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Mar
30
Desert Schools CUSO Hires New COO
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Phoenix, Ariz-March 29, 2010, Desert Schools Financial Services, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Desert Schools Federal Credit Union elevated Susi Bennett to serve as its new chief operating officer. Bennett will report to Becky Nilsen, CEO.
Sus Bennett, Desert Schools new COO
Bennett’s career at Desert Schools FCU began nearly 20 years ago as a branch manager. Since then, she served in a variety of roles including senior director of training and most recently, assistant vice president of consumer lending.
The credit union was formed in 1939 while Desert Schools Financial Services, structured as a credit union service organization (CUSO) recently celebrated 10 years offering a full line of insurance products and services including automotive and homeowners insurance, life, health and disability income insurance as well as long-term care and Medicare supplemental insurance.
Desert Schools Financial Services CEO, Becky Nilsen said, “Our strategy is to combine great talent with services that remain relevant. Susi’s technical and analytical skills combined with her many years of managing day-to-day operations make her the right fit for our team of seasoned professionals.”
Desert Schools Financial Services made news in recent years by becoming the first and only financial institution in the state to offer dental insurance to its members that is not a group based insurance product. In 2007, the CUSO was first on the national credit union scene to provide members with a Wedding Protector Plan through an alliance with Travelers Indemnity Company.
The CUSO also specializes in Member Asset Preservation Services (MAPS) created to help members protect their wishes with a full line of estate planning offerings, including wills, trusts and comprehensive document preparation services.
Nilsen said, “With Susi on board, this is just the beginning of great things to come for our members. Her leadership will help us support the growing number of strategic business initiatives that we provide to Desert Schools, plus smaller credit unions and local businesses in our community.“
Desert Schools is Arizona’s largest credit union with $3 billion in assets, 370,000 members and more than 50 locations. As a not-for-profit cooperative, Desert Schools has been serving members for more than 70 years with stellar service, innovative products, community outreach and education. Learn more at www.desertschools.org
Desert Schools Financial Services is an Arizona Limited Liability Company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Desert Schools Federal Credit Union. For more than a decade, we’ve been helping members plan their financial future by offering services that are competitively priced, technologically advanced, and with personalized solutions. Learn more at www.desertschoolsfs.com
Mar
25
County Recorder Offers Suggestions for Potential Candidates and Early Voters
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Florence, AZ-Pinal County Recorder Laura Dean-Lytle is offering some advice for office seekers and information for people who want to vote early.
“In their effort to verify petition signatures, the County Elections Department sometimes runs into petitions that are incorrectly filled out and that’s a shame,” Dean-Lytle said. “The candidates work a lot of hours with volunteers to get these signatures so they can get on the ballot and it’s hard to tell them that they don’t have enough signatures because of errors.”
The County Recorder said potential candidates should follow these tips to help them get on the ballot:
•   Registered voters with a political affiliation of Independent, No-Party-Claimed or listed as a member of a political party other than Democrat, Republican or Libertarian can sign any nomination petitions in support of a candidate.
•   Democrats, Republicans and Libertarian voters must sign their party-specific nomination petitions.
•   When signing petitions it is important for the registered voter to use their home address on the petitions, not a mailing address.
•   The person gathering the petition must sign on the back of the petition to verify they are legally qualified to seek signatures for the candidate.
•   While it may take some time, a candidate or committee should work to verify that they have enough valid signatures on their nominating petitions.
“If candidates and their committees follow these simple rules, it makes it easier for us to verify them for a place on the ballot,” Dean-Lytle said.
Voters who have signed up for the Permanent Early Voter List will soon receive a 120-day notice reminding them of the Primary Election on Tuesday, August 24, 2010.
“Any voter on this list who is not a member of the Republican, Libertarian or Democratic parties will have to select what political ballot they wish to receive and return the notice with that information so they will receive a ballot for that election,” the County Recorder stressed. “Also, if you will be out of the state for the August 24 election, please notify our voter registration office of your temporary address so we can mail your ballot to you.”
Voters who will be out of the state for the August 24 election can call the Voter Registration Department at (520) 866-6858 to give them a temporary address. Voters can also write to the department at: P.O. Box 848; Florence, AZ 85132.
