'Dancing hamster' pleads; barista sex case; KKK robe in black-owned store

PHOENIX (AP) — Veto-proof majorities in both the Arizona House and Senate have signed on as sponsors of a bill repealing a $30 million cut to high school career and technical education programs.

The cut enacted in the current year budget takes effect on July 1 and many of the 14 stand-alone districts that oversee the programs say they will be badly hurt if they lost the money.

The 72 lawmakers who have signed onto Senate Bill 1258 include Republicans and Democrats from rural areas and from the Tucson and Phoenix metro areas. The pushback to the cut that appeared in last year's budget at the last minute has been growing for months.

Sen. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, who wields power as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is the primary sponsor.

"In my opinion, we made a mistake in the last session," Shooter said Friday. "And I think the quicker we fix it the better."

Gov. Doug Ducey's budget proposes a new $10 million per year grant plan for tech programs that partner with businesses, but it appears in deep trouble among lawmakers. The governor's spokesman says Ducey remains open to other proposals.

"Gov. Ducey agrees that career and technical education needs to be supported in our state so that our students are prepared for life. That's why his budget includes a new investment in this priority," spokesman Daniel Scarpinato said in a statement. "Our office is open to reviewing any recommendation that brings dollars to this area while also ensuring the budget remains balanced."

Nearly 100,000 Arizona high school students are enrolled in the programs run by special districts called Joint Technical Education Districts, or JTEDs. They offer classes in health, technology, construction, auto mechanics and other skills around their regions or in stand-alone schools.

Alan Storm, superintendent of the Pima County JTED, said the payments will set off a cascade of closures. That's because the districts return much the extra funding they get to local districts to support the programs, and the budget cut will take about half of the cash those districts receive for the programs.

For instance, Storm's district gets about $900 for each of the 16,000 students enrolled, then returns about $700 per student to local schools. When the cuts go into effect, half of that $700 will go into normal operations.

"If they say 'I can't afford to lose $344 every time a kid takes a class,' they're going to start cutting the (career and technical education) classes. They're going to lay off the teachers," Storm said. "It's only going to take two years to completely decimate career and tech ed in the entire state of Arizona."

Rep. Noel Campbell, R-Prescott, said the high graduation rate of students enrolled in JTEDs is proof of the program's success.

"We need good mechanics, electricians and plumbers," he said.

He said that while the governor's plan is a good start to restoring funding, it doesn't far enough to help rural counties. Ducey's plan offers $10 million a year for three years with matching funds from local businesses that support the programs. But businesses in rural areas such as Prescott are fewer, and often have less money to support JTED, than in big cities and counties.

"It would certainly be easier in Maricopa and Pinal County, but it doesn't really work for us up there," he said.

Although Campbell supports restoring the JTED funding cut last year, he said that any such proposal should make recommendations for streamlining the funding of the programs.

Senate President Andy Biggs raised the issue publicly earlier this month at a legislative preview luncheon. He said he believes some schools are gaming the system by classifying core classes at technical education to get extra cash. He didn't sign onto the restoration bill.

"We need to make sure there is strong technical education available to kids. I'm all for that," Biggs said at the Jan. 6 event. "But I also think we need to take a good look and put a spotlight on this and make sure that we're getting what we need to."

Shooter said he believes some reforms to address Biggs' concerns are likely.

PHOENIX (AP) — A suburban Phoenix school district is taking disciplinary action after a photo of students spelling out a racial slur with T-shirts showed up on social media.

Tempe Union High School District spokeswoman Jill Hanks said Friday that the discipline process remains ongoing but six girls will be punished in accordance with district policies.

Hanks says Desert Vista High School students were wearing shirts to spell out "best you've ever seen class of 2016" for a senior class yearbook photo.

She says the girls in the photo went off on their own and used their shirts to spell out a racial epithet.

Someone shared the photo online, prompting calls to the principal.

Hanks says officials are "absolutely outraged and disappointed" and the students' actions do not represent the student body.

GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — A former Arizona lawmaker facing an ethics charge on the Navajo Nation has been ordered to repay about $13,000.

The Gallup Independent (http://bit.ly/1lKttWL ) reports the judgment against Sylvia Laughter was issued earlier this week.

