Safety lessons the industry can learn from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s National Loading & Unloading Survey and illegal school bus passing report to Congress, as well as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse recommendations.
Joshua Wilson, former transportation director, national director of student transportation for Specialized Education Services, and a 2024 STN Rising Star, leverages his expertise in driver training to analyze the school bus driver shortage, alternative transportation, and more.
“Everything we do here impacts the life of a child” is Joshua Wilson daily mantra.
“I personally had my life turned around because of the intervention of my childhood bus driver (shoutout to Ted Bair), so I know how much a good driver can matter,” added Wilson, one of this month’s Rising Stars who is featured in the November edition of School Transportation News magazine. “Conversely, when drivers do a bad job, setting up adversarial situations, berating students, or getting emotionally drawn into saying or doing things that are harmful, it can be very damaging to students’ ability to be successful in the classroom.”
Wilson started his career in pupil transportation as a special needs school bus driver for Teton County School District in Wyoming in September 2008. He served in this role for nine years before moving to Colorado to become a CDL examiner for Durango School District and the surrounding districts, as well as any CDL applicant in southwest Colorado including: Budweiser, Coca Cola, whitewater companies, logging trucks, and lumber delivery companies. Four and a half years ago he and his family moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he became the transportation supervisor for Vail School District — marking 16 years in pupil transportation.
Each year, School Transportation News chooses 10 Rising Stars based on nominations submitted by school districts and companies around the industry. These individuals have shown exemplary commitment and dedication in the student transportation industry and continue to demonstrate innovation in their roles. This year’s Rising Stars are featured in the November magazine issue.
In September, Wilson accepted a job offer from Specialized Education Services, Inc., as the national director of student transportation. Specialized Education Services operates over 95 schools and in 90 district classrooms across the U.S., with a focus on students who need academic, emotional, social and behavior support. Not all schools operating transportation, but Wilson will oversee the ones that do. He is responsible for the transportation of all alternative vehicles, from vans to minibuses. He also oversees training, compliance and KPI monitoring for schools in multiple states.
STN spoke with Wilson regarding his previous responsibilities at Vail School District, as he hadn’t started at Specialized Education Services at the time of being interviewed.
“I love to serve others, both our staff, and our community,” he said of his favorite part of the job, adding that while a supervisor isn’t always a fun job, it’s rewarding. “Helping set up staff for success is something that really gives me joy. Every time I see one of our drivers behind the wheel of their first route, I feel proud of what we have been able to do for them.”
He added that if transportation can provide a safe, respectful and nurturing environment for students, then they can arrive at school ready to learn. “I’m very passionate about the importance of pupil transportation, and I really work hard to instill that passion in our staff,” he continued. “I like to refer to bus drivers as the offensive line of a school district. It’s not a sexy job, and it doesn’t get all the praise and shine of the quarterback, but no team can win a Super Bowl without good linemen. When a school excels, receives awards or accolades, we like to celebrate that with our staff because those are our awards too.”
Updating Training
Some recent projects Wilson worked on for Vail School District was ramping up the district’s training program, ending the driver shortage at Vail and renewing their focus on providing exceptional service to families with special needs. In terms of revamping training, he said transportation created its own proprietary training manuals and materials, and the shop staff built training models and cutaways to help new trainees understand the challenging inspection items.
Joshua Wilson became the national director of student transportation at Specialized Education Services, Inc., after previously supervising transportation for Vail School District in Tucson, Arizona.
“Once we dialed in the format under the new [entry-level driver training] regulations, we were able to share that program with other smaller districts who were not as fortunate,” he shared, adding that they provide CDL training, consulting, and examination services to 23 school districts, tribal and government entities.
“We have also developed several fresh and contemporary presentations so that staff, both new and experienced, will be exposed to recent, relevant, and realistic training each year,” Wilson continued. “We are currently working on additional training models and technologies like training aps, augmented reality and A.I.”
Jerry Brown, Vail’s director of transportation, said that under Wilson’s supervision the district training program underwent a “remarkable transformation.” Brown said that Wilson was “instrumental in ushering in the FMCSA’s ELDT regulations that fundamentally changed the way we trained not only our own bus driver trainees but several others from neighboring school districts,” he wrote in his nomination. “Joshua has introduced comprehensive, hands-on training modules that encompass not only the technical aspects of bus operation but also the critical components of student safety and well-being.”
Brown said Wilson integrated state-of-the-art technology and real-life scenarios to help ensure that drivers are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to handle any situation with confidence and competence. “His efforts have resulted in a noticeable improvement in driver performance, safety records, and overall satisfaction among our staff and students,” Brown noted.
Navigating the Driver Shortage
To combat the driver shortage, Wilson said Vail district personal worked to attract high quality people to provide a positive, healthy and supportive environment for the entire staff.
“We are proud to be one of the few districts in our area not to operate with a shortage,” Wilson said. “Starting with all of us on the management team being focused on bringing in only the highest quality people, giving them great training, paying a competitive wage, and giving them a great place to work. One of the things I like to tell applicants is that we can train anyone to be a bus driver, but we can’t train someone to have a good work ethic, to have a calling to serve their community, and to be focused on providing for the needs of our students.”
He said that being a school bus driver is too important of a job, to just “hire anybody.” Instead, he noted that it takes someone “really special to be a bus driver for us.”
Working with Special Needs Students
When transporting Vail students with special needs, Wilson said transportation worked to develop a close working relationship with the district’s SPED staff and medical team. “Our SPED drivers are well informed of their students’ behaviors and conditions,” he said. “I know that a lot of districts have issues getting information regarding IEPs, but we have worked really hard to improve that. We have a great relationship with the case managers and behavior specialists in our district, and have constant communication with school medical staff regarding student conditions and medication.”
Additionally, he said transportation provides monthly training, individualized medical training and behavior management training to all SPED staff. Brown said in his nomination that working with the special needs’ bus team has been one of Wilson’s most significant achievements. “Recognizing the unique challenges faced by these students, Joshua has implemented specialized training programs tailored to the needs of both the special needs drivers and the students they transport,” Brown wrote, adding that Wilson has fostered a culture of empathy, patience, and understanding with his team, ensuring that every student receives the care and attention they deserve. “Additionally, Joshua has collaborated with parents, school staff, and special education professionals to ensure that our department carries out individualized transportation plans that prioritize safety, comfort, and consistency for our special needs students.”
Navigating Challenges
Wilson said one challenge and benefit is that Vail operates on a year-round schedule. In terms of training and the special education department teams, he said the biggest challenge is getting everyone up and running in time for the first day, which was July 15 this year.
