Free Republic

PRESCOTT - Former Arizona congressman and Prescott Mayor Sam Steiger was recovering Friday from a stroke. Steiger, 73, who also is host of a talk show on a Prescott television station, was found at his home by station employees after he failed to appear for his 11 a.m. program. "They got worried because Sam didn't show up. It's a good thing they went out there because he couldn't make it to a phone to call anybody," said Jack Londen, co-owner of KAZT. A spokeswoman at Yavapai Regional Medical Center said she had been told by Steiger's family to say only...

Gephardt stresses state's role in House vote By Jon KammanThe Arizona RepublicAug. 29, 2002 Arizona has a pivotal role in Democrats' quest to regain control of the U.S. House, Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt said Wednesday in Phoenix. The party needs six more seats to have a majority in the House, and has its sights set on seven seats in the West. Arizona's two new districts are the "cornerstone," Gephardt said. Two seats each in Colorado and New Mexico, plus one in Nevada, are other targets. In Arizona, Democrats are aiming to win Congressional District 1, which covers a sweeping area...

Napolitano, Salmon lead pollBoth heavily favored for governor by party voters By Chip Scutari and Robbie SherwoodThe Arizona RepublicAug. 29, 2002 12:00:00 Democrat Janet Napolitano and Republican Matt Salmon are running away from a crowded field of gubernatorial candidates, setting up a likely face-off in this fall's general election, The Arizona Republic Poll indicates. The August election poll, which surveyed more than 600 registered voters across Arizona, indicates that the two front-runners have double-digit cushions less than two weeks before the Sept. 10 primary election. Arizona Attorney General Napolitano has a 26-point edge over her nearest foe, Alfredo Gutierrez. Salmon,...

Notes and observations from a campaign trail turning downright surly: • Early in his political career, Terry Goddard had a charmed life. In the early 1980s, he rode a narrow victory in the campaign to establish a district system in Phoenix to the Mayor's Office. During the 1980s, he was a substantial force and an attractive political persona: intelligent, articulate and passionate about his issues, primarily transit and urban form. He was politically bruised by losing the 1990 gubernatorial race to Fife Symington and a lackluster effort attempting a 1994 rematch. But it appears Goddard's luck has returned. He's the uncontested...

Arizona has lost more acres to wildfire this year than any other state in the nation except Alaska. The "Rodeo-Chediski" fire, one of the worst disasters ever to hit our state, has displaced families, destroyed property and wildlife habitats and decimated large portions of our forests. It will take a century to fully recover. Compounding this tragedy is the knowledge that we could have prevented much of it. Federal officials have known for years what needs to be done to protect our forests. For almost a decade, I have promoted ecological forest management, including thinning to protect our forests from...

<p>WASHINGTON - As fires continue to ravage parts of eastern Arizona, Colorado and California, the U.S. Forest Service is conducting an internal study into how much environmentalists may be to blame.</p> <p>Environmentalists said Tuesday that there's a recent government report addressing the issue and that it shows they aren't to blame for the wildfire crisis.</p>

The smoke is overwhelming. The heat is overpowering. And that's just the rhetoric about Arizona's mammoth forest fire. While the flames rage across the high country, the debates rage over what to do about our overgrown, tinder-dry forests and over who is to blame for their sorry state. In the blaze of competing sound bites, it's easy to miss the most important point: There are broad areas of agreement. Broad enough to create a blueprint for reducing the risk of future infernos. • 1: Fires are a natural part of the Southwest landscape, a periodic housecleaning that gets rid of brush...

Just heard on 2PM news. Tribal officials have announced an arrest of a suspect in connection with the Rodeo Fire. Also heard that the President will visit Arizona before going to the G8 summit in Canada...

New redistricting lines reduce district size Republican J.D. Hayworth has made it official: He is a candidate for a fifth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Under new boundaries drawn in congressional redistricting, Scottsdale resident Hayworth is running in District 5, a largely urban district only a fraction of the size of the sprawling territory of northern and central Arizona he has represented since 1994. The new district extends northeast from the Ahwatukee Foothills area of Phoenix to take in parts of Chandler and Mesa and all of Tempe, Scottsdale and Fountain Hills. Hayworth, 43, has now been a...

A part-time Glendale resident who has not yet registered to vote in Arizona has filed as a Republican candidate for Congress. Mike Schaefer, who also lives in Las Vegas and is licensed to practice law in California, is running in the newly drawn Congressional District 2, where 25-year Congressman Bob Stump has decided for health reasons not to run. Schaefer, 64, said he has not practiced law in recent years except for a few cases involving constitutional law. In June 2000, he won a decision by the 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals that he was entitled to run for...

RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL FROM THE MATT SALMON FOR GOVERNOR CAMPAIGN...       This Tuesday, June 4th 2002 at 5-7 p.m. Doors open at 4:00 and voting takes place between 5:00 and 6:45 p.m. The winner will be announced after 6:45 p.m.         Mesa Centennial Hall 201 N. Center Between University and 1st St.Click for a Map         Cost: $10 per ticket which includes a buffet style dinner. Proceeds go to the local Chambers of Commerce. You will be trading your ticket in for a ballot in order to vote. What to Wear:...

Last week, a shipmate and I were waiting in Oklahoma City to board a Southwest Airlines flight to Phoenix. Over the PA came the announcement "Are Paul Goodyear and George Smith present?" We identified ourselves. The PA continued, "These men survived the sinking of the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor and have been in town to participate in a presentation ceremony." A round of applause, then more from the PA, "We are going to allow these men to board first." No objections, then the PA added, "We are presenting each man with a bottle of champagne." This was roundly applauded....

Here is a partial listing of Memorial Day events taking place in Arizona this weekend. Please post any other Arizona events you know of. VetsCor and the Free Republic Network are encouraging all Freepers to take part in Memorial Day commemorations across the country. Check out their threads if you haven't already... "AMERICA REMEMBERS":VetsCor/FRN Memorial Day Project "AMERICA REMEMBERS" Project:National Cemeteries and VA Medical Facilities Locator Please take the time to remember the sacrifices made by our veterans - we owe them so much more than we can ever repay. SATURDAY, MAY 25 Memorial Day Ceremony at Wesley Bolin Plaza1700...

By now, most Americans understand that President Bush did not receive a "warning" of an impending attack by al-Qaida when he was briefed by the Central Intelligence Agency in August. Though some partisans continue to "ask questions" about what the president knew, it's clear that the intelligence community just didn't have specific information about an attack - only vague, general bits of information suggesting that Osama bin Laden wanted to hurt Americans some time, some place, somehow. Our intelligence agencies collect an enormous amount of information, most of it too general to be of much use. Much of it is...

President Bush's plan for pre-kindergarten education came under fire Friday at the National Head Start Association's convention in Phoenix, with Sen. John McCain calling for more federal funding and awareness. Bush announced plans this month to increase funding by 2 percent for Head Start, a federally funded preschool program for impoverished children. His plan also emphasizes the need for literacy education and accountability. The proposed funding is inadequate, McCain said in a speech to hundreds of the convention's 6,000 attendees, who have been meeting all week in downtown Phoenix. "I've grown a little cynical in Washington," McCain said. "We have...

Just when it appeared nothing worse could happen to the state's new legislative boundaries, an error discovered Thursday could mean they would have to be scrapped and redrawn. The mistake means further chaos for the state's election system. As filing deadlines approach, candidates don't know where to collect the signatures and donations they need to run for office. Authorities said the error is believed to have occurred when Election Data Services, a Washington, D.C., firm hired to help create new district maps, apparently used flawed data by lumping together active and inactive voters. That could affect the question of whether...

<p>Bob Stump served four terms from 1959-1967 in the Arizona House and five terms from 1967-1976 in the state Senate, serving as senate president for the last two years. He was elected to Congress in 1976.</p> <p>WASHINGTON - Thirteen-term Arizona Republican Rep. Bob Stump, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, is expected to announce Friday that he will retire at the end of the year, according to aides to Republican House leadership.</p>

FLAGSTAFF - Democrat Fred DuVal and Republican Bruce Whiting raised the most money for their respective races in Congressional District 1 in the first quarter of this year, according to the Federal Election Commission. DuVal, a former aide in the Clinton administration, pulled in nearly $293,000, while Steve Udall, former Apache County attorney, raised almost $145,000. Both DuVal and Udall far outdistanced the other five candidates in the race for the Democratic primary Sept. 10. On the Republican side, Whiting, a Payson attorney and former timber company executive, received nearly $85,000 in contributions and Flagstaff businessman Rick Renzi raised just...

"Linda Turner, Hollywood star and America's sweetheart, becomes bored with her ultra-sophisticated life of movie make-believe and takes to crimefighting in her most dramatic role of all as .... The Black Cat." So came America's first female costumed superheroine, making her debut in 1941 and going on to battle Nazi saboteurs, American gangsters, and even supernatural enemies for a decade. Although Harvey Comics ceased publishing a regular Black Cat comic series in 1951, the character proved to have such a devoted following that revivals of her old adventures were reissued in the 1960's, '80's and '90's. Even today, buzzing in...

Saudi Ambassador Owes America ApologyEquates Palestinian terrorists with George Washington and American's fight for independence April 5, 2002 MESA, AZ - Congressman J.D. Hayworth called on the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Bandar bin Sultan, to apologize to the American people for remarks in a column in today's Washington Post that compares Palestinian attacks on innocent Israeli civilians to George Washington and the American colonists' fight for independence. "George Washington did not send suicide bombers into the 18th century equivalent of Sbarros pizza restaurants to blow up women, children, and civilians," said Hayworth. "To even hint at a moral...