Ballots will not be forwarded by the U.S. Post Office. If the post office is still forwarding your mail when the ballots are mailed on or about August 1, that ballot will be returned to the Pinal County Recorder’s office. The ballots will be mailed approximately the first week of August.
For more information on early voting or election questions please call the Pinal County Citizen’s Contact Center at (520) 509-3555 or search our website at www.pinalcountyaz.gov.
Mar
24
Pinal County, AZ-On March 23, 2010 deputies and investigators captured Frank Dryman aka Victor Houston (78) of Arizona City who shot to death Mr. Clarence Pellett of Montana, nearly 60 years ago.
Frank Dryman circa 1955
Convicted of murder in 1955, Dryman was sentenced to life in prison but was paroled in 1969. In 1972, Dryman fled the state and took up residence in Arizona under the alias, Victor Houston.
On Tuesday, 38 years later, Dryman (78), was arrested after deputies were contacted by the Montana Department of Corrections who informed them a private investigator, former Florence Chief of Police Patrick Cote, had been hired by Pellett’s grandson and believed he had located Dryman.
Deputies responded to Houston’s (Dryman) residence in Arizona City, where he ran Cactus Rose Wedding Chapel and a notary service, and met with Houston. Deputies attempted to ascertain thru visual observation and conversation if in fact the long time Arizona City resident, Victor Houston, was in fact Frank Dryman. Deputies noticed tattoo’s on Houston’s knuckles in the same location where Dryman apparently had the letters L-O-V-E tattoed.
Instead of letters, Houston had stars which deputies later learned covered the letters once there.  The warrant from Montana DOC indicated Dryman had a tattoo on his chest and abdomen area and when deputies asked Houston to lift his shirt they could see the remnants of the outline of a tattoo. They asked Houston what the highly faded tattoo was of and Houston told them he was old and did not remember.
Deputies detained Houston and transported him to the substation where his fingerprints were taken and run thru the nationwide finger print data base. To the deputies’ surprise, Houston’s fingerprints were not listed in the AFIS database but detectives with the PCSO interviewed Houston who ultimately revealed his true identity, Frank Dryman, to them.
Sheriff’s Office Detective Daniel Pacheco, who interviewed Dryman, arrested him. Dryman was booked into the Pinal County Adult Detention Facility in Florence where he is awaiting extradition back to Montana.
Sheriff Paul Babeu said, “This felony warrant suspect and convicted murderer has been hiding out in Pinal County for years. In fact, he carefully cultivated personal friendships with past elected county Sheriffs. I’m proud of Sgt. Jason Villegas, Detective Pacheco and Deputies Lopez and Lakosky for their fine work in apprehending this fugitive. Our arrest was only possible due to the great investigative work of retired Florence Police Chief and Private Investigator Patrick Cote, who identified this man as the likely subject of the felony warrant. They can run from the law, but with perseverance and good investigative work, we almost always find them in the end.”
Mar
22
Jack McClaren, a certified Police Officer, is running for Constable in Pinal County’s JP7, across San Tan Valley, Gold Canyon and Apache Junction. He is 50 years old, a graduate of Project CENTRL, (a premier, rural leadership program), a certified Public Manager, a Farm Bureau Member, and Army Veteran with sixteen years law enforcement experience.
Jack Mclaren: Candidate for Pinal County Constable
Jack McClaren has three grown children and four grandchildren. He has lived in the San Tan Valley area for 34 years and has many ties to the community. He serves on the board of the Apache Junction Boys and Girls Club and is one of the newest members of ADOBE in Gold Canyon.
Jack McClaren is a dedicated professional and is committed to serve his district with integrity and efficiency. Jack has stated “I will treat all citizens with fairness and respect.”
To learn more about Jack McClaren, visit his website at www.mcclarenforconstable.com.
Mar
19
Apache Junction, AZ-The statistician for the Arizona Supreme Court has released the biennial statistical report for the justice courts in the State of Arizona. Reviewing the report of the 13 counties that do not have consolidated justice courts, the Apache Junction Justice Court is at the top of the list in several categories.
