Open Data > 2 Mesa Crime Maps

To start with, it is not the intention of your MesaZona blogger  "to dig up dirt" about public safety or policing practices. This is simply for the purpose of public information if you choose to use it.
Most people would agree that the Mesa police department and public safety agencies are doing a good job, getting the respect and admiration all men and women in blue rightfully deserve.
It is reassuring in the minds of the public feeling safe to have a presence on the streets, whether in uniform or undercover, on foot, in police cars or bike patrol ready on-the-spot for quick-response to any incident at any time of the day or night.
Local news is filled all the time with crime reports, but when a couple of news stories about what happened here in Mesa last week gets reported in international news that might negatively impact the image of this city it's time to take a look at the big picture and data.

This post's headline map image can be found at http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/az/mesa/crime/ . It's basically a source of information for people who are considering purchasing real estate here in Mesa with a lot of important statistics for safest neighborhoods, appreciation rates, public schools and crime data.
What caught yours truly's eyes the other day walking back from Wilkes University was to see and catch this live-action report-in-progress by a crew [of two] from Channel 12 filming outside of police headquarters under shade trees on N Robson Street. An indoor press conference had just wrapped up about a shocking incident of child abuse and sex-trafficking here in Mesa - sensational news that grabbed headlines for days; handled well by the police
Controversy - and possible lawsuits - arose in a different incident some days later that got the usual local police incident report coverage and seemed to end at that, but it's churned up reports from other parts of the country and now an overseas report from Britain's The Guardian where a grieving widow is questioning the killing of her unarmed husband who was staying here in Mesa for frequent pest control business trips. That story will unfold and gain more attention, but we'll leave that to other reporting.

The other source for a Mesa crime map comes from this resource >>  http://spotcrime.com/az/mesa .
It reports incidents of arrest, arson, assaults, burglary, robbery, shootings, thefts, vandalism and other [?].
SpotCrime is a crime data aggregator.
They map the crime incidents, plot them on Google Maps, and deliver alerts via email, Facebook, Twitter, SMS, RSS and a multitude of other platforms.

The data comes from police departments, news reports and user-generated content.

Their goal is to provide the most accurate, timely geocoded crime information to the public. The site maps crime and deliver alerts if you want to get those.

The open release of datasets like CAD/RMS, use of force, arrests, officer involved shootings, and complaints give the community an ‘inside’ look of day-to-day events within an agency. This type of transparency introduces a constructive line of communication between the community and police agencies. Problems and red flags can be identified quickly and collaboratively.

• Cities like Seattle, DC, LA, and Portland have been releasing these kinds of datasets for years.
• Albuquerque, Detroit, and New Orleans recently began releasing this data.
• Baltimore added arrest and calls for service datasets to their open data portal around the time of the Freddie Gray protests.
• NYPD recently announced the new public version of CompStat (they’re calling it CompStat 2). 

Time to Freak Out > 4 Reasons The Global Economy = Completely Screwed

 

Three weeks into this new year, any reasonable person might wonder why the deep dive in worldwide financial markets hasn't sunken into the recognition or acceptance of clear data and evidence that things are tanking in major world economies - no one can call this year "sweet".
If the words in this post headline are too strong, pardon me dear readers, but hopefully they will grab attention just like they did mine from a feature article on Salon.com today Tue Jan 26, 2016 at 01:45 a.m. of an article written by Allison Jackson for The Global Post, extracted here for your information

Salon - and this blogger  - is proud to feature content from GlobalPost, an awarding-winning international news site that focuses on original reporting from journalists stationed around the world.
GlobalPost combines traditional journalistic values with the power of new media to offer a fresh perspective on global developments.
It can't all be blamed China, with an economy still projected to grow at 6.9% - more than three times the stagnant faltering growth here in the U.S.that's being constantly "revised" to perform at a lower rate hovering in uncertainty at 2% if that.

