TUCSON, ARIZONA (BNO NEWS) — U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona on Sunday announced she will resign from U.S. Congress to focus on her recovery, more than a year after being shot in the head.

The 41-year-old Democrat, representing Arizona’s 8th congressional district since 2007, was critically injured on January 8, 2011, when 22-year-old gunman Jared Lee Loughner opened fire outside a supermarket in northwest Tucson, where Giffords was holding a rally. The shooting attack killed six people, including a 9-year-old girl, and injured 14 others.

Giffords announced her resignation in a two-minute video during which she looks back on her career and urged her colleagues in Congress to work across party lines for the good of the country.

“Arizona is my home, always will be,” she said in her statement. “A lot has happened over the past year. We cannot change that. But I know on the issues we fought for, we can change things for the better. Jobs, border security, veterans. We can do so much more by working together.”

The office of the Congresswoman said she will submit her letter of resignation later this week to House Speaker John Boehner and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. The governor will then set the date for special primary and general elections to determine who will serve the remainder of Giffords’ term, which expires at the end of 2012.

Before leaving office, Giffords will attend the State of the Union speech on Tuesday evening and is expected to finish her ‘Congress On Your Corner’ event which was interrupted when Loughner opened fire in January 2011. She will meet with some of the people who were at the event during a private gathering in Tucson.

“She will also meet and thank representatives of her advisory councils and others who have worked with her on issues of importance to her constituents,” her office said in a statement. Giffords will also visit the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center, which was opened in September at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona after people donated more than $215,000 in honor of the Congresswoman.

“I don’t remember much from that horrible day. But I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice,” Giffords said in her video statement. “Thank you for your prayers and for giving me time to recover. I have more work to do on my recovery. So to do what is best for Arizona, I will step down this week. I’m getting better. Every day, my spirit is high. I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country.”

Responding to the announcement, Boehner thanked Giffords for her service. “I salute Congresswoman Giffords for her service, and for the courage and perseverance she has shown in the face of tragedy,” he said in a statement released by his office. “She will be missed.”

President Barack Obama also praised Giffords and said she will be missed, but recognized her decision is in the best interest of her constituents. “Gabby Giffords embodies the very best of what public service should be,” he said. “She’s universally admired for qualities that transcend party or ideology – a dedication to fairness, a willingness to listen to different ideas, and a tireless commitment to the work of perfecting our union. That’s why the people of Arizona chose Gabby – to speak and fight and stand up for them.”

Obama added: “Over the last year, Gabby and her husband Mark have taught us the true meaning of hope in the face of despair, determination in the face of incredible odds, and now – even after she’s come so far – Gabby shows us what it means to be selfless as well. Gabby’s cheerful presence will be missed in Washington. But she will remain an inspiration to all whose lives she touched – myself included. And I’m confident that we haven’t seen the last of this extraordinary American.”

Vice President Joe Biden said he spoke with Giffords’ husband, Mark, after Sunday’s announcement. “I spoke with Gabby’s husband Mark today and told him that the most important thing is Gabby’s recovery,” he said in a statement released by the White House. “We fully support their decision. I know that Gabby will continue to make significant contributions to her state and country, and I stand with her in whatever endeavor she decides to pursue.”

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TEHRAN (BNO NEWS) — An Iranian court on Monday sentenced a U.S. citizen to death on charges that he worked as a spy for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), state-run media reported.

28-year-old Amir Mirzai Hekmati, who was born in Arizona but is of Iranian descent, was arrested in December 2011 on charges he spied on Iran for the CIA. Iranian state TV later aired a video in which Hekmati confesses to the charges, although it is unknown if he was forced to do so.

According to Iranian prosecutors, Hekmati was hired by the CIA in May 2009 to carry out espionage operations in Iran. He previously served as a U.S. Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan where Iran claims he underwent decade-long intelligence training and had access to classified information.

“In this mission I was fooled by the CIA and although I had entered Iran with a mission to infiltrate in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s intelligence systems and to turn into a new source for the CIA, I didn’t want to hit a blow to Iran,” Hekmati said in his confession on state TV.

