Monthly Archives: August 2022

The pandemic put a wrench in the plans of several East Valley high school football programs the last two years.

Many had sought matchups with opponents in California and other surrounding states before COVID-19 put a halt to that.

But that is now in the past, and several East Valley teams have made it a priority to start their respective football seasons outside of state lines.

“I want to give these kids a preferred experience, something they will remember for the rest of their lives,” Perry coach Joe Ortiz said. “This will be a first for everyone. Going to Vegas, we watched film, and the backdrop is the strip. So, it’ll be a cool experience to see all of that stuff.”

Since he was hired this off-season, Ortiz has brought along many firsts for the Perry football program.

They competed in a spring ball showcase for the first time, as well as 7-on-7 and big man competitions throughout the summer. And now for the first time they will open against a team from outside Arizona.  

The Pumas face Las Vegas Spring Valley on Friday. The ability to travel has the entire Perry roster excited, especially the senior class.

They won just three games last season but return key starters on both sides of the ball. They’re athletic enough to surprise teams, and they want to start by sending a message in Las Vegas.

“My four years on varsity, this has been the best year of spring ball, summer ball, practice before the season, we’re ready for this year,” senior defensive end Aiden Herring said. “We always see Basha, Hamilton, Chandler with all these out-of-state games. But with us not going out of state, I feel like it puts us in that category.”

While the Pumas head north to Las Vegas, nearby Campo Verde will head west toward Moorepark, Calif. to compete in the Moorpark Classic, a showcase event that features the Coyotes, Williams Field and Queen Creek football programs.

Like Perry, this is the first out-of-state trip for the Campo Verde football program, but it has been in the works for years.

“It provides them with the opportunity to develop as a family,” Campo Verde coach Ryan Freeman said. “But we’re going to treat this like we always do. It’s a business trip. We’re not doing the beach on Friday or going to an amusement park. Sunday they’ll get a little bit of time but it’s a business trip.”

The Coyotes are a team frequently counted out to start every season. Their roster isn’t filled with Division I recruits. Instead, they have a group of hard-nosed football players that rely on discipline and pristine work ethic to get them wins throughout the season. 

Campo Verde set a new foundation with its trip to the championship in 2019. That has shifted a bit under Freeman, with new helmets and goals to earn the patented lambda on the back of the helmets.

That same discipline will be needed when they face an improved Chavez team from Delano, Calif. on Saturday that graduated just five seniors last year. But Campo Verde players are ready to put their program on a national map.

“It’s really exciting,” said senior Nate Gomez, who will carry Campo Verde’s shield out onto the field every game. “I love when people doubt us. It fuels the team more.”

Campo Verde plans to watch Williams Field’s matchup against Cajon on Friday at Moorepark. It is one of the few times the nearby rivals will root for one another. But that is the case across the board for Arizona teams traveling out of state in the first two weeks of the season or hosting teams from elsewhere in the country.

It’s Arizona versus everybody.

“We want to let everyone know that Arizona is on the map, too,” Williams Field senior defensive back Josiah Dye said. “We’re always really underrated.”

Cajon went 10-1 last season, losing in the playoffs, and returns both quarterbacks that saw considerable playing time and its top wideout. The Cowboys are one of the best teams playing in the Moorepark Classic, along with San Joaquin Memorial, Queen Creek’s opponent.

It presents a challenge for Williams Field, but the Black Hawks are used to having a target on their backs.

Under head coach Steve Campbell Williams Field has missed the playoffs once since 2008.

Williams Field has a question mark at quarterback after the departure of CJ Tiller, but two transferred into the program and there’s currently an ongoing competition with at least three players in the room.

Where the Black Hawks are solidified is along the offensive line, led by Campbell’s son, Colton. At running back Josiah’s twin brother, Joshua, and Dylan Lee will lead the way with several other capable ball carriers behind them.

Josiah meanwhile, leads Williams Field’s talented secondary, while Fili Snuka laulu, the team’s leading tackler last season, returns at linebacker.

“We need everyone to step up, especially us seniors,” Joshua said. “We have to take on more responsibility, have more energy, talk, communicate and everything.”

Along with the three Gilbert schools and Queen Creek, Red Mountain, Chandler and Desert Vista will also travel to California. The three will compete in The Honor Bowl in San Diego. Mountain View will face Helix, while Basha takes on Los Alamitos in the Los Angeles area.

Saguaro will stay home but host one of the top programs in the country in Bergen Catholic from New Jersey.  

Campbell believes Arizona is on the right track to get recognition.