The world is on fire. Irrational exuberance in markets is over. Billions of dollars are wiped-out in seconds. Stockholders are selling out of markets and nobody knows where the money is going [well maybe some people know].To say things are "in turmoil" or "uncertain" begs the question and is to say the least.
Global wars and "revolutions"  whether declared or not, are taking place both on the ground and in currency markets, with both people and capital running fast to get out of the way of trouble and seeking "safe havens" - but where?
There's a big blow-out, with a lot of blow-back: prevailing winds are hot and cold at the same time.
The Global Post report starts out like this:  "A fresh blast of cold air swept across global financial and commodity markets on Wednesday [blogger note: six days ago] raising fears that the world economy could be heading toward a recession — one perhaps even bigger than the last one."

A recession?? You mean like the last "Great Recession" in 2007? Sorry, folks, but what's going on now is bigger and worse than The Great Depression of 1929 and the 1930's.
Depending on consumer-spending to drive economic growth just doesn't work - average people have no money to spend.
Brave New World???
We should all be scared. Very scared.


Read the GP report. It falls far short of the mark, using symptoms as reasons. Bigger questions nonetheless remain.
Here are four reasons why you should be very worried about the state of the global economy.
1. Emerging market debt crisis2. Stock markets are plunging
3. Super-low oil prices
4. China is slowing down

 

 

 

 



Boeing Lifts The Ante With $127 Billion Dollar Forecast in Aircrcraft Funding 2016

Boeing Forecasts New Participants, More Options for 2016 Aircraft Financing
That's one of the News Headlines for Mon 25 Jan 2016 in daily from Aerospace & Defense News
Boeing [NYSE: BA] says airlines and lessors will continue to have access to efficient funding at attractive pricing throughout 2016 as new participants enter the aircraft financing industry and current participants innovate and provide more options.
The eighth annual Boeing Current Aircraft Finance Market Outlook, released today, forecasts the sources of financing for new commercial airplane deliveries in the coming year and the industry’s overall delivery financing requirements for the next five years.

Financing industry to provide approximately $127 billion in aircraft funding in 2016

Growing number of new participants attracted by strong commercial aviation industry

Lessors continue to drive innovation in funding options

 

"The sustained strength of the aircraft finance markets is being driven largely by healthy aviation industry fundamentals and balanced supply and demand for commercial aircraft,” said Tim Myers, president of Boeing Capital Corporation.
“Passenger traffic is growing above long-term trends, airplane utilization and load factors continue to rise, replacement demand remains strong and global airlines are producing record operating results and profits. With these conditions prevailing, financiers continue to see commercial aircraft as a good investment and that’s resulting in good access to efficient funding for our customers.”
Here's a link >>
http://www.asdnews.com/news-65352/Boeing_Forecasts_New_Participants,_More_Options_for_2016_Aircraft_Financing.htm?hash=7e298000e4e33b052c450e8336305fd1&campaignid=22925&messageid=23070&l=3&utm_source=ASDNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ASDNews_Daily_Z1&utm_content=urbanmesaconnections@gmail.com

Trouble @Twitter or Just An UpHeaval?

This headline three hours ago:
As Stock Price Sinks, Twitter Swaps Out More Top Execs. Again. - Jan 25, 2016
Here are all the senior executives who are leaving Twitter: Engineering chief Alex Roetter, HR vice president Skip Schipper, product head Kevin Weil, Vine boss Jason Toff (who's jumping to Google's VR unit) and global media chief Katie Jacobs Stanton. Jack Dorsey confirmed the departures in a tweet on Sunday night. This executive upheaval comes right as Dorsey is expected to name a new CMO and two new board directors, and just a few days before a Twitter "executive retreat." Who might be Twitter's new CMO? The top candidate is American Express marketing exec Leslie Berland.

Twitter has lost more than a fifth of its value in the last month, and opens trading at $17.84 on Monday morning.

Read now >>
http://recode.net/2016/01/24/big-exec-departures-at-twitter-media-head-stanton-and-product-head-weil-leaving/?

