The top prosecutor in Arizona’s Maricopa County announced Thursday that charges against Tyron McAlpin — a Black man who is deaf and has cerebral palsy, and who was seen on video being violently arrested — are being dropped.
The announcement comes after police body camera video of McAlpin’s arrest, which showed two Phoenix police officers repeatedly punching and tasing McAlpin, became public and sparked outcry.
“I have now completed my review and have made the decision to dismiss all remaining charges against Mr. McAlpin,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said Thursday.
McAlpin had been facing three felony charges for allegedly assaulting the two arresting officers and resisting arrest.
Phoenix police officers had been called because a White man was loitering at a convenience store on Aug. 19. That man claimed he had been assaulted and that his phone had been stolen, and he pointed to McAlpin as the culprit. McAlpin was not charged for the incident involving that man and his lawyer says he was wrongfully accused.
In the arrest video, officer Benjamin Harris was seen jumping out of his vehicle and punching McAlpin as officer Kyle Sue rushed over. McAlpin was punched at least 10 times and was also tased repeatedly. Sue can be heard on the video claiming McAlpin bit him and, in the police report from the incident, Harris claimed McAlpin swung at him.
“Tyron is just trying to avoid getting hurt by an aggressive, out-of-control police officer,” McAlpin’s attorney, Jesse Showalter, previously told CBS News. “He can’t hear any of the commands he’s being given and the assault never lets up and the officers never do anything to de-escalate the situation.”
The arrest video prompted strong reactions from the NAACP and ACLU, prompting Mitchell to announce she would “personally review the entire file, as well as the totality of the video.”
She also noted Thursday that she had “convened a large gathering of senior attorneys and members of the community to hear their opinions as they pertain to this case” earlier in the week.
Jordan Freiman is a news editor for CBSNews.com. He covers breaking news, trending stories, sports and crime. Jordan has previously worked at Spin and Death and Taxes.
Of the various festivals Phoenix has gained and lost over the years — Lost Lake, Pot of Gold, ZONA, etc. — VIVA PHX was an extra-devastating blow. Even if the fest just ran for a few years (2014 to 2017), it left a most indelible mark…
BOULDER — The Travis Hunter Heisman Train could soon be getting back on track.
Hunter, the Buffs’ two-way star, “should play, for certain” at Arizona on Saturday, coach Deion Sanders said during a news conference Tuesday.
The junior cornerback/wide receiver left CU’s home loss to Kansas State last weekend after taking a hit to his upper body with 8:08 left in the second quarter.
An Arizona mom who was vacationing at Disney World as Hurricane Milton wreaked havoc through Florida came forward to describe her experience of being hunkered down in the park.
Sandra Guadarrama-Baumunk, 53, was visiting Disney World with her family when the storm made landfall and said their resort was ‘one of the safest places to be in a hurricane’ while applauding how accommodating it was.
Resort guests were told to be in their rooms by 8.30pm on Wednesday in preparation for the storm.
The hurricane left 3million Florida homes and businesses without power Wednesday night and destroyed about 125 homes. At least 13 people have died.
But Sandra said the only ‘drama’ on Wednesday night was when the fire alarm of their hotel went off at 9.30pm because of a minor short circuit. Everyone safely evacuated their rooms and went into the lobby for less than 10 minutes, Sandra wrote in a Business Insider essay.
Sandra Guadarrama-Baumunk and her two daughters, Sofia and Mia, who joined her on a Disney trip during Hurricane Milton
Sandra said her experiences at a Disney World hotel during the storm were positive
‘I know other parts of Florida were badly damaged but, for us, it was fine,’ the mother-of-two wrote.
‘They were monitoring the situation and giving updates. We never felt uninformed.
‘We’re glad we trusted Disney. Its employees are working hard to keep us safe and ensure we still have a great vacation.’
Sandra arrived at the resort with her husband Brian, 58, daughters Mia and Sofia, 25 and 21, and Mia’s boyfriend, 25, on Saturday and will be leaving this upcoming Saturday.
She did not specify which one of Disney’s over 25 hotels they are staying in.
Sandra said she ‘positively’ thought that Hurricane Milton was going to ‘miss’ their trip to Florida.
Disney World closed Wednesday afternoon before the hurricane made landfall and is
The Disney-loving family’s Wednesday night was relatively uneventful after the fire alarm went off, though they heard the strong hurricane winds and rain pelting at their windows.
Sandra’s family faced another minor hiccup when their flight back home to Phoenix, Arizona was rescheduled because of the storm. When they extended their Disney stay by another night, the hotel offered a 40 percent discount on their two rooms.
‘They would have cost over $1,000 each on a typical Friday night,’ Sandra said.
Dining costs at the hotel were also cut back. Sandra said her family paid $26 per person for a barbecue dinner instead of $40. Breakfast plates were $14 instead of $26.
Disney World guests trot through the theme park during Hurricane Milton-related rains
The iconic theme park closed at 2pm on Wednesday before the storm and has not reopened to the public, Sandra said her hotel has kept them entertained.
On Wednesday, the hotel offered family-friendly activities in the lobby.
‘There was a nice bar. We hung out doing puzzles and playing card games like Uno that we’d bought at the gift store,’ Sandra wrote.
Sandra said that she did not see any rain on Thursday, only cloudiness.
Disney World announced on Tuesday that the theme park would be closing for the hurricane. They issued refunds for any prepaid experiences.
But as Florida starting preparing for another devastating hurricane after bearing through Hurricane Helene, tens of thousands of tourists did not change their Disney plans.
Arizona is one of the seven battleground states that will help determine the result of the 2024 presidential election. The state’s Senate race could also determine the balance of power in Congress and a ballot measure will decide the state’s abortion laws. Arizona Republic national political reporter Ron Hansen joins CBS News to discuss Arizonans’ top issues.
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Republican election officials in Maricopa County, Arizona, are working to restore faith in elections amid former President Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
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With Donald Trump pulling out of his “60 Minutes” interview tonight, we’ll turn to a different Republican who is paying the price for Trump’s claims of a stolen 2020 election. Stephen Richer helps administer voting in Maricopa County, Arizona. That’s Phoenix and home to 60% of Arizona voters. Maricopa is often decisive in a state which swings either way. Trump claimed Maricopa county was stolen in 2020. Republican Stephen Richer was determined to find the truth — to restore belief in the ballot. He discovered that truth wasn’t what many wanted to hear.
Stephen Richer: I’ve become much more cynical about politics. There are a lot of people who have no lines in the sand. A lot of politicians. A lot of politicians for whom it’s like oxygen, that if you told them they weren’t going to be reelected, it would be like unplugging them from oxygen. So whichever way the winds are blowing, even if it’s highly immoral, that they’re on– they’re on for the ride.
Scott Pelley: What are your fears for this coming Election Day?
Stephen Richer: That we’ll, we’ll be doing this again for another four years.
