Free Republic

The FBI is sending out a warning that two local state election boards were breached by foreign hackers. This comes amid increasing concerns from Donald Trump supporters about the possibility of a “rigged” election. Several news outlets are reporting that the hacking occurred in Arizona and Illinois. In a bulletin the FBI wrote: The FBI received information of an additional IP address, 5.149.249.172, which was detected in the July 2016 compromise of a state’s Board of Election Web site. Additionally, in August 2016 attempted intrusion activities into another state’s Board of Election system identified the IP address, 185.104.9.39 used in...

Driving to the Ranch through the Mohawk valley, east of Yuma, I noticed the gentleman pictured above.  I stopped to take his picture and determine his business. You can see that the soil in this area is a fluffy loam.  It is highly productive, irrigated by Colorado River water.  This area near Yuma is some of the most productive agricultural land in the United States and in the world. Leo did not mind having his picture taken.  I asked him if he were guarding the field from birds that would eat the seeds.  No, he said, ground squirrels. He...

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump leads Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by 5 points in Arizona, according to a new CNN/ORC battleground state poll. Trump is favored by 43 percent of registered voters in Arizona, while Clinton is backed by 38 percent, according to the poll. Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson has the support of 12 percent of registered voters, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein is backed by 4 percent. Trump leads Clinton both among white voters with college degrees and white voters without college degrees in the state. But among those with college degrees, Trump has only a 2-point...

In 1990, the Navajo students of Window Rock High School in Fort Defiance, Arizona, asked the author of their calculus book, John Saxon, to be their graduation speaker. The class sponsor had suggested the governor as their speaker, but the students wanted Saxon. A story in The Arizona Republic explained, “At this high school, as at thousands of other schools around the country, Saxon’s name is spoken with reverence by pupils who credit him with changing completely their views about math.” Arnell Yazzie, president of the senior class, said he and others taking calculus had lobbied for Saxon’s selection. “He...

SIERRA VISTA — Looking for the latest info on where the best fishing spots are in southern Arizona and across the state? The Arizona Game and Fish Department has regular updates from anglers all over Arizona detailing what fish are hitting what baits and where as part of its weekly Fishing Report. Compiled from regular input from fishermen and women as well as Game and Fish officials, the report covers the fishing conditions at dozens of lakes and waterways, as well as stocking schedules, water levels and updates on which fish species are most active and when. “The idea is...

PHOENIX - A federal judge has referred Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, among others, for criminal contempt charges in connection with behavior associated with a racial profiling case. Earlier this year Judge Murray Snow held Arpaio in civil contempt for disobeying court orders regarding a lawsuit over racially profiling Latinos during traffic stops. Friday, Snow referred Arpaio, along with Chief Deputy Gerard Sheridan, Capt. Steven Bailey and Attorney Michelle Iafrate, to another judge for a determination of whether their actions constituted criminal contempt. In his civil contempt ruling, Snow said Arpaio "engaged in multiple acts of misconduct, dishonesty, and bad...

West Enders: Never surrender! Efforts to rejuvenate the West End are not new in this community’s history. Mayor Rick Mueller reminded us of that fact during his “Spotlight” speech Tuesday morning at the Windemere Hotel and Conference Center. Technical problems prevented Mayor Mueller from starting his remarks with the benefit of a supporting video. All he had were a fist-full of notes and his decades-long memories of what Sierra Vista was like in its earlier days. That was more than enough. In the late ’90s, he and another local politician, Pat Call, invested themselves in doing something about the West...

If your kid is attending Prescott College in Arizona this fall, you may want to double-check the detailed charges on your bill. The private school is now charging every student a “non-mandatory” per-semester fee of $30 — or $60 for the year — to fund a college scholarship for an illegal immigrant. Yes, you read that right. The fee, announced in April, appears on the bill for students in the upcoming school term, who already pay $28,000+ in tuition to attend Prescott. (Room, board, and incidentals are extra, of course.) Students can opt out of this fee — but they...

Carolann Miracle says it is a day that she will never forget. Early Monday morning, Miracle was leaving a gas station with her family when she met Frank Taylor, who asked her for a cigarette. Seconds later, KNXV reports that Taylor attempted to rob her. Miracle says that Taylor put the gun to her neck and told her not to move, but he likely didn’t know that she was also armed. At that point, Miracle says she knew she had to act to protect her family. “I dropped my soda, released my gun from my holster and cocked it. I...

PHOENIX — The top election officials in Pima and Maricopa counties say they will not enforce a new state law that makes “ballot harvesting” a crime. “We’re not police,” said Pima County Elections Director Brad Nelson.

