Tag: arizona

Mesa High School student barred from wearing military stole at graduation

A graduation controversy is unfolding at Arizona’s largest school district, Mesa Public Schools. School leaders won’t allow a senior at Mesa High School who is enlisted in the National Guard to wear a military stole at graduation on Thursday.

Daniela Rascon-Rivas earned the stole when she enlisted in the Arizona National Guard. “It would show my classmates that I am enlisted in the Army and that I am fighting for them, keeping our country safe from foreign and domestic enemies,” she says.

Rascon-Rivas says a Mesa High School administrator brought her down to the office last week to explain the district policy against wearing the stole at graduation. “I was disheartened. I was disappointed,” she says. “I felt betrayed.”

Mesa High sent Arizona’s Family a statement, reading in part, “Mesa High absolutely encourages families to bring their student’s stoles for photos and celebrations after the event.”

“I see no point in wearing it afterward,” Rascon-Rivas says. “The point of me wearing these stoles and cords is so that my classmates can see what I have accomplished and the accolades I have collected.”

Her father is also expressing disappointment. “When I got notice that she cannot wear the stole, that broke my heart,” says Jose Rascon.

Rascon-Rivas started a petition that’s gotten the attention of school board member Rachel Walden. “You get that one shot where you go up and grab your diploma and you do the handshake for the photo,” Walden says. “If she has her National Guard stole on, that’s going to make the night more meaningful for her. I think there’s no reason she shouldn’t be able to do that.”

Walden thinks the superintendent should step in and order the school administration to allow the military stoles on Thursday. “If they have to pull rank, then that’s what needs to be done,” she says. “Then we can address it permanently going forward by writing it into policy, if my colleagues on the board agree with that, we can pass a vote to update our policy.”

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Far Left Arizona Gov Katie Hobbs Vetoes Bill Requiring Public Schools to Include Instruction on the Gulf of America

Democrat Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a Republican bill on Tuesday that would require public high schools to adhere to President Trump’s “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” executive order by including geography and instruction on the Gulf of America.

HB 2700 would add geography education in the State Board of Education’s high school social studies academic standards and require academic standards for geography to include instruction on the Gulf of America.

The far-left Democrat Governor doesn’t want students to have a comprehensive education on geography and current events, though.

Hobbs provided no reason for her veto in a letter to Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro, but did take a personal jab at Republicans in the state legislature for what she perceives as a refusal to “work together.”

Hobbs sent the following letter to Montenegro on Tuesday:

Speaker Montenegro,

Today, I vetoed House Bill 2700. Arizonans want us to work together to lower costs, secure the border, create jobs, and protect publie education. Instead of joining with me to do that, this Legislature has chosen to attempt to dictate how teachers refer to geographic features. I encourage you to refocus your time and energy on solving real problems for Arizonans.

In total, Hobbs reportedly vetoed 48 bills on Monday and Tuesday, and she is now five vetoes short of setting a new record.

It can be recalled that Hobbs broke the record for the most bills vetoed in a single session of the state legislature during her first year in office in 2023. Leftwing outlets dubbed her the “Veto Queen,” celebrating her stand against Republicans who represent a majority of Arizona. This is her only accomplishment as governor.

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Border Patrol Agent Reports Witnessing UFOs in Arizona

Government officials have reported seeing a wide range of UAP along Arizona’s border with Mexico. In an interview that aired on May 10, News Nation’s Ross Coulthart sat down with whistleblower Bob Thompson to discuss these sightings and their implications for national security.

“I’ve seen orbs, I’ve seen strange lights that were bright and hovering… A lot of stuff at night,” Thompson stated. As a US Border Patrol agent, he has access to highly sensitive equipment including infrared sensors and night-vision goggles. “[These UAP] were not showing visible forms of propulsion, even with goggles,” he said.

Thompson shared that once, while sitting in a vehicle with his supervisor, he saw two strange objects suddenly appear in the night sky. His sightings mirror other ones reported by both military and commercial pilots, many of whom have raised concerns about potential collisions.

“Could it be something the military is testing? It’s a distinct possibility,” Thompson admitted, acknowledging that his area of patrol is close to top-secret government sites, such as the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. There have also been instances of Mexican cartels using drones to transport drugs into the US. However, Thompson claimed the objects he’s seen do not resemble drones. According to him, the crafts “were cigar-shaped and triangles.”

