Region Briefs | Luján returns to Senate after suffering stroke

WASHINGTON

U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., in gratitude for the prayers and well wishes for his recovery, returned to the Senate on March 3 after suffering a stroke on Jan. 27.

He was diagnosed with a stroke in the cerebellum, which is in the back of the brain.

“Decompressive” surgery was performed to relieve pressure on the brain, a Feb. 1 news release from Luján’s office stated, quoting Luján’s chief of staff Carlos Sanchez.

Retaking his seat in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Luján voted to advance President Biden’s nominees for the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Luján said, “Now, the Senate has several important matters on its docket – from confirming the first Black woman to the Supreme Court to lowering costs for working families – and I am pleased to be back to the business of legislating.”

Luján, who grew up in Nambé, has been in the Senate since early 2021. Before that, he was in the U.S. House representing the state’s 3rd Congressional District. He also served as a commissioner on the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission.

Optional masking in different areas of Flagstaff

KAFF News

FLAGSTAFF – Mask mandates on Monday stopped, for now, in certain areas of Flagstaff.

The Flagstaff City Council decided March 1 that since CDC guidelines have changed and Coconino County is now in “medium” spread, masks will no longer be required.

Buildings that no longer require a mask for entry include city hall, the Visitors Center, Flagstaff Aquaplex, the Hal Jensen Recreation Center, the Jay Lively Ice Arena, and public libraries.

Although mask mandates were lifted throughout the city, masks are still required at Flagstaff Pulliam Airport because federal Transportation Security Administration requirements govern the facility.

Northern Arizona University also made mask-wearing optional on campus starting Monday.

NAU released a statement suggesting that NAU campuses in low or medium COVID-19 levels can go to optional masking, except when riding NAU buses, at the NAU Fieldhouse testing and vaccination site, at Campus Health Services, and inside other clinical health care settings where masking is still mandatory.

According to the latest numbers from Coconino County, the county’s community COVID-19 level remains at medium.

New York City man rescued twice in 2 days on Arizona hikes

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A New York City man who needed to be rescued twice on consecutive days while hiking in a northern Arizona mountain range is urging others to pay more attention to winter weather than he did.

“Warning: Unless you are an experienced alpine mountaineer, DO NOT attempt Humphreys Peak in the winter. There is so much snow that it’s difficult to follow the trail and very easy to fall off of it. Moreover, the wind is absolutely brutal,” Phillip Vasto said in an online post.

The 28-year-old Brooklyn man first called 911 last Wednesday at about 7 p.m. to say he got lost while hiking on Humphreys Trail in the San Francisco Peaks overlooking Flagstaff, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The statement didn’t identify Vasto by name but he spoke to the Arizona Daily Sun, telling the newspaper in a story published Tuesday that he was an experienced hiker but had underestimated the difficult conditions.

During the first rescue, tracked vehicles from the ski resort that travel on snow drove Vasto off the mountain and he declined medical attention.

But at 5 p.m. the next day, Vasto called 911 to say he needed help after injuring himself in a fall near a ridge on the Humphreys Trail.

An Arizona Department of Public Safety rescue helicopter was sent to pick up Vasto and another hiker who had stopped to help him.

Vasto was “provided with preventative search and rescue education about the conditions on the trail and the approaching winter storm and encouraged to not attempt the hike again,” the Sheriff’s Office statement said.

Judge dismisses suit in fatal Salt Lake City police shooting

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A federal judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a Utah man who was shot at nearly 30 times and killed as he ran away from Salt Lake City police in 2020.

U.S. District Judge David Barlow ruled that the civil rights of Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal, 22, were not violated when he was shot and killed by Officers Neil Iversen and Kevin Fortuna, the Salt Lake Tribune reported March 4.

The judge dismissed the lawsuit on Feb. 28. Palacios-Carbajal’s family filed the civil suit against the officers and police Chief Mike Brown in September 2020, alleging the officers engaged in “gratuitous violence” by repeatedly shooting at him after he was already on the ground and incapacitated.

Palacios-Carbajal was struck 13 to 15 times in May 2020 as he ran away from officers who were investigating a gun-threat call and yelled for him to drop a gun, according to prosecutors.

District Attorney Sam Gill later ruled the use of force was justified because Palacios-Carbajal had repeatedly dropped and picked up a handgun while running away.

Gill said he was unable to pursue prosecution because the law protects officers if they fear that they or someone else are at risk. That decision prompted street protests in Salt Lake City.

The family’s attorney, Nathan Morris, said his clients were “struggling” with the judge’s decision and were considering whether to appeal.

Radiation compensation Act webinar

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — The U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Justice invites the public to a webinar on Wednesday, March 30, to discuss benefits available under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act and the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Programs Act from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EDT).

Register at https://thegateam.com/dol-deeoic-2020/reca2.html or dial in at 844-992-4726 (Access Code: 2346 607 8944, password: 1005).

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