These succulents can be sold for $0 each in China and Korea.
PEOPLE SMUGGLE the weirdest things: Ivory, eels, rhino horns, elephant tusks, shark fins. The latest thing that has proven to be lucrative -- and far less dangerous to gather -- are those little green succulents that grow up and down the California coast. California wildlife officials uncovered an smuggling operation in which thieves from Korea and China ship these little succulents to Asia where they fetch up to $50 a plant. Known as Dudleya farinosa, the thick-leaved starburst-like light green succulents grow wild in nature, clinging to rocky landscapes. This plant is native to the coastline of Oregon and northern California, where it is commonly found on bluffs and coastal hillsides.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says the global black market operation started after people sending packages of plants indicated "valuable things" were inside, according to NBC-TV.
"Next thing you know there's pieces of dirt coming out of the packages and they're thinking 'that's kind of weird,'" said Patrick Foy from the DFW. Smugglers have been illegally snipping them from their rocky perches and shipping them to Asia where they are prized for their beauty.
Admired for their hardiness, they are popular in homeowner yards because they are drought tolerant. The plants burst into beauty when they bloom, erecting a tall stem and a candelabra-like cluster of yellow flowers.
Operators have been arrested along the Calfiornia coast and in Las Vegas where investigators found hundreds of the cactus-like plants in boxes in their rented vehicles.
In one such bust in northern California, wildlife officers pulled over a suspects’ van, rented at the Las Vegas airport, made arrests and seized 1,334 plants — all on their way to being shipped overseas. The suspects often speak little English.
Authorities then raided the suspects’ cabin among the redwoods and found another 1,000 of the succulents there.
"These plants are part of the ecosystem," said Emeritus director of UC Santa Cruz Arboretum Stephen McCabe. "There are butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, robber flies, all sorts of things that are associated with these."
SOCIAL MEDIA has been going crazy this week over three boys from the Philippines. Keifer Sanchez, Mackie Empuerto, and Francis Concepcion, who call themselves the TNT Boys, do a cover of Beyonce’s hit song “Listen” in an amazing show-stopper that will leave you speechless. These three kids met on the Manila talent show Tawag ng Tanghalan (TNT, get it?) two years ago and decided to combine their talents.
This performance was on the United Kingdom's Little Big Shots is a show featuring the funniest and most talented children from all over the world.
The series is hosted by Dawn French and based on the American show of the same name created by Ellen DeGeneres and Steve Harvey who is also the host of the American original.
The video caught the attention of rapper Snoop Dog and actor Laverne Cox, both of whom passed it on to Bey, herself.
I wonder if she was as impressed as the rest of the Internet? Watch their performance below.
AN ATTEMPT in Michigan by a Republican candidate for governor to tie his Democratic opponent to the Muslim Brotherhood is drawing outrage, reports Click on Detroit. State Sen. Patrick Colbeck is accusing Dr. Abdul El-Sayed of belonging to the Muslim Student Association during his years at the University of Michigan. The student group is a sanctioned club on campus, and according to El-Sayed, has no ties to terrorism.
According to Buzzfeed, state and local Republican candidates have attacked Islam in 49 states since 2015. The article accused Colbeck of pushing “false conspiracy theories.”
“Of course, I knew that in choosing to run for governor as an unapologetic, proud Muslim and American, I was going to contend with the ugly face of White supremacy that Donald Trump and his friends have sanctioned,” El-Sayed said. “But I know that every day I serve this state and this country, beholding us to our ideals and our constitution, which empower and inspire me to serve every single person in our state, regardless of my ethnicity, color or faith.”
Colbeck denied the allegations saying he is merely raising concerns specific to El-Sayed and not all Muslim/Americans.
El-Sayed was born and raised in Michigan. His parents immigrated from Egypt. He is considered the most serious challenger to Democratic frontrunner Gretchen Whitmer. His politics lean towards the so-called "progressive" wing of the party, which explains why Bernie Sanders supporters have flocked to his campaign.
After graduating from the University of Michigan, he went on as a Rhoades scholar and got his doctorate from Oxford University. He earned his medical degree at Columbia University.
He returned to Michigan to head up Detroit's Health Department after it was decimated and demoralized by privatization in the previous administration. Uunder his leadership, the Detroit Health Department has become a state and national leader in public health innovation and environmental justice, in one of the fastest municipal public health turnarounds in American history.