The Apache Junction Justice court is leading the state in case volume and a virtual dead heat for collections. The total cases filed in the Apache Junction Justice Court were nearly 19,000 cases and the collections were in excess of $2.3 million.
Of particular pride to Presiding Judge Dennis Lusk, were the efficiency ratings.  When taking the amount of work done and dividing it by the number of people doing that work, the efficiency rankings in all measures was the highest by a large margin.
Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch made a visit to the court last month and complemented Judge Lusk for the outstanding reputation the court has statewide.  She also was pleased that Judge Lusk has sent the Chief Clerk and Asst. Chief Clerk/Office Manager to all the available certification programs available (Certified Public Manager, National Center for State Courts’ Institute for Court Management and the Arizona Court Management programs).
Because of the court’s accomplishments, the Apache Junction Justice Court has been chosen to be the pilot court for the roll out of 6 new programs. The Supreme Court has appointed Judge Lusk to 10 committees, commissions and boards, and the Supreme Court Judicial Education Branch has Judge Lusk on the faculty for Judge’s training conferences 4 to 7 times a year.
Mar
16
Pat McReynolds
Reporter, KPHO.com
PINAL COUNTY, Ariz. – A Pinal County employee waited more than 10 years to come clean about the illegal dumping of thousands of gallons of hazardous material in the desert. He was angered that some of his colleagues were promoted before him, and finally told his director that more than a decade ago, his supervisor ordered him to dump as many as 500 gallons of oil in a wash off of Whitlow County Road.
CBS5 grabbed a shovel to confirm the whistleblower’s report. And beneath a foot of sand, we found chunk after chunk of solidified oil right where the Pinal County Public Works employee said it would be.
Public works director, Greg Stanley, prompted the Sheriff’s investigation after his worker claimed if he didn’t dump the oil, he would lose his job.
“If it wasn’t for a whistle blower bringing this information forward, would we have ever known this,” said Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.
But the secrets didn’t stop with the oil. The employee also led investigators to a former county pit off of Diffin Road, that he says contains as many as 2,000 gallons of lead based yellow highway paint, and 450 gallons of highway paint glitter. He claims they were also illegally dumped by county workers.
Investigators used metal detectors and determined there is something at the Diffin Pit site consistent with the whistle blower’s report. But as of Monday, neither the county, nor any other agency has actually dug down into the site to find out if the drums of paint are really there.
In fact, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality came out and determined “no solid waste violations were observed. No ADEQ action will result from this inspection.”
But CBS5 found several chunks of dried yellow highway paint littering the pit, right where the witness said they should be.
“Anybody, especially the government, shouldn’t be a party to this, and the fact that they did is especially troubling to me,” said Babeu.
“Those are serious allegations, of course we take them seriously,” said Stanley.
Stanley says two men alleged to have dumped the paint are still working for his department. But until it is determined who should pay for the dig to find the paint, the potentially hazardous evidence remains buried, and the workers responsible presumably will keep their jobs.
“I think there’s got to be some accountability here, especially people working for the county, why wasn’t this brought up, why do people have to be dragged into the light of day to tell the truth and share information in a case like this,” said Babeu.
What makes this case even more difficult is that neither of these sites are owned by Pinal County anymore. They are now state and federal land, and state law reads that the current owner of the land is the one who will be fined for hazardous materials. Those owners could then sue Pinal County for the cost of the clean-up.
The investigation has been turned over to the Pinal County attorney’s office for review. That office will now decide if criminal charges should be filed.
Mar
6
Police Seek Tatooed Suspect
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The Maricopa Police Department is seeking the public’s help in its search for a male subject, with a unique tattoo, that may be involved with suspicious activity recently reported in the Maricopa area
The tattoo is of a cross, surrounded by a snake, on the man’s left forearm.
The subject may be connected to recent reports of children being approached in The Villages at Rancho El Dorado.
Anyone with information regarding the subject or the case should contact Maricopa Police at the following numbers:  MPD Detective Sergeant. Ed Alameda – (520) 251-6594; MPD Silent Witness Hotline – (520) 316-6900; MPD Public Information Office – (520) 251-6373.
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