Ex-Mesa City Council Member Dave Richins Gets A New Gig

United Food Bank
Published on Mar 15, 2017
Views: 12
Duration: 07:31

Council Study Session - 3/16/2017

Hike in utility rates gets a 90-day notice ...no details until April 13th
Interim Mesa PD Chief Mike Dvorak talks about A PRIVATE JAIL PROJECT
Published on Mar 16, 2017
Views: 3

Mark was a Ho for a Day at Hohokam Park

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Published on Mar 16, 2017
Views: 82

V2V Vacancies-to-Vitality Here In The New Urban DTMesa?

It's been going on more than 18 months since Valley Metro Light Rail public transit service arrived here after 3 years of construction on Main Street with Mesa Mayor John Giles saying that it will be the salvation train driving economic development and re-vitalizing downtown where his NextMesa starts. Did it ever to this day get off-the-ground?
Did it ever get going to the next level  ??
Did it go in the direction John Giles wanted?
True he's been elected Mayor in a no-contest  - in a long line of mayors in Mesa - and anointed leader of the political machine here, at the same he's a practicing personal-injury/accident law attorney, commonly referred to as 'ambulance chasers' . . . can he in any way lead from behind?

When so-called 'latter-day saints' of any plausible holier-than-thou persuasion make a big political blunder staging a photo opp with the Devil [like in last year's over-the-top State-of-the-City 2016 speech] to an assembled throng of the faithful, you can bet your bottom-dollar Giles was gaming everybody getting setting the stage for a bogus public relations trick to hoodwink Mesa taxpayers that back-fired blowing-up big time when the devil-in-the-details plan became a major screw-up where an under-handed $500,00 privately-financed campaign was registered @ the same address at his own private law practice on 2nd Street. 

John Giles murky vision to radically transform downtown into an ASU satellite campus was rejected by voters - it just didn't fly, getting shot-down by an informed public.

With everyone [that's almost half-a-million men, women and children] already in-hock to the tune of about $3,150 each/per capita thanks to conservative Republican regimes inside and and outside of City Hall pushing and getting sales tax hikes to guarantee borrowing money on municipal bonds. Conservative Repubs don't favor raising taxes, but 'special-interest groups' do like the mayor and his real estate-rich friends, aka THE FOG.

 

Or is he always running and playing catch-up chasing a thing out-of-his reach?

Will the figments [or faith-based fantasies of that old-time 19th-Century pioneer mentality ] of his imagination ever catch-up with reality on-the-ground?

Who's getting on-board? Thought leaders that's who with John Giles getting left behind when he admits he has short comings and failed to engage the community

Facilitating conversations with thought leaders

OUR FUTURE IS ON THE LINE

Building Community Through Transportation

Transformative organizations like LISC Phoenix look for ways to explain their impact on the community.

JDD Specialities helped facilitate publication of an article about transit-oriented development in Green Living Magazine. This entry was posted in Arizona, Phoenix, Portfolio, Urban revitalization and tagged arizona, light rail, LISC, transit, transit-oriented development on February 22, 2016 by Jennifer Dokes.

Read the whole article click on or touch this link

Properties for sale or lease are all over the place
See website for downtown Mesa put out by
Downtown Mesa 


New Article 13 March by same writer

Resistance? How about persistence infused with insistence?

Source: JDD Specialties 

Here's the opening:

     "It’s a good day when references to Sisyphus, Machiavelli and John Adams pop up in perfect moments during a short interview. What a departure from the unavoidable social media poison accepted as civic engagement and productive discourse.

Thoughtfulness and community spirit can sprout and grow in the harshest political and social landscapes. Phoenix, in many respects, is such a place. But here’s a riff that warms my heart . . ."

Here's one take-away:

Establishing an American society where human values are self-evident is a work in progress. It always has been. The best work on universal goals always has been at the local level — by city block, neighborhood and zip code and by school, city council and legislative districts. An insistence on doing the right thing changes the world around you.

BIG TIME Bonanza for Boeing: $3.3B Saudi Arabia Deal

Boeing Inks $3.3B FMS Deal to Supply AH-64E Apache Copters

by Zacks Equity Research   Published on March 16, 2017

Source: Zacks

Aircraft major The Boeing Company (BA - Free Report) secured a modification contract from the U.S. Army for supplying lot 7-11 of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to the government of Saudi Arabia. Work related to this multi-year deal is expected to be over by Jun 30, 2022.
The Arab Middle East is exploding with arms-and-weapons
deals according to other reports as well

Helicopter bonanza!

Posted 7 March 2017

Source: Arabian Aerospace 

It has been an impressive couple of months for Middle East air forces. The US Government approved deals with Qatar for 72 F-15QAs and also Kuwait for 40 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets in mid-November, but in early December came a bonanza of possible helicopter sales valued at more than $7 billion. Alan Warnes reports. 