He is one of three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. The primary election is Aug. 7. The winner of that contest will represent the party in the November elections against some independents and the Republican nominee. Besides Colbeck, there are three other Republicans seeking the GOP nomination for governor.
Colbeck isn't subtle with his bigotry. according to a report from Buzzfeed, in almost every speech Colby says in nearly every speech that people tell him that El-Sayed is probably “a little too young, a little too brown and a little too Muslim” to be a viable candidate for governor.
PATRICK COLBECK
Sarah Anderson, spokeswoman for the Michigan Republican Party, said Colbeck’s pronouncements have no place in the GOP.
“The party isn’t interested in peddling any conspiracy theories and anything he said was not on behalf of the party,” she told the Detroit Free Press. “We categorically condemn any sort of hate speech, regardless of the source.”
Muslims make up only about 2.75 percent of Michigan's population. However, their small size doesn't match the huge impact they have on the state. According to a report by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, more than 15 percent of Michigan's medical doctors are Muslim, as are more than 10 percent of all pharmacists, more than 7 percent of all dentists, 6.9 percent of podiatrists, and 6.1 percent of osteopaths. These Muslim medical professionals provide 1.6 million appointments to patients per year and indirectly support 39,987 jobs.
In fact, the city of Hamtramck, surrounded by the city of Detroit, received international attention in 2016 when it elected a majority-Muslim city council. The city also became the first to have a majority-Muslim population in 2013),
Members of Asians Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education (ASPIRE) demonstrate in support of undocumented students.
A THIRD FEDERAL JUDGE has determined that Donald Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is "arbitrary" and "capricious."
The decision this week from Judge John Bates goes a step beyond than either of the earlier injunctions in California and New York. In addition to continue renewing existing DACA participants, the Washington D.C. judge orders the program to invite and approve new applications from so-called Dreamers who have yet to register for DACA,
However, before accepting new application, Bates has given the administration 90 days to issue a better and legally justified argument for ending the program, which was instigated by President Barack Obama through an Executive Order after the GOP-dominated Congress refused to act on immigration reform.DACA protects undocumented immigrants brought to America as children from deportation. The vast majority of the 700,000 to 800,000 DACA recipients are from Mexico. But there are also thousands of people from Asian countries like China, India, South Korea and the Philippines who would lose their protection and face deportation.
“The decision is only a temporary victory that still allows the administration 90 days to present additional grounds for dismantling this essential program for immigrant youth and families, stated Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a coalition of civil rights organizations.
"We believe in a just and humane immigration system that protects immigrants and our families and allows them to thrive in the United States. As such, Advancing Justice affiliates have joined amicus briefs in the multiple cases across the country challenging the administration’s efforts to end the DACA program."
The statement went on to urge Congress to pass an immigration reform package that includes a permanent solution for undocumented youth, reinstatement of Temporary Protective Status, support refugee programs, and would not sacrifice family unification.
Bates, who was appointed by President Geoerge W. Bush, said in his ruling that just calling DACA unconstitutional doesn't make it so. He said that accusation is "erroneous" and based on “scant legal reasoning.”
The government also, said Bates, “made no mention of the fact that DACA had been in place for five years and had engendered the reliance of hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries, many of whom had structured their education, employment, and other life activities on the assumption that they would be able to renew their DACA benefits.” ______________________________________________________________________________
A JUDGE HAS ORDERED the reinstatement of a Chinese/American government scientist in Ohio who was fired after being wrongly accused of spying for China. Chief Administrative Judge Michele Schroeder of the Merit Systems Protection Board has directed the National Weather Service to reinstate Sherry Chen, plus give her back pay and benefits, reports Xinhua.
The ruling which was also confirmed by the Sherry Chen Defense Fund stems from her arrest in 2014 and subsequent firing in 2016. Judge Schroeder ruled that the Department of Commerce which overseas the National Weather Service did not have just cause to dismiss her.
The case has been singled out by members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights as an example of racial profiling of Chinese and Asian Americans.
In his 130 page decision, the judge called baseless accusations that Chen attempted to obtain secret information from a government data base for a Chinese official.
“We hope this decision sends a strong message to the federal government: stop targeting innocent Chinese Americans,” the fund said in a statement released following the judge’s decision.
“Three and a half years after her wrongful arrest in October,2014 and two years after her termination in March 2016, Sherry Chen finally has received justice,” said the statement.The judge completely rejected the DOC’s many allegations against Chen that arose from its claim that she purportedly attempted to obtain secret information from a restricted government database for an official in China.
