Tag: arizona

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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Arizona Lawmakers Approve Psychedelics Bills To Create Psilocybin Advisory Board And Fund Ibogaine Research

Arizona lawmakers have approved two different bills focused on psychedelic therapy.

Senate passed a bill to create an advisory board tasked with studying the science of psilocybin, as well as state and federal policies surrounding the psychedelic, while the House separately approved a measure to fund clinical trials on ibogaine.

The Senate legislation from Sen. T. J. Shope (R) cleared the chamber in a 23-4 vote on Tuesday after it was significantly amended in committee, with members removing central provisions to establish licensed psilocybin service centers for adults seeking mental health treatment.

On the House side, the body advanced the ibogaine research legislation, sponsored by Rep. Justin Wilmeth (R), in a 36-22 vote on Monday, sending it to the Senate. It would provide funding for the state Department of Health Services (DHS) to “conduct a certified clinical research study on the use of ibogaine for the treatment of neurological diseases.”

An earlier version of Shope’s Senate psilocybin bill moved through both chambers last year with the regulated access components intact, but it was vetoed by the Democratic governor, who argued that “we do not yet have the evidence needed to support widespread clinical expansion.”

However, the year before, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) signed into law budget legislation that included provisions to fund research into the medical potential of psilocybin mushrooms for a variety of conditions.

The new Senate-passed bill hopes to leverage some of those appropriated $5 million to create an Arizona Psilocybin Advisory Board, comprised of up to 12 members appointed by the governor and legislative leaders.

Representatives of the attorney general’s office and DHS, as well as military veterans, first responders, scientists with experience with psilocybin and physicians would be among the members.

Under the bill, the board would need to be selected by December 31, 2025, and they’d need to hold their first meeting by March 1, 2026.

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Arizona Lawmakers to Vote on Proposal to Pay Cops $2,500 for Each Illegal Alien They Help ICE Deport

Arizona lawmakers will be voting on legislation to pay police officers a $2,500 bounty for each illegal alien they help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deport.

The legislation states that the bounties will be paid by taxing international money transfers.

Under the proposal, each international money transfer under $500 will be taxed $25, and those over $500 will be taxed $25 plus five percent of the additional amount.

Opponents of the legislation have argued that it will lead to racial profiling and distract police from handling their local duties.

Democrat Arizona Senator Lauren Kuby called the bill “racist” and compared it to the “wild west.”

“But it’s Wild West with a twist, it’s a racist bill,” Kuby said.

“This is a critical mission that Arizona voters overwhelmingly support, and we want to reward the efforts of our hardworking officers,” the bill’s Republican sponsor Senator Jake Hoffman said in a statement obtained by Reuters.

The report adds, “Missouri and Mississippi recently considered bills to pay civilian bounty hunters $1,000 for each illegal immigrant they caught. The legislation was shot down in Mississippi and looks set to fail in Missouri, with state Republicans reluctant to pay for immigration enforcement.”

The bill passed through committee last week and will now go to the state’s House and Senate for votes.

Arizona’s Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs has said she will veto the bill if it passes.

To override the veto, there would need to be a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber.

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Democrat Arizona AG Kris Mayes’ Alternate Trump Electors Case on Life Support After Judge Says Charges May Have Violated First Amendment

The Arizona alternate Trump electors case brought by Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes started to crumble last year after a judge allowed the defendants to argue the charges are politically motivated.

During a hearing last year, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen said he was open to listening to the defendants’ arguments to have the indictment thrown out under Arizona’s anti-SLAPP law, which was recently expanded by the legislature to cover vindictive politically motivated charges.

On Monday, Maricopa County Judge Sam Myers said the defendants successfully argued that the charges against them appear to have violated the state’s anti-SLAPP statute.

“Myers said that Arizona Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes’ declaration when announcing the indictment that “this should never happen again” can be construed as assigning political motivation to the prosecution,” Courthouse News reported.

