Weekend wrap-up: Biggest Arizona-related stories from past weekend
Aug 12, 2018, 2:57 PM | Updated: 5:40 pm
(AP Photo/Matt York)
PHOENIX — The weekend of Aug. 10 was marked by stolen aircraft, “disturbing tweets” from a Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate’s staffer and a possible endorsement from President Donald Trump for Rep. Martha McSally.
Here are the biggest news stories from this past weekend, both in Arizona and across the nation.
ASU joins forces with museum to offer master’s degree in WWII studies
Arizona State University announced it was partnering with the National WWII Museum to offer a graduate degree in World War II studies starting in the spring semester.
The online Master of Arts program will begin in January 2019 and include 30 courses.
“These courses are new developments,” Volker Benkert, assistant professor of history at ASU, told KTAR News 92.3 FM.
“We have not done this before here at ASU. It’s also new ground for the museum that has a host of online offerings and a big online presence but has never done … a degree program.”
Citizenship question on Census could cost Phoenix millions of dollars
The federal government’s proposal to add a question about citizenship status to the 2020 U.S. Census could lead to major financial losses for Phoenix.
Former Phoenix City Councilwoman Kate Gallego said the city is projected to get $816 million in annual funding, or about $500 per person, following the Census count.
But that’s only if all Phoenix residents participate.
“We’re concerned that if this question is added, we won’t have full participation in the Census,” said Gallego, who stepped down Wednesday to run for Phoenix mayor. “People will be afraid to be counted.”
Report: GOP leader asks President Trump to endorse Martha McSally
A national political website reported that a top Republican senator asked President Donald Trump to endorse Rep. Martha McSally in Arizona’s GOP Senate primary.
The Politico story said Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado asked the president to support the former U.S. Air Force pilot over former state Sen. Dr. Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the Aug. 28 primary.
The website cited two unnamed senior Republicans familiar with the conversation, which occurred recently during a phone call.
According to one of the sources, Trump was non-committal in his response.
Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio wants a rematch with Sasha Baron Cohen
At a town hall event Thursday, the Republican U.S. Senate hopeful called his appearance on Sasha Baron Cohen’s Showtime program “a bad mistake” but said he’d like to sit down with the comedian again.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner after the town hall, Arpaio challenged Cohen to another interview, with no disguises or fake accents.
“Get the guts, get out of your undercover role, come and interview me in English, of course, so I can understand him so we can go man-to-man. You can ask me anything you want. I’ll be glad to deal with it,” he said.
“He won’t have the guts to do that. Maybe he will, I don’t know.”
Arizona governor hopeful David Garcia finds ex-staffer’s tweets ‘disturbing’
Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Garcia’s digital director resigned last week after tweets using anti-law enforcement, anti-Arizona and anti-America verbiage were unearthed from the staffer’s social media account.
According to Garcia’s campaign, former digital director Xenia Orona offered her resignation following a post from PJ Media, a conservative news blog.
The story pointed out multiple tweets from her personal account.
“This is a personnel matter. We discovered those tweets — many of them multiple years old — and we found them to be disturbing. We found them to be disappointing as well and she has resigned,” Garcia told Mac & Gaydos on KTAR News 92.3 FM on Friday.
“We are moving on as a campaign.
“It’s not just running for governor … this is an environment now around social media. It certainly presents a challenge.”
Airline reports stolen aircraft, witnesses report chase
Officials at Sea-Tac International Airport say an Alaska Airlines plane that was stolen by an airline employee and has crashed in Washington state.
Airport officials say in a tweet Friday night that an airline employee “conducted an unauthorized takeoff without passengers.”
Witnesses reported seeing the plane being chased by military aircraft near the airport.
Power outage at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale displaces hundreds
Nearly 900 people were evacuated from Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale early Saturday morning due to a power outage.
The outage was caused by the monsoon storm around 2 a.m. and led to flooding damage on the first floor of the building.
First responders then evacuated guests “for safety” and displaced everyone, a Salt River police spokesperson said.
Officials said they were hoping to reopen Talking Stick Resort near the Loop 101 and Talking Stick Way on Tuesday after “assessing damages” from the storm.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Griselda Zetino and The Associated Press contributed to this report.