Weekend wrap-up: Biggest news stories from St. Patrick’s Day weekend
Mar 18, 2018, 7:29 PM
(Jessie Wardarski/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
PHOENIX — If you missed out on the news this St. Patrick’s Day weekend, no worries.
Here are some of the biggest news stories that happened since Thursday, both in Arizona and across the nation.
At least 6 people killed in pedestrian bridge collapse at university in Florida
A brand-new pedestrian bridge collapsed onto a highway at a Miami-area college on Thursday, killing at least six people and injuring multiple others.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue tweeted that “multiple” people were injured when the Florida International University bridge fell.
The bridge under construction was expected to open to foot traffic next year.
Women arrested after posting video insulting Muslims at Tempe mosque
Two women who were seen in a Facebook video uttering anti-Muslim vitriol while removing flyers and brochures from a suburban Phoenix mosque have been arrested.
Tempe police spokeswoman Lily Duran said Tahnee Gonzales and Elizabeth Dauenhauer were being booked into a city jail Thursday afternoon on suspicion of third-degree burglary.
Police said the women posted a video online apparently showed them insulting Muslims at a Tempe mosque with their children in tow.
Duran said if they are convicted, their sentencing could be enhanced if they were seen as perpetrating a hate crime.
Gov. Doug Ducey to introduce plan to address some school safety issues
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced Thursday that he would soon introduce an “aggressive plan” to address some of the issues regarding school safety.
The Arizona Republican announced some details of his plan in a series of tweets, one day after a group of students held a sit-in at his office in an effort to speak with Ducey about addressing gun control.
He did not mention when that plan would be introduced.
Sen. Jeff Flake: Republican Party ‘might not deserve to lead’
U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) continued to push back against the Republican Party for its support of President Donald Trump.
“If my party is going to try to pass off the degradation of the United States and her values from the White House as normal, if we are going to cloister ourselves in the alternative truth of an erratic leader, if we are going to refuse to live in the world that everyone else lives in and reckon with the daily reality that they face,” he said, “then my party might not deserve to lead.”
The junior senator delivered the comments Thursday in Washington during a speech at the National Press Club titled “Truth, Falsehoods, and the Dangerous State of Our Politics: A Way Forward.”
Man surrenders to Arizona troopers for driving wrong way on Loop 101
A man suspected of driving the wrong way on the Loop 101 and causing multiple injuries in the East Valley surrendered last week, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.
In a release, the agency said 26-year-old Shane Hidalgo decided to turn himself in after finding out the charges filed against him. A spokesman said he was not told why Hidalgo had not previously been taken into custody.
Hidalgo was charged with aggravated assault, four counts of criminal damage, three counts of endangerment, super-extreme DUI, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Arizona woman disputes her arrest was made on wedding day
A woman photographed by police wearing what appeared to be a wedding dress during her arrest on a charge of impaired driving in southern Arizona is disputing police claims that she was taken into custody as she was headed to her wedding.
The image of Amber Young being put into a police cruiser late last Monday morning while in handcuffs and wearing a white open-back full-length dress made its rounds on social media.
The 32-year-old Young was arrested in Marana, 30 miles north of Tucson, after she became involved in a three-vehicle crash in which one person suffered minor injuries.
Attorney Michelle Behan said her client was arrested on her way to meet a friend for lunch, not to a wedding. She said Young isn’t engaged and insisted she was wearing a sun dress, not a wedding gown.
Sessions fires former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Friday night that he was firing former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, a longtime and frequent target of President Donald Trump’s anger, just two days before his scheduled retirement date.
The move was made on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials and comes ahead of an inspector general report expected to conclude that McCabe had authorized the release of information to the news media and had not been forthcoming with the watchdog office as it examined the bureau’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
“The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability,” Sessions said in a statement.
Meghan McCain posts another photo of her and Sen. John McCain
U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) may not be spotted much in public, but the Arizona Republican can be seen posing for selfies on his family’s social media pages.
On Sunday, Meghan McCain posted another photo of her and her father on Twitter, with the caption “No place I’d rather be.”
In it, McCain was bundled up to avoid the northern Arizona cold and gripping a cup full of what appeared to be ice.
Flake hopes Republicans would stand up if Trump fires Robert Mueller
U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said he hopes his Republican colleagues will stand up to President Donald Trump if he moves to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.
“I hope so. I mean, talking to my colleagues all along, it was, you know, once he goes after Mueller, then we will take action,” Flake said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“I think that people see that as a massive red line that can’t be crossed. So, I hope that that’s the case.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.