On Tuesday, Trump’s campaign is dispatching vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence to the state for two public events, a tangible sign of Republicans’ concern that Arizona could be competitive this year — while local Democrats, thinking along the same lines, are intensely lobbying Hillary Clinton’s campaign and national Democratic groups for the resources to help make it happen. Prominent Arizona Democrats have been urging Bill Clinton to press the campaign to direct more money into the rapidly changing, Hispanic-heavy state, which he carried in 1996, the last time it went Democratic in a presidential election. They continued that push with officials...

August 2, 2016: Live streaming coverage of the Donald Trump for President rally in Ashburn, VA at Briar Woods High School. Live coverage begins at 11:00 AM ET. Ashburn, VA Watch the LIVE STREAM of the event below beginning at 11:00 AM ET: Briar Woods High School Tuesday, August 2, 2016: Live stream coverage of the Donald Trump for President town hall event in Phoenix, AZ at the Phoenix Convention Center featuring Vice Presidential candidate Governor Mike Pence @ 7pm PT. Phoenix, AZ Watch the LIVE STREAM of the event below beginning at 7:00 PM PT:

"McCain To Sharia-Advocating, Trump-Hating Muslims: “Thank You For Immigrating To America,” You “Are The Best” Of Americans"" Excerpted from The Daily Mail: Arizona Sen. John McCain is the latest Republican to run away from comments made by Donald Trump, who criticized a Muslim-America Gold Star family who shamed the GOP nominee from the Democratic National Convention stage. McCain told Khizr and Ghazala Khan, ‘thank you for immigrating to America,’ while expressing how much he disagrees with Trump over his call to ban non-American Muslims from entering the United States. ‘In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents. He...

Sen. John McCain is facing a direct challenge now that Alex Meluskey has suspended his bid. That clears the way for Dr. Kelli Ward to attempt unite the Republican vote against McCain in the Arizona primary on August 30. Polls show McCain struggling to rise above forty percent in the Republican primary, but so far he’s benefited from the anti-McCain vote being split among several challengers. A Public Policy Polling survey of the Republican Primary showed former State Senator Ward tied with McCain 41-41 head-to-head but trailing 39-26 when three other candidates were included in the poll. One of those...

ST. DAVID — There’s no telling how many times Milton Curtis stepped over those odd-looking rocks as he went about the day-to-day business of ranching. Back in 1921, life on Curtis Ranch in St. David was filled with cattle and horses and providing for a young family. Things like dinosaurs really weren’t the topic of discussion, nor did they get much attention. But in 1921, that changed. “What my father thought were rocks were actually the tips of tusks from a giant mastodon dinosaur,” chuckled 98-year-old Clea Brown, her eyes sparkling as she talked about a discovery that launched the...

GILBERT, AZ - Deputies are investigating after multiple dead bodies were found inside a Gilbert home Monday night. A Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokesperson said the bodies were found at the residence near Power and Chandler Heights roads around 9 p.m.

When Arizona delegates to the Republican National Convention were asked Thursday how many would not vote for Sen. John McCain in next month's primary, more than half of their hands went up. The question stunned veteran pollster Frank Luntz, who had asked it as a part of a presentation on the last day of the convention on the challenges facing the party - one of which was party unity. "Oh my God," Luntz said. "Where's the chairman? You should have told me this before."

Cochise County is the first in the country to utilize a new technology that addresses a challenge facing a growing number of trial courtrooms. Remote court reporting, which allows a stenographer to record court proceedings from a remote location, has been in use at the Bisbee courthouse since May, Superior Court Administrator Eric Silverberg said Tuesday. The new process solves a continuing “demand and supply” problem, Silverberg said, which has limited the number of stenographers available to cover court proceedings. On May 9, the county launched a pilot program to test its remote recording system in Judge Terry Bannon’s courtroom....

With realistic aspirations of becoming one of just eight cyber academic centers of excellence in the nation, the University of Arizona South is aggressively developing a new program that will maximize the community’s efforts to attract new businesses to the area, the school’s dean, Dr. James Shockey said Monday. As part of that effort Jason Denno has been hired as the Director of Cyber Operations Program Development to oversee the preparation of a curriculum, meeting of certification requirements and construction of a “first-of-its-kind” virtual learning environment. Denno, 47, has worked most recently in cyber operations in the commercial sector and...

Arizona Republican senator and prominent Donald Trump critic Jeff Flake believes the GOP must purge the presumptive nominee’s supporters after the election in order to survive.