Grant-supported investigative reporting in the West

A group of investigative reporters that once worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper have won a $40,000 grant to do in-depth reporting on environmental issues in the West under their newly minted nonprofit, InvestigateWest.

TZR Editor Adam Klawonn

This is the kind of stuff I get really excited about. Here are some highly decorated journalists taking an entrepreneurial leap into a void that is growing exponentially in today’s world of 24-hour news cycles, pithy stories and constant updates. And apparently InvestigateWest’s supporter, the Bullitt Foundation, is fired up as well.

“As newsrooms across the nation have been downsized and shuttered, the public’s right to know has been compromised,” said Denis Hayes, president and CEO of The Bullitt Foundation. “InvestigateWest will explore new models for the sort of hard-nosed reporting that once characterized good journalism but that has become increasingly rare.”

Rest assured that InvestigateWest will bring the wood to these environmental issues. The five journalists involved have won or been finalists for major awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, the Edgar A. Poe award for White House coverage, the Casey Medal, Best of the West and a PEN award, according to an InvestigateWest press release. In other words, expect good stuff from these folks.

I can personally attest to that. I met InvestigateWest’s executive director, Rita Hibbard, at a Knight Fellowship for new media entrepreneurs this past spring at University of Southern California. During that week of activities, Hibbard’s passion for reviving investigative journalism in the West was clear.

Could this be a model for other regions? I think so. Investigative reporting is one of the largest expenses in the newsroom. These stories take months to accomplish and may require travel, overtime and temporary reassignment from what the reporter normally covers. Editors have to have vision and money to support it because they’re essentially reducing coverage on a topic so the investigative reporter can delve deeper into a particular issue. And there are no tweets or Facebook updates during the process.

Personally, I’d like to see more foundations supporting work like this. Since many of them share similar interests (InvestigateWest specializes in environmental and public health reporting while the Seattle-based Bullitt Foundation, for example, seeks to preserve the natural physical environment of the Pacific Northwest), they make natural partners for nonprofit, topically driven news organizations. It could be a great marketing tool for them as well. The trick is to select foundations whose support would not taint or be contingent upon the outcome of the story that the money helps pay for.

Otherwise, I just don’t see more traditional newsrooms picking up the tab for these kinds of stories. Here’s a quote from Hibbard in the InvestigateWest news release:

“Investigative journalism and resource-intensive coverage like environmental journalism is becoming a scarce resource in this new media landscape. InvestigateWest continues the craft of change-making journalism enhanced by the muscle of today’s technology and fueled by citizen journalists who broaden our scope and widen our lens. This grant from the Bullitt Foundation helps us do that.”

Gila County approves property tax increase

GLOBE — As state lawmakers wrestle with a potential tax increase to avoid massive deficits, officials in Gila County have already moved forward with a 2 percent property tax increase to help answer their own budget woes.

Supervisors for this mostly rural county north and east of Phoenix agreed last week to a $100 million operating budget that included the increase. It will levy an extra $8 per year from each taxpayer who owns a home worth $100,000, raising a total of $440,000 for county coffers.

According to the Payson Roundup, the county will also float an $8 million bond to build a public works facility and a new women’s jail. Supervisor Tommie Martin tells the paper, “We’re on the verge of huge lawsuits that would make what we’re doing here look like a fairy tale” if the county doesn’t build a women’s jail. The paper reports that the jail currently has 18 beds – about half of last year’s regular occupancy. As a result, many of the women end up sleeping on temporary beds on the floor.

Check out the full story at the Roundup here. To surf more Arizona headlines, visit our interactive news map here.

City cites ASU prof for dilapidated buildings

GLOBE – Two historic buildings owned as speculative investments by an Arizona State University professor are in such in bad shape that they violated this city’s fire and building safety codes.

The citations added to the ongoing saga of ASU professor Glenn Wilt, who owns several downtown historic properties in mining towns east of Maricopa County. He has irked some local townsfolk by purchasing key properties one by one and letting them stay vacant – in one case, until they cave in and have to be demolished.

The East Valley Tribune and other Valley media outlets have picked up the story. City officials, however, are quick to point out that Wilt’s properties are not being targeted in these code inspections, according to the Arizona Silver Belt. They recently told the newspaper that vacant properties owned by four other people are also being inspected.

Check out the full story by the Silver Belt here. To surf more Arizona news headlines, check out our interactive news map here.

Town council punts on photo radar

WICKENBURG — The idea of adopting photo radar systems for this growing town just northwest of Phoenix was tabled until 2010 by the Town Council, although the majority of its members seemed to be against using the high-tech tool altogether.