Schroeder questioned the conduct of the DOC, in how it investigated Chen both before her arrest in 2014 and her subsequent termination in 2016. For example, the judge deemed it “inconceivable” that the DOC’s criminal investigators were selective and biased in producing their investigative reports.
The judge also found it “troubling” that before firing Chen DOC officials utterly failed to include in the DOC file a dozen sworn declarations from Chen’s co-workers that were “clearly relevant” to the termination decision.
The judge also excoriated DOC officials for “digging their heels in when it came time to support the decision they had made.” In short, he ruled, they seemed to be “more concerned about being right than doing the right thing.”
Some of the 'Crazy Rich Asians' cast were on hand for the special preview, including, from left, Nico Santos, Gemma Chan, Henry Golding, Constance Wu, Jimmy O. Yang and Awkafina.
A SPECIAL PREVIEW of the upcoming movie, Crazy Rich Asians, was held in L.A. last night. In the audience were a whole bunch of AAPI influencers (Hey, why wasn't Views From the Edge invited?). The initial response: overwhelming, tears, joy, pride, emotional. My two favorite tweets: From director John M. Chu, "It's not a movie, it's a movement."
And we get this from from Andre J. Daughtry. He said what, I've been thinking : Crazy Rich Asians is to AAPI as Black Panther is for African/Americans. That's putting a lot of pressure on the film adaptation of Kevin Kwan's best-selling novel.
Take a look at the sampling of the responses below for yourself. For more critiques, go to Next Shark.
I swear, we're not in the PR business, much less promoting a particular movie, but if you're not getting revved up about Crazy Rich Asians, which will premiere Aug. 17, then ...
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Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, center, and her family watched the election results for Arizona's Congressional District 8.
AS EXPECTED, the GOP won the deeply conservative Eighth Congressional District in Arizona but instead of high-fives, there was concern because the Democratic candidate made great inroads in a district that Donald Trump won by 21 points in 2016.
Debbie Lesko, a former state senator, was able to top Democrat Hiral Tipirneni, a physician, in Arizona's special election for the 8th Congressional District. With most of the vote counted, Lesko led Tipirneni 52.6% to 47.4f%. Tiipirneni, encouraged by the narrow margin of her loss, said that she will challenge Lesko this November.
Lesko, who served as state legislature for the past nine years, was supposed to win. The single-digit victory in a district that Donald Trump won by 21 points and which there were twice as many registered Republicans than Democrats, raises serious concern for the race for U.S. Senate in November.
Republicans poured $700,000 into Lesko's campaign to help bolster her chances and to ensure that the deep Red district stays in the GOP hands after a series of defeats in Alabama, Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Big-name Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan came in to campaign for her.
The race had become a referendum on Donald Trump. Lesko supported Trump's policies on immigration, taxes and health care; Tipirnene ran a Democratic campaign that stressed government-supported health care and saving social security and Medicare.
Her near-upset may show Democrats a route to victory in November when voters decide a replacement for U.S. Senator Jeff Flake.
As of this writing, Tipirnene had not conceded into the early Wednesday, holding onto hope long after the networks had called the contest for Lesko.
Considering the unexpectedly thin margin, one has to wonder what would have happened if the Democratic Party had given Tipirnene the same kind of support. The Indian/American physician, who never ran for public office before, actually raised more money than Lesko, had a more enthusiastic ground game and almost pulled off the upset. Lesko will occupy the seat for the remainder of the term. That means she must run for re-election in November to keep it. That means Tipirnene will get another chance.
Tipirmeni confirms that she will run against Lesko this November. She tweeted this message this morning at around 10:30 a.m., April 25:
(UPDATED: 3:30 p.m., April 25, 2018 rewritten to reflect Tipirneni's intention to run in Nov.) _________________________________________________________________________________
THE LAST TIME I was on Kauai, I tried to imagine living on the North Shore where there were fewer tourists because of the incessant rains, but in exchange, the vegetation was so lush, flowers so beautiful, and most of its beaches uncrowded. I tried to take a picture of lone white horse, hitched up to a tree framed with the green pastures and mountains as if its owner left knew it would make a great picture. Driving up the two-lane highway, crossing numerous bridges spanning flowing creeks; Hanelei Valley was lush with fields of taro, a lonely house in the midst of all that beauty. How would it be like to live there?
ED DIOKNO
Kauai's Hanelei Valley before the recent storm
Hanelei Valley from the same lookout point during the flood.