“Our trainers and training coordinator were working hard to get new drivers ready for the new year, not only for us, but for two of our surrounding smaller districts that we trained drivers for over the summer,” he shared. “The new drivers were practicing dry runs of routes and doing everything they could to be prepared for kids. Our SPED team only has about two weeks to route and communicate out to parents regarding the hundreds of curb-to-curb requests that we receive every year.”
Personally, he said, he works to develop new driver presentations each year so that they have a fresh, valuable training to look forward to each in-service. “Year round schooling has a ton of advantages, but it also gives us a truncated period of time to prepare each year,” he added.
Going forward, Wilson said Vail’s goal is to continue to the raise the bar for pupil transportation and help to put the word “professional” in transportation professionals. By sharing training programs with neighboring districts, he noted that they are a lighthouse district to smaller districts that don’t have the facilities and resources to invest in expensive training, professional speakers or full-time trainers and examiners.
“We are always looking for ways to improve our communication, and the quality of what we do for our community,” he said.
While he has moved on, Wilson said the next five years will show tremendous growth in the Vail community, and in the service provided to parents and students. “I see us providing training presentations to schools across Arizona, and even states beyond,” he added. “I see our transportation department being at the forefront of service, communication, and quality in Arizona, the same way our district is in the education space.”
He noted that Vail School District will open a new school, which will bring in additional busing, staff and families to their communities, along with the logistical challenges that come with it. “Tucson is experiencing tremendous growth, and it is exciting to be a part of,” he shared.
Brown concluded his nomination by stating that Wilson embodies the qualities of a true leader.
“His proactive approach to problem-solving, well-crafted training programs, and his unwavering commitment to excellence has inspired the entire transportation team,” he wrote. “He has encouraged open communication, teamwork, and continuous improvement, creating an environment where team members feel valued and empowered. Through his innovative ideas and strategic vision, Joshua has contributed significantly to the setting of a new standard for school transportation management in our district.”
On a personal level, Wilson’s oldest daughter is starting college, his son is a junior in high school, and his youngest daughter was in middle school at Arizona State Schools for Deaf and Blind.
“It makes for a pretty busy schedule,” Wilson shared of life outside of work. “My wife and I also enjoy selling herbs and seasonings at our local farmer’s market. When things aren’t so busy, I love going up in the mountains above Tucson. It reminds me a little of being back in Wyoming again.”
Read the profiles on the Rising Stars in the November issue of School Transportation News.
LAVEEN, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 25: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at Gila Crossing Community School on October 25, 2024 in Laveen, Arizona. Biden formally apologized for the trauma inflicted by the federal government's forced Native American boarding school policy. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Standing solemnly in front of a crowd full of Indigenous people on the grassy field of a tribal elementary school near Phoenix, President Joe Biden issued a formal apology to Indigenous communities across the country for the role the United States government had in the Native American Boarding School system, a system that harmed Indigenous people for generations.
“After 150 years, the United States government eventually stopped the program, but the federal government has never formally apologized for what happened,” Biden said. “Until today — I formally apologize, as president of the United States of America, for what we did.”
Biden’s apology was met with loud cheers from the crowd. He is the first sitting president in the last 10 years to visit a Tribal Nation.
He told the community that it was long overdue and that it was only fitting that it was given at a tribal school within an Indigenous community deeply connected to culture and tradition.
“I have a solemn responsibility to be the first president to formally apologize to the Native peoples, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Alaskans and federal Indian boarding schools,” he said. “It’s long, long, long overdue. Quite frankly, there’s no excuse that this apology took (150) years to make.
Biden said the pain that the federal Indian boarding school policy has caused will always be a significant mark of shame for the United States.
“For those who went through this period, it was too painful to speak of,” he said. “For a nation, it was too shameful to acknowledge.”
“This formal apology is the culmination of decades of work by so many courageous people,” Biden said, acknowledging many who were sitting in the audience, including the boarding school survivors and descendants.
“I know no apology can or will make up for what was lost during the darkness of the federal boarding school policy,” Biden said. “But, today, we’re finally moving forward into the light.”
Biden’s apology, delivered Friday at the Gila River Crossing School on the Gila River Indian Community, comes three years after Interior Secretary Deb Haaland launched the first ever federal investigation into Native American Boarding Schools.
Haaland spoke before Biden, and was welcomed to the stage by Miss Gila River Susanna Osife as “Auntie Deb.” Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, told the crowd that thinking about our ancestors today is important because they persevered, and their stories are everywhere.
“We tell those stories because Native American history is American history,” Haaland said.
The Department of Interior released the final boarding school report in July. It provided eight recommendations from the Department of Indian Affairs for the federal government that would support a path to healing for tribal communities.
At the top of that list was a call for the United States to acknowledge and apologize for its role in the federal Indian boarding school policies that have harmed — and continue to harm — Indigenous peoples across the country.
“Today is a day for remembering, but it’s also a day to celebrate our perseverance,” Haaland said. “In spite of everything that has happened, we are still here.”
While boarding schools are places where affluent families send their children for an exclusive education for most of the United States, Haaland noted how different the prospect was for Native Americans.
“For Indigenous peoples, they served as places of trauma and terror for more than 100 years,” she said. “Tens of thousands of Indigenous children as young as four years old were taken from their families and communities and forced into boarding schools run by U.S. government institutions.”
Haaland said that the federal Native American Boarding School system has impacted every Indigenous person she knows, and they all carry the trauma that those policies and schools inflicted.
“This is the first time in history that a United States cabinet secretary has shared the traumas of our past, and I acknowledge that this trauma was perpetrated by the agency that I now lead,” Haaland said. “For decades, this terrible chapter was hidden from our history books, but now our administration’s work will ensure that no one will ever forget.”
Haaland launched the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative in 2021 to shed light on the “horrific era of our nation’s history.”
The initiative compiled two reports and visited dozens of Indigenous communities, hearing from survivors and descendants so that their experiences are all documented because the goal of Native American Boarding Schools was to assimilate and eradicate Indigenous people.
Haaland said the investigation into these boarding schools are shared in those reports and it shows the “loud and unequivocal truth” that the federal government took deliberate and strategic actions through boarding school policies to isolate Indigenous children from their families and steal from them the languages, cultures, and traditions that are fundamental to Indigenous people.
“As we stand here together, my friends and relatives, we know that the federal government failed,” She said. “It failed to annihilate our languages, our traditions, our life ways. It failed to destroy us because we persevered.”
The Federal Boarding School Initiative’s report called on Congress and federal agencies to take action, and Haaland said that some of those recommendations are already being put into effect.
For instance, Haaland said the department is working alongside the departments of Education and Health and Human Services to invest in the preservation of Native languages.
“We are developing a 10-year national plan guided by tribal leaders and Native language teachers,” Haaland said, and more details about their efforts will be released later.
