18 Days/Solar CME/6.8/6.7 Earthquakes

Published on May 18, 2016

Satellite images of the first 18 Days of the Alberta Oil Sands Fire, plus a look at the Strong Solar Eruption that struck the Earth today causing Back to Back Powerful Quakes in Ecuador.http://www.BPearthWatch.Com

Opinion Piece from New York Magazine/Andrew Sullivan

"Trump is not just a wacky politician of the far right, or a riveting television spectacle, or a Twitter phenom and bizarre working-class hero. He is not just another candidate to be parsed and analyzed by TV pundits in the same breath as all the others.
In terms of our liberal democracy and constitutional order, Trump is an extinction-level event. It’s long past time we started treating him as such."
This article appears in the May 2, 2016 issue of New York Magazine

Read more >> http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/04/

Pie has Election ANGER!

Some of this sounds so familiar, from way "across the pond" ...

Heads Up! City Council Study Session Tomorrow > Big Buck$ + A Tax increase

Public Safety and Higher Education Funding Recommendation
City Council Study Session May 19, 2016
City of Mesa
Meeting Agenda - Final





Mayor John Giles
Vice Mayor Dennis Kavanaugh - District 3
Councilmember Dave Richins - District 1
Councilmember Alex Finter - District 2
Councilmember Chris Glover - District 4
Councilmember David Luna - District 5
Councilmember Kevin Thompson - District 6
7:30 AMCouncil Chambers - Lower Level
Roll Call (Members of the Mesa City Council will attend either in person or by telephone conference call)

1 Presentations/Action Items:
16-0575 Hear a presentation, discuss and provide direction on funding options including sales taxes for the following:
1.  Public safety staffing and equipment needs, and the associated costs
2.  Higher education projects and the associated costs
1-a
16-0593 Information pertaining to the current Job Order Contracting projects.2
3 Hear reports on meetings and/or conferences attended.
4 Scheduling of meetings and general information.

5 Convene an Executive Session.
 
ES-003-16 Discussion or consultation for legal advice with the City Attorney. (A.R.S. §38-431.03A (3)) 
Discussion or consultation with designated representatives of the City in order to consider the City’s position and instruct the City’s representatives regarding negotiations for the purchase, sale, or lease of real property. (A.R.S. §38-431.03A (7)) 
Discussion or consultation with the City Attorney in order to consider the City’s position and instruct the City Attorney regarding the City’s position regarding contracts that are the subject of negotiations, in pending or contemplated litigation or in settlement discussions conducted in order to avoid or resolve litigation. (A.R.S. §38-431.03A(4))
  
1. Intergovernmental Agreement with Arizona State University for a Mesa campus on City-owned property.

Higher Education Projects
Phase 1
 •ASU Buildings $68.2 to 78.9 million
•Civic Plaza $20 to $25 million
•Parking $10 to $12 million
•Benedictine Buildout $6 to $7.5 million
•Off Site Improvements $4 million
Total $108.2 to $127.4 million
Phase 2
Building C Total Area:     60,000 square feet No. of Floors: 4 –New Construction
Building D Total Area:     18,800 square feet No. of Floors: 2 –Existing IT Bldg.
Total Estimated Cost $32 million

Next Steps
•May 26, 2016 -Council Action on Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA)
•June 8-10, 2016 –Arizona Board of Regents Action on IGA
•June 20, 2016 –Council Call for E

What Works?? The Cycle of Transparency Here In Mesa = Broken

Government transparency is that rarest of political phenomena -- a great idea with support across the political spectrum and popularity among the public.
Yet, here we are in the 21st century with every tool we would need to make government more transparent and accountable, and still we are operating with a government that often behaves as it did in the 19th century.
[Mesa founded in 1878]
So, transparent government is a good thing, but we do not yet have one
Source: Sunlight Foundation [2010]
Now what? . . . notice the word "now" // not "NextMesa"
Take a look at this transparency cycle - what's broken here in Mesa is public engagement.

For the annual State-of-The-City speech back in January - and frequently thereafter - the words "Things are great" start the newspeak.
When your MesaZona blogger recently posed a question to mayor John Giles why there had been nothing published about his campaign for NextMesa since August of last year he replied that it had failed to engage people, getting "more luck" using social media.

Having made the effort and taken the time to be at various City Council regular and study sessions and advisory board/committee meetings where the public is officially "encouraged to attend", few are seen in council chambers and public comments are unusual. Indeed, one member of a board stated he hadn't seen any public comments for ten years!
However, in recent City Council gatherings the audience has been overwhelming stacked by city government employees filling up the room that's usually close to empty.
It's clear that there is a breakdown between conceptual support for the idea of government transparency and enacting the changes necessary to make it so.
There is fear and resistance to change inside government that requires cultural, political, and attitude adjustments.

