KIKO News

Once again we have been unable to post all day  to Blogger for the KIKO News Weblog.

Some of today's stories have been posted below.

The state is taking over 11 Arizona schools. It is kicking out five principals, mentoring those allowed to stay, replacing teachers, and combining some campuses. The state Board of Education has unanimously approved the intervention plans, which will go into effect on July 1 and last 2 to 5 years. The schools were ranked “failing” in October because of poor standardized test scores.

(AP-KOLD)

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped funding a study of the connection between radioactive fallout and thyroid disease among “downwinders.” Downwinders are the people who lived downwind of atomic testing in Nevada in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. The study has rechecked about 1300 of 4,000 former students who lived in southwestern Utah and eastern Nevada, plus a control group of Arizona residents. The CDC says it doesn’t have the money to continue the project. But the man who was head of the study says it looks look like the government doesn’t want to know about the health effects of fallout on Americans.

(AP-KOLD)

Infant Bodie James Blevins Heck passed away Sunday at Banner Mesa Medical Center. Visitation will be Friday from 10 until 12:30 at Lamont Mortuary. A graveside service will be held at 1:00 Friday at Globe Cemetery.

Sixteen officers from the Gila County DUI Task Force conducted a sobriety checkpoint Friday night. Officers stopped about 740 vehicles. They gave field sobriety tests to four people. None of them were impaired and they were allowed to continue on to their destination. The detail was cut short due to bad weather.

A Globe Police officer became involved in a high speed chase about 7:00 last night at the Highway 70/77 junction. A driver refused to pull over. The driver abandoned the vehicle and got away.The vehicle was towed.

Globe Police arrested 36 year old Michael Amado for assault.

Officers are investigating an attempt to break into cars at  J&S Towing; a missing person; and a theft at the Willow Motel.

Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a report of stolen checks at a business on Highway 60 in Claypool, and a theft of a bicycle on Main Street in Central Heights.

Once again we are experiencing problems  with Blogger, which hosts our KIKO News Weblog.

Blogger says they have added power and doubled the number of servers. But they  still have more work to do.

The biggest problems are with Blogs that have accumulated more than 500 posts. That inludes us. We have posted about 3,000 news stories in the past two years.

Hopefully everything will be fixed eventually. In the meantime, we will use this site when necessary.

Today’s meeting of the Gila County Board of Supervisors has been canceled.

The annual “Welcome Back Buzzards” event takes place tomorrow (Saturday) at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. It may not be as romantic as the swallows returning to Capistrano, but it’s a sure sign of spring. Two recuperated turkey vultures will also be returned to the wild tomorrow morning as part of the celebration. The park opens at 7:am. That’s an hour earlier than usual, to allow visitors to see the birds sunbathing on volcanic cliffs before they leave to spend their morning soaring over Pinal and Gila Counties. Both children and adults will  also be able to enjoy the Adobe Mountain Rehabilitation Center’s living exhibit of captive birds and animals.

District 1 Congressman Rick Renzi will be in Miami next Wednesday. March 23. He will be at the Bullion Plaza Community Center from 10:30am until noon. This is an opportunity to talk with Renzi about subjects of both local and national interest.

Globe Police arrested 20 year old Robert Smith for domestic disorderly conduct and criminal damage. This was after a disturbance at a residence on Manzanita.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested 41 year old Jeffrey Shane for domestic violence related disorderly conduct.

Phoenix Police arrested 39 year old Jonathon Kulser on a Gila County warrant  for failure to appear for sentencing on a  forgery charge.

Mesa PD arrested 25 year old Annette Tomerlin on a Gila County  bad check warrant.

Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a theft from a residence on Sharps Road;  a burglary at a residence in Wheatfields; a burglary in the area across from the Blue Bird Mine entrance; and a report of harassment.

Globe Police are investigating  a mssing juvenile; a breakin at a storage locker on Pioneer Hills Road; a report of harassment taken at a residence on North High Street; and criminal trespass at Kelly’s Brewery.

The Cobre Valley Republicans monthly breakfast meeting is tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 9:30 at the Country Kitchen. There will be a report on the recent Lincoln Day Dinner with John Kyl. San Carlos Apache Tribe Vice Chairman Rob Howard has been invited to speak.

Heritage Health Care Center announces that their annual Easter Egg Hunt has been postponed until next week (Saturday, March 26). That’s because weather forcasters are predicting rain this weekend.

Census Bureau estimates say Arizona had the largest gain in elementary school children from mid-2003 to mid-2004. Arizona gained about 8400 children 5 to 13 years of age. That’s a growth of about 1.1%. The number grew by 3% the year before. But the Associated Press says the data conflicts with other statistics, and there’s a wide margin of error.  (AP--KOLD)

Both the state House and Senate voted this week to make English the official language in Arizona. But the House version actually would change the state constitution. Its version would prohibit ballots and election materials from being printed in any other language. It would also ban the printing of most other documents in different languages, and even let someone sue the government or its employees and officials for violations. The House Resolution would have to be ratified by voters next year. The Senate version is mostly ceremonial. Each bill must be approved by the other legislative chamber. (Arizona Daily Star)