“The painful loss of our Indigenous languages has been a consistent topic as we have met with survivors across our nation,” she said.
Another effort Haaland highlighted is the department’s collaboration with the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition to create an oral collection of first-person narratives from boarding school survivors.
Haaland said this collaboration is a way to ensure that future generations are told the stories of the boarding school era and understand the impacts and intergenerational trauma caused by boarding school policies.
As the crowd listened to Biden give his speech, protesters with O’odham Solidarity made their voice heard as one walked toward the stage holding a sign calling for justice for Palestinians.
LAVEEN, ARIZONA – OCTOBER 25: Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupt U.S. President Joe Biden’s remarks at Gila Crossing Community School on October 25, 2024 in Laveen, Arizona. Biden formally apologized for the trauma inflicted by the federal government’s forced Native American boarding school policy. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
As Biden delivered his remarks, one protester yelled from the crowd: “No, what about the people in Gaza.”
The protest was met with shouts from the crowd as a man in the crowd yelled: “Get out of here.” But Biden said let her talk.
“Let her go,” Biden said as the protester was being removed. “There’s a lot of innocent people being killed and it has to stop.”
Even after the protestors voiced their concerns, the community’s attention went back to Biden as he continued his speech about the boarding school years as well as his investments to Indian Country.
‘It was long overdue’
Crystalyne Curley said she thought of her grandfathers as Biden delivered his apology, which brought back memories of the stories they would tell of their time at boarding schools and the trauma they experienced.
“It’s a bittersweet moment,” Curley said. “I think there is a lot of a mix of emotions, because each of our Navajo citizens has a tie to the trauma that has happened within our boarding schools.”
Curley serves as speaker of the Navajo Nation Council and has heard stories about the federal boarding school system from her community for generations.
“It was long overdue,” Curley said. “I really commend our president Biden for taking that step and being the first one to have that courage to say, ‘Yes, we done wrong.’”
Curley said that is something that many Indigenous people have been waiting to hear, including the Navajo people.
“Many of our children didn’t come home,” she said, and the policies’ lingering effects include the loss of language and culture.
The Department of the Interior investigated the federal Indian boarding school system across the United States, identifying more than 400 schools and over 70 burial sites.
The legacy of the federal Indian boarding school system is not new to Indigenous people. For centuries, Indigenous people across the country have experienced the loss of their culture, traditions, language and land.
Multiple federally operated boarding schools were established in the Navajo Nation in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, and many of them are still operational today, though under different policies than when they were constructed.
Curley said that there are still a lot of federally operated Bureau of Indian Education schools in operation on the Navajo Nation, but some families still hesitate to enroll their children in them because of the boarding school history.
She hopes that this apology will lead to the federal government investing in the education system within tribal nations.
“Start investing back into our children and our mental, spiritual, (and) psychological health that this has caused for many decades,” she added.
Curley said she hopes that the momentum of Biden’s apology will be carried on into the next administration by acknowledging the wrong done to Indigenous communities.
Now that an official apology has been given, Curley said that healing needs to take place and that comes in the form of investing in Indigenous communities, something she said is best done by funding public and mental health resources, as well as reinvesting in the culture and language revitalizations within their communities.
“For healing to take place, it takes at least two generations,” Curley said.
After Biden issued his apology, Native organizations and advocates from across Indian Country called for action.
Cheryl Crazy Bull, the president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, said that the federal government and philanthropists need to make a significant investment in restorative and healing approaches as well as institutions to repair the harm done by the boarding school era.
“The Native people who we support, from our youngest children to our college students, deserve that investment,” she said.
Crystal Echo Hawk, the founder and CEO of IllumiNative, called Biden’s apology a significant step toward justice for Indian Country, but said it must not be the end of the government’s efforts.
“True accountability requires comprehensive action — beginning with full transparency about the extent of these abuses and the return of Native children’s remains to their families and communities,” she said.
“We must continue to demand further accountability of the harms done to Native peoples, especially the Native children who experienced neglect, inhumane conditions, physical and sexual abuse, and death under the guise of education,” Echo Hawk said. “The federal government must commit to supporting Native-led healing initiatives, language revitalization programs, and cultural preservation efforts to effectively begin repairing the damage of the past.”
Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com. Follow Arizona Mirror on Facebook and X.
The presidential election may well decide the future of the United States’ ambitious new clean energy agenda, but a handful of smaller, less-discussed races will have a more immediate and direct impact on the energy transition in several different states.
Public utility commissions regulate the monopoly utilities that operate in each state, voting on such matters as what power plants utilities can build and how much money they can charge their captive customers. Each state’s PUC contains three to five commissioners, making the officials some of the most powerful people in the U.S. energy transition. In most states, governors appoint these leaders — but in 10 states, voters elect them.
This November, eight of those states have active races for at least one PUC commissioner: Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Georgia canceled its 2024 PUC elections because the state’s bizarre hybrid structure for PUC elections has resulted in a lawsuit claiming voter discrimination: PUC commissioners each represent one of five districts, but they are elected statewide, so the members of each district don’t get to decide who represents them.
Utilities recognize the importance of supporting candidates who share their interests, and spend money accordingly. But most regular people often feel little personal connection to the races or the arcane bureaucracy that unfolds at the commissions, and it can be hard to focus on these details against the raucous political backdrop of a general election.
“These PUC commissioners have the power to determine people’s utility bills, the quality of their utility service, and how their utilities are making investments in different forms of energy,” PUC advocate Charles Hua told Canary Media. “Yet, few people can name their state’s PUC commissioners or explain what they do.”
After stints at the Department of Energy and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Hua launched a nonprofit called PowerLines this fall to promote greater public awareness of the pivotal roles PUCs play in the clean energy transition. As a nonpartisan entity, PowerLines can’t endorse candidates, but Hua sees plenty of value in simply increasing participation in PUC elections.
That information gap around PUCs leads to “down-ballot dropoff,” in which voters select candidates in the better-known races but leave the PUC section blank, Hua said. That means voters miss out on “a democratic vehicle to engage with the public officials that are meant to serve the public interest through effective utility regulation.”
(Powerlines)
The implications for good utility regulation are especially high this year for anyone interested in the transition to cleaner energy, not to mention equity and affordability.
Commissioners control how much electric and gas utilities can charge customers, at a time of soaring energy bills. They’re also uniquely positioned to help get the U.S. grid on track to meet climate goals, at least on a state-by-state level, by approving more cheap, clean energy instead of letting utilities continue to expand fossil-fueled infrastructure. And PUCs can direct utilities to rebuild their grids in a more resilient way following destructive extreme weather like hurricanes Helene and Milton.
