Andanh.com

Emirates -- the fast-growing airline that Phoenix hopes to woo -- is delaying plans to launch West Coast flights to Dubai. 

Some readers may recall that Emirates recently held a swank Phoenix party to entice people to fly on the upcoming L.A.-Dubai and San Francisco-Dubai routes. 

It looks like those would-be passengers may have to wait a little longer.

A late delivery is holding things up, the airline says. According to  the press release:

"A delay in the delivery of galley equipment on four new Boeing 777-200LR’s has forced Emirates Airline to postpone its inaugural flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Dubai," the statement says. 

Arizona is one step closer to licensing its nearly 10,000 loan officers.

Lawmakers approved a bill early Thursday morning that would require loan officers and mortgage originators to pass a test, pay a fee and notify the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions where they are working.

 The move follows at least three failed attempts to pass similar legislation.

The measure now needs approval from Gov. Janet Napolitano, who has supported the measure as part of a plan to crack down on bad lending and slow foreclosures.

 The new law would go into effect in January 2010. Many from the state's mortgage and real-estate industries backed the bill.

 “This will bring more accountability to the lending industry and is the start of repairing that badly damaged industry,” said Sen. Jay Tibshraeny,  R-Chandler, who introduced the legislation.

 The Department of Financial Institutions, which already regulates mortgage brokers and lenders, received a record number of complaints about bad loans last year.

The circus came to Mesa on Thursday.

I dropped down to watch Sheriff Joe Arpaio's  latest “crime suppression/illegal immigration operation” and I must say, it did not disappoint. It was an afternoon/evening chock full of entertainment.

There were the Mesa cops, dozens of them, legions of them, an army of them huddled under shade trees, riding bikes, manning roadblocks, forming a line along Javelina  – the place the sheriff had chosen for his command post.

There were the protest groups, set up in designated “free speech zones”, separated by a wall of Mesa's finest, outfitted with the usual array of protest props. The flags (mostly American, one Mexican). The signs (“Deport Illegal Immigrants,” “Arpaio Go Home,” etc.). The chants (“Go Joe Go” and “Si, Se Puede”). The people.

On the south side of the street, 80  or so, standing around a stage set up by Radio Campesina,  whose truck was parked in the middle of the street, its hosts dispensing advice about what to do if you're stopped. (“Say nothing,” the man with the mike advised. “Keep your mouth shut.”)

On the north, eight or 10  people who support the sheriff – a dozen if you count the babies in strollers. Most were from American Freedom Riders,  bikers who applaud Arpaio's dragnets.

Then there was the media. Around noon, Arpaio's PR master had put out the word where the sheriff and his mobile command post would be and we showed up in droves. A line of TV trucks, a forest of antennas, a swarm of reporters and photographers and overhead, Channel 3's chopper swooping through the skies.

You could tell when Mesa Police Chief George Gascón  arrived. He was the guy surrounded by microphone-toting journalists, a living breathing organism that made its way slowly along Javelina, with the chief shaking his troops' hands, the media recording every thrill-filled moment.

Eventually, Gascón briefed reporters on the day's events, and his deployment of 131 -- count 'em, 131 --  officers to keep the peace. “As you can tell,” he reported, “the operation is a successful one so far.”

All that was missing was the riot gear.

And oh yeah, the sheriff. He didn't show, something about him being miffed at Gascón for seizing control of the corner where the sheriff's command post was supposed to be. Instead, Arpaio held forth in his air-conditioned office downtown while Gascón sweated it out with the rest of us out there on Javelina, waiting for the sheriff to take center ring.

“This is our operation,” thundered a red-faced Arpaio at his downtown Phoenix HQ.  “We are in control. We are in charge and I don't think any other police chief or anybody else should be talking about our operation. This is my operation. I have the authority to go into anywhere without telling anybody.”

So the ringmaster never showed but the show did, indeed, go on. Nearly 200 deputies and posse members roamed the streets looking for criminals. And who knows how many camera-toting reps of the Justice Department,  the Attorney General's Office,  Mesa P.D,  and human-rights groups roamed the streets looking for the deputies. And we poor media types roamed the streets looking for action.

In the end, Arpaio pronounced his Thursday sweep a success, despite Gascón's, ah, assistance, and vowed more to come. “The bottom line, he's doing everything to keep me from going into that city, locking up illegals…” Arpaio told reporters. “But it's not working. We are in there. We will be in there today, tomorrow and I'm going to tell you, next time I go in there, I'm not telling him.”

Total number arrests Thursday: 37.

Total number of illegal immigrants: 14.

That's one illegal immigrant swept up for every 14 deputies with brooms.

Really, could there be a greater show on Earth?

(Column published June 28, 2008, The Arizona Republic)