              [Kurt Wagner and Kara Swisher | Re/code

Big Exec Departures at Twitter: Media Head Stanton and Product Head Weil Leaving
There have been rumblings of the changes for weeks now inside the San Francisco social communications company. Sources said Twitter is planning to announce the shuffle tomorrow, along with the hire of a prominent CMO.

ASU State Press Discovers "Hidden Gems" Off The Light Rail

Your MesaZona blogger is happy to see anything that promotes the New Urban DTMesa - for example this article by freelance reporter Nicole Dusanek uploaded 10 hours ago in the first of three reports about taking Valley Metro Light Rail to each station on the Central Mesa Extension, inaugurated into service five months ago.
Any increase in light rail ridership at all in this travel direction along the route for the many attractions and destinations is appreciated in any way to reach the thousands of students enrolled at Arizona State University in Tempe.  
Yes, it's good "to get the news out" about  what's here, but there's nothing "hidden" in the three attractions close by the Center/Main Street station.

The article has a sub-heading: Uncover hidden gems all over the city with reporter Nicole Dusanek as she gets off at a different light rail stop each week to explore.
Except for "vision-challenged" persons, who can miss the blockbuster international award-winning main $98 million-dollar attraction in downtown?
It's been one beef of yours truly that what's missing in this central city is people - look hard Can you see any people?? 
This destination is not hidden at all, as you can see in this accompanying image of the Mesa Arts Center taken yesterday on Jan 24, 2016.

About one million people get attracted here each year! . . . most people "do their homework" to plan what to see and what to do here either picking up hardcopy materials at visitor information locations or accessing online resources like www.visitmesa.com or www.mesaaz.gov/thing-to-do or https://www.facebook.com/VisitMesa or Facebook or Trip Advisor or http://www.simplyrealmoms.com/posts/visit-mesa-family-friendly-activities/ or many other websites.

Maybe students, or student-reporters, are not too keen getting homework done. There is, however, something to be admired about just "winging-it" [or using public transit] with no particular agenda or plan when making a decision to take the time to travel here. Every person will have a different story in The New Urban DTMesa.

In a report titled
Gems off the light rail:
Art and antiques in downtown Mesa
how could anyone miss this?

Let's all give a shout-out to ASU State Press reporter Nicole Dusanek and encourage her and her readers to explore more around the other two light rail stops in Central Mesa.

Open Data: Real-Time Air Monitoring Data + Maricopa County Air Quality

Map of Air Monitoring Stations

Maricopa County Air Monitoring Division offers enhanced data from the monitoring network [23sites shown in map] including:

Real-time updates for PM-10

Hourly updates for other criteria pollutants

Real-time meteorology

National Weather Service radar

Satellite imagery

Air Quality Index ratings

 

The network provides an accurate and timely representation of the ambient air quality within Maricopa County - over 220 days per year of "moderate pollution" from carbon emissions.
Dirty air? Dirty fossil-fuels?
Real-time Air Monitoring Data here http://alert.fcd.maricopa.gov/alert/Google/v3/air.html

In cooperation with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other governmental agencies, the division operates 23 air quality sites which measure for the following pollutants:  

• Carbon Monoxide
• Lead
• Nitrogen Dioxide
• Ozone
• Particulates Matter (PM-10 and PM-2.5)
• Sulfur Dioxide

The data from these sites are used in a variety of different ways. This includes the ability to determine attainment status with the Clean Air Act, modeling for new sources and providing data to Air Quality Forecaster.

Here's a map of continental United States with average temperature ranks - it was the 3rd warmest in Arizona's history.
As you can see in a previous 2015 was a record-breaking year for breaking records of high temperatures.
Most people call it climate change and are taking actions to increase renewable energy sources and/of eliminate the use of fossil-fuels.
The 3 F's: Fossil Fuel Free



Some of the world's leading cities have been working to alleviate climate change for a while now. Extracts from Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlie-hales/these-major-cities-prove-going-green-is-not-only-possible-but-profitable_b_9051822.html