Nearly four years ago, Republican attorney Stephen Richer was the voter’s choice for Maricopa County recorder, the office that records voter registration and handles ballots by mail. Richer took office after the 2020 vote when his own party was up in arms over allegations of fraud. It was Richer’s first elected office and he knew what to do.
Stephen Richer: They just need answers. It– it– it’s not that complicated of an issue. It’s just people are uncertain. They expected Donald Trump to win. I expected Donald Trump to win in Maricopa County. He didn’t win. They have questions. As soon as we give them logical, factual answers, all will be well.
Scott Pelley: And that’s not what happened?
Stephen Richer: That is not what happened.
Stephen Richer
60 Minutes
The ‘logical, factual’ answers came after multiple investigations. A hand recount of Maricopa County’s 2.1 million paper ballots confirmed Joe Biden won. Statewide, prosecutions for illegal voting involved a total of 19 ballots. In Maricopa, 50 ballots had been counted twice for a typical reason.
Stephen Richer: Somebody made a mistake. A human being made a mistake. There were 2.1 million ballots cast in the 2020 election. These 50 shouldn’t have been tabulated. By no means were the 50 all for one candidate or another, so it had a negligible impact on the actual contest.
Negligible too, because Trump lost Maricopa County by 45,109 votes.
Scott Pelley: What evidence of widespread fraud was found in Maricopa County in 2020?
Stephen Richer: Oh, none. And I would say Maricopa County’s 2020 election is the most scrutinized election in human history.
Scott Pelley: When you began to tell your fellow Republicans in Maricopa County that the election was fair and there was no fraud that would change the outcome, how did they react to you?
Stephen Richer: Not well. Yeah. Not well at all.
They included Trump, who said, “the entire database of Maricopa County in Arizona has been deleted.(!)” He called it an “unbelievable election crime.”
Stephen Richer: It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was in the office looking at the very thing that he was– saying we had deleted. And so just sort of the– like, the– the– the– the ludicrous nature of it, it just is– is– is offensive.
Scott Pelley: What did you say in response to what the president had written?
Stephen Richer: I said something like, “This is unhinged. I’m looking at the voter registration database right now. These lies have to stop. This is as disprovable as saying two plus two equals five.“
Scott Pelley: And the reaction was what?
Stephen Richer: The reaction was significant.
Three violent threats to Stephen Richer have been prosecuted. One man got three-and-a-half years. The others are awaiting trial.
Undaunted, Richer explained the facts. Here, in 2021, he was heckled and followed to his car.
Stephen Richer: People were banging on my windshield as I got into the car.
Scott Pelley: What were they shouting?
Stephen Richer: “Turncoat,” “You’re wrong,” “You’re an idiot,” “Don’t be a traitor,” “How could you?”
The fever has never broken. This was three months ago.
Stephen Richer: I do not believe the 2020 election was stolen.
Response: Boooooo!
Scott Pelley: So why do so many people remain passionately unconvinced?
Stephen Richer: I think it has become– the– the– the tattoo. I think it has become the tattoo to show that you’re a true believer of the movement.
Stephen Richer
60 Minutes
Scott Pelley: You believe the election was stolen.
Shelby Busch: I do.
Shelby Busch started a political action committee which investigates what she calls widespread fraud in Maricopa County—fraud no credible investigation has found. She’s taken in nearly a million dollars in donations for the work of her PAC. And the Arizona Republican Party awarded her the leadership of its delegation at last summer’s national convention.
Shelby Busch: …and that’s why I, Shelby Busch, the delegation chair and our wonderful state chairwoman Gina Swoboda and this entire delegation counts their 43 delegates to Donald J. Trump.
Scott Pelley: You are a rising star in the state party.
Shelby Busch: Well, I definitely have brought some attention onto myself, that is for sure.
Scott Pelley: What do you believe happened in the Maricopa vote in 2020?
Shelby Busch: I believe that fraudulent votes were put into the system. I also believe that a lot of– state statutes and regulations and policies were broke, which makes the election questionable at best.
Busch still questions whether signature verification was proper and whether some ballots were collected illegally. She’s an administrator in a medical practice.
Scott Pelley: You’re self-educated–
Shelby Busch: That’s correct–
Scott Pelley: –when it comes to elections.
Shelby Busch: That’s correct.
Scott Pelley: In a recent case a judge disqualified you from testifying in the case because he said you were, quote, “Obviously unqualified… not even in the ballpark.”
Shelby Busch: That’s one judge’s opinion. who is a radical leftist who is legislating from the bench and I don’t believe that it had any merit in my credibility whatsoever.
Scott Pelley: Is there a danger in undermining people’s faith in the election system by persisting with these conspiracy theories that no one has been able to validate?
Shelby Busch: Again, I’m going to disagree with you, sir, respectfully– it has been validated. And because–
Scott Pelley: Where? By whom?
Shelby Busch: The election officials–
Scott Pelley: Give me– give me a court case. Give me something.
Shelby Busch: I don’t need a government official with a vested interest in disproving information to tell me whether what I have is valid. It’s up to each individual citizen, as a member of this society, to review the evidence, to think for themselves and make those decisions.
Scott Pelley: It’s valid ’cause you say it is.
Shelby Busch: I say it’s valid because I say it is. And if somebody looks at it, they can determine whether it’s valid. The evidence speaks for itself. Data does not lie. Data doesn’t lie. Election officials do.
Ben Ginsberg: The election was not stolen, it was lost.
Attorney Ben Ginsberg has represented the Republican Party in many of its most important election cases. In 2022, he joined conservative judges and senators in “Lost, Not Stolen,” an investigation that exposes election fraud lies. Part of it centers on Trump’s swing state lawsuits.
Republican election attorney Benjamin Ginsberg
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Ben Ginsberg: Donald Trump and his supporters brought 64 cases. They lost 63 of them outright. There was one that was a partial victory involving 200 votes, far from outcome determinative.
Scott Pelley: And all of that told you what?
Ben Ginsberg: The evidence to back up the allegations of fraud and elections being unreliable simply does not exist.
Scott Pelley: The election deniers in Arizona will say, “We did lose all those cases, but the judges weren’t fair.”
Ben Ginsberg: Under the rule of law, you have every right to submit your litigation. But under the rule of law, a conservative principle, a Republican principle for as long as I’ve been practicing election law, you have to accept the rulings of the court.
Shelby Busch: I don’t have time, frankly, to worry about whether people believe me or question my integrity. I have what I believe is the mission that I am on, and that mission is for my children and my grandchildren. I’m not here to make friends. I am here to do a job.
Scott Pelley: Where does that mandate for that mission come from?
Shelby Busch: It comes from my own personal drive, and it also comes from, I believe, a calling from God.
It has been a calling for many, over nearly four years, in meetings of the Republican-led Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which certifies the vote.
Scott Pelley: Have you been accused of treason?
Clint Hickman: Oh yeah. treason– murdering fellow officials that would talk.
Republican Clint Hickman has been a county supervisor 11 years. In 2020 he was among Trump’s most loyal supporters.