On Monday, branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced Hekmati to death after being convicted of attempting to infiltrate Iran’s intelligence apparatus in an alleged effort to ‘implicate’ the country in sponsoring terrorism. Under Iranian law, he has 20 days to appeal.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. government is still trying to confirm the reports through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents American interests as the U.S. and Iran have no formal diplomatic relations.

“If true, we strongly condemn this verdict,” Nuland said. “Allegations that Mr. Hekmati either worked for, or was sent to Iran by the CIA are simply untrue. The Iranian regime has a history of falsely accusing people of being spies, of eliciting forced confessions, and of holding innocent Americans for political reasons.”

Hekmati’s family has insisted that he is not a spy and was simply visiting his grandmother.

Nuland urged the Iranian government to grant the Swiss protecting power immediate access to Hekmati. “[We also urge the Iranian government to] grant him access to legal counsel and release him without delay,” she added.

In September 2011, Iran’s Judiciary approved the release of two U.S. citizens who were earlier convicted of espionage and illegal entry. Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal had been sentenced to eight years in prison a month earlier.

Bauer and Fattal were arrested in July 2009 along with Sarah Shourd when they crossed the border in Iraq’s Kurdistan region into Iran. Iranian prosecutors charged them with entering the country illegally and having links to U.S. intelligence, a claim which the defendants and their families have repeatedly denied.

According to the detained Americans, they were hiking in Iraq when they unknowingly crossed the unmarked border into Iran where they were arrested by border guards. Iranian prosecutors rejected those claims, saying there was ‘compelling evidence’ that they were spies.

Shourd was released on September 14, 2010, after 14 months of imprisonment. She was released on a $500,000 bail on ‘medical concerns,’ although no details were provided. Bauer and Fattal were also released on a $500,000 bail although none of them will return to Iran.

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA (BNO NEWS) — A college student from Arizona who went missing earlier this month has been found alive after being stranded in her car in the middle of a blizzard for ten days, local media reported on Friday.

Lauren Elizabeth Weinberg, 23, an Arizona State University student, was spotted in her vehicle on Wednesday morning by U.S. Forest Service employees who were checking road closure gates in the Coconino County area, about 46 miles (74 kilometers) from the city of Winslow.

According to a report by KTVK-TV, Weinberg had left her mother’s house, located near East Ray Road in Ahwatukee, Arizona, on December 11. But she eventually became trapped in the middle of a snowy blizzard a day later after her cell phone stopped working.

Weinberg explained that she had left the Phoenix area in her vehicle and began driving to no specific destination until finding herself in Winslow. While driving on a paved road that later turned into a dirt road, she reached a fence line, but when she tried to turn back, the vehicle was stuck in the snow.

The college student was found in a good health conditions, although she was very hungry, thirsty and cold. Local authorities said she was able to survive throughout the 10 days on two candy bars and melted snow.

“I am so thankful to be alive and warm,” she said in a statement quoted by KTVK-TV. “Thank you for your thoughts and prayers because they worked. There were times I was afraid but mostly I had faith I would be found.”

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA (BNO NEWS) — A small plane carrying six people crashed into the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix on early Wednesday evening, officials said on Thursday. There are no signs of survivors.

The accident happened at around 6.30 p.m. local time when a two-engine Rockwell AC69 aircraft, which was registered to Ponderosa Aviation in Stafford, Arizona, crashed into the Superstition Mountains, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Phoenix.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said the aircraft was carrying three adults and three children, although their identities and exact ages were not immediately released. The aircraft had taken off from Stafford in southeastern Arizona and flew to Mesa’s Falcon Field to pick up the three children for the Thanksgiving holiday.

On its way back to Stafford, the plane crashed near the mountains’ Flat Iron area, which is close to the Lost Dutchman State Park. A security camera which was set up several miles (kilometers) from the mountains caught the crash on tape, showing a huge explosion before a fire broke out.

Sheriff’s spokesman Elias Johnson confirmed the death of one child whose body was recovered near the crash site on late Wednesday evening. The five other people on board, including the pilot and a mechanic, are also believed to have been killed.

Helicopters carrying emergency workers were deployed to carry out the search and rescue operation, but the rugged terrain of the Superstitious Mountains makes it difficult to access the crash site.

