Weekend wrap-up: Here are the biggest Arizona stories from June 21-23
Jun 23, 2019, 6:00 PM | Updated: 6:02 pm
(Twitter/GroggyFrog)
(Twitter/GroggyFrog)
A busy couple of days of growth for the Woodbury Fire, continued police protests and the conclusion to KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Bruce St. James & Pamela Hughes’ special opioid series.
Here are some stories that headlined the news cycle, both locally and nationally, over the weekend.
Woodbury Fire eats through more wilderness, containment at 24%
The wildland Woodbury Fire burning east of Phoenix took another leap in acreage, advancing to more than 95,000 acres as of Sunday morning.
The Superstition Mountains fire, 24% contained, was about 7 miles from Roosevelt Lake. It had swept across 65,930 acres on Friday, Jerry Perry, of the Type I Incident Management Team, told KTAR News 92.3 FM.
By Saturday, the fire had grown another 14,000 acres and became the seventh-largest fire in Arizona history.
The fire was very active for a third consecutive night and blazed another 14,000 acres by Sunday.
“High winds, low humidity and high temperatures combined to really push this fire,” Perry said.
Personnel fighting the fire dropped from more than 1,110 to 905 at the end of the weekend, mostly focused on directing the fire toward favorable terrain and away from Rock Spring Barn Corral.
Family of man shot by Phoenix police continues protests after video release
Relatives of Hector Lopez, who was fatally shot by Phoenix police in May, say passing officers have laughed and made obscene gestures — a charge the department vehemently denies — during past protests seeking information.
But as the Lopez family returned to headquarters Friday for the sixth weekly protest in a row, they found a department bathed in a harsh national spotlight following the release of a videotaped encounter that showed officers aiming guns and curses at a black couple whose 4-year-old daughter took a doll from a store.
About three dozen people protested on the sidewalk, chanting slogans such as, “Hands up! Don’t Shoot!” and bearing signs and banners with messages like, “Justice 4 Hector Lopez.”
Activists say the national outcry over police behavior seen in the video has ripped open the thin curtain masking distrust, fear and resentment of law enforcement that has left scores of people in Phoenix’s black and Hispanic communities clamoring to tell their stories.
“I think people are emboldened,” said Anna Hernandez, whose brother Alejandro was killed in an April 27 confrontation with police. “People are no long afraid of sharing.”
Former Valley news anchor shares his story of abuse, addiction
Brandon Lee has never been dependent on opioids, but he knows what it feels like to be spiraling out of control from addiction.
The award-winning former 3TV news anchor told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Bruce St. James & Pamela Hughes on Friday that he managed to live a double life for years as a successful professional suffering behind the scenes.
“So as long as my closest friends and my family never knew the depths of my addiction then it wasn’t really happening,” Lee said.
He began doing cocaine at 15. Later in life, as he was working as reporter in Los Angeles, he said he would leave his shift at night and take liquid GHB (a date rape drug) in the parking lot.
One weekend, he overdosed twice in the streets and was revived by “a team of miracle workers.”
“This nurse heard me crying and she came into my hospital room and she asked me, ‘Do you believe in God?’ And I said ‘No, I do not.’ And she goes, ‘That’s OK, because God still believes in you,’” Lee said.
“And she handed me this little piece of paper, and she goes, ‘Listen, I know at my church they have one of these AA things.’ She goes, ‘Just promise me if you ever get out of here you’ll go.’ And I said OK. And I went to that meeting; I’ve been sober ever since that day.”
Thunderbirds make $400,000 donation to Phoenix Children’s Hospital
The Phoenix Children’s Hospital unit that takes care of critically ill kids with heart conditions received a $400,000 donation courtesy of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
The charity arm of The Thunderbirds, hosts of the Valley’s annual PGA event, presented the gift during a ceremony Thursday.
It was the second-largest donation The Thunderbirds have ever made to PCH, bringing their total contribution to the nationally acclaimed hospital to more than $2.6 million since 1985.
“We’re fortunate enough to host one of the best golf tournaments in the world, but these are the days we look forward to,” Chance Cozby, president of Thunderbirds Charities, said according to a press release.
“We’re honored to be a part of this project and celebrate this wonderful day, knowing that so many children and families will get such great treatment at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in the years to come.”
The money will be used to double the size of the facility’s cardiovascular intensive care unit and fund new, state-of-the-art equipment.
Arizona Science Center to host 50th anniversary celebration of Apollo 11
Three. Two. One. Liftoff.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human being to step foot on the moon, uttering the famous phrase, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the Arizona Science Center will be hosting a plethora of space- and moon-themed events and activities from July 6-27.
The celebration will appeal to all age groups.
Phoenix man attempts to break world record by stacking over 1M pennies
Three years and 6,360 pounds of pennies later, Cory Nielsen, 55, of Phoenix, believes he has created the largest penny pyramid in history.
He used 1,030,315 of the copper coins ($10,303.15) in an effort to break the previous record which was set in Lithuania with a little over 1 million pennies.
Nielsen said his creation is 44.6 inches tall, measuring 65 stacks pennies tall, 65 stack back and 65 across. Each stack contains 11 coins. Miraculously, none of the coins were bound together with any substance.
His goal to build the world’s largest penny pyramid began after creating a “small” pyramid comprised of 41,000 pennies. After showing a picture of it to his colleagues, the automotive marketing professional and his coworkers, wondered if he had set a record.