The torrential rains of last week changed that beautiful landscape into broken bridges, whole sections of roads wiped out, homes built to survive tsunamis forced off their supposedly strong concrete foundations, homes collapsed like tinker toys. "I've lived here all my life and this storm was pretty gnarly," resident Kevin Kaleiohi told Hawaii News Now.
The National Weather Service lifted a flash flood warning for Kauai last Friday (April 21) and a flash flood watch across the Hawaiian islands. Although the storm hit all the islands, one of the worst hit was Kauai, which historically receives the most rain.
Hanalei on Kauai's north shore saw 28.1 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period starting at 2 a.m.. April 16. Weather officials say it was likely record-breaking rain, but the rain gauge there stopped working. With the ground already waterlogged, the water had nowhere to go except to the ocean, unfortunately, the communities on Kauai's north shore were in the way. Living on the mainland, the disaster that struck Kauai barely made the news amidst the crazy goings-on in Washington. There was hardly a picture, much less TV footage of what befell paradise. The video of a visit last weekend by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard gives us a glimpse of the damage that occurred.
Cleanup has already begun. Hanalei is a popular tourist spot and it was also one of the areas hardest hit by the storm. Business owners that depend on tourism are suffering. "Although I see all the doors open, I just don't see all the people," Jimit Mehta told KHON-TV.
Even with the progress made over the last week, visitors are scarce. "We're looking at a 75% drop in business," Mehta said. Despite the flood damage, the Hawaii Tourism Authority wants travelers to visit Kauai even though parts of the island are recovering from major flooding. Tourism is the island state's No. 1 business. Flooding this month badly damaged the only road connecting the small north shore towns of Haena and Wainiha with the rest of Kauai. Some restaurants and shops in the nearby town of Hanalei also flooded.
But many other major tourist areas on the southern and eastern sides of the island were unaffected. And many other Hanalei restaurants and shops have reopened.
Kauai resident Ikaika Okuno rinses off his belongings.
Emergency rescue crews have evacuated 152 people by helicopter, 121 by bus and others by water, according to Gov. David Ige's office.
The governor and Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho flew with military and county emergency crews over heavily damaged regions in the Hanalei District, including Wainiha and Haena, seeing "the swollen Hanalei River, flooded neighborhoods and farmlands," according to the governor's office.
"Damage is very extensive in this area. The immediate problem is access. Several landslides are blocking roads into the communities.
"Crews are working to restore access to the Hanalei District, but it will take some time. We are establishing landing zones for aircraft. The Hawaii National Guard has deployed two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, two CH-47 Chinooks, eight Zodiacs and more than 45 soldiers and airmen to support rescue efforts, and to get medical aid and necessary supplies to the area," Ige said.
U.S. COAST GUARD
At the height of the flooding, the community near Hanelei Bay was under water.
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Evacuations
In a statement posted on Facebook, the County of Kauai said emergency agencies were working to get water and supplies into Wainiha and Haena, from where more than 100 people had been airlifted.
"Those who wish to be evacuated are advised that it is unknown at this time when they can return, as landslides continue to block access along Kuhio Highway between Waikoko and Wainiha," the statement said.
It said that power had been restored to the Wainiha pump stations and that water services would be slowly restored to customers in the Wainiha and Haena areas.
"However, DOW has issued a 'do not drink' advisory and a conservation notice for Wainiha and Haena customers. Those who are receiving water are also urged to heed the conservation notice," the county said.
U.S. NATIONAL GUARD
National Guard members helped evacuate residents and tourists from the flood on Kauai's north shore.
Coast Guard airlifts
The US Coast Guard said in a statement April 16 that its helicopters had helped local authorities rescue hikers around Hanalei Bay Sunday after being asked to assist early that morning.
"The north shore of Kauai experienced flash flooding with waters rising between five and eight feet above average due to the severe thunderstorms and heavy rains, trapping many residents inside their homes and on rooftops," it said in the statement.
"Crews from the Hawaii Fire Department and Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services have been evacuating residents to higher ground via jet skis but were unable to effect rescues in the towns of Hanalei, Wainiha, and Haena," the Coast Guard stated.
In one instance, the coast guard said hikers waved down one of its helicopters above Hanakapiai Beach after being stranded for two days and were hoisted to safety.