Although Babeu said he was hoping to find survivors, the sheriff said the scene does not look promising. All of the children are believed to be between 5 and 9 years old. Johnson later said emergency teams were moving into a discovery phase.

Both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the cause of the accident.

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MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) — A US Airways flight attendant was found dead in his hotel room in Mexico City on early Saturday morning, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) confirmed. One report claimed he was strangled.

AFA said Phoenix flight attendant Nick Aaronson was found dead in his hotel room in Mexico City, but provided few other details. “Preliminary findings do not indicate a safety breach at the hotel. Therefore, we do not believe our crew members are at risk,” AFA said in an e-mail to members.

However, the union said layover crews will be temporarily relocated to an alternative location in Mexico City until more details are available. “While an investigation is underway, our priority at this time is to provide support for Nick’s family and our crewmembers,” AFA said.

According to the NoticiasMexico news portal, however, Aaronson was found dead at the five-star Hilton Mexico City Reforma hotel just after 6 a.m. local time. The report said hotel staff found him naked, lying face down beside the bed with his hands tied behind his back.

The news portal added that Aaronson was believed to have died from suffocation by being strangled with a belt which was found around his neck. It said his luggage was found scattered across the floor between the bed and the door to the hallway.

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SAN DIEGO (BNO NEWS) — Power was restored to all 1.4 million customers of San Diego Gas & Electric on Friday following a massive blackout that affected southern California, Arizona, and parts of Mexico.

San Diego Gas & Electric announced in a statement that power was restored early Friday at 3.25 a.m. local time, almost 12 hours after a major electric transmission system outage in western Arizona resulted in the most widespread power outage in the company’s history. The company has called for energy conservation throughout Friday, asking customers to use fans rather than air conditioning.

“Restoring power in the aftermath of the loss of the entire local grid serving San Diego and southern Orange counties was a monumental task,” said David Geier, vice president of electric operations. ”The restoration process, however, has left our local power grid very fragile and we are asking our customers to conserve electricity throughout the day Friday.”


Power was restored Thursday night and early Friday morning for many of the about 4 million customers who lost power Thursday afternoon in San Diego and Orange counties, the Inland Empire and parts of Mexico. It was unclear how many remained without power on Friday afternoon.

The biggest outage, however, was in San Diego County, where people were trapped in elevators and theme park rides, and outbound flights had to be cancelled. All public schools in San Diego County were expected to remain closed Friday.

Officials said the blackout was triggered by a mishap on a high-voltage power line linking Arizona and San Diego. APS, which is Arizona’s largest electric utility, said a worker was carrying out a procedure at a nearby substation when the blackout occurred.



“The outage appears to be related to a procedure an APS employee was carrying out in the North Gila substation,” an APS spokesman said in a statement. “Operating and protection protocols typically would have isolated the resulting outage to the Yuma area. The reason that did not occur in this case will be the focal point of the investigation into the event, which already is underway.”

A multi-agency investigation is being launched to determine the cause of the outage.

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA (BNO NEWS) — Four people have been arrested in relation to a 10-year-old girl who died after being stuffed in a footlocker as punishment for taking a popsicle from the refrigerator, local media reported on Friday.

John and Samantha Allen, both 23, Cynthia Stoltzmann, 44, and Judith Deal, 72, were all arrested on Wednesday night after the death of 10-year-old Ame Deal was reported, the Arizona Republic reported, adding that disturbing details have been discovered throughout the investigation.

According to court documents, Ame Deal had been punished for taking a frozen popsicle from the refrigerator and was forced to do backbends for around two hours as punishment. She was later forced to run in the yard under the summer heat, which recorded 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius) that day. Finally, the little girl was padlocked inside a small footlocker measuring 31 by 14 by 12 inches and left inside overnight, while the adults went to bed.

Police were informed the following morning and her body was found on July 12. Authorities had initially been informed that Ame Deal was playing hide-and-seek until late at night and apparently locked herself inside. Further investigations revealed that John Allen had locked Ame Deal in the footlocker as his wife Samantha stood by. They left her there while they went to sleep.

According to court records, the footlocker had been previously used to punish Ame Deal for several reasons, including wetting the bed. After locking her in, the adults would pick it up and spin it around or roll the footlocker across the floor. On one occasion, a neighbor heard screams from the footlocker while Cynthia Stoltzmann sat on top of it, using a laptop computer.

