Tom Chabin is the incumbent Democratic candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives. He serves Arizona’s 2nd District, and is a native of Flagstaff as well as a NAU alumnus.

The Lumberjack: What are your views on the Arizona legislature passing SB1070? What further, if anything, would you do to change the current immigration situation in Arizona?

Tom Chabin: First of all, I voted against 1070, and voting against it doesn’t mean we don’t know we have a problem with immigration and that we don’t know that, as a border state to Mexico, that there is crime, drug issues and violence on the border. I think it would have been a far better bill and a far better law if we required local law enforcement agencies to coordinate their efforts with [the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE)]. ICE has the right priorities — they’re going after drug dealers, they’re going after human smugglers and they’re not going after some guy raking pine needles off someone’s lawn. And precisely, 1070 was directed at people who are here who are the poorest, who have risked their lives to get here for a better life. And what we need to do is go after the people who are a part of the criminal element of all of that. I thought it was a foolish bill, and I thought it was directed at the wrong target, and that’s what I would do to correct it.

LJ: If elected, what would you do to improve higher education in Arizona?

TC: First and foremost, we have to recognize the negative impact the legislature and the governor have already done to take over $1.2 million out of education in the last two years. Statewide, we have lost over 15,000 educators — in my legislative district alone, over 500. I’m talking about not only the university, but the community college and the public schools — and the real number would be closer to 1,000 because of the positions that have been eliminated or people laid-off here at NAU. The second aspect of the actions of the legislature is that we see that young people have less capacity to have access to higher education. Today, students are settled with $60,000 to $70,000 worth of debt for an undergraduate degree. What does that mean? That means access to education has been severely limited. We’re in a crisis now, because as we speak, we have a deficit of $350 million in this fiscal year. And when we convene in January to consider next year’s budget, the projected deficit is $1.6 billion. And half of our budget at the state level is education and 10 percent universities; 60 percent of our budget goes to education. What’s going to happen to tuition if those cuts are employed? We of my generation are not providing young people with the opportunity for the higher education that my parents and my grandparents gave me, and it’s a shame. So beware, every student at NAU. Beware. Because your tuition is going to go up, your dorm fees are going to go up, and your classrooms are going to be larger, and you’re not going to have the professors that you once had — if we keep Jan Brewer and if we keep the Republican legislature.

LJ: Is there a perceived language barrier in Arizona’s schools? What role, if any, would you like to see Arizona’s legislature take in removing that barrier?

TC: For the governor who wants to teach Spanish-speaking children English, I’m all for it. And I support her goal. But the practical aspect of applying that goal, to the situation we face in Arizona, is that the teacher-to-student ratio must be reduced. We are last in the nation in that ratio, and we are last in the nation with respect to classroom funding. We have some of the most beautiful school facilities in the nation — we just closed Sinagua High School because of this very issue of classroom size and trying to meet the funding levels. Instead of having three high schools in Flagstaff, we have two. We closed two other elementary schools — one of them, South Beaver, was constructed during the Great Depression by local taxpayers. So if Jan Brewer is serious about it, she can do one of two things: increase revenue so that the teacher has an opportunity to teach and parents have an opportunity to get the resources to the children that need them, and complement what is in the classroom instead of meeting whatever we need to do to pass the AIMS test. So we either get the money at the state level, or we liberate local school districts so they can raise the taxes locally to meet the community needs here. And [Gov. Brewer] is not willing to do either of them.

LJ: If elected, what are your plans to balance the state budget? Would you approve further cuts to the Arizona university system’s funding? Why or why not?

TC: We don’t have a spending crisis in Arizona; we have a revenue crisis. If the Republicans get their way, and they control [the U.S.] Congress or any portion of it, it is unlikely that we will receive the stimulus money we have received in the last two years to bail us out. That is one primary reason we are looking at a $1.7 billion deficit. So, no matter what, we have to look at the opportunity to raise revenue.

Albert Hale is a Democratic incumbent for the Arizona State Senate. He is looking to be re-elected to serve in Arizona’s 2nd District. He is the former president of the Navajo Nation, and has a bachelor’s degree from ASU and a doctorate from the University of New Mexico.

LJ: What are your views on the Arizona legislature passing SB1070? What further, if anything, would you do to change the current immigration situation?