PUC commissioners wade through the technocratic morass of utility regulation and make choices that affect Americans’ pocketbooks. That’s why Hua says it’s so important for those who have the opportunity to vote in PUC races to do so, and to keep an eye on what their commission does the rest of the time.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at Arizona and Louisiana, two states where the stakes for the clean energy transition are particularly high this year.
Arizona could return to ambitious clean energy policy
Three of five seats are up for the Grand Canyon State’s PUC, which is called the Arizona Corporation Commission. Anna Tovar, the lone Democrat on the commission, is not running for reelection, nor is Republican James O’Connor. Republican Lea Márquez Peterson is running for another four-year term.
Arizonans get to vote statewide for the slate of PUC commissioners, and the top three vote-getters each win a seat. There are three Democrats and three Republicans running, and Arizona’s closely contested recent election cycles mean anything could happen — the commission could swing in a more pro–clean energy direction, or toward more fossil-friendly regulation.
That’s significant, because the ACC’s recent past illustrates the power of elected PUCs more clearly than perhaps in any other state. In 2018, the all-Republican commission boldly rebuked the planning proposal from the state’s largest utility, Arizona Public Service. Then the commissioners went further, imposing a moratorium on new gas plant construction, based on conservative principles: With the energy sector changing so quickly, they wouldn’t let utilities charge their customers for a bunch of expensive gas plants when other quickly maturing options could prove more cost-effective.
Those commissioners later developed their own clean energy standard, and nearly approved it, which would have been a rare instance of a proactive clean energy target coming from a PUC instead of a legislature. But the commission’s debate dragged on as state politics became increasingly contentious, and the proposal was ultimately voted down 3-2 in January 2022. Early this year, the commission voted to end the meager renewable energy standard that had been on the books for 15 years.
In AZ Central’s survey of PUC candidate views, Democrats Ylenia Aguilar, Jonathon Hill, and Joshua Polacheck each affirmed that they want Arizona to tap into more of its renewable power potential. If elected, they could push to revive the clean electricity standard, although that would be a long shot. They could also push to strengthen policies for energy efficiency and distributed energy.
That’s not to say the Republicans oppose clean energy — they just equate binding clean energy targets with adding costs for customers, which they oppose.
For instance, Márquez Peterson says she “supports the voluntary commitments made by our utilities for 100 percent clean and affordable energy by 2050 for Arizona.” She also wants to “avoid costly mandates and corporate subsidies.” Republican Rachel Walden told AZ Central that “forced energy investments and climate goals put the ratepayer last and thwart free market principles.”
This line of argument leaves it to utilities to pursue their own corporate targets. As it happens, solar power in dry, sunny Arizona is ridiculously cheap, and the utilities have jumped on the trend. But the lack of a long-term roadmap for the state leaves room for more gas construction in the meantime, and complicates the kind of long-term planning needed to achieve a carbon-free grid in the coming decades.
Whoever wins, the commission is sure to face capacious gas-plant proposals from utilities to meet soaring demand for data centers and new chip factories (plus some lithium-ion battery manufacturing) in the Phoenix area.
Louisiana to replace swing vote on energy issues
Louisiana’s PUC just did something the state government never accomplished: pass a modern energy-efficiency program to save households money. Now one of the architects of that program is retiring, and voters can pick his replacement.
Advocates had pushed for such a program for years, but it finally passed thanks to two commissioners with seemingly dissimilar perspectives: progressive Democrat Davante Lewis, who campaigned on climate justice; and Republican Craig Greene, a former LSU football player and orthopedic surgeon who supports market-based reforms. They both found common ground in the desire to push the state’s monopoly utility to invest in measures to reduce wasteful energy consumption and thereby save customers money. The commissioners recently selected a third-party administrator to run this program.
“Commissioner Greene has been an important champion for things like energy efficiency, and has even taken steps to move renewable energy forward in the state,” said Logan Burke, executive director of the Louisiana consumer advocacy nonprofit Alliance for Affordable Energy. “The seat he is in has historically been considered a ‘swing’ vote between the two red and two blue districts.”
But Greene decided not to seek reelection as a commissioner, which in Louisiana is a part-time role. That means his seat in District 2 is up for grabs: If Greene’s successor doesn’t share his support for the efficiency measures, it could jeopardize the fledgling, long-awaited program. And this swing vote could prove decisive in decisions on new power-plant construction to meet an expected surge in electricity demand.
Democrat Nick Laborde is competing with Republicans Jean-Paul Coussan and Julie Quinn for the seat. Some 70 percent of voters in this district picked Donald Trump for president in 2020, according to the local outlet Louisiana Illuminator.
Laborde has business experience running a consulting firm and serving as product manager at NOLA Crawfish Bread, an unusually delicious experience for a prospective utility regulator. He has said he supports more renewables and wants to “make utilities pay more instead of raising your bill.”
Coussan’s campaign website doesn’t say much about his views on the energy system, but he does promise to regulate as “a true conservative watchdog, and someone who understands the importance of the role that affordable and reliable energy plays in bringing jobs to our state.” That assertion could mean Coussan would stand up to utility attempts to raise rates on customers; then again, utilities in Louisiana and elsewhere have used an emphasis on “reliability” to push for expensive gas-plant construction in circumstances of dubious value.
Quinn promises to “rein in unnecessary utility company spending that results in rising utility rates,” and to “oppose liberal-thinking Green New Deal initiatives that are unrealistic and costly.” But one target of Biden administration clean energy funding has piqued her interest: Quinn would like to “explore micro-nuclear facilities to lower utility rates.” No commercial microreactor has been built on the U.S. grid, much less lowered anyone’s rates, despite years of trying.
The Alliance for Affordable Energy does not endorse candidates, per the rules governing 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Instead, the group focuses on get-out-the-vote efforts and education about the commission, Burke told Canary Media. She’s also keeping an eye on what candidates say about transmission planning and expansion, which could open up vast new supplies of clean energy for the state.
“If we don’t get the transmission planning we need, we’ll just get 40 more years of new gas plants,” Burke said. “That won’t help anyone but Entergy,” the state’s largest monopoly utility.
MESA, Ariz.,- Verra Mobility Corporation (NASDAQ: VRRM), a leading provider of smart mobility technology solutions, has launched the ‘Zero in on School Bus Safety Toolkit’ to champion National School Bus Safety Week (October 21-25) and encourage others to embrace the importance of using safe driving behavior around school buses.
Passing a stopped school bus with its stop-arm extended is against the law, yet thousands of Americans do this on a daily basis. The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) annual survey showed 45.2 million drivers received a violation for illegally passing school buses last school year – up from 43.5 million during the prior school year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration relates this to the most devastating consequence, stating an average of 108 fatalities occurred each year via school transportation-related crashes from 2013-2022.