The tribe's Ethics and Rules Office says Laughter failed to respond to a complaint that she received preferential treatment when hired at the Dennehotso (deh-neh-HOTE'-so) Chapter in Arizona.

The Navajo Nation Office of Hearings and Appeals granted a request for a default judgment against her. The ethics complaint charged Laughter with unauthorized use of tribal property or funds.

The order also prohibits her from getting a job with the tribe for five years or until the money is repaid.

Laughter did not respond to an email sent Friday. A call to a mobile phone listed for her went unanswered.

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Information from: Gallup Independent, http://www.gallupindependent.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man who played a dancing hamster in car commercials and was a backup dancer for Madonna, has pleaded no contest to single counts of insurance fraud and making a false statement.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office says 29-year-old Leroy Barnes was immediately sentenced Friday to 90 days of electronic monitoring, 400 hours of community service and ordered to pay more than $24,000 in restitution.

Barnes is best known for playing one of the hip-hop hamsters in the popular Kia car commercials.

He's also been a backup dancer for Madonna, Kelly Rowland and Chris Brown

The California Department of Insurance says Barnes reported he wasn't working when he received disability benefits between September 2010 and September 2011.

Authorities say he was actually working for Kia then.

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California jury has awarded five construction workers $12 million in their lawsuit alleging the state transportation department failed to warn them about a potentially deadly fungus at an excavation site.

The Daily Republic reports (http://bit.ly/1PJPbcc ) Friday that the Solano County jury found the California Department of Transportation concealed the presence of the fungus that was known to be in the soil where the work was done. The crew was doing earth-movement and expanding a culvert in Kern County in 2008. The five sued Caltrans more than six years ago.

Jurors ruled Caltrans employees knew about the risks of valley fever, a debilitating, incurable disease, and that one Caltrans employee deliberately intended to deceive the five workers about the risks of it. A Caltrans spokesman said the agency is "carefully evaluating all of its options for appeal."

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Information from: Daily Republic, http://www.dailyrepublic.com

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A Cheyenne man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his ninth drunken driving charge.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports (http://bit.ly/1PsD7LT ) that 50-year-old Paul Lucero asked a Laramie County District Court judge to sentence him to probation for his felony DUI charge so he could complete a residential treatment program. In doing so, he went against his plea agreement that would have limited the prosecution's recommendation to three to five years.

As such, the Laramie County assistant district attorney recommended the maximum sentence of seven years, which the judge imposed.

A DUI charge can be a felony if the defendant has committed at least three other DUIs in the previous 10 years.

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Information from: Wyoming Tribune Eagle, http://www.wyomingnews.com

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) — People who live in four San Francisco Bay Area cities can now text, rather than call, 911.

KNTV reports (http://bit.ly/1TcSuxP ) Friday that the Richmond Police Department is taking the lead on the new technology.

Starting this week, people who live in Richmond, El Cerrito, Kensington and San Pablo can send a text to 911. Dispatchers say that's a potentially life-saving option.

Richmond is the first agency in Northern California to launch the new system, but the program is already proving successful in Southern California. Last month in San Bernardino a hearing impaired woman suffering a medical emergency texted 911 and got the help she needed, the station reported.

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Information from: KNTV-TV.

MONROE, Wash. (AP) — A former Monroe police officer accused of filming a teenage babysitter taking showers in his home has been sentenced to more than a year in prison.

KIRO-TV reports (http://goo.gl/e11z80 ) Carlos Alberto Martinez was sentenced Thursday to 14 months in prison on charges of possessing sexually explicit material of a minor.

Police say Martinez knew the victim since she was 10 years old, and he began having a sexual relationship with her by the time she was 14.

The rape and molestation charges against him were dropped because prosecutors said the alleged victim, who is now 26, couldn't provide a consistent account of when the sexual relationship occurred.

Martinez has until Monday to post bond. If he does, he will be out of custody while his attorney appeals the case.

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Information from: KIRO-TV, htthttp://www.kirotv.com/index.html

SOCORRO, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico State Police say a man detained after being found with a stolen vehicle escaped from the back seat of a State Police officer's car and drove off in it before crashing into drainage canal about two miles away.

State Police Sgt. Elizabeth Armijo said the suspect was taken back into custody Thursday after the incident that started at a truck stop in Lemitar north of Socorro in west-central New Mexico.

