Southwest Regional News Updates: March 16, 2007

ARIZONA SITE FIGHT: VOTERS DECIDING
Voters to decide races in area towns, Wal-Mart fate [Yavapai County (Ariz) Daily Courier]
And while four incumbents are running unopposed in Prescott Valley, voters there will decide whether to uphold a council decision from this past July on rezoning 19.5 acres to allow a Wal-Mart supercenter.

UTAH SITE FIGHT: KEEPING WAL-MART OUT
Heber Residents Trying to Keep Wal-Mart Out [KSL-TV, Salt Lake City, Utah]
A petition drive will begin tomorrow morning in Heber City. Members of “Keep Heber Valley First” want to prevent Wal-Mart from building a store there.

ARIZONA SITE FIGHT: NEW WAL-MART
New Wal-Mart to open in April [Yuma (Ariz.) Sun]
Yuma’s newest Wal-Mart, on the eastern edge of the city is due to open next month, about the same time construction on the San Luis, Ariz., store is slated to begin.

UTAH SITE FIGHT: STATE MAY RELAX LAWS
Utah may relax eminent domain laws [Central Utah Daily Herald]
Utah was one of the first states to rein in the use of eminent domain to make sure private development couldn’t capitalize on laws intended to serve the public good. Now, the state could be one of the first to relax those rules...House Bill 365 could allow Ogden to push forward with plans to condemn land so a Wal-Mart could be built. 

ANOTHER UTAH SITE FIGHT: REFERENDUM GAINS TRACTION
nti-Big Box Referendum Gains Traction in Heber [KCPW-Salt Lake City, Utah]
Opponents of a proposed Wal-Mart in Heber City say they’ve collected close to half the number of signatures they need to put the big box issue to a public vote. Matthew Heimburger is an organizer of the referendum with the grassroots group “Put Heber Valley First!”

Click here to learn more about the Heber, Utah site fight.

ARIZONA SITE FIGHT: VOTERS APPROVE...VIOLATIONS FOUND
Proposition 400 [Yavapai County (Ariz.) Daily Courier]
Prescott Valley voters approved Proposition 400 by a margin of 66 to 34 percent Tuesday, showing their support for a Wal-Mart supercenter on Glassford Hill Road and effectively removing any obstacles to its development.

Town attorney notifies pro-Wal-Mart committee of possible violations [Yavapai County (Ariz.) Daily Courier]
Complaints about alleged violations of state election laws remain unresolved today, one day after Prescott Valley residents voted to let Wal-Mart proceed with plans to build a supercenter.

Friends of Prescott Valley, Yes on 400 has 14 days from this past Monday to respond to a two-page letter from Town Attorney Ivan Legler in which Legler alleges that the committee may have violated campaign reporting requirements. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville, Ark., raised more than $100,000 to sway voters, according to reports the town has on file.

ARIZONA SITE FIGHT: TIME TO TWEAK
Wal-Mart gets time to tweak plan [Arizona Republic]
The development group behind the proposed 24-hour Wal-Mart grocery store in Ahwatukee Foothills has been given a little more time to polish its plans.

UTAH SITE FIGHT: LOCAL PROTESTS
Wal-Mart protest takes global slant [Salt Lake City Tribune]
They waved signs, shouted slogans and even staged a mock chain gang led by caricatures of Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott and China’s President Hu Jintao to dissuade shoppers from visiting the new Wal-Mart Supercenter. 

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, March 16, 2007

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