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A law that helped convert Indigenous people is now used to get churches near—and on—school grounds

Earlier this year, a small school district just north of Tucson made an unusual decision: It would allow the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to build a complex on public school district grounds where students could be released from class to worship.

But the project quickly unraveled. A few weeks later, the Vail Unified School District reversed course, saying the church canceled the contract after local media reports and secular groups criticized the plan. Still, the construction of religious buildings near schools for the temporary release of students to practice their faith has become a growing concern of church-state separation advocates, who argue it violates legal requirements that keep public schools secular.

In Arizona and several other states, ‘release time’ for religious instruction is not only legal—it’s common.

State law allows students to be excused from school during the day to participate in religious instruction off campus. In the case of LDS students, these classes often include lifestyle lessons. They are typically held in buildings just outside campus boundaries, sometimes only a few hundred feet away.

Religious conservatives have pushed to expand release-time programs nationwide, arguing there is no need to separate religion from daily education. Here, such programs are only growing more popular.

Arizona’s history with religious release time

More than a dozen states currently require school districts to adopt release-time policies.

Most recently, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, signed a bill in February mandating school districts create a release-time policy after two districts rescinded theirs. Previously, Ohio law didn’t require districts to offer the program. The new law, known as the Parents’ Bill of Rights, also bans discussions of sexuality or gender identity before fourth grade.

The Guardian reported that the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom, designated an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has helped draft model legislation for states to expand release-time programs. This gives parents more authority over their children’s ‘moral and religious’ upbringing, often limiting exposure to diverse communities and families.

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Man Killed in Road Rage Incident Brought Back to Life and Speaks to His Killer in Court via AI-Powered Video

A Chandler, Arizona courtroom recently witnessed the use of artificial intelligence to resurrect the voice of a deceased man, Christopher Pelkey, during the sentencing of his killer, Gabriel Horcasitas.

Pelkey, shot dead in a 2021 road rage incident, was digitally recreated using AI to deliver a scripted “impact statement” written by his sister, Stacey Wales.

Horcasitas, 50, was sentenced to 10.5 years for manslaughter after shooting Pelkey, 37, when the latter approached his car in a heated confrontation.

“To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me: it is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances,” according to the AI-generated video, featuring a digitally aged photograph of Pelkey.

“In another life, we probably could have been friends. I believe in forgiveness and God, who forgives. I always have, and still do,” the video said, which moved the judge, who openly praised the AI technology, to hand down a sentence a full year longer than prosecutors requested.

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WICKED: Far-Left Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs Gaslights Her Constituents as She Vetoes a Commonsense Bill Requiring Her to Follow Federal Immigration Laws

One of the most left-wing and wicked governors in America has decided she wants her state to remain a haven for criminal aliens.

Democrat Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, who ‘won’ her election under questionable circumstances, yesterday vetoed a commonsense bill passed by the Arizona State Legislature that would have required her to help follow federal immigration laws.

The bill in question, House Bill 2099, would have mandated the governor, attorney general, and every county, city, and town in Arizona to enforce and cooperate with all immigration orders, actions, and programs from the federal government.

Here is what Hobbs wrote in her veto message:

Today, I vetoed House Bill 2099. When I assumed the role of Governor, I pledged to uphold both the U.S. Constitution and the Arizona Constitution,” she wrote in her veto message.

I have worked productively with the federal government to secure our border, stopping fentanyl at our ports of entry through Task Force SAFE, disrupting cartel operations with Operation Desert Guardian, and working across all levels of government to keep communities safe with the Border Coordination Office.

I will continue to work with the federal government on true border security, but we should not force state officials to take marching orders from Washington, DC. My focus will always be on delivering real results for Arizonans.

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Katie Hobbs’ Arizona Agriculture Employee ARRESTED for Alleged Human Smuggling of Illegal Aliens

In yet another stunning failure of leadership from Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a now-former employee of the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) has been arrested at the southern border for alleged human smuggling of illegal aliens — a scandal that now threatens to sink Hobbs’ controversial nominee to lead the agency.

Joshua Castro, who served as a produce inspector for the AZDA, is facing both felony and misdemeanor federal charges after Border Patrol agents caught him allegedly transporting illegal aliens across the U.S. border earlier this month, KOLD reported.

