Featured Stories
It takes a village (including a high school counselor)
August 21, 2011
by David Safier Ernesto Portillo wrote one of those slice-of-life columns he does so well in the Sunday Star. It's about a kid named David Yebra, who is actually no longer a kid. He's a 43 year old army Lt. Colonel, "a 1990 graduate of West Point, [who] was named the 2011 United States Army
Brewer touts federal grant…
August 20, 2011
By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings …and does it without acknowledging the feds or even the fact that it fills in a gaping hole in the budget priorities of her and the legislature… Earlier this week, Governor Jan Brewer issued a press release touting the receipt of an $11,894,000 grant from the federal Centers for
Stegeman embarrassed himself by straying from his areas of expertise
August 20, 2011
by David Safier Yesterday was the first hearing on the Mexican American Studies program, with TUSD appealing Huppenthal's decision that the program violates state law. The most detailed and informative reporting on the hearing comes from the Weekly's Mari Herreras in The Range. It's clear she was there taking copious notes. I couldn't tell if
The Wit and Wisdom of John Huppenthal (Part Duh)
August 19, 2011
by David Safier "The school year is off to a great start," Ed Supe John Huppenthal said. How does Mr. Research know the school year is off to a great start? "We're getting a lot of feedback that students are enthusiastic and parents are fully engaged." Can you break that down for us, John, using
Today’s Gatewood: a Bachmann/Perry tie
August 19, 2011
by David Safier [NOTE: I created The Gatewood in honor of Henry Gatewood, the banker in John Ford's 1939 "Stagecoach" who ran off with $50,000 in payroll money and said, while clutching the satchel full of stolen money, "'America for Americans! The government must not interfere with business! Reduce taxes! Our national debt is something
Pearce Recall Update
August 19, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Mesa Republican Jerry Lewis on Thursday submitted 1,187 signatures to the Secretary of State's Office. Jerry Lewis files signatures to run against Russell Pearce If at least 621 of those signatures are from valid registered voters in east Mesa's Legislative District 18, Lewis qualifies to run against Senate President Russell Pearce in
AIRC chooses starting point ‘grid’ map
August 19, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: At its public hearing on Thursday, the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission selected the grid map that will serve as the starting point for further public discussion. Arizona redistricting commission picks a starting map: The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission has chosen the grid map it will use as a starting point for determining
(Update) Prison-based gerrymandering of districts
August 19, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I spoke with Peter Wagner from Prisoners of The Census (prisonersofthecensus.org) who recommended that those of you concerned about this issue use the tools his organization provides at its web site. http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/data/
2010 data and tools
- Correctional Facility Locator (2010) Annotations and correctional facility counts by block, searchable by county.
- Our database of annotations of each block that contains a correctional facility and the demographic breakdown of each will be accessible at the URL http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/data/2010blocks/$geoid/ where $geoid is the 15 digit state-county-tract-code of a block with a correctional facility, ie http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/data/2010blocks/361219702001024/
- Point shapefile with the group quarters (including correctional facilities) populations
For those of you who have the technical knowledge to know how to use the census data bases, I am told this "point shapefile" tool is most useful (particularly for the AIRC if you are reading this).
For the nontechnical, like me, you can use the "correctional facility locator" tool, select "state name," type in Arizona and hit search, which will bring up a list of census tract/blocks/correctional population.
The key to your testimony at Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) public hearings is to request that the AIRC flag these census tract/blocks for prisons in their reports and identify incarcerated populations on the draft district maps under discussion so that they are readily identifiable to the public. This will facilitate knowledgeable public discussion, and will build a public record for Department of Justice Voting Rights Section preclearance of district maps, and a public record for any potential litigation.
For our state legislators who have been remiss in correcting this serious flaw in federal and state law, Prisoners of the Census has Model state legislation "with some guidance on how to customize it for your state."
To help you understand this issue better, here is a video that Prisoners of the Census did for the state of Massachusetts.
Script for the video is below the fold. Many thanks to Prisoners of the Census.
