Here is the Cronkite News Service lineup for Friday, June 10. If you have questions, please contact Steve Crane at 202-684-2400 or steve.crane@asu.edu.
TODAY’S NEWS
Congress takes another run at long-delayed Resolution Copper land swap
WASHINGTON – A House committee is slated to take up a proposal next week to swap 2,400 acres of federal land in Southeast Arizona for twice as many acres of Resolution Copper property — the 11th time Congress has considered the swap since it was first introduced in 2005. The Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act has been introduced 10 times before, by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, but has only once got out of committee and has never had a floor vote. Freshman Rep. Paul Gosar joins the list of supporters Tuesday, when a House subcommittee will hear his version of the bill.
Slug: BC-CNS-Copper Swap. By Matthew Trotter.
Sidebar: List of federal, Resolution sites and acreage.
ETA: 6 p.m. About 700 words.
Native American leaders appeal for increased sovereignty at hearing on UN declaration
WASHINGTON — For Arizona Native Americans Duane Yazzie and James Anaya, the need for the U.S. to stop marginalizing indigenous peoples and start listening has never been greater. The Arizona men were among several who testified to Congress this week on the need to pass legislation that abides by a recently signed United Nations declaration on indigenous peoples so that tribes in the United States can have more autonomy and respect. There was little dissent at the hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee Thursday.
Slug: BC-CNS-Rights Fight. By Nick Newman.
Photo available (thumbnail, caption below)
ETA: 5:30 p.m. About 500 words.
IRS strips tax-exempt status from thousands of Arizona non-profits
WASHINGTON – More than 4,000 Arizona non-profits were stripped of ther tax-exempt status this week by the Internal Revenue Service, part of a national move by the tax agency to purge its rolls of more than 275,000 non-profits failed to file documentation updating their tax-exempt status. It is believed that most of the organizations are defunct: In Arizona, they included everything from Masonic lodges and PTAs to the Military Order of the Cootie.
Slug: BC-CNS-Tax Whacks. By Anthony DeWitt.
ETA: 5 p.m. About 500 words.
THE WEEK’S NEWS
New Times editors arrested after criticizing Arpaio in print can sue special prosecutor, court rules
WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court Thursday reinstated parts of a lawsuit filed by two Phoenix New Times editors against Maricopa County and a county special prosecutor. The two were investigated and arrested in the middle of the night in 2007 after publishing a series of stories criticizing Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit said special prosecutor Dennis Wilenchik did not enjoy immunity for his actions and that the case against him could proceed. In a sharply worded dissent, one judge said the ruling did not go far enough and that the case should also proceed Arpaio himself .
Slug: BC-CNS-Arpaio Suit. By Maggie Pingolt.
Photo available (thumbnail, caption below)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce calls for public, private investment in “world-class” 21st century border
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a five-part plan Wednesday on ways to improve conditions at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying action and investment in places like Nogales is critical to creating a “world-class” border. “Our security and our prosperity intersects at the border,” said former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, chairman of the chamber’s National Security Task Force. According to the report, the Nogales Port of Entry is the largest port of entry for fresh produce from Mexico and is a critical gateway for other products and agricultural commodities moving between both countries. Action and investment in places like Nogales will be critical in creating a “world class border.”
Slug: BC-CNS-Border Proposal. By Cristina Rayas.
Sidebar: Factbox with points of plan
Photo available (thumbnail, caption below)
Federal appeals court upholds stiff sentence for illegal immigrant
WASHINGTON – A divided federal appeals court panel Wednesday upheld the 51-month sentence handed down to an illegal immigrant who had been convicted in 2000 for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
Isaias Gonzalez-Aparicio had been caught twice re-entering the United States illegally when he was sentenced in 2009. He claimed Arizona law did not categorize his earlier crime as “statutory rape” and that his sentence, therefore, should have been much shorter.
Slug: BC-CNS-Rape Sentence. By Anthony DeWitt.
Arizona high school graduation rates rise, but still trail national average
WASHINGTON – A new report on high school graduation rates shows more Arizona students are succeeding than 10 years ago, but still lag behind the national average. The report from Education Week said the state’s graduation rate rose to 67 percent in 2008, up more than 7 percentage points from a decade earlier but still trailing the national rate of 71.1 percent, the highest rate in years.
Slug: BC-CNS-Diploma Chase. By Nick Newman.
Sidebar: Graduation rates by race, gender
Federal report finds Palo Verde could improve training practices
WASHINGTON – A Nuclear Regulatory Commission report shows there is room for improvement when it comes to how Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station deals with severe accidents. Not everyone who may have to follow the Severe Accident Mitigation Guidelines receives annual training on them, and the plant has held only one training exercise in the last six years, the NRC said.
Slug: BC-CNS-Nuclear Report. By Matthew Trotter
Sidebar: List of nation’s top-scoring nuclear power plants.
CNS file photos available (thumbnail, caption below)
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Photos: Click thumbnails to see full-resolution images
RIGHTS FIGHT
Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission Chairman Duane Yazzie (center) listens to Indian Rights activists after a Senate hearing Thursday. Yazzie asked Congress to give Native Americans more autonomy to govern themselves, including the rights to preserve sacred sites. (Photo by Nick Newman)
ARPAIO SUIT
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio poses in this file photo taken in his office in 2008. (Photo by Lauren Proper)
BORDER PROPOSAL
People wait to cross the border at the Nogales Port of Entry in fall 2010. (Photo by Nick Newman)
NUCLEAR REPORT
The Palo Verde plant, Arizona’s only nuclear power plant, is safe but there is room for improvement, regulators say. (CNS file photo by Griselda Nevarez.)