To encourage communities and organizations to raise awareness around this issue, Verra Mobility created ‘Zero in on School Bus Safety Toolkit’ with resources including social media posts, statistics, and digital collateral to raise awareness and create safer school bus transportation. To download the free materials and share this important safety message, visit www.verramobility.com/national-school-bus-safety-week-toolkit.
“Every day, millions of students rely on school buses for safe transport to and from school,” said Belinda Olivares, general manager of the school bus stop arm division at Verra Mobility. “The illegal passing of stopped school buses threatens our students’ safety. That’s why Verra Mobility is partnering with school districts to install school bus safety arm technology to protect students as they board and exit the bus. These programs are proven to alter driver behavior, but we must do more. The goal of the toolkit is to give school districts and organizations across the nation a way to deliver the safety message in one easy step.”
Verra Mobility’s school bus stop arm program works when the bus’s stop arm is deployed, and a camera automatically detects vehicles that pass the stopped bus within the enforced zone. The camera records video of the vehicle and captures event images including its license plate and the extended stop-arm.
Verra Mobility’s program has shown that 98 percent of drivers who are issued a violation for illegally passing a stopped school bus do not repeat their behavior, with some programs experiencing up to a 70 percent reduction in issued citations when comparing the beginning of the school year to the end. Violations act to raise awareness and change driver behavior.
“School buses carry very precious cargo…our students. While protecting their safety is a daily priority, this week allows us to spotlight the importance of safe school bus transportation and reduce the risks to children,” said Olivares. “Verra Mobility has equipped thousands of school buses, transporting tens-of-thousands of students, with safety camera technology to better protect children on their commute to and from school.”
About Verra Mobility:
Verra Mobility Corporation (NASDAQ: VRRM) is a leading provider of smart mobility technology solutions that make transportation safer, smarter and more connected. The company sits at the center of the mobility ecosystem, bringing together vehicles, hardware, software, data and people to enable safe, efficient solutions for customers globally. Verra Mobility’s transportation safety systems and parking management solutions protect lives, improve urban and motorway mobility and support healthier communities. The company also solves complex payment, utilization and compliance challenges for fleet owners and rental car companies. Headquartered in Arizona, Verra Mobility operates in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. For more information, please visit www.verramobility.com.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris debate for the first time during the presidential election campaign at The National Constitution Center on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia. A handful of issues and groups of voters in battleground states could decide the race. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Editor’s note: This five-day series explores voter priorities in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as they consider the upcoming presidential election and the nation’s future. With the outcome expected to be close, the “swing states” as they are called are often a bellwether for the country.
7 States + 5 Issues That Will Swing the 2024 Election
It’s been a wild few months in the presidential race: President Joe Biden dropped out and Vice President Kamala Harris captured the Democratic nomination. Former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and was targeted again at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Despite the historic lead-up to Election Day, the race has now settled into familiar territory: Much like 2020’s contest, top political strategists on both sides of the aisle expect control of the White House could come down to just a few thousand votes in a handful of battleground states.
“This is not going to be an election where you will see a landslide. It’s going to be won in the margins in six to seven swing states,” Democratic strategist Donna Brazile told a crowd of state lawmakers from across the country last month.
Brazile, who ran Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, shared the stage with Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway, who managed Trump’s 2016 campaign and advised him in the White House.
Unsurprisingly, the pair disagreed on much.
But while speaking at the National Conference of State Legislatures in Kentucky, the two senior strategists framed the race similarly to the 2020 contest, when fewer than 50,000 votes in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin separated Biden and Trump from an Electoral College tie.
“It is a different race. It has turned in very short time, but the issue set hasn’t changed at all,” Conway said. “And I think that’s what’s important here.”
Voters line up on the first day of early voting in 2020 in Las Vegas, Nev. (Jeniffer Solis/Nevada Current)
Like last cycle, the two campaigns are pouring millions into Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In this “Battleground” series, States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, explores the political issues and groups of voters that could make the difference in those seven states and, consequentially, in the race for the White House.
Unsurprisingly, economic issues — namely, stubbornly high prices — are proving central for many voters across the swing states. But voters also are concerned about immigration, abortion access and the future of the Supreme Court.
In states such as Michigan and Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, labor unions could prove instrumental for Harris after years of significant gains by organized labor.
In Georgia and North Carolina, Black voter turnout could make the difference, while Latino voters are closely divided in Nevada after helping propel Biden to victory there four years ago. In every swing state, campaigns are focused on all-important suburban voters.
The election’s outcome also could be shaped by the work of officials who have been debating who can vote and which votes should count since the mayhem of the last presidential contest.
This is not going to be an election where you will see a landslide. It’s going to be won in the margins in six to seven swing states.
– Democratic strategist Donna Brazile
Four years ago, a false narrative that questioned the security and integrity of elections took hold in some legislatures. New laws changed ballot-counting practices and made it more difficult to vote in many states, including swing states. In states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, there is broad concern that despite the checks and balances built into the voting system, local Republicans tasked with certifying elections will be driven by conspiracy theories and refuse to fulfill their duties if Trump loses again.
Fears that these efforts could sow chaos and delay results is not unfounded: Over the past four years, county officials in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania have refused to certify certain local elections.
With such a close race, voter turnout and motivation will be key in all the battleground states.
As in other swing states, North Carolina’s 16 Electoral College votes could hinge on how political independents vote, said Carter Wrenn, a longtime Republican strategist who has worked on many campaigns.
And those independents can be unpredictable in North Carolina: Their votes helped both Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Trump carry the state in the last two general elections.
“It’s the independents that are up for grabs, and they don’t mind splitting a ticket at all,” Wrenn said. “Ultimately, in the general election, that’s the key group.”
The economy
In every state this year, the economy is a central issue.
As Trump tries to fault Harris and Biden for the high costs of everyday living, polling shows voters blame Harris less for the situation than they did Biden — though likely voters profess more confidence in Trump’s ability to manage the economy.
For her part, Harris has unveiled plans to lower prices of rent, homebuying and groceries, arguing she will remain focused on the middle class from Day One, contrasting her ideas with what she characterizes as Trump’s catering to billionaires.
In Georgia, Republicans and Democrats alike have found success in recent statewide campaigns by highlighting similar kitchen table issues. After attending a Harris rally in Savannah last month, Georgia voter Sarah Damato said she doesn’t believe Trump will fight for the middle class.
At the event, the vice president told listeners she would lower costs by fighting corporate price-fixing and touted her proposal for a “care economy,” a set of progressive proposals including benefits for parents of newborns and credits for first-time homebuyers.