The Wickenburg Sun reports that the council decided to table the issue. Its members agreed to wait until a series of bills were adopted by the state Legislature next year or the results of a pending ballot initiative were complete before deciding the whether Wickenburg will use photo radar.

According to the Sun, Wickenburg Vice Mayor John Cook was the only council member clearly in favor of the program.

“Photo radar is not just for profit,” Cook said. “Our children are walking the streets, and we will lose a kid one day from speeding in a school zone.

“I don’t think photo radar is posing a big expense to those abiding the law,” he added. “Photo radar makes people more mindful of the law, and it is just looking for people who are breaking the law.”

Check out the Sun for the full story here. To surf more Arizona news headlines, visit our interactive news map here.

Help a fellow Arizonan

You have a chance Thursday to learn how you can lend a hand to a fellow Arizonan. Head to the Arizona State Fairgrounds between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and you can meet up with representatives of food banks, job-training centers, religious organizations and government agencies dedicated to helping those in Arizona who have to choose between buying food or medicine and paying their bills.

Arizona religious news, faith news

Gov. Jan Brewer will be there at 3 p.m. to kick off the event, which is called Choose to Help – The Golden Rule in Action. Supporters of the event include the Arizona Broadcasters Association, the Arizona Governor’s Commission on Volunteerism, the Arizona Community Action Association, the Arizona Department of Economic Security, the City of Phoenix, and the Arizona Interfaith Movement.

By attending, you can find opportunities to volunteer for agencies in need of help. This is your chance to be part of the solution for Arizonans who need you. To learn more, call Anne Taylor of the Arizona Interfaith Movement at 602-261-6703 or Amy Rocker of the One Stop Center at 480-497-0350, ext. 237. You can also visit the Interfaith Arizona website.

Zonie Report readers weigh in on religion

About six weeks ago, I invited Zonie Report readers to take part in a survey about their views on religion and what they’d like to see covered. The truth is, participation has been underwhelming, with only 40 individuals taking the survey. Needless to say, it can’t be called representative of Zonie Report readers. Even so, I feel obligated to report the results to you.

Arizona religious news, faith news

Of the 40 respondents, eight (20 percent) identified themselves as being 21 to 30 years old, eight as 31 to 40, eight as 41 to 50, 12 (30 percent) as 51 to 60, and 4 (10 percent) as older than 60.

Thirty-one respondents, or 78 percent, identified themselves as believers in God. Seven people, or 17 percent, called themselves agnostics, and they were represented in each age category. Two people total – one at each extreme of the age categories – said they were atheists.

Of the believers, 88 percent said they were Christian, 9 percent called themselves Buddhist, and 3 percent (one person) self-identified as Hindu. Also of the believers, 54 percent said their faith was very important or extremely important to them.

Nearly 30 percent of believers, and 34 percent of all respondents, said religion plays too big a role in U.S. political and social issues. In all 44 percent of all respondents said religion has a lot of influence on such issues. A few people elaborated:

“Unfortunately, it is religion, not faith, playing a role in the U.S., particularly with ‘Christians’ who are attempting to impose their narrow and incorrect interpretation of the bible on the rest of us. If Christians were true Christians, the U.S. would not be in the social, moral and economic position it currently is.”

“There is a reason the idea to separate church from state was created. Church/religion should be held and practiced by the individual. State was created for the people as a whole.”

More than 73 percent of respondents said they want to see Zonie Report stories about major religious trends and how they’re playing out in Arizona. About 56 percent said they’d like to see personality profiles on Arizonans doing innovative work in religion. Here are a couple of comments on what people would like to see covered:

“Ways in which religion, politics and society interact in ways that we don’t usually think about. For example, in what ways is the USA really Judeo-Christian and in what ways are we definitely not?”

“Perhaps every once in a while someone could give us numbers of new immigrants and their religions. An introduction to their beliefs and perhaps Web sites and publications could be provided. This could go far to soften the walls that can imperceptibly be built when a new religion is mentioned.”

“The good things that happen due to the impact of religious or church sponsored activities. Anything to bring positive stories to the media to give the general public a break from all the negativity.”

“The work faith-based organizations are doing to improve society.”

“Personality profiles … would be very meaningful since much of religion is about finding the inspiration and fortitude to do what it right, and not what is common.”

“The Zonie Report leans heavily toward Christian articles. I’d like to see that broadened. I know this is aimed at Arizonans, so how about more about the indigenous religion?”

To those who took part, thanks. We’ll work on incorporating some of your thoughts into Religious Times.

Chair-beating incident lands in court

PRESCOTT VALLEY — The mother of a charter school student who was attacked in the school’s lunchroom is suing the parent’s of her daughter’s attacker, the school and a state oversight board over the incident.

