said her father is now in deportation proceedings. “I am a woman of faith,” she said. “We will be here every day.” <div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">  IMMIGRATION INUNDATION  </div> Advocates from Arizona said they don’t care which of the many immigration-reform bills currently before the House is voted on, as long as it includes a pathway to citizenship, like the Senate bill passed in June. The bills are:   Senate immigration bill: - S744: A comprehensive measure dealing with border security, worker visas, a pathway to citizenship and other measures. House immigration bills: - The Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement (SAFE) Act: Allows local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws. - The Legal Workforce Act: Requires employers to use the E-verify system when hiring. - The Agricultural Guestworker Act: Establishes a temporary guestworker program for agriculture workers. - SKILLS Visa Act: Creates an immigration path for workers in science and engineering fields. - HR 15: Introduced this month by House Democrats, it mimics the Senate bill but strips out the tough border-security measures in that bill.

HERITAGE NATIONAL NEWS PERSPECTIVE STATE NEWS Boehner refuses to meet with AZ delegation

After being told they could not meet with House Speaker John Boehner, the group of 44 immigration reform advocates stood in line in the ha...