AH: I was there in the senate when the amendment to SB1070 was discussed, and some of the things I have concerns with, as far as SB1070, is the unfound amendment for Indian nations. District Two encompasses five Indian reservations and the city of Flagstaff, so for the most part my constituency consists of Native Americans. So, I have to look at how pending legislation or proposed legislation affects the Native American people. On this particular, SB1070 [implies] that Indian nations [are] unfundamental because it mandates people carry at least two identifications, and one of those identifications listed is tribal enrollment identification. And a lot of tribes do not have the proper identification that it calls for, so that means these people don’t meet the requirements of SB1070 and are dependent on funds to produce these identifications. So that is a mandate I have an issue with, and I have raised this issue before, and I will continue to raise it — it is on the list of things I would like to see in terms of changing SB1070. It requires more strict enforcement of the content of SB1070, and there has to be additional funding for the police officers or sheriff’s department because a lot of the things that are required in SB1070 require enforcement. You can have all kinds of laws on the books, but when it comes down to it, how effective that law is comes down to the ability to enforce [it].

LJ: If elected what would you do to improve higher education in Arizona?

AH: Here is what I think needs to happen with higher education: One is when I first came in as a senator, one of the bills that I sponsored was to adopt a law that will set aside about $10 million a year that would be put into trust funds. Then the interest earned off of that would be used to finance students that win scholarships to attend university colleges or trade schools. And my main reason for doing that was to continue to create an educated population, and to me, an educated population is good for the state of Arizona and good for the United States. What we’re doing now with this budget crisis that we’re in is we’re cutting away programs that help to educate our population. And, by doing that, we are laying the ground work and putting into process a way to produce a population for a generation of people who are not as well-educated as before. So, what do we do? Something that we have to do is make sure that there is sufficient funding for higher education. In spite of what we’re going through in terms of the budget crisis, one thing that we should always protect is education — whether that is elementary, secondary or higher education. What I’m seeing, in terms of the budget crisis we are in, is taking the budget situation and using that as a justification for cutting away programs that have been beneficial.

LJ: Is there a perceived language barrier in Arizona’s schools? What role, if any, would you like to see Arizona’s legislature take in removing that barrier?

AH: The language barrier is not perceived. There is one, and if you take my personal history and me as an example, when I first started kindergarten, I knew not one word of English. And I started out with that type of knowledge, but I was very versed in Navajo. So there is a language barrier in that type of situation, but for everyone viewing that as a negative, what the schools ought to be doing is turning that into a positive. What I mean by that is if there is a Navajo student and the schools are predominately Navajo, they should be able to be in education in the Navajo language in addition to education in the English language. So, through the education system, the whole effort is to produce quality students at the other end when they graduate, and I think that this is the way to do it. Because there are studies that show that if there is a student that comes from a different background than the majority of the people — the non-Indians for example — if they are educated in whom they are, then they become better students, then they learn the other system at a more rapid pace. I would like to see from the Arizona state legislature a move in that direction.

LJ: If elected, what are your plans to balance the state budget? Would you approve further cuts to the Arizona university system’s funding? Why or why not?

AH: Maybe an aspect I didn’t touch on before is how do we balance the Arizona budget? I understand we are now in a deficit again because the revenues are not there as projected. One of the reasons we are always off balance is because, in Arizona, most of our revenues are generated through sales tax or property tax. We are not fortunate like other states; we do not have natural resources from which we can generate revenue. We are reliant on sales taxes and property taxes, so all of those taxes fluctuate, and they are very sensitive to the market. And we’re seeing that. A lot of sales tax revenues were coming in when the housing industry was in the boom; there were construction companies that were paying taxes and people buying property that were paying taxes. But once we bought them out, all of these sources went away. So, the way we do the budget at the state level is that we do projections. We say we expect, for example, $10 billion to be generated through all these sources for the coming year, and that is where we get ourselves into trouble — right out the gate, we are behind. By that, I mean the budget is not based on the money we have in our treasury right now, but it’s based on what we expect to bring in through all these sources. And when the economy goes down, then all these sources go down also. So if there is a way, everything should be based on what we have in the bank now so that it’s not based on projections. And when we project, and when we base our budget on the projections, we expect $10 billion to come in; therefore, we’re going to adopt a budget of $10 billion, and if the revenue doesn’t reach that, then we’re in the red. Then we have to go in and say, ‘How do we cut these things? How do we bring the budget back to balance?’ So most of it happens through cutting — cutting programs, laying off people, cutting services and those types of things. That is what the university systems are experiencing, and they’re trying to deal with that. And what the Democrats have proposed is what I referred to earlier: Not only do we have to do cutting in certain areas, but also increasing the revenue side of it — and the proposal has been that we expand the tax base. Our proposal has been that we expand the base of businesses or persons to be taxed to include them in the tax structure — after all, they’re receiving the benefits, but they’re not paying into that tax revenue. That is trying to find a way to not only cut the budget, but also to increase the revenue portion of it. And therefore, have a budget that addresses both sides, and through that, continue to fund education at the level that we can provide quality education for our children. I told you earlier that I would oppose any further cuts to the universities, and I would support trying to find additional revenues.