Deal of The Year

Phoenix Business Blog

The $120M acquisition of Mesa's Alpine Valley Bread Co. was ACG "Deal of the Year"

May 11, 2016, 8:45pm MST

Steven Totten ReporterPhoenix Business Journal            

The $120 million purchase of Mesa-based Alpine Valley Bread Co. by Flowers Foods received the 2015 Deal of the Year Award by the Association for Corporate Growth-Arizona Chapter.

The award is meant "to recognize a company or private equity firm for their accomplishments regarding a merger, acquisition or capital market transaction" involving Arizona deals made between businesses that had between $10 million and $750 million in revenue that closed in the calendar year 2015.

 

Alpine has two bakeries in Mesa and 282 employees, and is projected to have $85 million in sales this year.

“We are pleased to be able to recognize this transaction and the positive impact it had on Arizona’s economy,” said John Prenzno, board president for ACG Arizona, in a statement. “

 

Mesa Officer-Involved Shooting Case To Move Forward



In court: Former Mesa officer Philip "Mitch" Brailsford on trialazcentral-May 16, 2016

Former Mesa Police Officer Philip Brailsford sits in Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers' courtroom in Phoenix, Monday, May 16, ...

Police shooting videos have become the focal point of protests around the country over deadly encounters with law enforcement. For example, Chicago officials fought for more than a year to withhold a video showing a teenager getting shot by a police officer, and the court-ordered release of the footage prompted heated protests against Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Back on January 28, 2016 - more than three months ago - reports from mainstream media were picked up on the blogsite about the killing of Daniel Shaver by officer Philip Brailsford, followed up with five more postings on Feb 7, March 26 and March 27, and April 5 and April 6.
The case has attracted national and international interest as well as a notice of claim lawsuit against the City of Mesa by Shaver's widow.
In a hearing held yesterday, the case will move forward. . .  here are a few links from this morning:

Philip Brailsford update: Judge rules there is probable cause for 2nd ...
ABC15 Arizona-May 16, 2016

Judge: Portions of Mesa police officer body-cam video of fatal ...
azcentral.com-15 hours ago

Body cam footage of Daniel Shaver killing to be released
New York Daily News-16 hours ago

Murder case in Arizona police shooting can move forward
In-Depth-Washington Times-May 16, 2016

Judge: Murder case against Arizona officer who shot unarmed ...
Blog-Dallas Morning News (blog)-17 hours

One of the best reportings on this case in this article

Philip ‘Mitch’ Brailsford: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Published 11:02 pm EDT, March 29, 2016 Updated 11:19 pm EDT, March 31, 2016

Source: http://heavy.com/news/2016/03/philip-mitch-brailsford-mesa-police-officer-daniel-shaver-father-wife-photos-murder-gun-court-video/

A former Mesa, Arizona, police officer has been charged with second-degree murder in the January 2016 shooting death of an unarmed man.

Philip “Mitch” Brailsford, 25, was charged with murder on March 4 in the shooting death of Daniel Shaver, a 26-year-old husband and father of two from Texas, KNXV-TV reports.

Shaver was fatally shot on January 18 at about 9 p.m. at the La Quinta Inn. Officers had been called to the hotel after a report that a man was pointing a gun out of a window. Two pellet guns were found in Shaver’s room, and police said they were related to his pest control job. Shaver had been drinking with a woman and a man on the night of the shooting, police said.

Prosecutors have said Shaver tried to comply and didn’t do anything wrong.

Brailsford, who had previously been accused of using inappropriate force during an arrest just weeks before the shooting, was fired by the Mesa Police Department after he was charged. He made his first court appearance on March 15 and pleaded not guilty. He was released without bail.

Here’s what you need to know:

---

1. Shaver Begged ‘Please Don’t Shoot Me’ Before He Was Killed, a Witness Says
2. Brailsford Was One of the Department’s First Officers to Wear a Body Camera – But the Footage From the Shooting Hasn’t Been Released
3.’You’re F*cked’ Was Inscribed Onto the Gun Brailsford Used in the Shooting, Which Was a Violation of Policy
4. His Father Was a Lieutenant in the Mesa PD’s Internal Affairs Unit
5. He Is Married & Pursued an Acting Career Before Becoming a Cop

Tom Cleary is a reporter and editor for Heavy.com. Tom was a breaking news reporter at the Connecticut Post and an editor at the Register Citizen and New Haven Register.