Top Arizona Stories of 2017

Top Arizona Stories of 2017

Amanda Mourelatos, Co-Editor of Cougart and Community Builder

Arizona comes in as the 15th most dangerous state and Tucson has the highest violent crime rate in Arizona. Tucson especially was shocked at the discovery of Isabel Celis’ remains.  It seemed as if we would never know the fate of the little girl who touched our hearts and sent parents throughout the city out to get bars for their children’s windows.   These are the top stories in Arizona of 2017:

Isabel Celis

Nearly five years after she disappeared, Tucson police announced that the remains of Isabel Celis were recovered from a site in rural Pima County. Isabel was taken from her bedroom in 2012. The chief of Tucson Police, Chris Magnus, said, “Obviously this is not the ending that any of us had hoped for, but this is also not the end of the case. We are working this case very aggressively as we  would with any case involving the death of a child.”  Isabel’s family issued a statement through Tucson Medical Center, where her mother works as a nurse: “We want to thank the community for the support they have continued to show for Isa over the years and for refusing to give up hope. Now is our time to mourn. We ask for our privacy during this time so that we can do that.”

Bill Gates invested $80 million for a high-tech planned development right outside of Phoenix, Arizona. This city will be made around high-speed networks, autonomous vehicles, data centers, new technologies, and more. It is said to be similar to the size of Tempe, which has a population of 182,000 people. “Envisioning future infrastructure from scratch is far easier and more cost efficient than retrofitting an existing urban fabric,” said Grady Gammage, a spokesman for the venture.

Joe Arpaio, a former Arizona sheriff, was pardoned by our president, Donald Trump after his conviction for disobeying a court order in an immigration case. Trump spared Arpaio of the controversy after being thrown in jail. “Thank you @realdonaldtrump for seeing my conviction for what it is: a political witch hunt by holdovers in the Obama justice department!,” said Arpaio over Twitter, thanking Trump.

Arizona voters denied the legalization of recreational marijuana, or proposition 205, in Arizona during the 2016 voting. Arizona did the same with medical marijuana in 2010, not making it legal.

Jayden Glomb, a former Vail student in Arizona, was allegedly killed by her step-father, Joshua Lelevier. Jayden was 13 years old and Joshua is 37 years old; Jayden was reported missing on May 10th. Lelevier dumped her body on the side of the road in Vail and it was found by a passenger on May 11th. Jayden was choked to death, or asphyxiated.