Mold Remediation in Phoenix, AZ

Amazon.com Inc. is taking flight in Arizona.

The e-commerce giant is expected to start delivering packages using its new drone technology on Nov. 5 across the west side of metro Phoenix.

Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) received key approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration in late October to fly the drones beyond a pilot's visual line of sight, meaning the company can operate the technology without being able to see the drones directly.

Starting Tuesday, residents in the West Valley will now be able to select Amazon's drone for their orders during daylight hours and receive those deliveries within an hour.

Packages delivered via drone will deploy out of one of Amazon's same-day centers in Tolleson about 14 miles west of downtown Phoenix, at 10601 W. Van Buren St. in a largely industrial area.

As drone deliveries ramp up, the potential service area could cover a 7-mile radius surrounding the Tolleson facility. That spans both sides of Interstate 10 from the Loop 303 and out east to the Loop 202 and includes cities such as Goodyear, Avondale, Glendale, Phoenix and Tolleson.

"Tolleson is at the epicenter of the technology really moving from a test phase to being part of the Amazon ecosystem," said Zoe Richmond, a spokesperson for Amazon.

The West Valley city was picked as the first in the U.S. to debut Amazon's latest MK30 drones after the company tested the technology in College Station, Texas, where it will continue drone delivery operations.

Those using drone delivery will have to pay a $9.99 service fee if they're an Amazon Prime member or $14.99 for nonmembers.

Customers will be able to choose from more than 50,000 products at the Tolleson facility for smaller items and packages weighing less than five pounds such as batteries, hygiene products, medicine and food.

Amazon will start marketing and notifying customers that have access to the drone delivery services. After deploying from the same-day center, Amazon's drones fly up to 400 feet high before descending and dropping a package at a home, hovering about 12 feet in the air when the package is released.

Eventually Amazon expects its reach to expand beyond the initial operating area but is first focused on establishing the drone services close to the Tolleson facility. Questions about the company's drone delivery operations can be submitted to amazondronefeedback@amazon.com.

The use of drone technology is part of a large plan Amazon is working on to make deliveries for vendors and customers more efficient. The company recently opened three inbound cross-dock facilities each totaling 1 million square feet across the West Valley to further streamline and regionalize deliveries in Arizona.

Amazon had also been testing its drone in Lockeford, California, but shut down those operations following the Arizona announcement. Some of the staff working at the California location have since relocated to Arizona.

More drone locations in the U.S. are expected to be announced next year, according to the company, which is also implementing its drones in Italy and the United Kingdom.

Walmart is another company that wanted to implement drone delivery in Arizona. It previously planned drone deliveries in Phoenix but has since refocused its efforts on the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Axios reported.

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PHOENIX — Election Day in Arizona is finally here! Polls officially opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m., with ballot count drops expected to begin after 8 p.m.

ABC15 is here to provide you with the latest Election Day news into the night and days ahead as the votes are counted in Arizona and around the country.

—Follow the latest election day updates below:

12:40 p.m.

A live aerial look at Valley polling locations:

12:20 p.m.

The latest tally on the number of Election Day voters from Maricopa County:

As of 12:00 p.m., approximately 112,000 voters have checked in at vote centers across Maricopa County. To find a vote center near you with the shortest wait time visit https://t.co/2Hs9CznUMiA partir de las 12:00 p.m. aproximadamente 112,000 votantes han registrado su llegada… pic.twitter.com/SuoWIx776b

— Maricopa County Elections (@MaricopaVote) November 5, 2024

12 p.m.

Maricopa County election officials reported an average wait time of 2 minutes at polling centers this morning. A “small handful of centers” are reporting lines as long as 30 minutes.

Mid-afternoon is expected to have the shortest lines.

The heaviest demand is expected to be 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. You can check out wait times at locations.maricopa.vote.

11:20 a.m.

The latest on Pinal County ballots cast on this election day.

Pinal County has passed 15,000 Election Day votes! We’ve also passed the total number of votes cast in this year's Primary Election!There is still time to cast your vote! The polls are open until 7 p.m., and you can find your polling place at https://t.co/3gzgYUuXmH. pic.twitter.com/UcCCfAkUMw

— Pinal County VOTES (@PinalVotes) November 5, 2024

11:10 a.m.