Clint Hickman: Still proud that he took the time to call me out and thank me for the work that I was trying to accomplish
But Hickman saw no evidence of fraud and said so when he voted to certify the election.
Scott Pelley: You’ve received a number of death threats.
Clint Hickman: I’ve lost count. I have lost count. And so have my colleagues. And so have– so have election workers.
Scott Pelley: Well, you’ve lost count, but here’s one.
Voicemail: Hello Mr. Hickman, I am glad that you are standing up for democracy and want to place your hand on the Bible and say that the election was honest and fair. I really appreciate that. When we come to lynch your stupid lying Commie ass, you’ll remember that you lied on the f***ing Bible, you piece of s**t. You’re gonna die, you piece of s**t. We’re going to hang you. We’re going to hang you.
That man is in prison for two-and-a-half years. But there were others.
Clint Hickman
60 Minutes
Clint Hickman: But the chilling one that you didn’t play is one of the guys said, “We know the restaurants that you are in. And we know where your kids go to school.”
Menace grew in the shadows and emerged on the stage.
Shelby Busch: I hear the word “unity” and I get sick to my stomach. Because there is a lot of earthly, fake and vile unity talk going around in our state.
This is Shelby Busch, the Maricopa County Republican Party vice-chair, talking about fellow Republican Stephen Richer this past March.
Shelby Busch: So what does unity mean to me? It means unifying with those that share the core biblical, Christian—Judeo principles that we share. That’s unity. But if Stephen Richer walked in this room, I would lynch him. I don’t unify with people who don’t believe in the principles we believe in and the American cause that founded this country.
Scott Pelley: When you heard Shelby Busch say that she would lynch you–
Stephen Richer: Yeah.
Scott Pelley:–you thought what?
Stephen Richer: I first thought like, “Why is that word in your vocabulary?” Lynch is a weirdly historically loaded and oddly specific term.
Busch offered a modified definition of lynching.
Shelby Busch: I think many people are familiar with a political lynching. It’s– it’s referred to as– destroying someone’s career. It was not ever meant physically in any way, shape, or form. Probably a poor choice of words.
Scott Pelley: You have seen the unrest in this county. The civil disorder in this county. You’re contributing to that.
Shelby Busch: What I am doing is I am shining a big bright light on the disdain and the arrogance of some of the elected officials. They are elected to represent the interests of the people. And until they are ready to step up and do that, then there will be unrest.
Scott Pelley: Is election denialism a swindle?
Stephen Richer: Oh, 100% so for some people. It’s a swindle emotionally for some. It’s a swindle politically for some. It’s a swindle economically for some.
This past July, Stephen Richer ran in the primary for reelection. He lost to a fellow Republican who said Maricopa elections are a “laughing stock.” Richer moves on after this election, leaving behind his enduring contribution — the fortress defenses around the center where the votes are counted—a wall to defend America from Americans.
Stephen Richer: I have seen some ugliness in the character of human beings. It has given me great insight into horrific moments of human history. I would look at some of these historical moments and say, like, “Well, that– that–that couldn’t happen here.” But moments like these begin to give you insight on how stuff like that can build up, how the animal passions, how going along with the crowd, how the emotions of just being your side versus their side. It’s just to say that some of the same human impulses– that I didn’t understand, I now do understand.
Scott Pelley: You understand how things can go wrong?
Stephen Richer: I understand how a society of educated people can do something truly horrible.
Produced by Aaron Weisz and Ian Flickinger. Broadcast associate, Michelle Karim. Edited by Sean Kelly.
Scott Pelley, one of the most experienced and awarded journalists today, has been reporting stories for 60 Minutes since 2004. The 2024-25 season is his 21st on the broadcast. Scott has won half of all major awards earned by 60 Minutes during his tenure at the venerable CBS newsmagazine.
(CNN) — The campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump made strategic adjustments to the content of their TV advertisements between August and September, a CNN analysis of ad tracking data shows, amid a contentious fight to define the transformed race for the White House.
Emphasis of key issues, including abortion, immigration and crime, shifted, with the Harris campaign moving away from defensive ads that stressed the vice president’s law enforcement background, and the Trump campaign leaning into economic appeals – the top issue for voters in this election.
The ad tracking firm AdImpact catalogs the issues that are referenced in broadcast TV campaign ads and tracks the amount of money behind those spots. Comparing changes over the past two months illustrates how each campaign is tailoring its message, and it shows the share of campaign resources spent highlighting various issues.
Harris campaign ads
In August, Harris’ first full month as a candidate since taking over from Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, her campaign spent $24.5 million on ads that referenced crime – nearly half of the roughly $52.4 million spent on broadcast TV ads in total. According to AdImpact data, crime ranked as the top issue in Harris’ ads that month, as her campaign sought to blunt blistering GOP criticism of Harris’ past record as California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney.
In September, the Harris campaign’s spending on ads about crime plummeted to just $28,000, less than 1% of its monthly broadcast TV ad spending.
At the same time, the Harris campaign put more ad dollars toward discussing abortion, a key issue for many Democratic and independent voters since Roe v. Wade was overturned and severe restrictions on the procedure were enacted in mostly Republican-led states. In August, the Harris campaign spent $7.8 million on broadcast TV ads about abortion, about 15% of its total spending that month. In September, that total rose to $25 million, and the share doubled to 32%, ranking second among the issues referenced in Harris advertising.
Economic themes also dominated Harris campaign advertising throughout August and September. Taxation was among the top issues referenced in Harris campaign ads in both months, accounting for 37% of the spending in August and 40% in September.
Trump campaign ads
While pro-Trump outside groups have maintained an emphasis on immigration and crime in scathing attackads, the Trump campaign itself made significant changes to its messaging budget over the last two months, increasingly accentuating economic issues.
In August, the Trump campaign spent about $15.5 million on broadcast TV ads about immigration, or about 41% of its monthly broadcast TV outlays. In September, that total fell dramatically to just $10,500, less than 1% of the Trump campaign’s total broadcast TV spending. Crime, often referenced in association with immigration in stark attack ads from the Trump campaign, also fell from a 41% share in August to a share of less than 1% the following month.
Meanwhile, the campaign shifted even more ad dollars to messaging about the economy. In August, inflation was the top issue in Trump campaign ads, referenced in about 57% of its broadcast TV advertising; in September, that share jumped to 80%. Housing also rose as a share of campaign messaging, drawing 77% of its broadcast TV spending in September, up from 20% the previous month.
Advertising from the Harris and Trump campaigns accounts for only a portion of the total amount of political advertising targeting presidential race; super PACs and other outside groups are also pouring tens of millions of dollars onto the airwaves, and their ads display similar messaging strategies and include similar points of emphasis as those from the presidential campaigns.
Breaking down the battlegrounds
While their messaging has evolved, the campaigns have developed a consistent set of targeted states for their ads. In the two-plus months since Harris entered the race, seven states have emerged as the top battlegrounds – and Democrats have outspent Republicans across all seven.