The beating occurred at Achieve Academy in April 2008. That’s when another student struck Taylor Hedlund over the head with a metal chair and knocked her unconscious, according to the court complaint and previous news reports.

Hedlund’s mother, Kelly Hedlund, claims the attack was filmed by other students and posted on the Internet and MySpace.com.

In 2008, Taylor Hedlund told a reporter from KPHO Channel 5:

“I didn’t really expect her to ever want to fight me. She said she wanted to, but I didn’t think she was actually going to do it,” Taylor said.

Taylor said she thinks the attack was planned because another student had a cell phone camera ready and posted video of the attack on MySpace.com.

“What I don’t get is that, like, why would someone record that?” Taylor said. “It’s surprising. It’s mean.”

Based on those statements, Kelly Hedlund is suing the school and the agency that oversees it, the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools. In her complaint, she claims enough students apparently knew about the incident that school officials should have been aware of the attack. She also claims several recent cuts to the schools budget left fewer staff members in the lunchroom to prevent it.

As a result, she claims the district and school board was negligent, and that they should pay almost $6,000 in damages to cover her daughter’s medical bills. Hedlund is represented by Prescott lawyers Mark W. Drutz and Stacie B. Robb (Musgrove, Drutz & Kack).

Never too late to remember

PHOENIX — On shelves in funeral homes, mortuaries, and graveyards around the country there are hundreds and thousands of little boxes stacked much like they would be in grocery stores. In these boxes lie the remains of men, women and children that time has forgotten. These people will remain on these shelves never to be remembered, never to be laid to rest, never to be thought of again.

Thirty percent of these lost and forgotten are American war veterans. They are recipients of the Purple Heart, Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Medal of Honor who will never be remembered for their heroism.

Isaiah Mays

But one such forgotten veteran, Corporal Isaiah Mays, is getting a proper burial, thanks to the efforts of veterans groups to move the 84-year-old remains of this slave-turned-soldier to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Mays’ story begins over a century and a half ago when he was born a slave in Carters Bridge, Virginia, in 1858. Once the 13th Amendment freed slaves shortly after his birth, Mays enlisted in the Army, according to wbesite for the Old Guard Riders, which has custody of Mays’ remains.

He served in the United States’ Indian Wars, where his actions earned him a Medal of Honor on February 19, 1890. Thirty years after leaving the Army, Mays applied for an Army pension, but the Medal of Honor recipient was denied because of the color of his skin. Afterward, Mays entered Arizona State Hospital, which at the time was a place for the mentally insane, tuberculosis victims and other various forms of indigents. Mays died in 1925.

Upon his death, Mays was thrown in a hole, covered with lime, a sheet and marked with a brick inscribed with a number. In 1935, the hospital burned down, destroying the records of who was buried on the grounds.

But in 2001, the Arizona State Hospital decided to work through some of the knowledge they had of some of the graves on the property and found Mays’ grave among the other 1,800 graves located on the property. There they placed a proper headstone commemorating Mays as a war hero.

For some though, it was still not enough, and by a stroke of luck, several Arizona veterans organizations that felt Mays deserved more became involved with his cause.

“This is what he deserved,” says Rick Avolio, an executive staff member for the Old Guard Riders, which coordinated the disinterrment process for Mays’ remains. “He served his country, he deserves to go home.”

After his grave was identified, the Arizona Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Riders Club held a memorial ride in Mays’ honor to raise funds to move Mays’ remains to the Arizona Military Cemetery. In attendance at this event was Ron Eppich, president of the Old Guard Riders. Eppich had recently gained permission from then Governor Janet Napolitano to act as next of kin for these veterans in order to attain the rights to their remains. Eppich was able to obtain a court order from a Maricopa County Superior Court judge to exhume Mays’ remains in March.

On May 21, Mays will commence the last leg of his journey that will lead him, by motorcycle procession, to Arlington National Cemetery. At the military cemetery, Mays will receive a hero’s welcome and will be buried as such.

“Mays’ is the story of every U.S. Veteran,” says Eppich, a Vietnam veteran who founded the Old Guard Riders organization in memory of his son, Sergeant Robert Eppich, who died fighting for his country in Afghanistan in 2006. “He is a reminder of what can happen when we forget that freedom isn’t free.”

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Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly attributed a brief history of Isaiah Mays to the American Legion Post in Buckeye. That information came from the website of Ronald Eppich’s group, OldGuardRiders.org.

Rick Avolio’s position was also incorrect in the context of the story. Although he is also the chief of staff for the Hispanic Medal of Honor and Return of Honor Society, his status in this story is as an executive staff member for the Old Guard Riders. That group is coordinating the removal of Mays’ remains and their burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

= = =

>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Is Arizona too dependent on natural gas?