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article209683894.html#storylink=cpy
Rep. Gabbard tweeted out: "The #Kauai community is taking action to help each other after severe rain, flooding, and landslides have ravaged homes and businesses, and washed out roads across the island. If you want to know how to help our community on #Kauai, please visit @HawaiiRedCross at http://redcross.org/local/hawaii.
Weather forecast
The sun has returned to help dry out the island. Ominously, CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri said the forecast for Kauai was set to improve over the next couple of days.
"However, this is a part of the world is notorious for persistent rainfall over 300 days per year," Javaheri said.
"I'd expect showers and blustery weather to continue in this region, although not nearly similar to the amounts seen in recent days."
Kauai County said in its statement that the rain meant the Kalihiwai Reservoir had been nearing capacity Saturday afternoon and residents in low-lying areas had been told to evacuate.
"Since that time, the dam has been inspected and it has been deemed safe for residents to return.
Officials will continue to monitor the reservoir," the county said. It advised residents to stay out of flood waters.
"Heavy rains have caused storm water runoff throughout Kauai, leading to widespread flooding producing large areas of standing water. Coastal waters have also been affected and a brown water advisory remains in effect until further notice."
SHE HAD NO IDEA that she had won journalism's highest honor, the Pulitzer Prize.
Mairel Padilla, a student at Columbia University School of Journalism, was in class last week when The Pulitzer winners were named. She knew that The Pulitzer awardees were being announced a couple of floors below her classroom, but when you're typing notes, you don't have time to think of anything else.
She was on busily typing away on her laptop when a text message popped onto her screen. It was from her editor from The Cincinnati Enquirer, where she had done an internship last summer:
“I was in shock,” the 23-year old Padilla told the Columbia Journalism Review. “My eyes just went so wide and I’m pretty sure my mouth was open. Obviously, I couldn’t make noise or anything because my professor was still talking.”
The classroom stayed quiet, but the news spread quickly around as classmates began furiously typing messages. “No one is supposed to be on their phones, but we have our laptops, so other students in class started messaging each other and finding out,” she told the CJR. It wasn’t until the class break that a classmate made the announcement.
During the Filipina/American's internship at the Enquirer, the newspaper had a special project chronicling a week of Cincinatti's heroin crisis. As a breaking-news intern, Padilla, 23, was assigned to visit the county jail each morning during the project’s week of coverage to sort through hundreds of paper arrest slips and flag opioid mentions, according to the CJR.
On her own initiative, Padilla was able to use technology to gather the data in a useful form. She took it upon herself to create a spreadsheet for Enquirer reporters, documenting the time, location, and nature of every opioid-related event that occurred over the week 24/7. Reporters and editors took to using her spreadsheet to chronicle their reporting.
Published in September 2017, the story, “Seven Days of Heroin,” prompted a nationwide conversation about the opioid crisis, with newspapers around the country taking up the baton passed on by the Enquirer series.
“I mean, I technically am a Pulitzer winner, but I am just so humbled by the fact that they put the interns on the byline," says Padilla, who hails from Canton, Ohio. "I feel like I still need to learn all the things that I’m learning, which I think is why my general reaction was just straight shock. I still don’t believe it.”
REUTERS, the London-based news agency, won an unprecedented two Pulitzer prizes for its work in Southeast Asia.
A Filipino journalist was among those who won this year’s prestigious Pulitzer Prize for “relentless reporting” on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drugs war.
Manuel “Manny” Mogato, colleagues Clare Baldwin and Andrew R.C. Marshall from international news agency Reuters were cited for their “relentless reporting that exposed the brutal killing campaign behind Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.”
“It was a team effort. Every one in the Manila bureau did their job but it was months of hardwork and I admired the courage, strength, and perseverance of the team to pursue the drugs war story,” said Mogato, who has been Reuters' political and general news correspondent in Manila for 15 years.
FACEBOOK
Manuel Mogato, Reuters' Manila correspondent, won part of a team honored by winning this year's Pulitzer.
Winning a Pulitzer Prize, a recognition for outstanding work, is journalism's highest honor.
“In a year in which many Pulitzers were rightly devoted to U.S. domestic matters, we’re proud at Reuters to shine a light on global issues of profound concern and importance,” Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler said in an address to the Reuters' newsroom in London.
In the Philippines coverage, the Reuters team “demonstrated how police in the president’s ‘drug war’ have killed with impunity and consistently been shielded from prosecution,” Adler said.
The coverage included a report that revealed how a police anti-drug squad on the outskirts of Manila had recorded an unusually high number of killings. Many members of the squad came from a distant place that was also Duterte’s hometown, where the campaign’s brutal methods originated during his time as mayor there.