Including spending from the campaigns and allied outside groups on TV, digital and radio platforms, those seven states – Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona, North Carolina and Nevada – have accounted for nearly $930 million out of a total of more than $1.1 billion spent on presidential campaign ads between July 22, the day after Biden withdrew from the race, and the end of September.
Pennsylvania looms as the linchpin for each side’s path to 270 electoral votes, and the commonwealth is being flooded with advertising money – more than $250 million between July 22 and September 30. Democrats have outspent Republicans in the Keystone State by about $144 million to $105 million over that stretch, and both sides have spent more there than any other battleground state.
Michigan ranks second, with Democrats again outspending Republicans by about $115 million to $71 million. Democratic investments in Pennsylvania and Michigan far outpace their spending in any of the other battlegrounds, underscoring the importance of the “blue wall” states to the party’s electoral strategy.
Georgia ranks third, seeing about $132 million worth of advertising since Harris became the nominee. The ad wars in the Peach State have been closer, with Democrats narrowly outspending Republicans by about $66 million to $65 million.
Together, those three states – Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia – accounted for about $570 million in presidential ad spending between July 22 and September 30, almost half (49%) of all such spending in those two-plus months.
Wisconsin and Arizona are the two other states that have seen more than $100 million worth of combined ad spending since Harris became the nominee, and Democrats have outspent Republicans on advertising in both by at least $10 million. Democrats have also outspent Republicans in North Carolina and Nevada, rounding out the seven top battlegrounds.
Another target of an inordinate amount of ad spending has been deep-red Nebraska, with one electoral vote up for grabs in a state that splits some of its electoral votes by congressional district. Democrats have spent more than $8 million advertising there, while Republicans have made a minimal investment of a little more than $200,000.
Future reservations
Campaigns and outside groups routinely book advertising time far in advance, and both parties have reserved hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of ad time through Election Day. Numbers will change as more money pours in and spending targets get updated, but entering October, Democrats were poised to enjoy a significant advantage on the airwaves.
Including ad buys covering October 1 through the election, Democrats have about $344 million worth of ad time booked, compared with about $225 million for Republicans. Across the seven battleground states, the margin is closer, but Democrats still have the edge, $269 million to $222 million (Democratic advertisers also have more than $50 million in national presidential reservations, contributing to their overall advantage).
That dynamic could change quickly, as a handful of extremely wealthy, influential megadonors – many of whom have already given tens of millions of dollars to the super PACs battling it out on both sides – face no limits on additional giving. And their willingness to plow millions more into the race could escalate the ad wars.
It’s all contributed to what AdImpact projects will be the most expensive election in US history, totaling $10.2 billion in political advertising expenditures up and down the ballot. According to the firm’s projections, that would represent a 13% increase of the previous record of $9.02 billion set during the 2020 campaign.
Pet friendly Flagstaff is nestled at the base of the San Francisco peaks at 7,000 feet in elevation. From its historic downtown, you’ll have easy access to mountain wilderness, scenic trails, national parks, and more!
Outdoor adventurers, history buffs, aspiring astronomers, foodies, and local brew enthusiasts all find Flagstaff, Arizona to be a fantastic vacation destination. But, most importantly to us, pet friendly Flagstaff provides people traveling with their furry family members a wonderful opportunities to do more together. From fun activities to places to stay and eat with your furry travel companion, you’ll find it all in Flagstaff!
Pet Friendly Flagstaff – Things To Do
Flagstaff truly celebrates the outdoors, which makes it a wonderful place to visit with pets! Make your first stop the Visitor Center, located in the Amtrak station on Route 66 in historic downtown Flagstaff.
Dogs are welcome inside the visitor center, and the staff can provide advice on local pet friendly businesses. They also have free maps for self-guided walking tours of downtown. The Route 66 Tour and Historic Downtown Walking Guide are both great ways to get the lay of the land and begin learning about the history of the area.
Combine culture and exercise by taking your pet on the public art walking tour! You can print the self-guided art tour, or pick up a copy at the visitor center. More than forty pieces of public art in Flagstaff visually represent the heritage of the area. And the variety runs the gamut, from murals to abstract steel installations.
The Arboretum At Flagstaff
Leashed dogs are welcome to join you at the Arboretum at Flagstaff. With 200 acres of gardens, greenhouses, and open spaces, this preserve is home to more than 750 species of plants!
The arboretum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9am to 4pm from May through October. Human tickets are $12, and dog tickets are $2.
Pioneer Museum Grounds
The Arizona Historical Society’s Pioneer Museum is situated on three pet friendly acres. Stroll the grounds with your pup to view historic buildings (pets must remain outdoors), farming equipment, a Baldwin locomotive, and a Santa Fe caboose.
Heritage Square
Located in the heart of historic downtown, Heritage Square is a gathering place for music, movies, live performances, festivals, and special events throughout the year. And it’s surrounded by interesting shops, galleries, and eateries — many of which are pet friendly!
This is a convenient spot to duck for cover in a pop-up rain shower, and a nice place to kick back on a bench for bit of people watching.
Urban Trail System
Leave it to pet friendly Flagstaff to design a 58-mile, citywide network of pathways for bicycling, walking, cross-country skiing, and nature watching — where leashed pets can join you! Experience canyons, grasslands, meadows, and forests, all within the city limits. The FUTS Map is available at the Visitor Center, or download a copy and start imagining your next adventure!
Thorpe Park Bark Park
Located within easy walking distance of downtown, your dog won’t forgive you if you miss the Thorpe Park Bark Park! With separate areas for large and small dogs, this 1.5-acre off-leash play area will appeal to pups of all sizes.
The Thorpe Park Bark Park is surrounded by large pine trees, which provide a considerable amount of shade. The play area has agility equipment for the truly active dogs, as well as benches, picnic tables, and covered seating for the humans.
Flagstaff’s other off-leash, fenced dog park can be found at Bushmaster Park, 3150 N. Alta Vista Road.
For another nice walk with fantastic views of the San Francisco peaks, head to Buffalo Park. What used to be a private wildlife park now is public space, so don’t worry about running into any bison during your visit!
Serious hikers can access a vast network of trails here, but most visitors opt for the 2-mile Nate Avery Loop Trail, which leads you on a lovely stroll through open fields and pine forests. The trail is wide and hard-packed, making it a good option for pets in strollers or wheelchairs.
Stroll The Northern Arizona University Campus
The NAU campus is just south of historic downtown Flagstaff, and is a lovely place for a pet friendly stroll. Historic and modern buildings stand side-by-side, with monuments and sculptures scattered among them. And the large, shady lawns are perfect for picnics or stretching out with a good book.
Surrounding the campus, you’ll find all kinds of businesses that cater to the students. From coffee shops to pizza joints, there are plenty of options with pet friendly seating to choose from.
