arizona
Phoenix backs out of high-rise project
PHOENIX — The City Council on Wednesday overturned its decision to allow high-rises in certain areas of the Camelback Corridor.
The action came after a residents' group turned in enough signatures to force the matter to the ballot.
The decision effectively kills several projects, most notably a 140-foot, $200 million condominium/hotel pitched by developer Donald Trump and development partner Bayrock Group.
Bayrock officials later announced Trump was pulling out of the deal, The Arizona Republic reported on its Web site.
Residents had opposed the high-rises, saying they were too close to neighborhoods and would have brought more traffic to the area, as well as taxed the area's already overburdened water system.
People are also reading…
Napolitano opposes new border wall
PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano criticizes a provision in federal legislation to add about 700 miles to existing walls between the United States and Mexico.
She said the proposal, part of a House bill approved by a 239-182 vote and awaiting Senate action, would be a waste of money.
"You show me a 50-foot wall, I'll show you a 51-foot ladder," Napolitano said Wednesday. "That's the way the border works."
She added, "I think the money would be better spent on manpower, on technology, sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles, things of that sort."
Deal gives go-ahead to Tempe complex
PHOENIX — A developer planning a large shopping and entertainment complex at the intersection of the 101 and 202 freeways in Tempe has reached deals with all but two holdout landowners stalling the project.
Vestar Development Co. officials now say they're going forward with construction on the 117-acre Tempe Marketplace and will build around the holdout's land if necessary. Only a few acres aren't in the developer's hands.
The site, once on the federal Superfund list because it has several unlined dumps, is to be completely cleaned up before construction begins.
Tempe tried to take the land using eminent domain proceedings but was rebuffed by a judge in September. The city may still be required to appeal the decision under its contract with Vestar, Mayor Hugh Hallman said.
NEW MEXICO
Letterman battling woman's legal move
SANTA FE — Lawyers for David Letterman want a judge to quash a restraining order granted to a Santa Fe woman who contends the CBS late-night host used code words to show he wanted to marry her and train her as his co-host.
A state judge granted a temporary restraining order to Colleen Nestler, who alleged in a request filed last Thursday that Letterman has forced her to go bankrupt and caused her "mental cruelty" and "sleep deprivation" since May 1994.
Nestler requested that Letterman, who tapes his show in New York, stay at least 3 yards away and not "think of me, and release me from his mental harassment and hammering."
Lawyers for Letterman, in a motion filed Tuesday, contend the order is without merit and asked state District Judge Daniel Sanchez to quash it.
"Celebrities deserve protection of their reputation and legal rights when the occasional fan becomes dangerous or deluded," Albuquerque lawyer Pat Rogers wrote in the motion.
Sanchez set a Jan. 12 hearing on the permanent order.
CALIFORNIA
San Francisco cuts its welfare rolls
SAN FRANCISCO — Thousands of homeless people have left the city's welfare rolls in what the mayor says is a victory for his program that cuts cash payments in exchange for housing and other services.
Before Mayor Gavin Newsom's voter-approved "Care Not Cash" initiative debuted in May 2004, many of the homeless in San Francisco received monthly welfare checks of as much as $410. The program cut those payments to $59 and offered housing or shelters instead.
Since then, about 2,100 homeless people who previously received welfare checks, or 84 percent, have left the system, the mayor said Tuesday.
