The Dealmaker: 4/21/2017

Florence residents want town to budget to fight area mine. (Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Southwest Value Partners in their fight against developing a copper mine in the middle of a residential family community) “[R]esidents urged the council not to skimp on legal fees in… ongoing battles against Florence Copper. The town recently calculated it has spent…almost $300,000 per year… related to opposing the future in-situ mine on Hunt Highway.” For more on this and other budget topics discussed at Monday’s city council meeting (street work, council travel reimbursement, and the negative fiscal impact of a population over-estimate), tap to Pinal Central. http://bit.ly/2ouBtEa

MUSK’S MIND MELD – Elon Musk lays out plans to meld brains and computers. “Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Thursday confirmed plans for his newest company, called Neuralink Corp., revealing he will be the chief executive of a startup that aims to merge computers with brains so humans could one day engage in ‘consensual telepathy.’” WSJ. (And if it’s not consensual, would you file a report with the Thought Police?) http://bit.ly/2pm9ElI

Exurbs poised to take off in coming years. Realtor.com® looks at a “gathering force of spacial economics” — the decreasing costs of “moving goods, people and information” — and how it will “enabl[e] millions of people to move out of cities, and shake up established models of global growth,” leaving both “winners” and “losers.” http://bit.ly/2pmsiKk

A FWY-CASE TRAFFIC JAM – New delay mires progress of anti-freeway federal appeals case. “Appeals courts do not work under any deadline and cases have been known to drag on for years.” See how a series of requests granted by the Ninth Circuit to each side — PARC and the Gila Community v. ADOT and the FHWA — make it a distinct possibility that such a lengthy delay could happen in this case, in this update from Ahwatukee Foothills News. http://bit.ly/2pmb5AK

Phoenix police to not take part in federal immigration deportations.“In a press release, the city council said it voted to ‘reject efforts by the Trump Administration to conscript Phoenix Police officers as part of a federal immigration deportation force.’” As you might imagine, this hot-button news item has sparked quite a spirited discussion in the comment section at KTAR. Check it out. http://bit.ly/2oxJCY0

Texting ban on teenage drivers now only needs Ducey’s signature to become law. “[T]he state House… gave final approval to legislation banning teens… from texting or making calls from their cell phones while behind the wheel…. Thursday’s vote came over the objection of some legislators who want Arizona to remain one of only two states in the country with no limits at all on cell phone use by motorists.” See what some of these lawmakers are saying about the bill in Howard Fischer’s report at Arizona Capitol Times. http://bit.ly/2oZO03M

Schools should be able to censor student journalists, some Arizona lawmakers argue. “SB 1384… would prevent administrators of… public and charter schools from censoring publications… except under narrow circumstances.” But as Howard Fischer reports in Arizona Daily Star: “[The legislation] hit a roadblock Thursday amid criticism from some lawmakers that [student journalists are] not entitled to such protection.” http://bit.ly/2oRUO4S

President Russell Begaye blasts Navajo Housing Authority spending on travel as ‘reckless’ and ‘wasteful.’ “Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye and other leaders have issued a joint letter calling for the tribal housing agency’s top managers to resign or face removal…. NHA commissioners [called] the president’s request… ‘completely out of line, outrageous and simply wrong.’ The conflict comes just four months after an Arizona Republic series described nearly two decades of failed projects, mismanagement, fraud and other financial issues at the NHA.” http://bit.ly/2oummKV

A judge, movie star with Arizona ties make Time’s 100 most influential people of year list. No sense teasing you by holding back their identities, as this KTAR headline has likely given it away. It’s La La Land’s leading lady, Oscar winner Emma Stone, along with “the first woman appointed to the nation’s highest court,” former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. And while it may not surprise you that Sandra Day O’Connor made such a list, the reason why just might. http://bit.ly/2pLVbN3

Newsmaker BONUS: Praying you’ll read this: How high should the wall between church and state be? Senior Reporter/Writer Phil Riske examines potential fallout from a move by the Arizona House this week, with a new rule requiring that “‘prayers’ recognize a ‘higher power.’” In Rose Law Group Reporter. http://bit.ly/2p3Yykx