Riordan Mansion State Historic Park
Another nice place to walk your dog very close to several Flagstaff hotels is the Riordan Mansion State Historic Park. Built in 1904 for one of Flagstaff’s founding families, this is the world’s largest Arts and Crafts-style duplex.
While dogs are not allowed on tours inside the house, pets can explore the interpretive exhibits on the grounds with their owners. This is a lovely park in a pine forest just a block away from the busy commercial district, and a few minutes from Northern Arizona University campus.
The park hosts many programs and events throughout the year. So be sure to check their calendar to see what’s happening during your visit!
Arizona Snowbowl Trails And Views
For sweeping views of the San Francisco volcanic field, take a 20-minute drive to Flagstaff’s ski resort – the Arizona Snowbowl. You could easily spend a day exploring the trails, playing disc golf, or enjoying a bite to eat on a pet friendly patio while taking in the scenery.
Flagstaff Brewery Trail
Flagstaff is becoming known as a leading Craft Beer City in Arizona, with eight breweries participating in the Flagstaff Brewery Trail. Six of the breweries are pet friendly, and four of those serve food.
Pet Friendly Breweries in Flagstaff, Arizona:
Dark Sky Brewing Company – 117 N Beaver Street – pets are welcome on the back patio, pizza from Pizzicletta
Also check out Dark Sky Brewing Company Beer Garden and Atmosphere Kitchen – 103 W Birch Street
Flagstaff Brewing Company – 16 E Route 66 – pets are welcome on the patio, burgers, sandwiches, wings
Grand Canyon Brewing Company – 1800 South Milton Road – pets are welcome on the patio, extensive food menu
Historic Brewing Company’s Barrel House – 110 S San Francisco Street – pets are welcome at the outdoor seating area
Mother Road Brewing Company – 7 South Mikes Pike – pets are welcome, food available from the “Roadside Stove” food trailer
Wanderlust Brewing Company – 1519 N Main Street – pets are welcome inside and on the patio, check their Events page for food trucks, or bring food with you
Note: Beaver Street Brewing and Lumberyard Brewing Company do not allow pets
For extra fun, get the app and collect stamps from all eight breweries (no purchase necessary). Take your completed passport to the Flagstaff Convention & Visitors Bureau and receive a commemorative souvenir pint glass.
Pet Friendly Flagstaff – Where To Eat
Pet friendly Flagstaff has a great selection of restaurants with dog friendly patios! In addition to the breweries listed above that serve food, here’s a list of places you and your pup can enjoy together:
When planning your trip to pet friendly Flagstaff, you’ll have no trouble finding a place to stay! There are dozens of pet friendly hotel and campground options. And you can review detailed pet polices for each hotel by clicking through to the listings on GoPetFriendly.com.
In addition to all the pet friendly things you’ll find to do in Flagstaff, there are some great day trips, too! Here are some of the places you can visit using Flagstaff as your basecamp:
Elden Pueblo Heritage Site(15 minutes from Flagstaff) – This prehistoric pueblo site contains the remnants of pit houses, pueblo structures with over 40 rooms, mounds, a large community room, and other features.
Grand Canyon National Park – South Rim(1 hour, 20 minutes from Flagstaff) – Pets are welcome on the entire 13-mile South Rim Trail, in the campground, and at Yavapai Lodge. If you plan to hike below the rim, make arrangements for your pet at the kennel at the South Rim.
Petrified Forest National Park(1 hour, 40 minutes from Flagstaff ) – Well-behaved, leashed dogs are welcome on ALL the trails at Petrified Forest. And this is another park where your furry travel buddy can earn a B.A.R.K. Ranger badge!
Sedona, Arizona(40 minutes from Flagstaff) – Just 29 miles south of Flagstaff, Sedona is famous for its natural beauty. Tucked into a stunning backdrop of red rocks and thick green foliage, it’s also a wonderful pet friendly!
Walnut Canyon National Monument(15 minutes from Flagstaff) – Pets can join you on the Rim Trail, a 0.7-mile trail along the rim of Walnut Canyon. However, the main attraction of Walnut Canyon are the Cliff Dwellings, seen from the Island Trail, which is not pet friendly.
We hope our trip to pet friendly Flagstaff inspires you to visit, too! No matter what time of year you’re traveling, you’ll always find something fun to do with your pets in Flagstaff.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray only had a few moments to look downfield early in the third quarter before he was mauled by Washington’s Bobby Wagner and Daron Payne, taking another sack during a miserable day for the Arizona Cardinals.
One ineffective play later, the quarterback trudged off the field as boos rained down from the home crowd.
Arizona’s rebuild took a step backward in a demoralizing 42-14 loss to the Commanders on Sunday. The Cardinals (1-3) jumped to an early 7-0 lead, but were outplayed in virtually every facet for the next 3 1/2 quarters.
“Something’s got to change,” Murray said. “We weren’t good enough today. They exploited our weaknesses, we didn’t play complimentary football. Every phase of the game, we’ve got to be better. That wasn’t the type of football we want to play.”
Murray connected with rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. for a 2-yard touchdown on the opening drive, but Washington responded with two straight touchdowns and Arizona wasn’t able to answer before it was too late.
One reason the Cardinals’ offense stalled was that Harrison basically disappeared for the second and third quarters. He finished with five catches for 45 yards.
“We’ve got to get our best players the ball,” Murray said. “When we’re doing good, you feel that.”
Murray completed 16 of 22 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown. James Conner had a 6-yard touchdown run to cut the Commanders’ lead to 27-14 late in the third quarter, which briefly made things competitive, but the Commanders responded with another touchdown drive, capped by a 10-yard throw from rookie Jayden Daniels to Terry McLaurin.
Arizona’s defense had few answers to stop Daniels, the rookie who has dazzled the NFL through four games. He completed 26 of 30 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown, and also ran 9 yards for a touchdown.
The Commanders ran for 216 yards, controlling the line of scrimmage from the outset.
“We haven’t done a good enough job stopping the run,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. “We’re playing behind the 8-ball on defense all day and it’s a hard way to go. Give those guys credit, that’s a good offense. They’re well coached and made a bunch of plays.”
Gannon is in the second season leading the Cardinals’ rebuild and this was one of the first true stinkers of his tenure. Even after losing games to the Bills and Lions over the first three weeks, players and coaches were generally excited about how they competed against two of the NFL’s better teams.
There weren’t very many silver linings to take from Sunday.
“That was the first time we’ve been beat like that,” Gannon said. “If you keep doing the same thing, you’re asking for the same result. We’re very process driven and I trust our process, but everyone’s going to have to take a good, hard look, point the thumb at themselves, starting with me, and we’ve got to make some adjustments.”
The Cardinals have a 4-8 record since Murray — a two-time Pro Bowl selection — returned from a knee injury in the middle of last season.
“It’s one game, the season’s not over,” Murray said. “We’ve just got to look in the mirror and get better. That’s what it comes down to because nobody’s panicking. We just got beat.”