ABC15's Nicole Grigg looked into a report that there are ink issues at Maricopa County voting locations — county officials say there have been no ink issues.

County official tells me there have been no ink issues in Maricopa County. Also, no voting centers have closed here despite some inaccurate reports. @abc15 @Garrett_Archer https://t.co/eMbNT9Xds1

— Nicole Grigg (@NicoleSGrigg) November 5, 2024

11 a.m.

Maricopa County officials spoke on Election Day operations. Watch that update in the video player below:

10:10 a.m.

Maricopa County provides an update on the total number of voters casting their ballots on Election Day.

10:00 a.m.

ABC15's Jamie Warren gives us a look inside the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center as voters start casting their ballots on Election Day

9 a.m.

You can watch Secretary of State Adrian Fontes' morning press conference in the player below:

8:56 a.m.

8:30 a.m.

Maricopa County has provided the first update on number of voters to cast their ballots today so far.

7:35 a.m.

Maricopa County is reporting high traffic at multiple voting sites across the Valley this morning, including:

7:30 a.m.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has announced a 9 a.m. press conference to talk about how the election process is playing out so far.

You can watch the presser in this story and on the ABC15 streaming apps.

7:20 a.m.

A viewer reported to ABC15 that there were delays this morning at the Aire Libre Elementary School polling site at north Phoenix.

The Maricopa County Recorder's Office has told ABC15 that a poll worker with the ballot paper initially locked themselves out of the building, and the issue is expected to be resolved shortly.

7 a.m.

Some viewers in Mohave County initially reported issues as polls opened in Mohave County.

ABC15 reached out to the Mohave County Elections Department, who said all issues have been resolved and voting is proceeding as normal.

6 a.m.

Polls have officially opened in Arizona.

Here's what you need to know if you plan on voting in person today:

Did you vote by mail? You can check to see if there are any issues with your ballot.

Did you not get your ballot in the mail in time? You can drop off your ballot at any election center today.

_____

12News confirmed Monday that an Arizona-based group has caused registration problems in Maricopa County and now there are issues in at least one other state.

PHOENIX — An Arizona company led by the Mesa Vice Mayor is under scrutiny for problematic voter registration forms.

In a press conference Monday afternoon, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer detailed issues with voter registration forms, including an Arizona company that's been "in the news" in Pennsylvania.

>> Live, local, breaking. Download the 12News app

Richer said that some issues came up with a batch of 90,000 voter registration forms turned in on October 7, the deadline to register to vote in Maricopa County.

"We had people with entire trash bags full of voter registration forms in our lobby," Richer detailed.

Of the big batch, Richer said tens of thousands of forms were problematic. Some problems included forms that were damaged, torn, hard to read, or just flat-out wrong.

"40,000 approximately of those voter registration forms were, I think, the charitable word would be to say they were needing attention," Richer said. "Voter registration forms that tried to register Mickey Mouse, Jerry Seinfeld, Donald Duck, among others."

Richer said a group that played a "significant" role in that big drop-off was Arizona-based FieldCorps. Arizona business records indicate that Mesa Vice Mayor Francisco Heredia runs FieldCorps.

"This is a group that we have alerted in the past that we have been not wholly satisfied with the voter registration forms that have been submitted," Richer said.

Of the 40,000 problematic forms dropped off in Maricopa County on the registration deadline, Richer couldn’t confirm how many came from FieldCorps.

But it isn’t the only issue with the company this year.

In Monroe County, Pennsylvania, the district attorney shared in a statement last week on social media that 21 voter registration forms linked back to FieldCorps were referred to the District Attorney’s Office by the Board of Elections. The DA said they determined 16 of those Field Corps forms were "fraudulent," writing "the specific fraudulent character of these applications involve forged signatures, often with incorrect or incomplete identifying information.”

The Monroe County District Attorney's Office did not return 12News' call for comment.

Last year, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office said that two dozen forms from FieldCorps in Navajo and Mohave Counties were sent to the AG’s Office for investigation. That case was referred to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and remains open. The AG said all those forms were rejected and none of those people were registered to vote.

Neither Heredia nor his staff responded to 12News' requests for an interview. He did not attend Mesa's City Council meeting on Monday night.