Coconino National Forest officials have said that the fire could change just as quickly as the winds.  Hotshot crews are expected to completely contain the blaze in about two weeks, but the fire could burn much longer than that.

Kevin Boughton got a chance to survey the damage the Schultz Fire has left in its path.

WILLIAMS (NAZ Today)– Firefighters are continuing to make progress on the Eagle Rock Fire 11 miles northeast of Williams.

Fire officials are expecting to have the fire contained by 12 am Wednesday morning. It has burned 3,420 acres, and is not expected to grow. The fire is smoldering and smoking according to a release from Fire Information Officer Brienne Magee.

664 firefighters are on scene, although 170 firefighters have been released to the Schultz Fire north of Flagstaff.

Click map to enlarge. Courtesy: Inciweb.com/Kaibab National Forest

Firefighters confer on the front line of the Eagle Rock Fire Thursday afternoon (Chad Black/APSN.us)

WILLIAMS (NAZ Today, 12:00 PM)– Thanks to some major progress overnight, most evacuees have been allowed to return to their homes in the Spring Valley area.

Firefighters made significant progress putting out hot spots and strengthening fire line last night, according to Public Information Officer Brienne Magee in a media release.

3,415 acres have burned so far, and fire crews are still listing containment at 30 percent.  Today’s weather will be similar to Thursday’s, with temperatures hovering near 80 degrees with low humidity and breezy southwesterly winds.  The Kaibab National Forest says that firefighters will be focusing on the southwest flank of the fire, which is in difficult terrain.

County Road 141 remains closed between mile 8 and mile 10. Some homeowners will have to wait to return to their homes until crews mop up in certain areas, according to Magee.  Forest Service officials say that residents returning home should use SR 64 or Spring Valley Road.  Power has been restored to most of the homes.  Firefighters are still providing structure protection in Spring Valley as a precaution.

A public meeting will be held tonight at the Maine Consolidated School in Parks starting at 6 pm.  Incident Commander John Philbin will be at the meeting to answer questions.

Stick with NAZ Today.com for the latest on the Eagle Rock Fire.

Thursday’s Recap HERE

The Arizona Board of Regents– the governing body of the three state public universities– announced Thursday that the number of students who are earning bachelor degrees is rising faster than what was predicted in ABOR’s Vision 2020 strategic plan.  The plan calls for a 50 percent increase in baccalaureate degrees by 2020 to meet Arizona workplace needs.  Northern Arizona University is hosting ABOR today and Friday for their annual two-day conference, this year being held in Flagstaff at the High Country Conference Center

(CLICK TO ENLARGE) The number of students earning bachelor's degrees is increasing ahead of predictions (Courtesy: ABOR)

Arizona university students earned 20,294 bachelor degrees in 2009– up from 18,654 in 2007, a nine percent increase.  NAU’s increase was 6.7 percent in 2009, with Arizona State University giving out 10.2 percent more bachelor degrees and the University of Arizona awarding 6.2 percent more degrees.

ABOR President Ernest Calderόn says that the university system is doing a good job increasing the number of degrees given out despite the funding and staffing challenges that have occurred over the past two years.“Amid budget cuts of more than $230 million over the last two years, the fact that the universities have exceeded degree production goals is a testament to the faculty and administration at our universities,” said Calderόn.

Governor Jan Brewer agrees with Calderόn.  She says that it is important to keep moving forward despite the funding challenges.”This increase in degree production is good news for Arizona-‐ the key now is sustaining this trend at a time when the state budget continues to be challenged,” said Brewer. “Our state universities must operate efficiently by continuing to develop affordable, predictable and sustainable models of higher education for Arizona families.”

Vision 2020 is a strategic plan that aims to increase the number of baccalaureate degrees earned by students, along with improving Arizona’s economic strength and quality of life, increase demand for higher paying jobs, and make the state nationally competitive in degree production by 2020.  According to ABOR data, only one-quarter of Arizonans age 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher.