In this episode of “Climate Watch: Protecting the Planet,” CBS News senior environmental correspondent Ben Tracy speaks to scientists and experts about the growing number of critically endangered plants and animals and how humans can help.
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Amid relentless criticism from former President Trump that she is responsible for out-of-control illegal immigration, Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday made her first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border since 2021, announcing more stringent measures she would take as president to restrict border entry.
“The United States is a sovereign nation, and I believe we have a duty to set rules at our border, and to enforce them,” Harris told a crowd in Douglas, Ariz., gathered in a small auditorium at Cochise College Douglas Campus, where the stage was flanked by large signs that read, “Border security and stability.” “We are also a nation of immigrants. The United States has been enriched by generations of people who have come from every corner of the world to contribute to our country and to become part of the American story.”
Harris said she would go beyond Biden administration policies to further restrict border access outside of official ports of entry.
Earlier in the afternoon, Harris visited a port of entry less than 10 miles from the campaign event. Two Border Patrol agents walked with her along the towering fence, which was built during the Obama administration. Harris later told reporters that she had thanked them for their work.
“They’ve got a tough job and they need, rightly, support to do their job. They are very dedicated,” she said. “And so I’m here to talk with them about what we can continue to do to support them.”
She advocated for hiring more officers and adding more fentanyl detection systems at border entry points.
“I reject the false choice that suggest we must either choose between securing our border or creating a system of immigration that is safe, orderly and humane,” Harris said. “We can and we must do both.”
Immigration reform has bedeviled presidents of both parties for decades.
A bipartisan proposal earlier this year that combined increased funding for border security and foreign aid for Ukraine appeared to be the first breakthrough until it was derailed when Trump urged Republicans to oppose it.
Kamala Harris speaks at Cochise College Douglas Campus in Douglas, Ariz., on Friday.
(Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)
That deal fell short of comprehensive plans discussed for decades that would revamp the asylum system and the legal immigration process and provide a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people in the country without legal authorization, including those who arrived as children. Harris on Friday mentioned farm workers and immigrants who arrived as children, known as “Dreamers.”
“As president, I will put politics aside to fix our immigration system and find solutions to problems which have persisted for far too long,” Harris said.
In advance of Harris’ visit to the border, Trump pointed to reports that there are more than 425,000 convicted criminals who are in the country illegally but not detained by federal authorities, according to data provided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in response to a lawmaker’s request.
That includes more than 13,000 convicted of homicide and more than 15,800 convicted of sexual assault, according to the ICE data shared on X, formerly Twitter, by Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas).
Trump said Thursday that 21 million people entered the country illegally in just the last four years. He framed the bipartisan effort that he helped defeat as “her atrocious border bill.”
“It was not a border bill. It was an amnesty bill … ,” he said at a news conference in Manhattan. “Fortunately Congress was too smart for it.”
The bill would not have provided a path to citizenship for people who lack legal status.
The GOP nominee’s appearance at Trump Tower was reminiscent of his 2015 campaign announcement there, notably his references to other nations purposefully sending criminals to the United States.
His remarks included multiple falsehoods, such as saying Harris approved a raft of changes to the nation’s immigration policies that as vice president she had no control over, and that she was the Biden administration’s “border czar.” She had been charged with trying to improve conditions in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to stop those nations’ residents from fleeing their homelands.
That assignment has been a political headache for Harris — drawing criticism from the left and right.
In a 2021 visit to Central America, Harris told would-be migrants that they would be deported if they crossed the border, angering allies of immigrants who said they were fleeing poverty, corruption and violence.
“Do not come,” she said at the time. “You will be turned back.”
On the same trip, Harris laughed off questions in a nationally televised interview about why she had not yet visited the border as vice president, inflaming critics on the right.
Border stops hit a record in December, with agents making nearly 250,000 arrests. As the political problem raged, Biden signed an order in June to heavily restrict asylum claims, prompting a sharp drop in border encounters, to fewer than 60,000 in July and August.
Republicans have been hammering the issue, with GOP members of Congress filing a resolution that “strongly condemns the Biden Administration and its Border Czar, Kamala Harris’s, failure to secure the United States border” one day after the president announced he would not seek reelection.
While some of the former president and his allies’ claims are demonstrably false and have been denounced by GOP elected officials, such as allegations that Haitian migrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, concerns among some voters about the impact of an insecure border on the economy, crime and the fentanyl crisis are palpable in many communities.
Friday’s visit was Harris’ second to Arizona since she became the Democratic presidential nominee, according to the Harris-Walz campaign. While Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and others have swung through the southwestern battleground state, Harris has focused much of her in-person campaigning in critical states farther east, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia.
Hours before the vice president landed in Arizona, Republicans held a press call featuring two mothers whose daughters were raped and killed by immigrants who were in the country illegally and the mother of a teenage son who overdosed on fentanyl. The women lambasted Harris for the administration’s immigration policy and for visiting the border so close to the election.
“I’m trying very hard not to cry. We live 1,800 miles away from the border,” said Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin, a mother of five who was brutally attacked while walking a bucolic and well-traveled public trail in Maryland. Her body was discovered in a drain pipe.
“No one is safe in America, no one is safe. If you have a sanctuary city in your state, you’re not safe,” she said. “They have bused, flown, trained illegal immigrants to literally every nook and cranny and every tiny town in the whole of the United States.”
Such fears are among the reasons the Harris campaign released an ad about immigration in Arizona on Friday, and visited the Southern border less than a month and a half before election day. As vice president, she previously visited the region once in 2021, when she toured the port of entry and border operation in El Paso.
Mehta reported from Phoenix and Pinho reported from Douglas. Times staff writers Noah Bierman and Andrea Castillo contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
PHOENIX (AP) — When Lesley Chavez found out she was pregnant at age 16, she saw her daughter as a blessing from God and never considered an abortion, a view reinforced by her devout Christian mother. If she could have voted at the time, Chavez would have opposed expanding abortion access.
But 10 years later — as she and other Arizona residents braced for a possible ban on nearly all abortions — Chavez drove over 300 miles (480 kilometers) to California to help a friend get one. That experience with someone she knew who was struggling financially and couldn’t support another child was the final push that changed Chavez’s stance on the issue.
“I just kind of felt like, dang, if I didn’t have nobody, I would want someone like me to be there. I would want someone that’s not going to judge me and actually help,” she said.
As abortion-rights groups court Latino voters through door-knocking and Spanish-language ads, they say the fast-growing group could determine the outcome of abortion ballot measures across the U.S., particularly in states such as Arizona and Florida with large Latino populations.
Like other Americans, Latinos have an array of personal feelings and connections to the issue that can be impacted by religion, culture, country of origin and other things, organizers say. But their views are often misunderstood and oversimplified by people who assume they are all Catholic and, therefore, anti-abortion, said Natasha Sutherland, communications director for Floridians Protecting Freedom, which is behind an abortion measure in that state.
A recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about two-thirds of Hispanic Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. About 4 in 10 U.S. Hispanics identify as Catholic, about one-third as Protestant or “other Christian,” and about one-quarter as religiously unaffiliated.