“Kamala Harris made it very evident today that the American family is the most important thing on her mind these days, and she’s going to make it easier for each one of us to have a brighter future,” Damato said.
In Kenosha, Wisconsin, meanwhile, Republican Party volunteer Sharon Buege said she supports the GOP ticket because she sees the race as a matter of “good versus evil.” Speaking outside a news conference by Trump running mate J.D. Vance, Buege said she opposed “the whole left agenda,” adding that her top issues in the race were border security, the economy, human trafficking, homelessness and “indoctrination” in public schools.
It is a different race. It has turned in very short time, but the issue set hasn’t changed at all.
– Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway
At that same news conference, a man who would only give his name as “John” said the economy and inflation mattered most: “I don’t need a reminder of why to support Trump. I can get that every time I go to the gas station or grocery store.”
Groups of voters
With Republicans looking to run up margins in rural parts of the battleground states and Democrats banking on big leads in cities, the suburbs remain pivotal.
In Georgia, diverse and growing suburbs have helped move the state from reliably red to purple.
In the state’s two largest suburban counties of Cobb and Gwinnett, Biden picked up more than 137,000 votes in 2020 over 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to data from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. The same year, Trump boosted his total by just under 32,000 votes over his 2016 performance.
The Trump campaign boasts a mighty in-state operation: nearly 15,000 volunteers signing up between mid-July and the end of August, nearly 300 events scheduled for September, and 4,000 neighborhood organizers and canvassers — known as Trump Force Captains — joining the cause in July and August.
But Team Harris says they are running the largest Georgia operation of any Democratic presidential campaign cycle, with more than 200 campaign staff in 28 offices. Harris’ recent visit to the more conservative south side of the state marked her 16th trip to Georgia since becoming vice president and her seventh trip this year.
Harris is hoping to fire up the young, diverse Democratic base, but her team also is hoping she can hang onto or expand on Biden’s coalition of older, affluent, educated and largely white suburbanites.
“Those are the people who are actually kind of pivotal and who will modify or change their behavior,” said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock.
“These people are largely Republicans, but they can’t bring themselves to vote for Donald Trump or for Republicans who are closely associated with him,” Bullock said.
Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia public affairs executive and political analyst, said the four suburban Philadelphia counties surrounding Pennsylvania’s largest city are key to winning that state. Once a Republican bastion, the so-called collar counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery have swung strongly in the other direction since 2016.
That complicates messaging for both campaigns, Ceisler said. Trump’s anti-abortion stance and Harris’ effort to back away from her earlier statements against fracking — both positions that appeal to rural and western Pennsylvania voters — are potential liabilities in suburbs.
Democrats have a 343,000-voter registration advantage over Republicans in Pennsylvania. But the state has been decided by narrow margins in the last two presidential elections.
Daniel Mallinson, an associate professor of public policy and administration at Penn State Harrisburg, noted that the Trump campaign has paid attention to Black and Latino voters.
“One of the weaknesses that Biden had as a candidate was he had weakening support among African American voters. And then Trump has actually done fairly well, particularly in some other states, like in Florida, with Latino voters,” Mallinson said, adding that Harris’ nomination changes the equation somewhat.
After Democrats seemingly all but wrote off Arizona for Biden, the contest there is proving more winnable for Harris. Biden narrowly won Arizona in 2020, but he had been hemorrhaging Latino support this year.
Employees join the picket line in September 2023 at General Motors’ Lansing Redistribution Center in Lansing, Mich. (Anna Liz Nichols/Michigan Advance)
In the manufacturing-heavy upper Midwest, labor unions could prove consequential in not only persuading voters but also motivating them to the polls.
Biden was the first sitting president to visit a picket line when the United Auto Workers last year took on the “Big Three” Detroit automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — by going on strike. That effort led to significant increases in pay and benefits for workers.
The UAW, which in August announced a national campaign to motivate its 1 million active and retired members to vote for Harris, says its membership accounted for 9.2% of Biden’s 2020 votes in Michigan alone.
“To me, this election is real simple,” UAW president Shawn Fain told a crowd of about 15,000 people last month at a rally in Detroit for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. “It’s about one question. It’s a question we made famous in the labor movement: Which side are you on?”
Political weaknesses
While Democrats are more motivated than when Biden was the presumptive nominee, they still face internal conflicts, the most high-profile of which has been about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Dee Sull, a Las Vegas attorney who works in immigration and family law, is a registered Democrat who said she would never vote for Trump. Yet she doesn’t really want to vote for Harris, leaving her “very torn” this election.
“I believe our foreign policy in Gaza is completely ridiculous. I’m very disturbed,” she said of U.S. military aid to Israel. “If we’re going to spend money, I want it spent on my kids here — on my neighbors’ kids here.”
Sull said both parties have silenced the voices of those who protest the death and destruction in Gaza. And she was irritated that Palestinian American activists were not allowed to speak at the Democratic National Convention last month.
Sull won’t sit out the election, but said she would prefer to vote for a third candidate with a viable shot at winning.
“Probably like a lot of Americans would if they had that opportunity,” she said.
For Trump, voters’ overwhelming support for abortion rights could prove a huge liability in swing states.
While Trump has wobbled in recent months on whether he would veto a national abortion ban, the Supreme Court justices he appointed dismantled abortion access across the country in 2022 — an unpopular position even in red states such as Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio that since have voted to expand abortion rights.
In Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood stopped offering abortions at its health clinics after the court’s Dobbs decision because of an 1849 “trigger” state law that immediately took effect. Wisconsin women lost all abortion services there for a year and a half, until a court re-interpreted the state law.
This summer’s shakeup has reset the race, said Amy Walter, publisher of The Cook Political Report, an independent, nonpartisan newsletter that analyzes elections. So far, likely voters in the swing states view Harris more favorably than Biden, she said. But with Trump benefiting from an electorate skeptical of the state of the economy, the newsletter characterized the race as “a battle of inches.”
The campaigns both face a lot of voters who are disenchanted with politics altogether, or else unhappy with their options.
Amy Tarkanian, a conservative television commentator who once lauded Trump to national audiences and was chair of the Nevada State Republican Party in 2011-12, said she’s at “a complete loss” this year. She remains a Republican, even after the state party heavily criticized her when, two years ago, she endorsed a pair of Democratic candidates for state offices.
“I’m not happy, or necessarily sold on Kamala,” Tarkanian said. “… But I absolutely do not want to vote for Donald Trump.”
Arizona Mirror’s Jim Small, Michigan Advance’s Anna Liz Nichols and Jon King, Nevada Current’s Hugh Jackson, NC Newsline’s Galen Bacharier, Pennsylvania Capital-Star’s Peter Hall and John Cole, Georgia Recorder’s Ross Williams, and Wisconsin Examiner’s Ruth Conniff and Henry Redman contributed reporting.
