Free Republic

Riot attempt fails in Phoenix.      You can't make stuff like this up! It must have been the perfect storm in the minds of those planning to incite a riot in Phoenix last night. You had Zombies (!) from the 6th Annual Phoenix Zombie March and nearby a huge crowd of rowdy revelers at a heavy metal band concert. Add to the potentially volatile brew the key ingredient of some obscene police hating community organizers then mix and stir . To get a sense of what fine upstanding people the organizers are take a look at this vulgar ad they...

PHOENIX - Health officials are investigating whether a potent virus that has infected hundreds of children nationwide killed a six-year-old boy in Arizona, officials said on Wednesday, adding that it would take more than a week to get an answer. Officials said the tests are being conducted on the first-grader from Vistancia Elementary School in the Phoenix suburb of Peoria, to determine his cause of death and if he had been infected with the Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) when he died. "It's still too early to tell," said Jeanene Fowler, a spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. "There...

The Phoenix area is recovering from record-setting rainfall Monday that led to flooding in several parts of the Valley, closing schools, stranding vehicles and snarling commutes. Both Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer declared states of emergency while other local public safety agencies cautioned residents to be safe and not drive unless absolutely necessary. Several schools closed across the region, including the Maricopa Community College District, which cancelled all classes today.

Ads saying “guns save lives” have begun appearing again this month at Phoenix bus stops after being the subject of a four-year battle between city officials and a local activist, the Arizona Republic reported. The ads for a gun-safety training website overseen by gun-rights advocate Alan Korwin have been placed at bus shelters this month in downtown and northeast Phoenix. …

Unnamed witness:  "at no time was anyone swept." (rifle pointed at them) Dr. Peter N. Steinmetz is director of the Brain Modeling Laboratory  at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.   He is a second amendment advocate who comments on firearms issues on his facebook page.  From his page, commenting on the Navy Yard Shootings in Washington D.C., where the carry of arms by anyone other than government agents is forbidden: Sadly, looks like this may be another case of a mass shooting in an area where all the victims are legally disarmed. He is a passionate supporter of freedom in...

The Arizona Capitol is expected to be filled with protesters Friday morning as part of a national day of protest against immigration reform, amnesty and border surge. As the immigration debate continues to escalate, protesters from Oracle and other parts of Arizona made their way Capitol to protest the arrival of immigrant children from across the border with Mexico. The protesters started gathering about 6 a.m. Friday and also were directing people to a website called Remember1986.com, bringing up past immigration reform in our country's history. A second day of protest was scheduled for the same time Saturday.

PHOENIX (CNS) -- Clergy, religious and laity jammed into St. Catherine of Sienna Parish in Phoenix for a standing-room-only funeral Mass for Father Kenneth Walker June 16. The 28-year-old priest was fatally injured June 11 in an attack at a different church, one that stands in the shadows of the state Capitol buildings. A second priest, Father Joseph Terra, 56, was critically injured. Father Walker died at the hospital, and Father Terra was hospitalized in critical but stable condition. He has since been released from intensive care. Phoenix police announced hours before the funeral Mass that they had a suspect...

The embattled Phoenix branch of the Department of Veterans Affairs apparently has paid out $10 million in bonuses during the past three years, far more than previously reported. The Arizona Republic obtained and published the bonus records after seeking them from the VA for months. The documents showed 4,188 bonuses were paid in that period to more than 2,150 employees.

<p>PHOENIX (AP) — Police say one priest was shot and killed and another was wounded in an attack at a Catholic church in downtown Phoenix. Sgt. Steve Martos says police received a call about a burglary at the Mother of Mercy Mission near the state Capitol shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday.</p>

Arizona police arrest man for shooting at the moon PHOENIX (Reuters) - A marijuana smoker was arrested in Arizona after shooting at the moon with a handgun and wrestling with officers who were called by his girlfriend to subdue him, authorities said on Wednesday. Police went to a home in Prescott Valley, about 85 miles north of Phoenix, late last Friday where the woman told them her partner had fired several shots into the air after telling her and her teenage son he had seen Halley's Comet. Prescott Valley police spokesman Sergeant Brandon Bonney said Cameron Read, 39, was arrested...