Efforts to reach Latino voters often hinge on one-on-one conversations — “old-school, boots on the ground organizing,” said Alex Berrios, co-founder of the grassroots Florida group Mi Vecino, or “my neighbor.”
In Florida, 18% of registered voters are Hispanic, or 2.4 million people, according to an October 2023 analysis by the nonpartisan Latino advocacy organization NALEO Educational Fund. More than 855,000 Latinos are expected to cast ballots in Arizona for the November election, making up about 1 in 4 Arizona voters, according to NALEO.
As a lead canvasser for the grassroots Arizona group Poder in Action, Chavez has knocked on the doors of ambivalent Latino voters, persuading them to support a measure that would guarantee access to abortion until fetal viability, a term used by health care providers to describe whether a pregnancy is expected to continue developing normally or whether a fetus might survive outside the uterus. It’s generally considered to be around 23 or 24 weeks.
Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA, moved the measure to the top of its canvassing script because voters kept bringing up the issue. LUCHA campaigns to low-income Latino, Black and Indigenous voters.
What to know about the 2024 Election
“People initiated the conversation like, ‘Oh yeah I just heard on the news what happened with the 1800 abortion ban,’” Abril Gallardo, chief of staff for LUCHA, said, referring to the 1864 abortion ban that the Arizona Supreme Court signaled in April the state could enforce but that lawmakers later repealed.
Another group, Mi Familia Vota, has put $200,000 toward its efforts to mobilize Latino voters to support the measure.
The official campaign against the proposal— It Goes Too Far — has enlisted Hispanic volunteers in its effort to sway voters.
Abortion is one of the most important issues in the upcoming election to about 4 in 10 Hispanic voters, below the economy, crime, and health care, and about on par with immigration, according to the AP-NORC poll.
In Florida, abortion is illegal after the first six weeks of pregnancy. The November ballot measure would legalize abortion until fetal viability.
“The Latino community is a huge part of any campaign in Florida,” Sutherland said. “We can’t win this without Latinos, so Latino outreach is essential.”
Sutherland said her group uses bilingual phone banking and canvassing efforts, hosted a bilingual campaign launch rally, hired a Latino outreach manager and holds weekly Spanish-language meetings to discuss strategy.
The opposing campaign has ads in Spanish and has a Spanish version of its website called “Vota No En La 4.”
Berrios’ group, Mi Vecino, has focused on Florida’s 9th Congressional District, which includes Osceola County and Orlando and was the first majority Hispanic district to meet the signature requirement for putting abortion rights on the ballot. Berrios tells supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that they can vote for him and for abortion rights.
“We saw a need for a culturally competent nonpartisan effort to engage and educate Hispanic voters on reproductive freedom,” Berrios said.
For Latino men especially, it has been helpful to include messaging about limiting government decisions in family and health care decisions, several Florida organizers said.
“You need to have conversations that are tailored to the person in front of you. For folks in Florida, for example, who escaped communism in their own countries, they’re really moved by things having to do with freedom and the power to determine the conditions of their own lives. We try to be as nuanced as possible,” said Lupe Rodriguez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.
Rocio Garcia, an assistant professor of sociology at Arizona State University, said that over time, Latinas, including those who are Catholic, have swung toward supporting abortion access, even if they would not get an abortion themselves.
Alyssa Sanchez, a 23-year-old Mexican American who is Catholic, plans to vote for Arizona’s measure. Her family members have been supportive of the issue as long as she could remember.
“You do still have to take Bibles, sayings, everything about the Catholic religion to your own interpretation,” said Sanchez, a lifelong Arizona resident. “And then battling that thought it just comes down to, I believe in people’s choice to their own bodies stronger than I believe in anything else.”
Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, vice president for health justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families, said abortion-rights supporters cannot afford to assume Latino voters do not support abortion rights, especially in majority-Republican Florida, which requires 60% voter support to pass a constitutional amendment.
“If you’re going to approach any voter with false assumptions, you’re not going to be able to connect,” she said.
After family members of a slain Navajo woman described their grief in a federal courtroom, the judge on Monday sentenced her boyfriend to life imprisonment for first-degree murder in a case that became emblematic of what officials call an epidemic of missing and slain Indigenous women.
Five years after Jaime Yazzie was killed, her relatives and friends cheered as they streamed out of the downtown Phoenix courthouse after U.S. District Court Judge Douglas L. Rayas handed down the sentence for Tre C. James.
Yazzie was 32 and the mother of three sons when she went missing in the summer of 2019 from her community of Pinon on the Navajo Nation. Despite a high-profile search, her remains were not found until November 2021 on the neighboring Hopi reservation in northeastern Arizona. At the time, the FBI offered a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Yazzie’s disappearance and/or death.
James was convicted last fall in Yazzie’s fatal shooting. The jury also found James guilty of several acts of domestic violence committed against three former dating partners.
Yazzie’s three sons, now ages 18, 14, 10, and other relatives attended Monday’s sentencing, along with several dozen supporters. Another dozen or so supporters stayed outside to demonstrate on the sidewalk, chanting and beating drums.
Jaime Yazzie
KPHO-TV
“There is no sentence you can impose that will balance the scale,” Yazzie’s mother, Ethelene Denny, told the judge before the announcement. Denny detailed the pain the family has suffered from the moment Yazzie disappeared, through a desperate 2 1/2-year search and the ultimate shock and heartbreak when her remains were found.
Denny told the judge she researched the right words to use, as English is her second language, CBS affiliate KPHO-TV reported.
“Looking through dictionaries, I wanted to have that powerful wording and everything to say my statement,” Denny said.
Federal prosecutors also played an earlier recorded video statement from Yazzie’s father, James Yazzie, who has since died.
“It’s not right,” the elder Yazzie said in the video, who was clearly ailing and had trouble speaking. “Taking my daughter away and taking my grandkids’ mom. It hits me right in the heart.”
“To see him again, it brought joy to my heart, but my heart is still breaking and being put back together,” Yazzie said.
The FBI hailed the sentence.
“Today’s sentence underscores the fact that Jamie Yazzie was not forgotten by the FBI or our federal and tribal partners,” FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Jose A. Perez said in a statement. “Our office is committed to addressing the violence that Native American communities in Arizona face every day and we will continue our efforts to protect families, help victims and ensure that justice is served in each case we pursue.”
Yazzie’s case gained attention through the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women grassroots movement that draws attention to widespread violence against Indigenous women and girls in the United States and Canada.
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs characterizes the violence against Indigenous women as a crisis.
Women from Native American and Alaska Native communities have long suffered from high rates of assault, abduction and murder. A 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice found that more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women – 84% – have experienced violence in their lifetimes, including 56% who have been victimized by sexual violence.
“We got justice for Jamie. We did it,” Yazzie’s family and friends chanted outside the federal courthouse in Phoenix after the sentence was handed down, KPHO-TV reported.