This story was originally published by the Arizona Mirror
When Hualapai Spiritual Leader Frank Mapatis visits Ha’Kamwe’, the tribe’s sacred spring, to conduct any type of ceremony, the area must be completely quiet so that he can hear the water and connect with the land.
Mapatis said that as part of his traditional ways of life, when he is in prayer at Ha’Kamwe’, he hears the water sing, and when it sings, he connects with the creator to conduct ceremonies.
He has provided purification, healing and coming-of-age ceremonies at Ha’Kamwe’ for decades and visits the spring at least twice a month. The spring is also utilized for tribal members’ funeral ceremonies.
Not being able to hear the water, conduct ceremonies or provide traditional teachings to the Hualapai youth who join him during his visits to the spring are among Mapatis’ top concerns for the proposed exploratory drilling lithium project in the Big Sandy River watershed near the tribe’s sacred spring.
“It would stop me from doing ceremony,” he said about the drilling project as he testified in federal court on Sept. 17. He believes drilling in that area will traumatize the earth and water, and he would not want to use that area for ceremonial purposes due to that trauma.
Mapatis said he could continue his ceremonial practices in other places, but they would not have the same impact as doing them at Ha’Kamwe’ because of the water’s healing properties.
“It wouldn’t be as effective in other areas,” he added.
Ha’Kamwe’ is featured in tribal songs and stories about the history of the Hualapai people and their connection to the land. According to the tribe, the historic flow and spring temperature are essential for its traditional uses.
Mapatis was one of several Haluapai tribal members who testified during the Sept. 17 preliminary injunction hearing at the U.S. Federal District Court in Phoenix, where the tribe is fighting to extend the pause on drilling for the Big Sandy Valley Lithium Exploration Project for the duration of the tribe’s lawsuit seeking to block the project entirely.
The project allows a mining company to drill and test more than 100 sites across BLM land surrounding one of the Hualapai Tribe’s cultural properties, among them Ha’Kamwe’, a medicinal spring sacred to the tribe.
Ha’Kamwe’ is located within the Hualapai Tribe’s property known as Cholla Canyon Ranch, and the boundaries of the Big Sandy Valley project nearly surround the entire property. Only one portion of the tribe’s land does not border the drilling project.
The spring is recognized as a traditional cultural property and is eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the tribe’s lawsuit claims that the project’s approval violates the National Environmental Protection Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.
The lawsuit asks for full compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which includes having the BLM take a “hard look” at the exploration activity’s environmental impacts and consider the implications of its actions on historic properties.
The lawsuit claims that BLM approved the mining project without appropriately considering a reasonable range of alternatives or taking a hard look at water resources under the NEPA and moved forward with the project without providing mitigation measures under the NHPA for Ha’Kamwe’ and other resources essential to the tribe, thus violating both acts.
Out of concern for Ha’Kamwe’, the tribe submitted multiple public comments, sent several letters of concern, and participated in tribal consultations with BLM throughout the Big Sandy Valley Lithium Exploration Project planning phase.
Big Sandy, Inc., a subsidiary of Australian mining company Arizona Lithium, leads the project and has sought approval since 2019. Arizona Lithium is not a direct party in the Hualapai Tribe’s lawsuit, but it filed a motion to intervene in the case. Humetewa granted the request in August, allowing the company to defend against the tribe’s efforts to stop the project.
BLM’s approval of the Big Sandy Valley Project allows the mining company to drill and test up to 131 exploration holes across 21 acres of BLM-managed public land to determine whether a full-scale lithium mining operation could be viable.
‘How we connect to our ancestors’
Throughout the hearing, several Hualapai tribal members and supporters sat in the courtroom listening to the hearing while others sat outside the Sandra Day O’Connor courthouse holding signs backing the tribe.
Hualapai tribal member Ivan Bender, 60, from Peach Springs, showed up to the courthouse in support of his community, carrying a flag that said, “Protect Ka’kamwe’. No lithium mining.”
“That spring has a life of its own,” Bender said. “The water source we’re trying to protect is part of our sacred waters.”
The preliminary injunction hearing lasted more than six hours, during which Judge Diane Humetewa heard witness testimony from all parties involved in the case as she weighed the tribe’s request to keep the drilling on hold.
Testimony surrounded the way the project would directly or indirectly impact the Hualapai Tribe’s ability to carry out their cultural and traditional ways of life at Ha’Kamwe’, and whether the drilling that will take place as part of the project will harm the water that feeds into the hot spring.
Ka-voka Jackson, the director of the Hualapai Department of Cultural Resources, was the first witness, and part of her testimony focused on how the Hualapai Tribe utilizes the area for cultural and traditional purposes — and how drilling can directly affect those practices.
Jackson told the court that tribal members often visit Ha’Kamwe for traditional practices or to gather and harvest culturally significant plants from surrounding public lands.
“That is how we connect to our ancestors,” Jackson said.
The tribe’s lawsuit states that the lithium project will create noise, light, vibrations, and other disturbances that will degrade Ha’Kamwe’s character and harm tribal members’ use of the spring for religious and cultural ceremonies.
Jackson said the project’s impacts could cause irreversible damage, affecting the water supply to the sacred springs and destroying the land.
“(It can) create a lot of negative energy and create a hostile environment,” she said.
As part of its environmental assessment, BLM listed several short- and long-term effects, including the temporary disruption to cultural practices at or near Ha’Kamwe’ and an impact on native wildlife and vegetation of up to 21 acres.
But even with these effects included in the assessment, BLM concluded that Phase 3 of the Big Sandy Valley Lithium Exploration Project would not significantly negatively impact the quality of the area, so an environmental impact statement was not needed.
“Visual, noise, and vibration effects from drilling activities would be temporary,” BLM wrote in its final report. “Coordination with and providing notice to the Hualapai Tribe of drilling activities in the vicinity of the Ha’Kamwe’ may reduce impacts to cultural practices at or near the hot spring.”
To provide the court with perspective on the distance of the drilling locations near Ha’Kamwe’, Ivan Martirosov from Navajo Transitional Energy Company testified on behalf of the defendants.
Martirosov is the project manager for the Big Sandy Valley Lithium Exploration Project with Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC), a mining and energy company owned by the Navajo Nation.
NTEC entered into a mining agreement with Arizona Lithium in March. Under this agreement, the Navajo-owned company is responsible for permitting, exploration drilling, mine design, environmental assessments and development for the Big Sandy Lithium Project. NTEC has worked with Arizona Lithium since December 2022.
