State Glance

Phx. firefighter who earned dept.’s medal for valor dies

PHOENIX — Authorities say a Phoenix firefighter has died while off duty.

Department officials announced Sunday that Juston Doherty was found dead in his quarters while on active military maneuvers at the Arizona Army National Guard Base in Phoenix.

The cause of death wasn’t immediately released.

Doherty was a 15-year veteran of the Phoenix Fire Department and held the title of technical rescue technician.

He also was a highly-decorated captain in the U.S. Army.

Doherty was an Army Ranger and Airborne School graduate who served two combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also earned the Phoenix Fire Department’s medal of valor for entering a burning apartment on his day off without protection to save some trapped children.

Doherty suffered serious burns in the incident. Funeral services for Doherty are pending.

Managing editor of Flagstaff newspaper dies at age 65

FLAGSTAFF — Randy Wilson, the longtime managing editor of the Arizona Daily Sun, has died, executives with the Flagstaff newspaper announced Sunday. He was 65.

He died Saturday afternoon but a cause of death wasn’t immediately released, the Sun reported .

Wilson worked at the Daily Sun for more than two decades, first as city editor then as managing editor overseeing everything from local news coverage to opinion content to the layout of the next day’s paper.

“To say that Randy will be missed is an understatement of monumental proportions,” Daily Sun publisher Don Rowley wrote in a tribute to Wilson on the newspaper’s website. “He was, in many ways, the voice of the newspaper, the guardian of free speech for the community, and the institutional memory of the Arizona Daily Sun.”

An avid outdoorsman who loved to hike and bike, Wilson had the same passion for journalism. He was a “stickler” for newsroom independence and integrity, Rowley said. He was also not afraid to ruffle feathers in the pursuit of government transparency.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do without Randy’s steady, mentoring hand in the newsroom,” Rowley wrote.

Wilson is survived by his wife and one daughter.

Tucson police ID armed man fatally shot by officers

TUCSON — Authorities have identified a man who was fatally shot by Tucson police after he confronted officers while carrying a handgun.

Police say 34-year-old Craig Yelton was pronounced dead at the scene early Sunday.

They say the incident occurred on Tucson’s east side after midnight.

Officers were called to the scene for a fight involving weapons.

Police say Yelton was armed and allegedly threatening neighbors he thought were responsible for loud music.

Officers arrived on scene and tried to get Yelton to come out of his home.

Police say Yelton confronted the officers while armed with a handgun and was shot.