Payson Roundup 103015

Page 1

Forests face devastation: 5A • Longhorns meet nemesis: 1B • County lands $600,000: 6A payson.com

PAYSON ROUNDUP

Thieves hit food bank by

FRIDAY | OCTOBER 30, 2015 | PAYSON, ARIZONA

Our favorite things!

Alexis Bechman

roundup staff reporter

They came for the cookies and left a mess for volunteers to clean up. Last week, someone broke into the Community Presbyterian Church Food Bank storage units, prying open freezers and taking doors off their hinges, all to take food gathered to help the needy. Ironically, the thieves made off with less food than what they would have received had they come in and asked for a food box, said Chuck Proudfoot, the church’s pastor. While the church filed a police report, detectives have no leads on who broke in. Church staff discovered the break-in the morning of Oct. 20. A padlocked freezer outside the church’s kitchen had been broken into, bags of cookies strewn on the ground. Proudfoot said it appears they ate some of the cookies, but did not like the pecan turtles because they left the bag behind. The thieves then got into the dry storage and refrigerated storage units. Again, more open cookie bags were found in dry storage. The thieves opened several cases of food, including pineapple and cranberry, and took several cans from each. Some meat was missing from the freezer along with a Styrofoam cooler. While they don’t know how much they made off with, it was not more than what someone could carry, Proudfoot said. “They took less than what is in a bag of food,” he said, which are handed out to the needy. The church had the storage units repaired and is discussing what other security measures they need to add. That same night, someone tried to break into a shed across the street from the church at Horizon Human Services.

See our 2015 Fall and Winter Guide inside today

House OKs deal by

Michele Nelson

roundup staff reporter

The Arizona House of Representatives on Thursday adopted a $3.5 billion, 10-year plan to settle a school funding lawsuit. The measure could boost the budget of the Payson Unified School District by more than $500,000 annually. The Arizona Senate is expected to act today on the package, which would still need voter approval in a May 17 special election. The plan would give schools just over half of the illegally withheld inflation adjustment and allow the Legislature to withhold the inflation adjustment under certain conditions in the future. House Republicans supported the measure unanimously, but Democrats split on the plan to take about 60 percent of the money to fund the deal from the state lands trust. tendent Greg Wyman said that while Payson Superin­ schools are happy a settlement has been reached, it only solves the problem of past funding — not future funding. “There is still an expectation that our legislators will continue the dialogue on public education funding,” he said.

Payson schools could gain more than $500,000

Alexis Bechman

Turns out, he should have stuck with the plea deal. Clayton Sopeland first accepted, then rejected a plea deal after he took 15,000 rounds of scrap ammo from HPR. He had to actually appeal to a higher court to get out of the plea deal that could have resulted in a misdemeanor criminal record and 18 months on probation. Instead, Sopeland insisted he had permission to take the ammo — and took his chance before a jury. Big mistake. On Monday, a jury exonerated him on theft and trafficking stolen property charges. However, the jury found him guilty of fraudulent schemes, a class 2 felony. Now, he faces between three and 12.5 years in prison and up to seven years of probation. Superior Court Judge Gary Scales, who presided over the trial, will sentence Sopeland Dec. 14 at 10 a.m. in Payson. However, Scales could still senTHE WEATHER

Weekend: Sunny with highs around 70, overnight lows near 40. High temps dropping starting Monday. Details, 7A

volume 25, no. 85

Sen. Sylvia Allen

District 6

See Legislature, page 2A

Students hang on, as officials bicker by

Michele Nelson

roundup staff reporter

The release of national test scores and a “symbolic” move away from national Common Core academic standards this week left Arizona’s school reform movement in a muddle. As lawmakers debated a plan to settle a school funding lawsuit by boosting assistance by about $225 million annually, new developments on test scores continued to spawn confusion. For starters, the State Board of Education voted 6-2 to formerly sever ties with the copyright that came with Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards — formerly known as Common Core. “This vote did not repeal the standards,” said Brenda Case, Payson Unified School District director of student achievement. “The vote was a technical and political vote. It returned the control of the standards to Arizona.” The vote formalizes the state’s intention to continue making changes in the national standards it has already adopted. In theory, it won’t have any impact at the school level — where districts are already admin-

Sopeland convicted on fraud charges in ammo case roundup staff reporter

“I commend the leadership for pressing to create more funds without it being detrimental to the General Fund or committing future taxpayers to an unsustainable funding level.”

Test debate muddled

Gambled on a trial – and lost by

75 CENTS

tence Sopeland to probation and up to a year in jail. Sopeland initially pleaded guilty to theft, a class 6 undersigned felony in November 2014, admitting he took between 10,000 and 15,000 rounds of scrap ammunition from HPR, his former employer. In a presentencing report dated Nov. 10, probation recommended Sopeland serve no more than 18 months of supervised probation. If he completed probation, the charge likely would have been dropped to a misdemeanor. However, shortly after pleading guilty, Sopeland’s lawyer Art Lloyd asked the court to let Sopeland withdraw that plea and take the case to a jury. Lloyd argued that the Gila County Attorney’s Office had asked for 30 days jail time as a condition of probation in violation of his unwritten agreement with prosecutors. This constituted a “manifest injustice” that justified not going through with the plea bargain. Prosecutor Duncan Rose said

Halloween Costume Contest 5B

Sopeland was having “buyer’s remorse” and the judge should hold him to the plea deal. The GCAO even withdrew the recommendation that Sopeland serve jail time. Superior Court Judge Peter Cahill, who is now retired, denied Sopeland’s request to recant his guilty plea and the matter ultimately made its way to the Arizona Court of Appeals, which granted Sopeland’s request for a trial. That trial started Oct. 16 and lasted through Monday. After four hours of deliberations, the jury returned a guilty verdict for fraud. The Roundup asked Lloyd if Sopeland planned to appeal and in an email was told, “… they are currently in the process of filing the appropriate motion with the court as we speak.” Sopeland can appeal the conviction after he is sentenced. In Arizona, a convicted felon cannot own or carry a firearm. Sopeland

• See Jury, page 2A

See our ad and upcoming events on page 10B

4th Grade Math Arizona 2013 240 2015 238 Arizona 8th Grade Math 2013 280 2015 283 Arizona 4th Grade Reading 2013 213 2015 215 Arizona 8th Grade Reading 2013 260 2015 263 Arizona Proficiency Rates

National 241 240 National 284 281 National 221 221 National 266 264

istering the AzMERIT test based on those national standards. “We will monitor any changes, but currently we continue to move forward with the current standards as our framework for educating students,” said Case. The decision means the Arizona school board may in the future modify the already adopted math and language arts standards. Extensive modifications could cost the state millions in federal funding — but the current rules already allow for state modification. Both Gov. Ducey and Arizona Superintendent of Education Diane Douglas,

• See Test score, page 2A

Michele Nelson/Roundup

A vehicle rolled into the landscaping at Walgreens Wednesday afternoon after its hitch broke, according to the Payson Police Department. A westbound motor home towing the small SUV on State Route 260 was turning south onto the Beeline Highway when the vehicle’s hitch broke as it rounded the corner. The vehicle went into the gravel, landing on its side. No one was injured and no other vehicles were damaged.

Sell your home with an experienced full service Realtor® for a commission as low as $ .

990

where the experts are™

MAUREEN BUCHANAN R����� E��������� ~ N������� A������ 928.951.0525 Maureen@SoldMyHome.net


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Payson Roundup 103015 by Payson Roundup - Issuu