Mayor Charlie Hales, Portland
Portland, for example, has become one of the easiest and most enjoyable cities to live, work and get around sustainably and affordably by pursuing an aggressive Climate Action Plan and putting in place the strongest restrictions in the country on any new infrastructure that would transport or store fossil fuels within the city.
More than 7 percent of Portlanders bicycle to work each day
Portlanders recycle and compost more than twice what's thrown away.
Energy use across the city: - 22%  
CO2 emissions: - 14 percent from 1990 levels 
Population increase: + 26%
Job increase:  + 12 percent

Mayor Karin Wanngard, Stockholm
Stockholm takes climate change very seriously and has done so for a very long time.
We've set the ambitious goal of becoming completely fossil fuel free by 2040 and are on a path to meet it.
And most years, we show up on every list of the "most livable cities" in the world.
CO2 emissions: - 44% per capita
Increase in local economy: + 9 %
Population increase: + 6%.

Mayor Gregor Robertson Vancouver
Vancouver has also shown that going green is good for the environment and for the economy.
Last year, Vancouver became the first major city in North America to set the goal of getting to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 or sooner.
Already, more than 50% of all trips in Vancouver are done by bike, foot or transit, reducing congestion and improving people's health.
CO2 emissions: - 7% from 1990 levels [lowest carbon emissions/person in North America]
Job increase: + 30%
Population increase: + 34 %

M&A Here in Mesa: Textron Inc + Able Engineering & Component Services Inc. and Able Aerospace Inc.,



See update Tue 27 for a sudden dive in stock price.

Yipes ... down a cliff today

 

 

According to a report today in The News Journal amid  the topmost stocks in today’s market is Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT). The company founded in 1923 in Providence, Rhode Island is now an American industrial conglomerate, ranked 236th in the Fortune 500 with revenues of $12.1 Billion [as of 2013] with 33,000 employees, and facilities and presence in 25 countries.

 

The Federal Trade Commission granted  the approval for the Textron Inca acquisition of Able Aerospace Inc and  Able Engineering and Component Services Inc in Transaction #20160539 on January 6, 2016. Investors are closely tracking the movement of stock price, which commenced the trading session at 37.00 and was trading at 37.45. It has witnessed an average volume of 1911320 shares over the last three months. A number of brokerages have issued their earnings projections about the stock and its future stock movement. They expect the stock to touch 50.38 in near future.

Textron Aviation has expanded its component repair capabilities with the acquisition of Mesa-based Able Engineering & Components Service and Able Aerospace, a $70M international business and aerospace enterprise. Subsidiaries of Textron include Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, and other components. Primary revenue sources include the RQ-78 Shadow UAV and related contracts with U.S., foreign and global markets,

Able made the acquisition announcement in this press release

Textron Aviation acquires Able Engineering & Component Services, strengthens aftermarket customer support across Textron

January 21, 2016 by Able Engineering

WICHITA, Kan., (Jan. 21, 2016) – Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today it has completed the acquisition of Able Engineering & Component Services Inc. and Able Aerospace Inc., an industry-leading repair and overhaul company. Based in Mesa, Arizona, Able provides component repairs, component exchanges and replacement parts, among other support and service offerings for commercial rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft customers around the world.

The company has performed more than 8,000 proprietary FAA-approved component repairs. Its work covers a range of helicopter, commercial and military aircraft and engine components. Able, which employs 500 workers, also is a preferred provider for a number of helicopter operators and airlines.

Able Engineering CEO Lee Benson said Able had worked closely with Textron management over the past year “to ensure the acquisition by Textron is beneficial to all our stakeholders.”
Textron Aviation said it has no plans to make any organizational or operational changes to Able. “The team is doing a great job and we have no intention to disrupt the work they are doing with customers,” a spokeswoman said. 

Source: Aviation International News http://www.ainonline.com/

 

Other news on the site

U.S. Approves $1.9 Billion Sale of Bombs, Missiles to Iraq

by Bill Carey/ Jan 21, 2016 2:31 PM

Boeing and Raytheon Score $10.8B Weapons Sales to Saudis, UAE by Chris Pocock/

Oct 25, 2013 11:10 AM