Pinal officials seek tax hike for transportation projects

CASA GRANDE - Pinal County officials are supporting a proposed sales-tax increase to pay for transportation projects.

The Casa Grande Dispatch reports that the proposed road tax and the transportation plans will be measures on the ballot in November. One ballot measure proposes raising the sales tax by half a cent per dollar to cover a list of projects from the Pinal Regional Transportation Authority. The tax increase is expected to generate more than $640 million for road projects over the next 20 years, if passed by voters.

Department officials say the tax increase is needed to raise money for roadways and traffic interchanges that might not otherwise get attention. The tax increase is backed by Casa Grande Mayor Craig McFarland, Pinal County Board of Supervisors Chairman Steve Miller and Coolidge Mayor Jon Thompson.

Passenger suffers leg injury when balloon crashes in Peoria

PEORIA - Peoria police say one of three people aboard a balloon that crashed in the desert suffered a minor injury but did not need medical treatment.

Police who went to the site of the Thursday morning crash found nobody there, but Officer Paul Hermans says the pilot later returned to the site.

Hermans says two passengers were on board and that one suffered a minor leg injury.

The crash site was next to power lines but Hermans says witnesses said the balloon hit the ground but did not the power lines, which were undamaged.

A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman says the FAA will investigate the crash. Hermans says the National Transportation Safety Board indicated it’d follow up later with the balloon pilot.

Luke ends 25,000-foot altitude restrictions on F-35 fighter jets

GLENDALE - Luke Air Force Base officials say they have ended altitude restrictions on their F-35 fighter jets put in place after several pilots reported symptoms of oxygen deprivation.

The 25,000-foot limit implemented on June 20 came after an 11-day grounding of the new stealth fighters at the training base west of Phoenix. Five pilots reported symptoms between May 2 and June 8.

Brig. Gen. Brook Leonard says in a Wednesday statement that the Air Force hasn’t found a cause for the Luke pilots’ symptoms. But it has boosted training and worked to reduce potential causes for labored breathing or carbon monoxide ingestion. Leonard commands the base’s 56th Fighter Wing.

The military has had a series of problems with various aircraft in recent years involving pilots suffering from lack of oxygen.

State lowering speed limit on stretch of I-17 over weekend

NEW RIVER - Speed limits will be lowered on a winding 22-mile stretch of Interstate 17 by 10 mph during peak travel times over the Labor Day holiday weekend.

The state Department of Transportation says temporary signs will be used to reduce speed limits on northbound I-17 between New River and the Sunset Point Rest Area today and southbound on the same stretch of I-17 on Monday.

ADOT says the speed reductions are an effort to reduce crashes and delays resulting from speeding and driver inattention.

ADOT says its efforts to keep holiday weekend traffic flowing safely also include not scheduling construction closures over the weekend and staging equipment on several high-traffic zones to provide faster responses to crashes and stalled vehicles.

Those high-traffic zones are along I-17, Interstate 10 and State Route 87.

Maricopa County reports increase in rabies cases

PHOENIX - There’s an increase in the number of rabies cases in Maricopa County and health officials say they can’t explain why that is.

The Department of Public Health says seven cases of animal rabies have been reported so far this year, compared with five confirmed cases last year. This year’s cases include five bats, one bobcat and one fox.

The department says four people this year had to receive preventative rabies shots after being exposed to lab-confirmed rabid animals and that other people were treated as a precaution after being bitten or exposed to wild animals not available for testing.

Animal-disease expert Craig Levy recommends that residents make sure their animals are vaccinated against rabies. Levy also advises against handling bats and other animals that could be carrying the virus. — Associated Press