Arizona Morning Briefing, 8-24: Mayes Clears Hobbs in Sunshine Case, Shah Lands Police Endorsement, Prescott Valley Mayor’s Saloon Showdown, and More

Labor Day still isn’t here, so we’re still wearing white. And we wear shorts pretty much year-round. Maybe the old rules don’t apply anymore. They certainly don’t seem to apply to Governor Hobbs.

•The big state news is that Attorney General Kris Mayes found Gov. Hobbs guilty of no wrongdoing in the Sunshine Homes pay-to-play scandal, though she also seemed to find plenty of wrongdoing, simultaneously calling for legislative reforms governing political donations by state contractors. In other words, it was fishy, but we’re still not having fish for dinner. Hobbs vetoed T.J. Shope’s contractor-donation disclosure bill in June. Does she now support the kind of reform Mayes says is necessary? Separate reviews by Rachel Mitchell’s office and the Auditor General remain open.

•Dr. Amish Shah has received his second police endorsement in CD1, securing the support of The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Law Enforcement Association endorsed Shah over his Republican opponent Jay Feely. Maybe this is just an example of a union knowing which way the wind blows. Prediction markets favor Shah about three to one. DLEA actually backed Republican John Trobough in the primary.

•On the water front (not starring Marlon Brando), The Interior Department adopted Arizona’s preferred two-year operating framework. Arizona takes a 760,000 acre-foot reduction, somewhere between 27% and 31%, rather than the potential 77% cut state officials had feared. Gov. Hobbs has suggested a special legislative session to ratify the arrangement. Meanwhile the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona has approved $7.3 million in preliminary work on schemes that could eventually bring as much as 200,000 acre-feet annually from California/Mexico swaps—although California water officials and environmentalists are already questioning whether parts of that plan are remotely feasible.

•Prescott Valley Mayor  Kell Palguta fought a man at the provocatively named Bird Cage Saloon earlier this month, the Republic reported over the weekend. Palaguta, 49, allegedly “tried to pull a stool out of another man’s arms,” though no reports indicated why the other man was holding the stool or why Palaguta wanted it. On social media, he wrote, “There will be an appropriate time and place for the complete circumstances surrounding the incident to be addressed.”

“He is seen placing his drink on the bar, grabbing the stool with both hands, and pulling it away from the victim,” police wrote. “Palguta then grabbed the victim’s arm and shoulder, pushing him toward the bar.” An eyewitness described the man as a “troll” who’s critical of the mayor. “Nobody got punched. Nobody got hit. Nobody got kicked,” the eyewitness told The Republic. “It was the silliest thing. … If he wasn’t the mayor. … I don’t think anything comes of this.” Clearly, this town of 50,000 people isn’t big enough for the two of them.