Arizona prosecutors have 45 days to respond to the judge’s finding and prove the charges were to enforce the law and not violate the First Amendment rights of the defendants.

Trump 2020 election lawyer John Eastman responded to the judge’s finding: Major ruling in the Arizona electors case this a.m. The new judge just ruled that I met the prima facie case required to dismiss under the anti-SLAPP statute — that is, 1st Amend. rights implicated, & substantial evid. that the prosecution was to retaliate or deter those rights.

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Democrat Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs Under Fire After $339 Million “Disappeared” from State Budget as Hobbs’ Budget Director Mysteriously Resigns

Arizona State Representative Alex Kolodin called Arizona’s illegitimate Democrat governor out in a letter to her office Thursday after $339 million “disappeared” from the state budget.

Kolodin told The Gateway Pundit, “Maybe somebody’s siphoning off some funds.” He clarified, “Maybe some are mistakes. Who knows? But they don’t match up.”

This is not the first, nor the second, time Hobbs has come under scrutiny for mismanagement or corruption involving large sums of money.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, in November, Hobbs was in the spotlight after her Office of Tourism awarded a $700,000 contract to create a hideous new state logo to a company with close ties to the agency’s director.

“Hobbs’ fake director of tourism has been caught funneling MASSIVE contracts to her own brother,” State Senator Jake Hoffman said. “Katie Hobbs continues to exploit her office, break the law, and take advantage of the people of Arizona.”

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LEAKED AUDIO: Tucson High School Teacher Defies Trump’s Executive Order, Misleads Students by Teaching There Are More Than Two Genders

Leaked Audio: Les Beard, a Tucson high school physics teacher defied Trump’s executive order and misled his students by teaching there are more than two genders.

Why is a physics teacher talking to his students about biology?

Per Trump’s executive order on two genders:

It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.  These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.  Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality, and the following definitions shall govern all Executive interpretation of and application of Federal law and administration policy:

(a)  “Sex” shall refer to an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.  “Sex” is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of “gender identity.”

(b)  “Women” or “woman” and “girls” or “girl” shall mean adult and juvenile human females, respectively.

(c)  “Men” or “man” and “boys” or “boy” shall mean adult and juvenile human males, respectively.

(d)  “Female” means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell.

(e)  “Male” means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell.

(f)  “Gender ideology” replaces the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity, permitting the false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa, and requiring all institutions of society to regard this false claim as true.  Gender ideology includes the idea that there is a vast spectrum of genders that are disconnected from one’s sex.  Gender ideology is internally inconsistent, in that it diminishes sex as an identifiable or useful category but nevertheless maintains that it is possible for a person to be born in the wrong sexed body.

(g)  “Gender identity” reflects a fully internal and subjective sense of self, disconnected from biological reality and sex and existing on an infinite continuum, that does not provide a meaningful basis for identification and cannot be recognized as a replacement for sex.

Les Beard mocked Trump during one of his lectures.

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WTF: Asylum Seekers Caught With 30,000 High-Caliber Rifle Rounds In Arizona

President Donald Trump’s imminent executive orders addressing the illegal alien invasion, border crisis, and cartel violence could not come soon enough, as a new report out of Arizona says a multi-agency investigation led to the arrest of several asylum seekers and a US citizen in possession of 30,000 rounds of ammunition. 

Sheriff Mark Dannels of Cochise County, Arizona, revealed Sunday in a Facebook post that in mid-January, Cochise County Counter Narcotics, Trafficking Alliance assisted Homeland Security Investigations and Burau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized 10,000 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition and 19,640 rounds of 7.62×39 ammunition from multiple vehicles, operated by several asylum seekers and one US citizen from Texas.

Dannels’ Facebook post read:

Multi-agency investigation results in ammunition seizure

In mid-January of 2025, the Cochise County Counter Narcotics and Trafficking Alliance (CNTA) assisted Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Burau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) with an investigation leading to the seizure of 10,000 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition and 19,640 rounds of 7.62×39 ammunition.