According to a federal complaint filed by the U.S. District Attorney of Arizona, Castro was first spotted on April 9 speeding away from a known smuggling route near Nogales.

Border agents later caught up to him after witnessing the same vehicle ferrying two illegal aliens — Mexican nationals who admitted to paying between $7,600 and $12,000 each to be smuggled into the United States.

According to the news outlet, Castro was wearing his state-issued uniform during the incident, despite being off-duty.

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Arizona to Remove Up to 50,000 Noncitizens From Voter Rolls After Successful Conservative Lawsuit

All 15 counties in Arizona have now started reviewing and cleaning their voter rolls to remove noncitizens, including nearly 50,000 voters who registered without showing proof of U.S. citizenship.

The lawsuit was filed by America First Legal (AFL) on behalf of EZAZ.org and Yvonne Cahill, a naturalized U.S. citizen and registered voter. AFL was founded by Trump advisor Stephen Miller.

It argued that election officials were not following Arizona law, which requires proof of citizenship to vote in state and local elections. Counties must also run monthly checks to confirm the citizenship status of registered voters.

As part of the settlement, Arizona counties must now work with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to verify the citizenship of voters who didn’t provide documentation when registering.

“This settlement is a great result for all Arizonans,” said James Rogers, senior counsel at AFL in a statement provided to Fox News.

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Ex-CDC Director Pushes Extra MMR Shot For Babies, As Arizona Reports Suspected Measles Case Was ‘Rare’ Vaccine Reaction

Some infectious disease experts — including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) former director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky — are pushing health officials to recommend an extra dose of the MMR vaccine for babies ages 6-11 months who live in or travel to areas of the U.S. with measles outbreaks, according to Medpage Today.

The news comes as a suspected measles case in a 1-year-old child in Pima County, Arizona, this week turned out to be a reaction to the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine — not measles.

According to a Pima County news release, reactions to the MMR vaccine are “rare and do not carry the same risk as community-acquired measles.”

The Pima County Health Department did not specify the toddler’s symptoms but said state and county health authorities — and the local hospital where the child was treated — “took precautions in the child’s treatment as if it were an infectious case.”

Arizona has not reported any measles cases so far in 2025, the release said.

The CDC’s current Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule recommends children receive their first dose of the MMR vaccine between the ages of 2-15 months, and their second dose between ages 4-6 years.

Infants 6-11 months old who are about to travel internationally are advised to get an extra dose before traveling.

Walensky and colleagues argued in op-eds published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and STAT News that the recommendation should be changed due to the uptick in U.S. measles cases.

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The Phoenix Lights: 28 years later, the mystery endures

On the night of March 13, 1997, thousands of Arizonans looked up and saw something they couldn’t explain—a massive, V-shaped formation of lights hovering in the sky.

Twenty-eight years later, the Phoenix Lights remain one of the most infamous UFO sightings in U.S. history, fueling speculation, debate, and ongoing scientific curiosity.

Among those who witnessed the phenomenon firsthand was Dr. Lynne Kitei, a former medical professional who was so profoundly impacted that she left her career in medicine to study the lights full-time.

“They have become the most witnessed, the most documented, the most anomalous aerial sighting in modern history, if not all of history,” said Kitei, founder of the Phoenix Lights Network.

Kitei recalls the day vividly, describing how two lower orbs appeared to hover motionlessly.

“It was just bizarre. Again, I’m a healthy skeptic, but I was seeing something that was so extraordinary.”

While some, like Kitei, are convinced that the lights were something beyond our current understanding, others believe there is a more earthly explanation.

Chris Impey, an astronomy professor at the University of Arizona, points out that the southwest sees an unusually high UFO reports—coinciding with the region’s large number of Air Force bases, frequent military flights, and clear skies.

“You know, the Southwest generates a lot of UFO sightings, and it’s not coincidental,” Impey explained. He says he tends to believe the more conventional theory that the Phoenix Lights could have been A-10 aircraft flying in a chevron formation, followed by military flares.

And sometimes, he adds, people may just be seeing the planet Venus.

“After sunset, you’ll see it low on the horizon, and with atmospheric effects, it might look like it’s moving or hovering. That’s a classic UFO sighting.”

Kitei, however, remains unconvinced.

“The impact it made on the witnesses themselves is so compelling,” she said. “It cannot be explained.”

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