Source: Arizona Corporation Commission

By John Collins Rudolf

Here’s an interesting factoid: in 2006, Arizona consumed 358 billion cubic feet of natural gas, while producing a whopping 600 million cubic feet.

Here’s another: natural gas fuels more than 50 percent of the state’s electricity generation.

Arizona imports so much natural gas that the state’s newest pipeline, which began carrying 500 million cubic feet of natural gas from New Mexico to central Arizona earlier this year, will account for less than .14 percent of the state’s gas supply.

Over the past two decades, Arizona has only increased its reliance on natural gas, adding thousands of additional megawatts in generating capacity. The vast majority of gas originates from the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and the Permian Basin in Texas.

In short, Arizona has made a massive bet on natural gas remaining cheap and plentiful for a long time to come. But will it?

A lot of that will depend on how reserves hold up in the regions that supply us with all that gas.

On that count, there’s certainly cause for concern.

Take the San Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico, for instance. It’s the single most productive source of natural gas in the country, delivering over a trillion cubic feet of natural gas every year.

But how long can they keep pumping at this rate?

Well, as usual, the experts are all over the map.

But one good estimate I found came from a 2002 report by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.

According to the report, between 68 to 89 trillion cubic feet of natural gas remains to be produced in the state.

Annual production for the state is about 1.6 trillion cubic feet per year. At the low end, factoring in a slow but steady demand growth, that gives the state about 32 years of production before the tank hits empty.

Now, the United States Geological Survey did its own estimate.

They think that there’s even less gas left — somewhere around 50 trillion cubic feet. That brings New Mexico down to about 25 years of production, by my reckoning.

So, should we be worried?

Probably. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that, just like oil, is finite and difficult to replace. We’ve been drilling, pumping and burning it like gangbusters, and the fact is, the stuff is going to run out one day.

And for those who consider these types of warnings “eco-propoganda,” I give you this rather unequivocal statement by the arch-oil baron himself, Lee Raymond, chief executive of Exxon Mobil, from a 2005 Reuters article.

“Gas production has peaked in North America,” Chief Executive Lee Raymond told reporters at the Reuters Energy Summit.

Hear that? Gas production has peaked. It doesn’t mean that we’ll run out anytime soon, but that we’re not discovering as much new gas as we’re using. That means a slow but steady decline, until one day, there’s just not enough supply to meet the demand.

Just something to think about as we contemplate our energy future.

Glimmers of hope for Arizona solar industry

Over the last week I’ve been taking Arizona to task for falling behind the curve on solar power. Given our vast amounts of open spaces and abundant sunshine, I see no reason why we should not be at the forefront of solar generation and manufacturing. Unfortunately, while progress has been made, that’s still not the case.

The Footprint, Arizona environmental news blog

Most recently, I looked at the SunZia transmission line, which will facilitate the transfer of solar and wind energy from New Mexico to Arizona. Now, SunZia is not a perfect project – in particular, it will cut across environmentally sensitive land – but I think it’s purpose is a fairly progressive one, namely bringing alternative energy from remote areas where power generation on a large scale is possible, to the cities where the power is needed.

The SunZia transmission line will pass through areas of high solar power potential in New Mexico

As you can see by this map, the transmission line will pass through some of New Mexico’s most productive solar power generating regions. This led me to speculate that part of the purpose of the project would ultimately be to export solar power to Arizona.

This idea – of the sunniest state in the union importing solar energy – is a bit ironic, n’est pas?

What I dd not intend to do, by the way, was to slam the SunZia project. I’m all for it, if it can be done in a responsible way.

Instead, I was trying to spark a conversation about Arizona’s commitment to solar power. After all, as I’m now fond of pointing out, Arizona lags behind New Jersey in solar power generation (and let’s not even mention Germany). As of 2007, the state was generating less than one percent of its energy mix from renewable energy sources.

Nevertheless, are there some glimmers of hope for the solar industry in Arizona? You bet.

There’s the 280-megawatt Solana solar thermal station, under development in Gila Bend, about 70 miles southwest of Phoenix. And just this week, the Arizona Department of Commerce announced a $1.4 billion, 200-megawatt solar farm to be built near Kingman in northwestern Arizona

It does need to be said, however, that both of these large-scale solar plants are being built by Spanish corporations.

Oh, and here’s an interesting tidbit on the Kingman project from Renewable Energy News, by the way.

According to the Department of Commerce, The Kingman plant will generated 2,000 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs and will be situated on 1,400 acres of land. The area was selected as it was one of the few places with adequate power line transmission support.

“One of the few places with adequate power line transmission support,” eh? Sounds like a challenge to me.

John Collins Rudolf

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