The .50 caliber and 7.62×39 rounds were separated within two vehicles traveling east on Interstate 10 from the Phoenix area. The vehicle containing the 7.62×39 ammunition was interdicted by the Pinal County Sheriff’s office. Still, the second vehicle containing the .50 caliber ammunition was located by CNTA investigators at Motel 6 in Benson.

CNTA, HSI, and USBP contacted the vehicle’s two occupants at the motel. One of the occupants was found to be an asylum seeker out of Cuba and the second individual was identified as a US citizen out of Texas. The second vehicle was occupied by two asylum seekers. This investigation is ongoing and led by HSI and ATF.

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Sick and Wicked Fountain Hills, AZ Democrats Hang Wreath with President Trump’s Severed Head as Christmas Decoration

Fountain Hills Democrats, outraged by Republicans celebrating Christmas with pro-Trump decorations, took it a step further by incorporating political violence in their Fountain Hills community center decoration.

The blasphemous Christmas wreath features a severed head resembling Donald Trump inside of a Fountain Hills community center. This came in response to Trump flags on the Republicans’ Christmas trees.

Written across the face of the decapitated depiction of Donald Trump are words and phrases accusing the President of the made-up crimes that Biden’s thugs charged with him as the leading Presidential candidate.

“37 felonies,” “Fraud,” “Racketeering,” “Sexual assault,” “Obstruction of justice,” “Withholding of documents,” Guilty: Hush money,” and “Conspiracy to steal the 2020 election” are among some of the lies scribbled on the face.

The Fountain Hills Democratic Club posted photos of their satanic display on Facebook, saying, “We added some free speech to our wreath.” The wreath was later taken down, and the Fountain Hills Democratic Club commented, “We have removed the offensive mask out of respect for all Democrats. A statement was made, if only for a few hours.”

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Polygamous sect leader gets 50 years in prison in scheme to orchestrate sex involving children

A polygamist religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual “wives” including 10 underage girls was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday for coercing girls as young as 9 years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults, and for scheming to kidnap them from protective custody.

Samuel Bateman, whose small group was an offshoot of the sect once led by Warren Jeffs, had pleaded guilty to a yearslong scheme to transport girls across state lines for his sex crimes, and later to kidnap some of them from protective custody.

Under the agreement, Bateman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit transportation of a minor for sexual activity, which carries a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment, and one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which is punishable by up to life imprisonment. He was sentenced to 50 years on each count, to be served concurrently.

The rest of the charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.

Authorities say that Bateman, 48, tried to start an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. The fundamentalist group, also known as FLDS, split from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after Mormons officially abandoned polygamy in 1890.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich sentenced Bateman after hearing statements in court by three teenage girls about the trauma they still struggle to overcome. Although they gave their names in court, The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual crime, and some appeared to still be minors.

“You should not have the opportunity to be free and never have the opportunity to be around young women, “ Brnovich told Bateman, noting that for a man of his age the 50-year sentence was effectively a life sentence.

“You took them from their homes, from their families and made them into sex slaves,” the judge said. “You stripped them of their innocence and childhood.”

A short competency hearing that was closed to the public was held just before sentencing to discuss a doctor’s assessment of Bateman’s mental health. The defense had argued that Bateman could have benefited from a maximum of 20 years of psychiatric treatment behind bars before being released.

The girls told the court, sometimes addressing Bateman himself, how they grappled to develop relationships in high school, among other struggles. Now living with foster families, they said they had received much support from trusted adults outside their community.

After the sentencing, the teens hugged and wept quietly. They were escorted out of court by a half dozen men and women in jackets with the slogan “Bikers Against Child Abuse,” a group dedicated to protecting children from what it calls dangerous people and situations. A woman who sat with the teens said no one in the group would have a comment.

There was no one in the courtroom who appeared to be a supporter of Bateman.

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