A request by the United Arab Emirates Air Force and Air Defence (UAEAF&AD) for 37 AH-64E Apache helicopters was approved on December 7, while the same day saw the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) given the go-ahead to purchase 48 CH-47F Chinook helicopters.
It has been an impressive few weeks and looks like a bid by the current US Government to wrap up foreign military sales before the new Trump administration takes office on January 27.
It would appear that the GCC air forces are taking plans to strengthen their air forces, seriously.
The war in Yemen has highlighted the need to work together and Arabian Aerospace was told at Bahrain International Airshow (BIAS) in January that it would happen “soon”. These deals illustrate that the GCC nations are taking care of their own tactical inadequacies, in the light of the operations in Yemen as well as any increased threat from Iran.
A proxy war has been raging in Yemen since 2014 between Shiite Iran and the Saudi Arabian allied force, supported by most of the Sunni-led GCC countries. These intended acquisitions will support all their needs.
The proposed $3.5 billion Apache sale includes the remanufacture of the UAEAF&AD’s 28 existing AH-64Ds into AH-64E configuration, together with production of nine new AH-64Es. It comes after several years of negotiations over the purchase of, arguably, the best gunship in the world. The UAE originally operated 30 AH-64As, which were later upgraded to AH-64D Block II standard.

Other big deals Saudi Arabia and China were also announced

Details of the Deal

Valued at $3.28 billion, this foreign military sales (FMS) contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, AL. Boeing plans to utilize fiscal 2010, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 other procurement (Army) funds to complete this deal.

Per the terms of the agreement, Boeing will offer full-rate production of remanufactured aircraft and new build aircraft, remanufacture and new build Longbow crew trainers, peculiar ground support equipment, initial spares, integrated logistics support, and engineering technical services.

The company will carry out the work for this contract in Mesa, AZ.

A Brief Note on AH-64E Apache Helicopter

Boeing’s AH-64 Apache is the world’s most advanced multi-role combat helicopter and is used by the U.S. Army and a growing number of international defense forces. The company has delivered more than 2,200 Apache helicopters to customers around the world.

AH-64E is the latest version of the AH-64 gunship and is equipped with new sensors, avionics and improved night operation capabilities. Further, it has infra-red suppressing exhaust system as well as chaff and flare dispensers, which jointly reduce the chance of being hit by enemy air defense missiles.

Our View

Boeing is one of the largest aerospace and defense contractors, with its defense business standing out among peers on virtue of its broadly diversified programs, strong order bookings and backlog.

Notably, the company’s Defense, Space & Security segment witnessed healthy revenues and margins during 2016, apart from making substantial progress on critical program milestones, including the first flight of its T-X trainer aircraft.

In particular, among other defense equipment, the company’s forte has been combat-proven aircraft.

Designed in 1972, to meet the U.S. Army's need for an AAH (Advanced Attack Helicopter), Boeing’s AH-64A has taken supremacy over the world's premier attack helicopter from Textron Inc.’s (TXT - Free Report) Bell AH-1 Cobra.

During 2016, the company delivered 31 new AH-64 helicopters, up 34.8% from the year-ago number.

With its proven expertise in aerospace programs, the company has been gaining a huge number of contracts from the Pentagon.

In terms of international demand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) requested for a purchase of 37 Apaches and a few other of its defense equipment and that of Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT - Free Report) in Dec 2016. The total value of this deal is pegged at $3.5 billion, which on approval will surely boost international revenues of both these defense majors. 

Meanwhile, Trump’s proposal to boost the nation’s defense budget by 10% in 2018 from 2016 is likely to benefit defense biggies like Boeing.

Price Performance

Boeing gained about 36.8% in the last one year, outperforming the Zacks categorized Aerospace/Defense industry’s gain of 27.2%. This might have been triggered by the rising international demand for Boeing’s defense products, in particular for rotorcraft, commercial derivatives, fighters, satellites and services in the Asia Pacific as well as Gulf nations, as they have been strengthening their defense budgets of late. Moreover, the company’s earnings are expected to grow 13% over the next five years, indicating further upside for this stock.

The company also poses strong competition to peers like Lockheed Martin and Airbus Group SE

 

 

 

Additional press releases:

Boeing awarded Saudi AH-64E contract

IHS Jane's 360-3 hours ago

Saudi Arabia is to receive an undisclosed number of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters under a USD3.28 billion contract announced by the US ...

Boeing Inks Nearly $3.3 Billion to Produce Apache Helicopters for ...
Sputnik International-12 hours ago

Redstone unit awards Boeing $3.2 billion to build Apaches for Saudi ...
WAAY-14 hours ago

Boeing Wins $3.2 Billion Worth Apache Helicopters Contract For ...
Defenseworld.net-6 hours ago

Vice Mayor Luna's National League of Cities Spring Update

Kinda vague, huh?

Published on Mar 13, 2017

Views: 17

Vice Mayor David Luna checks in from Washington, D.C. where he is in town for the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference. He serves on the NLC's Board of Directors and is the Chair of the Information Technology and Communications Committee

Justice Delayed Is NOT Justice Denied > New Trial Set For Oct 23, 2017

Highly-edited Mesa PD BodyCam Footage Release of Daniel Shaver Murder - that was 5 months after the officer involved shooting way back in January 2016.

Former Mesa Officer Loses Appeal Over Deadly Shooting

KJZZ-14 hours ago

The Arizona Court of Appeals rejected arguments that Philip Brailsford was denied a fair preliminary hearing. Brailsford has pleaded not guilty to the charge in ...

Published on May 24, 2016

Views: 18,716

Mesa PD officially release the heavily redacted bodycam footage of former officer, Philip Brailsford, charged with murder for the execution of Daniel Shaver and unarmed father in a Mesa area hotel hallway.