AZ Memo: Warm-up continues; Mesa double-murder; Arizona bear attack; 40th anniversary of reporter's assasination
Good morning, Arizona.
If you thought Wednesday was hot, just wait.
We can expect highs from 105 to 108 in metro Phoenix today, with lows in the mid to upper 70s, according to the National Weather Service.
The high on Friday — the start of an excessive-heat warning — will range from 110 to 114, according to meteorologist Jessica Nolte. Lows will vary from 70 to 80 degrees.
Saturday will be the hottest day of the week, with highs between 112 and 116 degrees. The record heat for Saturday was set in 1990 at 113 degrees.
We can look forward to a "slight" cool-down, by 3 degrees, on Sunday, when the excessive-heat warning is set to expire.
Weather Service officials are advising people in the Phoenix area to drink lots of water, wear light-colored clothing and stay inside as much as possible.
Today in history:
- In 1924, Congress passed, and President Calvin Coolidge signed, a measure guaranteeing full American citizenship for all Native Americans born within U.S. territorial limits.
- In 1941, baseball’s Lou Gehrig, died in New York of ALS; he was 37.
- In 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place in London’s Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the death of her father, King George VI.
- In 1981, the Japanese video arcade game “Donkey Kong” was released by Nintendo.
A former cop is accused of killing his wife and a bystander in a roadway.
Christopher Glen Wright, 38, told police he shot the bystander after the man pulled up in a pickup early Tuesday morning next to where Wright had intentionally crashed his vehicle in an attempt to kill his wife, Nasbah Laverne, 41.
Police say Wright then shot and killed her.
The bystander, Tomas Olivas Ornelas 49, was on his way to work Tuesday when he encountered the Wrights and stopped his truck on McKellips Road shortly after 3:30 a.m.
On Wednesday, family and friends gathered at Ornelas' home in west Phoenix to mourn and pray. In the living room was a shrine with two framed photos of Ornelas surrounded by lighted candles.
Ornelas, a father and husband, was from Chihuahua, Mexico, and had been living in the United States for more than 15 years, his brother-in-law told azcentral.
Forty years ago today, Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles was assassinated.
On June 2, 1976, Bolles drove to the Hotel Clarendon in Phoenix for an interview. Bolles was supposed to meet a man named John Harvey Adamson, who never showed. Bolles left the hotel and got in his car, a white two-door Datsun.
As he backed out of his parking spot, a radio transmitter triggered a bomb on the bottom of the car. Bolles died 11 days later.
Bolles, an investigative reporter, had worked on stories about the mafia, corruption, conflicts-of-interest and land fraud. Prosecutors and journalists covering his death believe his stories on organized crime led to the bombing.
Two men were convicted of the bombing. Another was convicted and later acquitted.
His family is still coping today. And fellow journalists are still mourning him. "There was so much corruption in Phoenix and Arizona at the time," a state investigator recalls.
A Glendale school for disabled students was in such deplorable shape, state officials immediately closed it down.
The state Department of Education took action last week against the private school for disabled students after finding "extreme health and safety issues" inside the facilities during a surprise visit.
Officials found the Children's Center for Neurodevelopmental Studies had mold in bathrooms used by students, several holes in the walls, and exposed nails and wiring.
The closure has left families and public schools scrambling. Most of the roughly 60 students who use the school's services were enrolled in summer programs needed to maintain developmental gains.
Read the full report by azcentral's Ricardo Cano for more details.
An Arizona camper had a close call with a bear.
A 20-year-old man was treated at a hospital early Wednesday morning after he was hurt by a bear at a campsite in Young, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
Wildlife officials said the black bear clawed at the man through a sleeping bag. A member of the man's group said the bear "nipped" at the man's rear end with its teeth, puncturing his skin.
The man's shouting, combined with the yelling from other campers, scared the bear away, said Michael Merchant, executive director of the Anasazi Foundation, which organized the outing.