–

To read Vision 2020, visit the Arizona Board of Regents website.

Click your refresh button on your browser to see the latest updates on this page as we make them.

Arizona Proposition 100 (State Totals)-

Yes: 695,125 (64.1%)
No: 389,682 (35.9%)
Precincts Reporting:  1,110/1,012 (99.8%)
Source: AZ Secretary of State’s Office

Arizona Proposition 100 (Coconino County totals only)-

Yes: 15,304 ( 71.27%)
No: 6,160 ( 28.73%)
Precincts Reporting:  45/45

Flagstaff Mayor-

Joe Haughey: 5,460 (48.30%)
Sara Presler: 5,557 ( 49.16%)
Write-in Votes: 288 (2.55%)
Precincts Reporting:  12/12

Flagstaff City Council-

Dave Arendt: 3,064 (11.33%)
Art Babbott: 5,834 (21.58%)
Celia Barotz: 5,910 (21.86%)
David Evans: 3,839 (14.20%)
Bruce Kennedy: 2,878 (10.65%)
Scott Overton: 5,306 (19.63%)
Write-in Votes: 204 (0.75%)
Precincts Reporting:  12 /12

Flagstaff Proposition 400-

Yes: 8,506  (73.71%)
No: 3,034  (26.29%)
Precincts Reporting:  12/12

Flagstaff Proposition 401-

Yes: 9,186 (79.35%)
No: 2,390  (20.65%)
Precincts Reporting:   12/12

Flagstaff Proposition 402-

Yes: 8,175  (72.72%)
No: 3,066  (27.28%)
Precincts Reporting:  12/12

Flagstaff Proposition 403-

Yes: 5,416  (48.42%)
No: 5,769  (51.58%)
Precincts Reporting:  12/12

Williams City Council-

Bernie Heimenz: 321 ( 51.28 %)
Kevin Young: 289  (46.17%)

Fredonia City Council-

Carl Hughes: 95 (42.79%)
Anthony Zaccaria: 127 ( 57.21 %)

Leanna Long, an addict of pain pills that helped treat her Multiplesclerosis, poses in this February 2010 photo in Kingman, Ariz. Long's story has been airing since mid-January on the E! Entertainment cable channel as part of a documentary-style report on being addicted to pain pills. (AP Photo/Kingman Daily Miner, JC Amberlyn)

ERIN TAYLOR, Kingman Daily Miner.

KINGMAN, Ariz. (AP) — Leanna Long says she told her story of pain pill addiction because she didn’t want to hide from it anymore.

“At first I said no,” the 27-year-old mother of two said.

“This was the most humiliating, humbling experience of my life and you want me to share that on television?”

Long said she knew she made the right decision after her story aired and she began receiving dozens of messages on Myspace and Facebook from people who related to her experience with pain medication.

“I’m a success story in this town,” she said.

“I did something about it. You can, too.”

Long’s story has been airing since mid-January on the E! Entertainment cable channel as part of a documentary-style report on being addicted to pain pills.

The Kingman native was contacted by the show’s producers after she began researching ways to end her dependence on pain medication she had been prescribed after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

Camera crews followed her journey from her home in Kingman to a rapid detox facility in Long Beach last fall. She hasn’t used pain medication since undergoing the controversial procedure.

Long’s story of addiction starts almost four years ago, when the former competitive gymnast began experiencing numbness in her right leg.

She attributed the pain to shin splints she had when she was younger. It was harder to ignore the other symptoms that followed. “I woke up one morning feeling like I was drunk,” Long said. “My equilibrium was gone and I was seeing double.”

An MRI showed numerous lesions on her spine and brain and she was diagnosed with MS.

Long was 23, with a newborn baby and in the middle of a divorce. “My life just crumbled,” she said.

MS is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord. Long was diagnosed with a regressive form of the disorder, meaning that she would experience symptoms that would then go into remission. She began receiving shots to suppress her immune system so her body would stop attacking itself. Her symptoms ranged from double vision, to feeling like she had the flu, to intense pain in her legs.

“It wasn’t like it was just some small pain my finger,” she said. “I have to use my legs all the time. With every step, it was throbbing and throbbing.”

Long’s doctor started her on a low dose of Vicodin for the pain, but as with most narcotic pain medication users, Long found herself becoming tolerant and had to increase her dosage.