Armijo said the State Police commercial vehicle enforcement officer whose car was fired shots during the escape but that nobody was injured.

Armijo said the officer was investigating the stolen vehicle when the suspect stole the officer's car and that the officer and a Socorro County sheriff's deputy pursued the stolen police car.

No identities were released.

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — An espresso stand worker who pleaded guilty to helping her boss run a prostitution operation out of the Snohomish County business will not receive jail time.

The Daily Herald reports (http://goo.gl/P7cw3Q ) 25-year-old Samantha Lancaster faced up to eight months in jail, but was spared time behind bars Wednesday after cooperating in a criminal investigation.

She agreed to testify against former sheriff's sergeant Darrell O'Neill, who was sentenced to a year in jail for sharing information about undercover police investigations of the coffee stands to the former owner.

Carmela Panico was also charged in the case. The former owner of the coffee stands pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution and money laundering, but didn't receive jail time.

Deputy prosecutor Bob Hendrix said Lancaster was "perhaps the least culpable" of the three defendants.

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Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.heraldnet.com

By KATHY STEPHENSON

The Salt Lake Tribune

GRANTSVILLE, Utah (AP) — The temperature outside says it is winter, but inside the Stapley greenhouse in Tooele County, it feels — and looks — like spring.

Bursting from the floating garden beds are three varieties of kale, as well as bok choy, mustard greens, lettuces and cilantro.

A large fish tank filled with rainbow trout sits in the corner and is the key to how this fresh produce is being grown.

Terry and Sandy Stapley are using a farming technique called aquaponics, a method that has been around for centuries, but one that Utah and the rest of the nation may be seeing more of in the future. Experts say aquaponics produces more food with less land and water, two natural resources that will become scarce as Utah's population increases.

For those who may wonder, aquaponics is an ecosystem where fish, plants and microbes work in symbiotic fashion.

It starts with the fish, which naturally emit waste and ammonia into their tank.

The excrement-laden water offers a complete fertilizer for the plants and is pumped into growing beds where naturally occurring, but beneficial, organisms break down the ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate, Terry Stapley explained during a recent visit.

The plants absorb the nitrates, helping them grow and naturally filtering the water. By the time the water has made its way through the beds, it is clean and pumped back into the fish tank.

At their Grantsville farm, where Deseret Peak Aquaponics is headquartered, the Stapleys use a raft-based system in which thick pieces of Styrofoam with holes float on top of the water that runs in low-lying troughs. Seedlings in small plastic baskets are placed inside each hole, their root systems dangling in the water below.

With no restrictive dirt, and plenty of nutrients, the plants quickly form massive root systems that produce delicious vegetables and herbs, most of which the Stapleys sell at Salt Lake City's Winter Farmers Market at the Rio Grande. The couple — who lived in Saratoga Springs before retiring and buying the Grantsville farm — eat the rest.

While aquaponics is natural and sustainable, it isn't completely maintenance free. The Stapleys say they must add iron — a natural mineral — into the fish tank and pump oxygen into the water troughs so the plants and the fish have what they need. After those minor additions, however, "the fish provide everything else," said Sandy Stapley. "No weeding or daily watering."

This time of year, the Stapleys also use a wood-fed rocket stove to keep the water in the fish tank and the temperature in the greenhouse amenable for growing and raising fish. "It looks intimidating," added Terry Stapley, "but it is so easy."

The Stapleys, who also raise alpacas, goats and chickens, say aquaponics has the potential for a second source of income — the sale of farmed trout. After more than a year of aquaponic farming, they said that the fish, which started just a few inches long, have grown to be more than 13-14 inches in length and some weigh at least 1 pound. This fall, the fish also spawned and some of the larger fish had to be removed from the tank to keep the chemical balance in check, they said.

Mainstream farming

While aquaponics has been mostly experimental, it is moving into the mainstream as state, national and global resources diminish and backyard and commercial farmers look for new alternatives, said Jack Wilbur, with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. Agricultural studies show that aquaponics produces three to six times more vegetables and uses 70 percent to 90 percent less water than traditional dirt farming.

While leafy greens and herbs are the most common crops in the winter; all types of vegetables can be grown in the summer, from tomatoes and squash to beets and corn.