They identified not just new patterns in the killings, but also the top killers, corroborating their findings with months of risky reporting in slums and hostile police stations. The series explored how Philippine police use hospitals to cover up drug-war executions; how a group of police officers from Duterte’s hometown Davao formed the core of a lethal anti-drug unit; and how Duterte targets Philippine children in a bid to widen the drug war.
The Pulitzer committee recognized the team for their “relentless reporting that exposed the brutal killing campaign behind Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.”
Mogato, a veteran Filipino journalist who previously worked for the Manila Chronicle before joining Reuters, is the second Philippines-based journalist to win the prestigious journalism award, after Carlos P. Romulo became the first non-American to be given the Pulitzer Prize in Correspondence in 1942.
Reuters photographers Adnan Abidi, Mohammad Ponir Hossain, Hannah McKay, Cathal McNaughton, Damir Sagolj, Danish Siddiqui and Soe Zeya Tun were recognized in the category of Feature Photography for their coverage of the mass exodus of the Rohingya people to Bangladesh.
The Rohingyas’ migration from Myanmar is grueling and deadly. Hundreds of thousands of people, wet, caked in mud, exhausted, starving or sick, arrive in a state of panic and need the last of their energy. To document it was a severe challenge to Reuters journalists. To see a gallery of their photos, click here. The Pulitzer judges honored the team “for shocking photographs that exposed the world to the violence Rohingya refugees faced in fleeing Myanmar.” As Reuters garners international praise for its reporting, the news agency has hired human rights attorney Amal Clooney, wife of the actor, to represent them in gaining the release of two its reporters who have been under arrest by Myanmar authorities since Dec. 12, 2017. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.
A request to dismiss the case for lack of evidence was denied last week.
Tuesday is the Big Day for Hiral Tipirmeni, right, and Debbie Lesko.
ON THE EVEN of a special election in Arizona's Congressional Eighth District, newcomer exudes confidence even though she's a Democrat in an overwhelming Republican district that hasn't elected a Democrat since 1980. "I think there are a lot of recent elections to suggest that conventional wisdom doesn't necessarily apply," said Hiral Tipirmeni, who is running for office for the first time. "There's a lot of enthusiasm in our base. We have a large chunk of independent voters that I think are very persuadable, and frankly there are Republicans who are feeling very disaffected." The Indian/American physician has come from obscurity to pull even with her Republican rival, Debbie Lesko, who has been the district's representative in the state legislature since 2009. The April 24 contest has become a referendum on Donald Trump.
Lesko backs three of biggest issues on Trump's agenda: dismantle government health care, build a wall on Arizona's border with Mexico, cut taxes for the top 1% and corporations and cut social security and Medicare to pay for those tax cuts that would raise the national debt. Tipirmeni is pushing an expanded Medicare plan that would allow people as young as 50 to enroll to opt-in to Medicare coverage, and opposes building a wall with Mexico while boosting enforcement through technology and drones and adding Border Patrol agents. She also supports tax cuts -- for the middle class -- and would protect Social Security and Medicare. The big question is whether the enthusiasm on the ground is in the Democrats' favor; is it enough to overcome the huge Republican lead in voter registration? Almost three-quarters of the voters have already submitted their ballots by mail, typical of an older electorate. That means the majority of voters cast their ballots before the recent survey that showed the candidates in a dead heat. Unfortunately for Tipirneni, 49 percent of those who have voted early so far are registered Republicans; only 28 percent are registered Democrats. Nearly 60 percent of the voters in early voting is age 65 or older. It would be huge upset if Tipirmeni were to win. The GOP has poured money into Lesko's campaign to stanch the bleeding from recent losses in Alabama, Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Even if Lesko wins, if the margin of victory is less than 12 percent, the Democrats would see it as a victory because the District 8 election would set the stage for November when Arizona votes for someone to replace Republican Sen. Jeff Flake in the U.S. Senate. The Arizona Republic, Phoenix's biggest newspaper, has endorsed Tiipirmeni over Lesko. The paper's endorsement editorial concludes:
"Although her stances reflect a Democratic agenda, Tipirneni touts a science-led, data-based approach to policymaking, which could help take the passion out of vitriolic debates over how to deal with entitlement reform or environmental programs, Or how to deal with gun violence, which she views as a public-health issue."
Arizona polls open at 7 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m. ______________________________________________________________________________