“It brings a little more recognition to the state,” Campbell said. “We’ve seen our recruiting kick up in the state, but I think we still have more work to do to put Arizona on the map when it comes to those national level conversations.”

Amid the bright lights and electronic billboards across New York’s Times Square, city authorities are posting new signs proclaiming the bustling crossroads a “Gun Free Zone”.

The sprawling Manhattan tourist attraction is one of scores of “sensitive” places — including parks, churches and theaters — that will be of-limits for guns under a sweeping new state law going into effect on Friday. The measure, passed after a US Supreme Court decision in June expanded gun rights, also sets stringent standards for issuing concealed carry permits.

New York is among a half-dozen states that had key provisions of its gun laws invalidated by the high court because of a requirement for applicants to prove they had “proper cause” for a permit. Kathy Hochul said that she and her fellow Democrats in the state Legislature took action the next week because the ruling “destroyed the ability for a governor to be able to protect her citizens from people who carry concealed weapons anywhere they choose”.

The quickly adopted law, however, has led to confusion and court challenges from gun owners who say it improperly limits their constitutional rights.

“They seem to be designed less towards addressing gun violence and more towards simply preventing people from getting guns — even if those people are law-abiding, upstanding citizens, who according to the Supreme Court have the rights to have them,” said Jonathan Corbett, a Brooklyn attorney and permit applicant who is one of several people challenging the law in court.

Under the law, applicants for a concealed carry permit will have to complete 16 hours of classroom training and two hours of live-fire exercises. Ordinary citizens would be prohibited from bringing guns to schools, churches, subways, theatres and amusement parks — among other places deemed “sensitive” by authorities.

Applicants also will have to provide a list of social media accounts for the past three years as part of a “character and conduct” review. The requirement was added because shooters have sometimes dropped hints of violence online before they opened fire on people.

Sheriffs in some upstate counties said the additional work for their investigators could add to existing backlogs in processing applications.

In Rochester, Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter said it currently takes two to four hours to perform a pistol permit background check on a “clean” candidate. He estimated the new law will add another one to three hours for each permit. The county has about 600 pending pistol permits.

“It’s going to slow everything down just a bit more,” he said.

In the Mohawk Valley, Fulton County Sheriff Richard C. Giardino had questions on how the digital sleuthing would proceed.

“It says three years’ worth of your social media. We’re not going to print out three years of social media posts by everybody. If you look at my Facebook, I send out six or 10 things a day,” said the sheriff, a former district attorney and judge.

The list of prohibited spaces for carrying guns has drawn criticism from advocates who say it’s so extensive it will make it difficult for people with permits to move about in public. People carrying a gun could go into private business only with permission, such as a sign posted on the window.

Giardino has already started giving out signs to local businesses saying people can carry legal firearms on the premises. Jennifer Elson, who owns the Let’s Twist Again Diner in Amsterdam, said she put up the sheriff’s sign, along with one of her own reading in part “per our governor, we have to post this nonsense. If you are a law abiding citizen who obtained a legal permit to carry, you are welcome here.”

“I feel pretty strongly that everybody’s constitutional rights should be protected,” she said.

But in Times Square – visited by about 50 million tourists annually – and many less crowded places, carrying a gun will be illegal.

New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams yesterday said she looked forward to seeing authorities move to “protect New Yorkers and visitors who frequent Times Square”.

One lawsuit challenging provisions of the law argued the rules make it hard for licence holders to leave home without violating the law. A federal judge is expected to rule soon on a motion challenging multiple provisions of the law, which was filed on behalf of a Schenectady resident who holds a licence to carry.

The Supreme Court ruling also led to a flurry of legislation in California to tighten rules on gun ownership, including a new law that could hold gun dealers and manufacturers responsible for any harm caused by anyone they have “reasonable cause to believe is at substantial risk” of using a gun illegally.

Earlier this month, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law a measure that would require gun permit applicants to undergo personal interviews with a licensing authority.

New Jersey required people to get training before receiving a permit and would require new residents to register guns brought in from out of state.

Hawaii, which has the nation’s lowest number of gun deaths, is still weighing its options. Since the Supreme Court’s ruling, the state has only granted one new gun permit.

While New York does not keep statewide data on pistol permit applications, there are reports of long lines at county clerks’ offices and other evidence of a surge in applications before the law takes effect.

In the Mohawk Valley, Pine Tree Rifle Club president Paul Catucci said interest in the club’s volunteer-run safety courses “blew right up” late this summer.

“I had to turn hundreds of them away,” he said.