Since revelations of secret wait lists and veteran deaths at VA medical facilities surfaced two months ago, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have been pressing the Department of Justice to open up a criminal investigation into the ongoing VA scandal. According to CBS News, the FBI office in Phoenix has launched that criminal probe. Phoenix was the first location where whistleblowers exposed potential criminal wrongdoing and stated veterans had died as a result of long wait times for care. As of now, we know the VA scandal includes more than 40 hospitals in dozens of states...

PHOENIX — In a new revelation in the growing Veterans Affairs’ scandal, the organization’s acting head says that an additional 18 veterans whose names were kept off an official electronic VA appointment list have died. Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said he would ask the inspector general to see if there is any indication those deaths were related to long wait times. If so, they would reach out to those veterans’ families. “I will come personally and apologize to the survivors,” Gibson said Thursday....

During a testy and at times emotional four-hour hearing late Wednesday night, an official with the Department of Veterans Affairs told the House Veterans Affairs Committee that reports of secret waiting lists at the Phoenix Health Care System are false. “I was not able to identify any lists that I thought were secret,” the VA’s Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Clinical Operations, Dr. Thomas Lynch, told members Wednesday. Author Sarah Mimms is a staff correspondent for National Journal Daily, covering Congress. Previously at National Journal, she served as senior analyst for the Hotline, where she covered federal and...

Navy veteran Ken Senft turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs for medical care in 2011 after his private insurance grew too costly. It could have been a fatal mistake, he now says. A few years ago, the 65-year-old had a lesion on his head. He went to a VA clinic near his home outside Phoenix, but he said the doctor told him it could be two years before he might get an appointment with a dermatologist.So he paid out of pocket to see a private physician. Turns out, he had cancer. […] A probe of operations at the Phoenix...

Veterans Affairs (VA) Department officials testified about the alleged destruction of an unofficial patient waiting list associated with the Phoenix VA health care system.

A preliminary report released Wednesday found "serious conditions" at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs facility, including hundreds of veterans who were never placed on an official wait list and faulty scheduling practices that meant some veterans would never see a doctor. "We identified an additional 1,700 veterans who were waiting for a primary care appointment but were not on the [electronic wait list,]" the report from the VA inspector general said. "Most importantly, these veterans were and continue to be at risk of being forgotten or lost in Phoenix [healthcare system's] convoluted scheduling process. As a result, these veterans may never...

A report released Wednesday says the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General has discovered 1,700 veterans in the VA’s Phoenix Health Care System (HCS) who are seeking medical treatment, but have yet to be put on a wait list by the VA. That finding is a sign that the VA is continuing to manipulate wait-time data to give the appearance that veterans are not waiting very long to receive health treatment. The VA healthcare scandal started with reports out of Phoenix that said veterans were not being put on the electronic wait list until it was known that...

Barry Goldwater High School’s 2014 error-filled yearbook is getting some laughs from students but mostly criticism from those who think it wasn’t worth the $60 to $70 price. As reported by KSAZ Fox 10, the school’s yearbook staff has, in the past, won awards, and received recognition from the National Scholastic Press Association for their stellar work. Unfortunately, this year’s publication was not their best. The Phoenix, Arizona school’s tome contained misprints, incorrect dates, and capitalization errors. One senior’s photo was printed with a quote over her face. The cover was even printed with the wrong year and volume number.

VA Cover-up This week the House Veteran’s Affairs Committee unanimously voted to subpoena all emails and documents from Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki and VA senior leadership. The Committee, headed by Florida Congressmen Jeff Miller (R), has been requesting all documentation pertaining to any “waiting list” abnormalities which are said to have resulted in the deaths of up to 40 Veterans from the Phoenix, AZ Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center. Background Committee subpoenas were issued in response to a revelation by Dr. Sam Foote, a retired Department of Veteran’s Affairs doctor, that patients had been placed on an...

Whistleblowers say officials have been destroying evidence at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs hospital where at least 40 patients died from delays, despite requests from Congress to preserve records. Dr. Katherine Mitchell came forward to the Arizona Republic with records that show the hospital was using a secret list to hide the long wait times veterans faced. According to the Republic, Mitchell sent the documents to the paper after receiving a call from a coworker that evidence was being destroyed.