State Glance
Judge dismisses defamation suit filed by ex-sheriff Arpaio
PHOENIX — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has dismissed a defamation lawsuit that the former sixterm sheriff of metro Phoenix filed against three national media outlets.
U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said in his opinion Thursday that Joe Arpaio’s suit failed to prove malice.
Arpaio’s lawyer Larry Klayman told The Arizona Republic he’s certain Lamberth will allow the complaint to be amended so the case can move forward to discovery and a jury trial.
Attorneys for Arpaio filed the suit last December against CNN, the Huffington Post and Rolling Stone magazine seeking $300 million.
The suit claimed the three news organizations published inaccurate references to Arpaio’s criminal case that have hurt his chances at possibly running in 2020 for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by the late John McCain.
Sign project to combat wrong-way driving nearing completion
PHOENIX — A highway-safety project to install hundreds of new signs on Phoenix-area freeways to head off wrong-way drivers is nearing completion.
The state Department of Transportation says the federally funded $2.1 million sign project is intended to get the attention of drivers heading in the wrong direction on off-ramps or in freeway travel lanes.
The new signs are designed to be more noticeable than others used previously by being larger in size and placed lower so they’re closer to a wrongway driver’s field of vision.
The signs are part of a campaign to combat wrongway driving, which often is attributed to impairment.
The campaign also includes an alert system that uses thermal cameras to spot wrong-way vehicles to trigger warning signs on freeways and to send alerts to authorities.