State Glance
Man accused of killing girlfriend, burying body in gun safe
PHOENIX — A 59-yearold Phoenix man is accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend and putting her body in a gun safe that he welded shut and buried in the desert.
Paul Palandri remained jailed Saturday following his arrest Thursday on suspicion of second-degree murder in the 2016 killing of 51-year-old Jana Van Sickle. Court records don’t list a defense attorney who could comment on the allegations. Police said Van Sickle told a friend that Palandri was bad for her and that she planned to break up with him.
Van Sickle’s body was found on the Gila River Indian Community after the gun safe was spotted after being partially exposed by digging by wild animals.
Police said Palandri denied killing Van Sickle but a witness recently reported hearing him saying he’d killed her.
Chandler police: Man fatally shot after shooting at officers
CHANDLER — Chandler police say an armed man was fatally shot by police after he twice opened fire at officers, leading to the fatal exchange of gunfire.
Police say no officers were injured during the incident late Friday that began when officers responded to a report of a suicidal person with a gun.
According to police, officers tried to talk to the man who then fired at officers as they approached.
Police say the officers took cover and called for backup before the man then got a rifle and again fired at two officers approaching from the alley. Those officers returned fire.
No identities were released.
Arizona local governments weigh incentives for car maker
CASA GRANDE — Local governments are discussing proposals to provide incentives to a Saudi-backed California startup electric car maker that plans to build a plant in south-central Arizona.
The Casa Grande Dispatch reports that the city of Casa Grande and Pinal County officials on Thursday discussed proposals to offer $8.2 million in incentives to Newark, California-based Lucid Motors.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in September invested more than $1 billion in Lucid.
Lucid plans to build its factory in Casa Grande, where it has pledged to employ 2,000 workers by 2022 while making 130,000 vehicles annually.
Under proposed agreements, the incentives could include reimbursements for construction sales taxes, rebates on air-quality permit fees, a 500-acre purchase of land to lease to Lucid and money for workforce training, utility hookups, employee relocations and road improvements.