Hoping to educate Utahns about the method, the UDAF recently set up a demonstration garden in the lobby of its main office in Salt Lake City. It includes an aquaponics garden as well as a hydroponic system. The two are similar, but hydroponic plants grow in water without the fish fertilization. Interested gardeners can see both displays at the UDAF Offices, 350 N. Redwood Road, during regular business hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. How-to information also is available on the department's website.

"We want people to know that anyone can do this, without a big investment," said Wilbur, who put together the gardens for about $100 each using PVC pipe, tubing, large plastic containers and a pump purchased at a local hardware store. He said the UDAF received a federal grant to help pay for the project.

Wilbur said several species of fish do well in these recirculating aquaponic systems, including trout, koi and goldfish. The UDAF is using a striped bass hybrid thanks to a special permit from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR).

Tilapia is the most common species used across the country, as it can tolerate crowding and fluctuating temperatures. But the DWR has banned tilapia in Utah as it is an invasive species that, if released accidentally into the waterways, could harm the native fish, Wilbur said.

Commercial applications

A larger demonstration garden also is being constructed at the Progressive Plants Wholesale Nursery in Copperton. It's a joint project with Orem-based company NaturePonics, the makers of bamboo vertical gardening systems.

"We are weeks away from our first planting," NaturePonics founder Daniel Wagner said of the company's expansion into aquaponics. "The industry has really blossomed in Australia and is making its way through the states. It's a major solution to our farming needs in the future and water shortages."

His company, which will focus on systems mostly for commercial farmers, is building a vertical system in Copperton that can grow 100,000 plants in 10,000 square feet of space.

Besides showing farmers what is possible, the produce and fish that are grown at the NaturePonics display will be sold to area restaurants, Wagner said. "You really can produce an enormous amount of food in a small amount of space."

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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com

By DENNIS ROMBOY

KSL-TV

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A 45-star American flag found crumpled inside a broken-down van in an Iowa junkyard will now fittingly reside in Utah — the nation's 45th state.

Jack Mommer made the unexpected discovery about nine years ago while looking for used car parts in a salvage yard in Allison, Iowa. He always intended to bring the large flag to Utah but died of cancer before he had the chance.

On Jan. 12, his widow, Mary Mommer, of Dike, Iowa, presented the 15-by-7-foot flag to Gov. Gary Herbert at the state Capitol.

"We knew when we opened it up it belonged to the people of Utah, and that's where it should be returned," she said. "He was never able to get the flag to where it needed to go, but we knew what his dream was."

Herbert called the flag an heirloom the state is honored to receive. He said it's timely for it to come to Utah in 2016, noting 120 years of statehood and the Capitol's 100th anniversary this year. He wants the flag displayed during the legislative session beginning Jan. 25.

The apparently more than 100-year-old flag appears in remarkably good shape, except for a few small holes, tattered edges and some faded and bleeding colors. The blue canton has six rows of what appear to be hand-stitched stars; the first, fourth and sixth rows have eight stars, while the other three rows have seven stars.

Its origin and where it might have flown are a mystery. And no one knows how the pile of red, white and blue fabric came to be in the back of an old van in Iowa.

Mommer, for one, said she'd like to know the rest of the story. So would state historians.

Brad Westwood, state Division of History director, and Julie Fisher, executive director of the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts, plan to enlist the state's top vexillologist to see what they can find out.

"It starts with the story that's told here," Westwood said. "We'll probably track down those at that junkyard. We're thinking something as large as this, that it's ceremonial, and it's likely perhaps a representative or senator or someone who's connected to government, so that's where we'll start."

Utah became the 45th state on Jan. 4, 1896. The 45-star banner was the nation's flag until Oklahoma joined the union Nov. 17, 1907.

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Information from: KSL-TV, http://www.ksl.com/

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Redmond police are a searching for a white man who visited a store owned by a black woman and reportedly left behind a bag containing a Ku Klux Klan robe.

The Seattle Times reports (http://goo.gl/vntDnS ) a man in his mid-20s visited a consignment shop owned by Leona Coakley-Spring Wednesday evening.

Coakley-Spring told police the man sold clothes to her in what she called a "nice and normal interaction."

Police say he then fled, leaving the bag with the robe, a loose rope and other items inside.