Martirosov is in charge of overseeing and executing the Big Sandy Lithium Project. He told the court that he walked all approved drilling sites on foot and described the site’s proximity to the Hualapai’s cultural property.
Of the 131 drill sites approved for the project, Martirosov identified 22 with a line of sight to Ha’Kamwe’, a majority located on the north side.
Martirosov said that he was restricted from accessing Ha’Kamwe, noting that the drill sites that do not have a line of sight of the cultural property were due to distance and terrain.
BLM: Concerns are ‘overblown’
At the end of the day-long hearing, Humetewa ordered all parties to file briefs outlining their arguments for why the injunction should or shouldn’t be granted. She said she would issue a ruling in the near future.
During the hearing, Humetewa said that she was tasked with determining what process BLM took in connection to NEPA and their Section 106 process.
The Section 106 process seeks to accommodate historic preservation concerns through consultation among an agency official and other parties interested in the undertaking’s effects on historic properties. The consultation aims to identify historic properties potentially affected by projects and seek ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate any adverse effects.
The process is usually conducted in four steps: initiating it, identifying historical properties within potentially affected areas, assessing any potential adverse effects on any eligible historic property, and seeking to resolve any adverse effects.
Humetewa said in court that she wants to know where in the records she can find BLM’s engagement in those processes so she can fully understand the discussion about either approving or denying the project. That way, she said, she can understand what considerations went into the final environmental assessment and the NEPA assessment.
Earthjustice Senior Attorney Laura Berglan, who is part of the team representing the Hualapai Tribe, said she feels positive because their team presented all the points they wanted.
“I think it went well and we’ll see how it turns out,” she added.
BLM’s attorneys told Humetewa that the impacts this project will have on Ha’Kamwe have been “vastly overblown,” noting how their expert clearly testified that the water and temperature will not change due to the drilling in the project.
The tribe had its own expert testify. Winfield G. Wright, a certified hydrologist and president of Southwest Hydro-Logic, said he produced a report for the tribe about the water sources that feed into Ha’Kamwe’. Wright said his analysis found that the groundwater system that flows into the hot spring is very fragile, and any disturbances around the area can disrupt the water, the chemistry and the temperature.
Wright said a mixture of shallow and deep waterways feed into Ha’Kamwe’, and the BLM’s environmental assessment simplified identifying where the water comes from by saying a confined lower aquifer feeds it.
“It’s not a confined aquifer,” he said, noting that the lower aquifer in the Big Sandy Valley is not the only source of water for the spring. “The whole valley is connected because of the fractures.”
But Peter Burck, a hydrologist with the BLM, testified that the lower fractures of the lower aquifer are a more likely source of water for Ha’Kamwe’.
Burck said that Wright’s claim the water comes from multiple sources is not conclusive. He said he did not see anything in Wright’s report that would lead him to conclude that the spring water source is a mixture of multiple flows.
He said that the likelihood of the drilling from Phase 3 of the Big Sandy Lithium Project encountering water or affecting the temperature of Ha’Kamwe’ is low.
BLM also told the court that any visual and noise disturbances from the drilling does not qualify as irreparable injury and is instead temporary.
But Jackson said her tribe made a good case that the project would cause irreparable harm because they had people testify who had already experienced it.
“This is irreparable; you can’t go back and redo ceremonies,” she said. “There’s no such thing.”
Jackson said she understands that the court wants more clarification on whether or not the BLM took the appropriate steps under the NEPA and NHPA policies before making a final decision.
“We believe that they didn’t take into consideration the effects on Ha’Kamwe’,” Jackson said, adding that it is eligible for registration on the National Historic Register and a traditional cultural property.
Jackson said it deserves a thorough process included in the NHPA and NEPA.
“I am proud of our people for sticking up for what we believe in and asserting our arguments,” she said. “Now, we just wait.”
Hualapai Chairman Duane Clarke echoed Jackson’s sentiments about how their team and tribal members presented a good case in court, and said he prays that the court’s decision goes with the Hualapai people.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed an amicus brief before the hearing supporting the Hualapai Tribe’s request for the preliminary injunction.
“The sacred Ha’Kamwe’ spring has sustained the Hualapai people for generations, and its protection is critical for the Tribe,” Mayes said in a written statement. “The failure to properly evaluate the impact of this project on such an important water source is unacceptable.”
The amicus brief urges the court to take action to protect Arizona’s water resources from potentially irreversible damage posed by exploratory drilling near the Hualapai Tribe’s sacred spring.
“The BLM must fulfill its obligations under NEPA and fully evaluate this project’s impact on local water resources,” Mayes said. “I am proud to support the Hualapai Tribe’s efforts to protect their precious cultural and water resources.”
The amicus brief highlights the risk of irreparable harm to Arizona’s water resources if exploratory drilling is allowed to proceed without a comprehensive review. It also requests that the court grant a preliminary injunction to stop drilling activities while the case is being heard to protect Arizona’s water sources from potential compromise.
PHOENIX, Ariz. – GreenPower Motor Company Inc. (NASDAQ: GP) (TSXV: GPV) (“GreenPower”), a leading manufacturer and distributor of purpose-built, all-electric, zero-emission medium and heavy-duty vehicles serving the cargo and delivery market, shuttle and transit space and school bus sector, today announced it has received a series of orders for six GreenPower all-electric, purpose-built, zero-emission school buses from its Arizona dealer RWC Group. The school buses, funded under the EPA Clean School Bus Program, are for three different school districts in Arizona, and RWC Group is currently working on additional orders of GreenPower all-electric school buses funded by the Program.
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Under the orders placed by RWC, Osborn School District #8 in Phoenix will receive three Type D BEAST school buses, Joseph City School District will receive one Type D BEAST and one Type A Nano BEAST, and Roosevelt School District No. 66 in Phoenix will receive one Type D BEAST. All six buses are funded from grants awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean School Bus Program. The Clean School Bus Program was funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and has $5 billion in funding over five years to replace existing school buses with zero-emission and clean school buses.
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About GreenPower Motor Company, Inc.
GreenPower designs, builds and distributes a full suite of high-floor and low-floor all-electric medium and heavy-duty vehicles, including transit buses, school buses, shuttles, cargo vans and a cab and chassis. GreenPower employs a clean-sheet design to manufacture all-electric vehicles that are purpose-built to be battery powered with zero emissions while integrating global suppliers for key components. This OEM platform allows GreenPower to meet the specifications of various operators while providing standard parts for ease of maintenance and accessibility for warranty requirements. GreenPower was founded in Vancouver, Canada with primary operational facilities in southern California. Listed on the Toronto exchange since November 2015, GreenPower completed its U.S. IPO and NASDAQ listing in August 2020. For further information go to www.greenpowermotor.com.
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