Turning Point, Turning Point, TURNING POINT!!!! It’s coming for you, it’s coming for your pets. It’s coming for your children. At the very least, it’s coming for the Morning Briefing.

•SUPER DUPER CHASE–As election season kicks off in earnest, we need a new Arizona Big Bad, and that is Turning Point USA. After the weekend’s revelations that people either associated or not associated with Turning Point are helping craft deepfake “Democrats for Biggs” signs, Wired magazine reported yesterday that TPUSA is planning to spend $15 to $2o million between now and November in three states, Arizona, Nevada, and New Hampshire, with the Arizona governor’s race as a particular focus. Turning Point has near-daily “Super Chase” election events scheduled throughout the state this month, so you can gaze upon the face of evil for yourself.

•THE FIRETRUCK THIS TIME–Attorney General Kris Mayes has opened a new antitrust investigation into firetruck manufacturers. Arizona fire departments and local governments reported steep price increases and delivery waits stretching years. The office specifically points to industry consolidation and what it calls unexplained manufacturing shutdowns and slowdowns. “Arizona’s firefighters run toward danger to protect the rest of us, and they shouldn’t have to do it with equipment that’s falling apart because corporate greed has priced them out of the repairs and replacements they need,” said Attorney General Mayes. “My office will hold accountable any company that puts profits ahead of the safety of our first responders and the communities they serve.”

•GRAND CANYON UPDATE–The National Park Service now expects reliable South Rim water service back in weeks rather than months. Remarkably, the August 29 Grand Canyon flood did not substantially damage the nearly completed $200+ million Transcanyon Waterline replacement; crews are starting construction on a temporary Bright Angel Creek intake this week. One hiker remains missing.

•SCHOOL DAYS–Declining enrollment has Scottsdale Unified considering closing seven schools. Pima Elementary (which exited back when we were SUSD students deep in the previous century) and Echo Canyon K-8 are already on the chopping block. Meanwhile, in Chandler, board member Kurt Rohrs demanded Board President Patti Serrano step down during a fight over whether Chandler Unified should use a land acknowledgment at board meetings and graduations.

“This is an arbitrary decision that was never discussed or approved by the board,” Rohrs said during an August meeting in Chandler. “There is no district policy that either requires or allows this. Land acknowledgment can be considered as a progressive socialist partisan political performance piece that has nothing to do with improving academic performance of our students.”

•EVERYWHERE A SIGN–Election effluvia is inundating Scottsdale. The city says inspectors have already removed more than 2,600 signs after the election, while council members are looking at what they can legally do about the clutter given state restrictions on local enforcement. On Reddit, one poster said,  the signs “drive me crazy when you can’t see at an intersection to make a turn.” Maybe we should blame Turning Point!

•THE COUGAR SHADOW RETURNS–From September 13–19, the setting sun supposedly forms a crouching-cougar silhouette across the Superstitions near Apache Junction for roughly 20–30 minutes around sunset. O great cougar spirit, please shield us from further election shenanigans.