Coakley-Spring told police she thought it was a priest robe at first, but noticed a hood with two eyes cut out. Police say the garment also has two patches that resemble symbols associated with the KKK.

Investigators are working with experts on the case.

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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada Public Utilities Commission is indicating it might budge on its decision to apply new, higher rates to rooftop solar power customers who bought their systems in years past.

Commissioner David Noble submitted a draft order Wednesday calling for reconsideration of the so-called "grandfathering" issue. The commission is expected to decide Monday whether to proceed with Noble's proposal.

Commissioners applied the rate hike both to future and current customers using net metering, the process of selling excess solar energy back to the utility. They say a single rate structure phases out a cost-shift and precludes tricky questions like whether customers should still get old rates if they replace their system.

Many current customers are upset, saying they invested thousands into panels based on rate calculations that are now moot.

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A Nevada board gave final approval Friday to tax incentives to attract electric carmaker Faraday Future to Nevada, formalizing a deal that state lawmakers authorized in a special session last month.

The unanimous vote from the Governor's Office of Economic Development board came after plenty of praise for the company and predictions that the car factory will revitalize hard-hit North Las Vegas, its future home.

"This is a transformative project. This probably comes along once in a generation," said Gov. Brian Sandoval, who chairs the board and said the company picked North Las Vegas out of 287 potential sites. "I want to thank you for your belief in Nevada."

Faraday representatives said the company hopes to break ground on its $1 billion North Las Vegas factory by the end of the month, although the exact day depended on contractor availability. The first step in the process is to grade the site, and Faraday plans to move equipment into the building by the end of 2016 if all infrastructure is in place.

Car production is expected to begin in the next couple of years. At peak production, the company hopes to be churning out 150,000 cars a year and employing 4,500 people.

Faraday unveiled a concept car earlier this month that drew comparisons to the Batmobile. The design, which is expected to change before the mass production phase, included a single seat inspired by NASA, tunnels below the car to funnel air through and a smartphone dock on the steering wheel.

"I was incredibly impressed," Sandoval said about the concept. "It validated the fact that Faraday Future is the real deal and that they're going to be a player in the electric vehicle industry."

Lawmakers hadn't seen any Faraday product when they approved an incentive package that includes $215 million in tax breaks and $120 million in road, rail and water improvements at the arid Apex Industrial Park. But they did know the company, headquartered in Gardena, California, was backed by billionaire Chinese entrepreneur Jia Yueting.

The board also granted state economic development director Steve Hill the authority to implement details of the deal. Hill and Sandoval said the economic development office will still be accountable to the board and the Legislature, and will report back regularly on the project's progress.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge said he will require Yellowstone Club founder Tim Blixseth to account for what happened to $13.8 million he received from the sale of a Mexico resort in violation of a bankruptcy court order, no matter how long it takes.

U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon made the comment Friday in Helena during a status conference in Blixseth's contempt of court case.

Haddon plans a hearing on whether Blixseth is able to provide any more information and whether continuing to jail him would coerce him to do so. Blixseth has been jailed since April 2015.

But the judge said he needed to determine if he should wait for an appeals court decision on a related matter. A date for a hearing wasn't immediately set.

"I want to assure you that if Blixseth has the capacity to get the records and produce them to this court, he will be obliged," Haddon said, adding that he will not accept "I don't have the records" as an excuse.

Blixseth's lawyer, Paul Brain, said Blixseth didn't have control of some of the records, including the bank statements of his third wife, Jessica.

"There's a divorce proceeding pending," Brain said.

Haddon countered that Blixseth could subpoena the records, hold a deposition or take advantage of other court processes.

The Yellowstone Club near Big Sky went bankrupt after Blixseth kept most of a $375 million Credit Suisse loan to the resort. He later gave up control of the enterprise to his ex-wife during their 2008 divorce.

Creditors of the Yellowstone Club have civil judgments against Blixseth for more than $250 million. They argue Blixseth used complex real estate deals to hide some money and transferred wealth to relatives.

Blixseth was found in contempt of court in December 2013 for selling the Tamarindo Resort in violation of a bankruptcy court order.

In February 2014, Haddon ordered Blixseth to provide bank statements, checks and other documentation relating to the sale of the resort and where the money went. Haddon has found repeatedly that Blixseth has not complied with the order.