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A driver and an aide for a school for a Phoenix school for intellectually disabled kids left a 6-year-old in a hot van yesterday for more than an hour, police say.

"We think it's extremely lucky for this kid," says Phoenix police Sergeant Steve Martos. "It was over 100 degrees yesterday and he was in there for an hour and 15 minutes."

The driver and aide, who are affiliated with the service provider for disabled people, Quest Alliance, could face a neglect charge, Martos says.

A school van picked up the 6-year-old, a boy with Down Syndrome, from Peoria and made a few other stops before returning to the school at 7602 West Indian School Road just after 2 p.m.


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Chandler police on Thursday confirmed that the gun used in last Thursday's accidental penis-shooting was a .380 caliber Taurus similar to this one.

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A man who accidentally shot himself in the penis while walking through the parking lot of a Chandler grocery store last week was under the influence of prescription drugs, police believe.

Cops who responded to the August 2 incident reported that Joshua Seto, 27, seemed too calm and oblivious to pain, says Chandler Sergeant Joe Favazzo. The officers thought the man was impaired by prescription drugs.

That would help explain how Seto could make such a blunder, though police also used the incident to emphasize the importance of holsters.

Police say the man and his girlfriend had been on their way to the store at about 7:30 p.m. when the woman pulled her pink .380 caliber, semi-automatic Taurus, specially made to promote breast cancer awareness, from her purse.

Seto took the gun and jammed into his waistband, where it went off.

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Image: Arizona Department of Corrections

The Cronkite News Service issued a lengthy correction to an article that featured ex-inmate Candita Gottsponer (above) as a poster child for sentencing reform.

​The Cronkite News Service issued a lengthy correction to a students' article about Arizona sentencing guidelines, but the misinformation persists on the Internet.

The May 18 article, which was widely published throughout the state and elsewhere, told readers about the sad case of Candita Gottsponer, a Flagstaff woman with a record for pot possession who supposedly received 23 months in prison for her first DUI.

The anecdote sounded fishy to us, as we explained in our May 27 blog post, and we soon discovered that Gottsponer had a much more extensive criminal history. Though not a violent criminal, the convicted thief, meth user and absconder is certainly no poster child for sentencing reform.

The mistake was a shame for three reasons: It slipped past Cronkite News Service editor Steve Elliott, a veteran from the Associated Press; it found its way onto the Web sites of several newspapers and countless blogs; and it distracted from the undisputed theme of the article, which was that some reform is needed because too many non-violent offenders are in Arizona's costly prisons.

 

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​A Kingman-area man fell off a 150-foot cliff near his home and was stranded for four days in rainy, cold weather before being found.

Merideth Isom, 66, was walking on his property about 10 miles north of Kingman, intending to give treats to his dog, when he fell off the cliff, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

After suffering various cuts and bruises, Isom couldn't leave the spot. Remember that storm that hit Arizona earlier this week? Isom was out in it, without shelter, food or clothing. 

Neighbors discovered he was missing yesterday morning and called authorities.

 

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Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and girlfriend Elissa Mullany, who was hired to set up the ill-timed economic deal with Bahrain.

Dealing with the ruling royalty in far-flung parts of the globe could have possible benefits for Arizona, but these non-democracies can be brutal, as Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon is finding out this week.

Gordon inked a five-year deal with Bahraini government officials on Monday aimed at developing stronger economic ties.

The same Bahraini government, led by the King of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa and his royal family, is shooting scores of protesters who want a constitutional monarchy that treats Shia muslims better.
At least six people have died and 66 are injured, according to the latest report by Al-Jazeera. People are being shot and beaten with rifle butts, says the report.
On Tuesday, Gordon was still sending upbeat messages on his Twitter account about his Monday meeting:

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