– Michael Hill, Maysoon Khan and Bobby Caina Calvan, AP

NEW YORK (AP) — Amid the bright lights and electronic billboards across New York’s Times Square, city authorities are posting new signs proclaiming the bustling crossroads a “Gun Free Zone.”

The sprawling Manhattan tourist attraction is one of scores of “sensitive” places — including parks, churches and theaters — that will be off limits for guns under a sweeping new state law going into effect Thursday. The measure, passed after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June expanded gun rights, also sets stringent standards for issuing concealed carry permits.

New York is among a half-dozen states that had key provisions of its gun laws invalidated by the high court because of a requirement for applicants to prove they had “proper cause” for a permit. Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that she and her fellow Democrats in the state Legislature took action the next week because the ruling “destroyed the ability for a governor to be able to protect her citizens from people who carry concealed weapons anywhere they choose.”

The quickly adopted law, however, has led to confusion and court challenges from gun owners who say it improperly limits their constitutional rights.

“They seem to be designed less towards addressing gun violence and more towards simply preventing people from getting guns — even if those people are law-abiding, upstanding citizens, who according to the Supreme Court have the rights to have them,” said Jonathan Corbett, a Brooklyn attorney and permit applicant who is one of several people challenging the law in court.

Under the law, applicants for a concealed carry permit will have to complete 16 hours of classroom training and two hours of live-fire exercises. Ordinary citizens would be prohibited from bringing guns to schools, churches, subways, theaters and amusement parks — among other places deemed “sensitive” by authorities.

Applicants also will have to provide a list of social media accounts for the past three years as part of a “character and conduct” review. The requirement was added because shooters have sometimes dropped hints of violence online before they opened fire on people.

Sheriffs in some upstate counties said the additional work for their investigators could add to existing backlogs in processing applications.

In Rochester, Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter said it currently takes two to four hours to perform a pistol permit background check on a “clean” candidate. He estimate the new law will add another one to three hours for each permit. The county has about 600 pending pistol permits.

“It’s going to slow everything down just a bit more,” he said.

In the Mohawk Valley, Fulton County Sheriff Richard C. Giardino had questions on how the digital sleuthing would proceed.

“It says three years worth of your social media. We’re not going to print out three years of social media posts by everybody. If you look at my Facebook, I send out six or 10 things a day,” said the sheriff, a former district attorney and judge.

The list of prohibited spaces for carrying guns has drawn criticism from advocates who say it’s so extensive it will make it difficult for people with permits to move about in public. People carrying a gun could go into private business only with permission, such as a sign posted on the window.

Giardino has already started giving out signs to local businesses saying people can carry legal firearms on the premises. Jennifer Elson, who owns the Let’s Twist Again Diner in Amsterdam, said she put up the sheriff’s sign, along with one of her own reading in part “per our governor, we have to post this nonsense. If you are a law abiding citizen who obtained a legal permit to carry, you are welcome here.”

“I feel pretty strongly that everybody’s constitutional rights should be protected,” she said.

But in Times Square, visited by about 50 million tourists annually, and many less crowded places carrying a gun will be illegal starting Thursday.

New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said Tuesday she looked forward to seeing authorities move to “protect New Yorkers and visitors who frequent Times Square.”

One lawsuit challenging provisions of the law argued the rules make it hard for license holders to leave home without violating the law. A federal judge is expected to rule soon on a motion challenging multiple provisions of the law, which was filed on behalf of a Schenectady resident who holds a license to carry.

The Supreme Court ruling also led to a flurry of legislation in California to tighten rules on gun ownership, including a new law that could hold gun dealers and manufacturers responsible for any harm caused by anyone they have “reasonable cause to believe is at substantial risk” of using a gun illegally.

Earlier this month, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law a measure that would require gun permit applicants to undergo personal interviews with a licensing authority.

New Jersey required people to get training before receiving a permit and would require new residents to register guns brought in from out of state.

Hawaii, which has the nation’s lowest number of gun deaths, is still weighing its options. Since the Supreme Court’s ruling, the state has only granted one new gun permit.

While New York does not keep statewide data on pistol permit applications, there are reports of long lines at county clerks’ office and other evidence of a surge in applications before the law takes effect.

In the Mohawk Valley, Pine Tree Rifle Club President Paul Catucci said interest in the club’s volunteer-run safety courses “blew right up” late this summer.

“I had to turn hundreds of them away,” he said.

___

Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Maysoon Khan on Twitter.

___

Hill and Khan contributed from Albany, New York.

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