Ame Deal would also be beaten with a board and forced to sleep in the shower without blankets or pillows, the Arizona Republic added. Neighbors said they had not called the police because they had not witnessed any physical abuse although they would occasionally hear screams. In addition, children, including toddlers, would stay outside playing until late hours at night and up to 2 a.m. local time.

David Deal, 51, is the victim’s father and also lives in the house, but he has declined to comment in relation to the case. Stoltzmann is Samantha Allen’s mother, who is Ame Deal’s aunt. Meanwhile, Judith Deal is Stoltzmann mother. In total, at least 12 children were living with the four adults, who, according to court records, lived in Ogden, Utah from 2006 to 2010 before moving to Arizona. Previously, they lived in Midland, Texas and Racine, Wisconsin.

Previous state records had listed Ame Deal as an abused and neglected child and she might have been the only child who was being punished at the home. The Allens are expected to face first-degree murder charges, while Stoltzmann and Deal are expected to be charged with kidnapping and child-abuse.

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YUMA, ARIZONA (BNO NEWS) — A U.S. soldier has been arrested and charged with attempting to board a United Airlines flight while possessing a small amount of explosives, prosecutors in Arizona confirmed on Thursday.

U.S. Army Private First Class Christopher Eric Wey, 19, was arrested on Wednesday when he tried to board a United Airlines flight from Yuma in Arizona to Los Angeles. Security officers with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) detected the presence of explosives in Wey’s luggage during a routine screening.

“TSA personnel subsequently found one-half ounce of C4 explosive hidden in a tobacco can inside one of Wey’s bags. Wey was detained for investigation, and interviewed by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),” a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona said.

According to a complaint filed on Thursday, Wey stole the C4 explosive while attending a recent explosive training course. It is not known why he stole it, but authorities found no evidence that Wey intended any harm with the explosives in his possession.

Wey has been charged with one count of Attempt to Carry an Explosive on an Aircraft and one count of Transportation of a Stolen Explosive. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, and a $250,000 fine, if convicted.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — Two F-16 fighter jets on early Friday afternoon intercepted a small plane in Arizona after it had accidentally flown into Mexico during an attempt to impress a woman, officials said.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said two F-16 fighter jets intercepted the small aircraft at approximately 12.50 p.m. Central Time when it was near the border near Tucson, a city about 60 miles (98 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border. It had just re-entered U.S. airspace.

The civilian aircraft, which was flying without a flight plan, was forced to land at Tucson International Airport where the pilot was met by local law enforcement. He reportedly explained that he accidentally flew into Mexico while attempting to impress a woman.

Several small planes have been intercepted by NORAD aircraft in various parts of the United States in recent weeks. Most recently, on June 13 and June 18, U.S. Coast Guard helicopters were ordered to intercept two small planes after they entered restricted airspace near Washington, D.C.

And earlier in June, two F-15 fighter jets out of Jacksonville International Airport in Florida were alerted when a small Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft remained out of radio contact while near restricted airspace over Camp David, the country retreat of the president. It landed without incident after being escorted out of the area.

NORAD is tasked to prevent air attacks against North America and safeguard the sovereign airspaces of the United States and Canada by responding to unknown and unauthorized air activity approaching and operating within these airspaces, and provide aerospace and maritime warning for North America. It is allowed to monitor, shadow, divert from flight path, direct to land and destroy targets which are deemed to be a security threat to North America.

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA (BNO NEWS) — A Parker, Arizona man on Thursday was indicted by a federal grand jury in Phoenix for seriously injuring his 4-month-old son, prosecutors said.

Jerrod Darrell Aspa, 20, was charged with one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and another count of child abuse. The defendant is a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes.

On June 7, Aspa was watching his 4-month-old son while the toddler’s mother was at work. According to the two-count indictment, the infant was crying and the defendant shook the child several times in an attempt to silence him.

After shaking the toddler, Aspa laid the 4-month-old baby down and leave him. The assault caused irreversible brain damage which was allegedly exacerbated as his father did not seek prompt medical treatment.

The investigation was conducted by the Colorado River Indian Tribes Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). If convicted, Aspa faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

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