Richer said these issues with FieldCorps are things they’ve discussed with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

A spokesperson for the Arizona Attorney General's Office said as of now, they haven’t gotten any official complaints about FieldCorps or any others related to voter registration forms this year.

"And we have admonished them to please, please, please submit better voter registration forms to please do more quality control," Richer said.

These inaccuracies or incomplete forms are taxing on county recorder offices.

Richer said by law, they have to try and contact people on these bad forms to see if they can provide information to complete the form and get registered to vote.

Those are the safeguards in place that seemed to work here and prevent bad registrations from going through.

"I will tell you that this has been a thorn in the side of county recorders throughout Arizona for many years but has picked up in recent years," Richer said.

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The winners did not win by chance but are instead paid spokespeople for the group chosen in advance to be sure their "values aligned," Musk's lawyers said in court.

Credit: X/America PAC

PHOENIX — Elon Musk's America PAC announced Monday that a Phoenix man won $1 million after signing a petition just moments after a judge ruled the sweepstakes could continue.

“As parents to two young children, we want to leave an America behind… that they will recognize… where they can grow and find jobs and raise families.” Phoenix resident Joshua, whose last name was not given, told the PAC after winning the money.

On Oct. 19, tech billionaire Elon Musk announced that he’s pledging to give away $1 million a day to voters who sign his political action committee’s petition in favor of “free speech and the right to bear arms,” or the First and Second amendments of the Constitution.

Only registered voters in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina — all critical battleground states this election cycle — are eligible for the America PAC giveaway, according to the petition website.

The final $1 million will be given to someone in Michigan on Tuesday, Musk's lawyers told a judge.

Joshua of Phoenix, Arizona received $1M for signing our petition to support the Constitution.Every day until Election Day, a person who signs will be selected to earn $1M as a spokesperson for America PAC.SIGN: https://t.co/TMeyWUhbrH pic.twitter.com/gdqq6eTu24

— America (@america) November 4, 2024

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner had called the sweepstakes a scam that violates state election law and asked that it be shut down. A Pennsylvania judge ruled Monday that the sweepstakes can continue.

Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta — ruling after Musk's lawyers said the winners are not chosen by chance — did not immediately give a reason for the ruling, the Associated Press reported.

The winners of the sweepstakes did not win by chance but are instead paid spokespeople for the group, Musk's lawyers said in court Monday.

Musk lawyer Chris Gober said the final two recipients before Tuesday's presidential election will be in Arizona on Monday and Michigan on Tuesday.

"The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance," Gober said Monday. "We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow."

Chris Young, the director of America PAC, testified that the recipients are vetted ahead of time, to "feel out their personality, (and) make sure they were someone whose values aligned" with the group.

The disclosures prompted a lawyer for District Attorney Larry Krasner to call the effort a "scam" that is "designed to actually influence a national election."

Musk's lawyers, in closing arguments, called it "core political speech" given that participants sign a petition endorsing the U.S. Constitution. They said Krasner's legal bid to shut down the sweepstakes under Pennsylvania law was moot because there would be no more Pennsylvania winners before the program ends Tuesday.

The Associated Press and TEGNA's Erin Jones contributed to this report.

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CASA GRANDE, AZ (AZFamily) — A firefighter south of the Valley is facing several charges after federal investigators say he recorded child porn at his home and found out about it after he downloaded thousands of files during the summer.

According to court documents, Agustin Julian “AJ” Sauceda, who works as a battalion chief with the Eloy Fire District, downloaded child porn from a peer-to-peer network starting on June 1.

Special agents said there were downloads in July, August, and September.

One of the videos included a toddler victim, investigators said.

Videos and photos were captured between May and December 2022, authorities said.

On Wednesday, law enforcement searched Sauceda’s Casa Grande home and pickup truck and seized nearly two dozen electronic devices.

One cellphone had more than 2,800 photos and videos of a naked girl in a bathroom at Sauceda’s house, court paperwork said.

Law enforcement also said they found a pinhole camera at the house.

Sauceda refused to talk to the agents after his arrest. He’s being charged with producing, distributing and possessing child porn.

Officials said Sauceda has been put on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

“Eloy Fire District is committed to transparency and accountability to the public, as well fair and equitable treatment of its valued employees,” officials said in a written statement.

It’s unclear how long he’s been with the department.

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