To make matters worse, Long was given a secondary diagnosis of Fibromyalgia, which her doctors told her was opiate-induced, meaning that the same medication she was taking to ease her pain was now also causing it.

“The body tricks itself into thinking it’s in pain to get the medicine, so I’d stub toe, and the next day, my whole leg would hurt.”

Long’s doctor referred her to a Mayo Clinic study in Scottsdale where she continues to be treated by a number of specialists.

Her doctor also referred her to a pain medication specialist. Within nine months, she was on Fentanyl, a pain medicine used for cancer patients that’s 100 times stronger than morphine.

That was in March 2009. It didn’t take long for the Fentanyl to completely take over her life, she said. She was also just tired of having to need medication to function and was worried that the pain medication was only aggravating her Fibromyalgia symptoms.

“I needed to find out if it was real pain. I needed to know if this was how my life was going to be,” she said.

Long tried to wean herself from the medication, but her withdrawal sent her into seizures that frightened her family. Someone mentioned a rapid detox program and she phoned a facility in California, but the $20,000 cost scared her away.

At the same time Long was researching programs, her boyfriend, Kingman Police Officer Timothy Sparr, was shot in the line of duty while responding to a domestic violence incident. He was struck in the arm by the same bullet that killed a 26-year-old mother and probation officer. Long, who knew that Sparr was responding to the call, was listening on the police scanner when she heard that he’d been shot.

While Long was undergoing detox, Sparr developed his own addiction to pain medication prescribed to him as a result of being shot. He was fired from the police department in December after allegations surfaced that he was using the medication while on duty. Long said that she was unaware of what Sparr was going through because she was going through her own detox at the time.

While Sparr dealt with his own issues, the cable television channel was able to negotiate a stay for Long at the rapid detox facility. In October, a three-man crew came to Kingman to interview her and film her experience while undergoing the Waismann Method, a controversial form of rapid opiate detox. Long’s father, a pastor at Calvary Chapel, also accompanied her on the trip to the facility in Long Beach.

Cameras captured the procedure, which is said to condense the entire withdrawal process in less than an hour. Long has no memory of the convulsions, constant sneezing and other withdrawal symptoms that were later aired on television. “I went to bed, woke up and I was clean,” she said.

The procedure was followed by weeks of therapy at several sober living facilities. The Waismann Method has been criticized by some in the medical community, but Long said she’s proof that it works. She’s been clean ever since. “They can get you clean,” she said. “What you do from there is up to you.”

Long’s story first aired Jan. 13. Since then, she’s received messages from people across the globe who say they can relate to her story and want to learn from her experience. “I’ve become people’s counselor,” she said. Long and Sparr broke up several months ago but remain on good terms. The former officer is now employed doing metal fabrication work at TNC Machine shop. He is also free of pain medication and says he is happy and enjoying spending more time with his kids.

Long credits her support system – including Sparr, her family and her congregation at Calvary Chapel – with helping her survive her experience. “It’s easy to do something when you have all these people backing you up,” she said.

She was overwhelmed when she first returned home from detox, but she’s excited about the future. She has already obtained her LPN certification and is currently toying with the idea of going to law school.

Long’s Fibromyalgia symptoms have disappeared, and while her MS is under control, the 27-year-old still finds herself struggling to come to terms with the condition she said feels like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon where a piano is suspended over a cliff by a rope.

“I feel like I have a piano over my head and one of these days the rope is going to break and I’m going to be in a wheelchair,” she said.

But Long also knows that if she beat her addiction, she can handle anything. “I don’t want to go back to where I was,” she said. “It puts life into perspective.”

Information from: Kingman Daily Miner, http://www.kingmandailyminer.com

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

Now, gun-rights advocates are hoping for even fewer restrictions on where they can have a firearm. Among their top goals, they hope to make Arizona the third state where it is legal to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, which would eliminate background checks and training classes for people to carry hidden guns.

“That’s sheer insanity,” said Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center. “If you remove the background check requirement, you’re literally writing a death sentence for law enforcement officers, family members, just people in the street.”

But supporters say criminals will carry concealed weapons regardless of the law, so gun restrictions only affect law-abiding citizens who want to protect themselves.

“All we’re doing is handcuffing good people, restricting their constitutional, God-given right to carry and perhaps their ability to defend their families,” said state Sen. Russell Pearce, a Mesa Republican sponsoring the bill.

Pearce’s bill comes a year after Arizona eased restrictions on gun owners, most notably the option to carry a weapon into a bar or restaurant that serves alcohol unless the establishment has banned firearms.

