Feeling at home in PHX

I heard this one first on the radio.

Students who attend Moya Elementary School should be happy that school is still out for the summer.

Phoenix police reported three men had destroyed 30 of the school's air-conditioning units to steal the copper coils. The price tag for fixing or replacing the units is $360,000, said Phoenix Police Sgt. Tommy Thompson.

A security guard at the K-5th grade school, 406 N. 41st Ave, stumbled across the burglars at the scene of the crime about 1:45 a.m. Sunday and called police, who responded with an air and K-9 unit. The suspects, fleeing on foot, managed to get away, police said.

AZ Republic

Followed two stories later with this.

A brush fire near Interstate 17 and Central Avenue threatened several warehouses in the area Saturday night in Phoenix, authorities said.

Firefighters responded to the fire burning across 200 square feet about 9:15 p.m., said Scott Walker, a spokesman for the Phoenix Fire Department.

The fire spread into scrub and brush in the dry Salt River, and firefighters worked to keep the fire from reaching structures in the area.

AZ Republic

Jim Doyle and Ron Johnson could not be reached for comment.

They're everywhere

Why is it always Palo Verde?

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says his deputies arrested an illegal immigrant working inside the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Station, the nation's largest nuclear plant.

According to Arpaio, 32-year-old Cruz Loya Alvares was denied entrance at the facility's security checkpoint on Monday, when he was the driver of a work truck belonging to a private contractor doing work at Palo Verde. Security guards noticed the man's Mexican driver's license was expired. On Tuesday, Alvares was admitted to the plant as a passenger in a work truck, using an Arizona ID card. However, at a secondary checkpoint, Arpaio says further examination by authorities determined that the Arizona ID was falsified.

The sheriff says he doesn't know how long Alvares had been working inside Palo Verde, and whether Monday was the first time he had attempted to get in.

"To some extent," Arpaio says, "security at this nuclear power plant worked. But still, an illegal immigrant was permitted to gain access. This raises the question: how safe is Palo Verde really if an illegal alien can gain access to this nation's largest nuclear power facility?"

The sheriff says the incident brings into question the effectiveness of the security at other government facilities.

Arpaio says his deputies have been made aware of other incidents of illegal immigrants working in buildings containing various federal, state, and local government workplaces.

From KFYI.

UPDATE: The inevitable link from Drudge.