Supporters of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement wait outside the U.S. District Court in Phoenix, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, during a hearing where Tre C. James was sentenced to life imprisonment in the fatal shooting of his girlfriend Jamie Yazzie on the Navajo Nation in 2019.
CBS News’ latest polling finds that the 2024 presidential race can go either way. It also found that the number of voters saying the economy is good went up and Vice President Kamala Harris is up four points nationally over former President Donald Trump. CBS News executive director of elections and surveys Anthony Salvanto discusses the new poll and the race in the seven battleground states.
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Betfred is continuing the downsizing of its American business, which is in line with the company’s earlier announcements. The operator has now confirmed that it will leave Arizona before the end of the year.
Betfred to Put an End to Its Operation in the Grand Canyon State
On Thursday, Betfred said that it will exit Arizona’s mobile sports betting market on November 4. This marks yet another step in the company’s gradual exit from US markets, prompted by suboptimal performance.
Arizona, which launched mobile betting a few years ago, was expected to be one of America’s top betting markets. However, as leading brands continue to dominate the overall sector, smaller brands struggle to achieve sufficient profitability. In fact, Betfred is the fourth mobile sports betting operator to exit Arizona in 2024 alone.
For context, WynnBet, Unibet and Betway departed from The Grand Canyon State earlier this year.
Berfred’s US Business Has Been Struggling
Betfred entered Arizona in February 2022 and was ambitious on securing a larger market share. The company spent significant sums on promotions in hopes of attracting more customers. Betfred has so far spent more than $2.5 million on promotion in Arizona, although its promotional spend drastically declined in 2024.
The operator recorded a peak monthly handle of $5.1 million in September 2023 but has been struggling to live up to this figure ever since. Its highest handle for the current year was recorded in April and stood at $3.8 million. However, this figure was offset by a multitude of winning bets, resulting in a loss for the company.
Once Betfred exits Arizona, its local partner, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, would be able to form a partnership with another operator, potentially inviting another company to The Grand Canyon State.
Arizona is not the first market Betfred has departed from this year. Several weeks ago, the company ceased operation in Colorado, following exits from Maryland and Ohio.
As of the time of this writing, Betfred still operates mobile betting in Iowa, Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as retail betting in Louisiana, Nevada and Washington.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday that nearly 98,000 people whose citizenship documents hadn’t been confirmed can vote in state and local races.
The court’s decision comes after officials uncovered a database error that for two decades mistakenly designated the voters as having access to the full ballot.
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, and Stephen Richer, the Republican Maricopa County recorder, had disagreed on what status the voters should hold. Richer asked the high court to weigh in, saying Fontes ignored state law by advising county officials to let affected voters cast full ballots.
Fontes said not allowing the voters who believed they had satisfied voting requirements access to the full ballot would raise equal protection and due process concerns.
The high court agreed with Fontes. It said county officials lack the authority to change the voters’ statuses because those voters registered long ago and had attested under the penalty of law that they are citizens. The justices also said the voters were not at fault for the database error and also mentioned the little time that’s left before the Nov. 5 general election.
“We are unwilling on these facts to disenfranchise voters en masse from participating in state contests,” Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer stated in the ruling.
Arizona is unique among states in that it requires voters to prove their citizenship to participate in local and state races. Voters can demonstrate citizenship by providing a driver’s license or tribal ID number, or they can attach a copy of a birth certificate, passport or naturalization documents.
Arizona considers drivers’ licenses issued after October 1996 to be valid proof of citizenship. However, a system coding error marked nearly 98,000 voters who obtained licenses before 1996 — roughly 2.5% of all registered voters — as full-ballot voters, state officials said.
The error between the state’s voter registration database and the Motor Vehicle Division would not have impacted the presidential race. But that number of votes could tip the scales in hotly contested races in the state Legislature, where Republicans have a slim majority in both chambers.
The voter registration of nearly 100,000 Arizona residents is up in the air after a coding error in state systems was revealed on Tuesday. Depending on the outcome of a lawsuit, these voters may be classified as “federal-only voters” and barred from voting in state and local elections because they haven’t satisfied Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirements…
PHOENIX (AP) — A judge has rejected a bid by Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to President Donald Trump, to move his charges in Arizona’s fake elector case to federal court, marking the second time he has failed in trying to get his charges out of state court.
In a decision Monday, U.S. District Judge John Tuchi said Meadows missed a deadline for asking for his charges to be moved to federal court, didn’t offer a good reason for doing so and failed to show that the allegations against him related to his official duties as chief of staff to the president.
Meadows faces charges in Arizona and Georgia in what authorities allege was an illegal scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Trump’s favor. He had unsuccessfully tried to move charges in the Georgia case last year. It’s unknown whether Meadows will appeal the decision. The Associated Press left phone and email messages for two of Meadows’ attorneys.
While not a fake elector in Arizona, prosecutors said Meadows worked with other Trump campaign members to submit names of fake electors from Arizona and other states to Congress in a bid to keep Trump in office despite his November 2020 defeat. Meadows has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Arizona and Georgia.
In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden won Arizona by 10,457 votes.
The decision sends Meadows’ case back down to Maricopa County Superior Court.
In both Arizona and Georgia, Meadows argued his charges should be moved to federal court because his actions were taken when he was a federal official working as Trump’s chief of staff and that he has immunity under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says federal law trumps state law.
Arizona prosecutors said Meadows’ electioneering efforts weren’t part of his official duties at the White House.
Meadows last year tried to get his Georgia charges moved but his request was rejected by a judge whose ruling was later affirmed by an appeals court. Meadows has since asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling.
The Arizona indictment says Meadows confided to a White House staff member in early November 2020 that Trump had lost the election. Prosecutors say Meadows also had arranged meetings and calls with state officials to discuss the fake elector conspiracy.
Meadows’ attorneys said nothing their client is alleged to have done in Arizona was criminal. They said the indictment consists of allegations that he received messages from people trying to get ideas in front of Trump — or “seeking to inform Mr. Meadows about the strategy and status of various legal efforts by the president’s campaign.”
In denying the former chief of staff’s request, Tuchi said Meadows wasn’t indicted for facilitating communications to and from the president or staying updated on what was going on in Trump’s campaign.
“Instead, the State has indicted Mr. Meadows for allegedly orchestrating and participating in an illegal electioneering scheme,” the judge wrote. “Few, if any, of the State’s factual allegations even resemble the secretarial duties that Mr. Meadows maintains are the subject of the indictment.”
In all, 18 Republicans were charged in late April in Arizona’s fake electors case. The defendants include 11 Republicans who had submitted a document falsely claiming Trump had won Arizona, another Trump aide and five lawyers connected to the former president.
The remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty to the forgery, fraud and conspiracy charges in Arizona.
Trump wasn’t charged in Arizona, but the indictment refers to him as an unindicted coconspirator.
The 11 people who were nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claimed Trump had carried the state.
A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.
Prosecutors in Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin have also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme.