It also comes amid a national trend of states loosening gun laws. In 2009, states passed 47 new laws easing restrictions, more than three times the number of new laws tightening them. Forty-eight states allow people to carry a concealed weapon; all but Alaska and Vermont require a permit, which is generally denied to people with a criminal history or mental illness.

In Arizona, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit is a misdemeanor. Pearce’s bill, and an identical one in the House, would make the permit and background check optional. It also would eliminate a required firearms safety class for permit seekers.

“It doesn’t make much sense why someone would have to go through a background check, training, etc. simply to carry their weapon,” said John Wentling, vice president of the Arizona Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights lobby group that is promoting the bill.

Police departments worry that making permits optional might encourage more people with nefarious motives to carry concealed weapons, said John Thomas, a lobbyist for the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police. It also could lead to more accidental gun discharges by people not adequately trained in firearm safety, Thomas said.

“I’m not aware of any law enforcement agency or association that supports this bill as introduced,” he said.

House and Senate committees were scheduled to hear the bill last week, but the sponsors pulled it to try and address some of the concerns of law enforcement. A similar measure failed last year amid strong opposition from police agencies.

There would still be an advantage to obtaining a permit; carrying a gun into a bar or restaurant that serves alcohol would require one, and the permit would be valid in 31 states that have reciprocity agreements with Arizona. Permit holders also can buy new guns without a background check.

In all, Arizona lawmakers have introduced about a half-dozen bills aimed at loosening gun laws, including one making it legal to carry a gun in a public park without a concealed-weapons permit. Another would allow college faculty with permits to carry a gun on campus.

The gun-rights bills follow a string of new, less-restrictive gun laws passed last year. They were made possible by the elevation of Republican Gov. Jan Brewer to replace Janet Napolitano, a Democrat who vetoed attempts to loosen gun laws until she resigned a year ago to join the Obama administration.

Brewer last year signed the bill allowing guns in bars; Napolitano vetoed a similar measure four years earlier.

Brewer also approved a law allowing gun owners to display a firearm if they feel threatened and another allowing them to keep guns in their locked vehicles while parked at businesses that ban weapons.

What’s coming next year is still unknown, said Wentling, the gun-rights lobbyist. But he’s not done yet.

“We’ll be there next year and the year after and the year after,” Wentling said. “There will always be some work to do.”

___

FILE-- Michael Jackson, 2005. (AP Photo/Michael A. Mariant, file)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Police in a small northern Arizona city are investigating the deaths of two giraffes from Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, and two others likely will have to find new homes.

Freddie and Tom Hancock of Page acquired the giraffes as part of a plan to build a wildlife preserve on city property they leased in 2008 that also would house exotic birds, reptiles and a camel.

Those plans unraveled as the Hancocks and the city engaged in a legal battle over terms of the lease agreement for the 175-acre property in southeast Page.

City Manager Bo Thomas said the Hancocks never posted a required $100,000 bond or irrevocable letter of credit, while the Hancocks argued the city failed to act in good faith and did not provide them with a bond form.

A judge last week ruled in favor of the city, and Thomas said Wednesday that a timeline for eviction is being prepared.

Meanwhile, the animal rights group PETA is calling on authorities in Page to confiscate and relocate the remaining giraffes, fearing they are mistreated. The group also asked police to determine whether the Hancocks violated animal cruelty laws in relation to the deaths of the other giraffes.

Page police Chief Charlie Dennis said it is unusual to have two giraffes die within a short period — one died Nov. 20 and the other on Jan. 2 — but nothing at the scene was cause for suspicion. Necropsy results are pending.

“There’s nothing for us to give justification to remove the giraffes at this time,” he said.

The wildlife preserve likely would have provided a boost in tourism for the city of about 7,000 that sits near Lake Powell and is about 110 miles north of Flagstaff. Thomas said residents had mixed feelings about the idea, but the city council wanted to give the Hancocks an opportunity to make the venture work.

“Unfortunately, it isn’t going to work,” he said.

Freddie Hancock, of the Voices of the Wild Foundation, said its mission was to provide a place where animals that had been abused, confiscated by authorities or voluntarily surrendered could live out the remainder of their lives. But they never moved forward because of issues with city officials who “throw up this wall we could not get over,” she said.

She disputed that the animals were mistreated and said they were like her children and would be taken care of whether they’re in Page or elsewhere.