Guests – Nils Grevillius, Betsy Smith, Matt Beienburg
Celebrating Traditions on St. Patrick's Day
Kathleen Winn reflects on St. Patrick's Day as a blend of religious and cultural heritage. The holiday honors Ireland's patron saint who brought Christianity in the fifth century, evolving from solemn church feasts into parades, shamrocks symbolizing the Holy Trinity, and symbols like leprechauns and rainbows. Winn notes her own Irish roots alongside Italian, English, German, and Swiss heritage, wearing green to celebrate. Traditions like corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew, and the Chicago river turning green remind her of family and community bonds. She emphasizes how America's melting pot embraces diverse customs, from school shamrock crafts to global festivals.
Nils Grevillius on the Nancy Guthrie Case and Policing Failures
Nils Grevillius, a Los Angeles-based private detective with experience in the Pacific, Mediterranean, Latin America, and organized crime investigations, analyzes the Nancy Guthrie disappearance. "This case is not a cold case at all. The sheriff's detectives are furiously working on this case according to my sources in Tucson, even as the sheriff himself might soon be facing a recall." He criticizes Sheriff Chris Nanos for premature statements: "The sheriff came out and said that he could act again, I, it was, it was the most irresponsible thing I thought he could have said."
Grevillius details the crime scene: no forced entry suggests Guthrie knew or trusted her abductor. "If there was no forced break in, that means that almost certainly Nancy Guthrie knew or thought she knew who was banging on her door at two o'clock in the morning." Blood trails and signs of struggle point to an opportunistic or personal motive. He dismisses ransom theories: "If this was kidnapping for ransom, there would have been a credible ransom demand." Grevillius believes the perpetrator was an amateur who planned well enough to evade cameras and signals but left clues like an openly carried gun.
On the recall effort, Grevillius notes Nanos's background: "Nanos came from the El Paso police department and apparently he had unsatisfactory performance evaluations when he was at that agency as a policeman. And he got hired by Pima County as a detention deputy." He argues Nanos eroded trust: "Nanos is one of those sanctuary County people and is very wary of federal law enforcement coming in and making him look like a fool." Grevillius praises Pima County homicide detectives but questions political interference.
Grevillius ties local issues to global threats like Iran: "Iran has been at war with us for 47 years. It's time to end that war." He condemns media bias: "The left itself has no foundation of factual. They just don't worry about the fact of this or that." On radicalization, he warns of online grooming and addiction: "The bot is adaptive to what the young person is communicating with the bot. And we're seeing AI psychosis arising of this." He calls for spiritual solutions: "The only way to fight addiction is with spirituality. The only thing that can save us from ourselves is God."
Betsy Brantner Smith on the Marana ICE Detention Center and Local Politics
Betsy Brantner Smith addresses protests against the proposed ICE detention center in Marana. "These people want to turn towns like Marana and Oro Valley and Sahuarita into the city of Tucson. They want to destroy the rest of the County." She criticizes the "private press conference" excluding citizens: "It was by invitation only. And they don't want other opinions."
Smith highlights job creation: "This will provide jobs for so many people... whenever you have any kind of correctional facility, you have to have not just guards, but you have to have janitors and you have to have cooks and you have to have social workers and you have to have clerical personnel." She mocks claims of family hardship: "Brinley and all her fellow activists... want people to believe that this is going to affect life in Marana. The only effect this will have on life in Marana is... the Marana police will have to deal with the lunatic protesters and number two, it will bring jobs."
On Sheriff Nanos, Smith calls him "a rogue" and "dictator": "He has made it be about him when it really isn't about him at all. And he has lost the idea of what a public servant is." She supports the recall: "There is a recall motion, um, movement underway. It has been filed and they've gotten several thousand signatures."
Smith links protests to broader anti-law enforcement agendas: "They are the same people that want to abolish the police. They are the same people that want our borders wide open. They're also the same people who got involved in various protests, going back to reclaim the streets, occupy wall street, black lives matter, and then the pro-Palestinian movement."
Matt Beienburg on Arizona's ESA Program and Fraud Allegations
Matt Beienburg, Director of Education Policy at the Goldwater Institute's Center for Constitutional Advocacy, debunks claims of widespread ESA fraud. "The truth is this is an incredibly successful program. It's serving a hundred thousand students in Arizona." He cites official data: "The rate of unallowable expenses was 2%. And even within that, when you look at that, most of those purchases... we're still things like families buying backpacks and lunch boxes." Actual fraud was 0.3%.
Beienburg contrasts with public schools: "The state auditor general just reported this year... just 52 cents of every dollar spent on operational spending in the public schools is going to the classroom." He exposes opponents' tactics: "They're trying to say, look at this, this program is allowing these purchases, uh, and so we need to go in and change it. No, the program already says these things are illegal."
On the ballot initiative by Arizona Education Association and Save Our Schools Arizona, Beienburg warns: "This really is an effort to destroy the program... it arbitrarily will confiscate their savings." It targets military, special needs, and foster families, forcing funds back to public schools. He notes ESA costs average $7,500 per student versus $16,000 in districts, with 800 TUSD students switching to Vail alone.
Beienburg urges involvement: "There is the AZ loves ESA's.com page that has that decline to sign effort." He calls the campaign "an all out assault on the program" by teachers' unions seeking to co-opt private schools with burdensome regulations.
Local Election Updates and Voter Concerns
Winn discusses Pima County's RTA election aftermath. Joel Strabala reports 77,073 ballots still tabulating, plus 453 curing. "So as of last night, without that 8,000-ish ballots, yes vote was 116,000 and no votes was 82,000... It’s 58 to 41%." Proposition 418 passed; 419 narrowly. Turnout hit 37%, Republicans at 36-37%.
Strabala criticizes limited access: only three sites countywide, none in Green Valley, Marana, or Oro Valley. The mobile center had equipment failures and poor scheduling. Green Valley refused sites over ICE protest safety. He expects 126 sites for the July primary.
Winn stresses integrity: "Over 34,000 ballots returned as undeliverable." She urges roll cleanups and more sites: "30% of the voters didn't have a place they could go drop off their ballot."
Congressional and Legislative Races
Daniel Butierez, sole Republican in CD7, qualified with 1,288 signatures. "For starters, I will actually go in and represent everybody because I don't feel very represented by Adalita." He prioritizes border security: "We support our border patrol... Adalita doesn't." On ICE protests: "It doesn't look very becoming if we're attacking the law rather than writing the law."
Doug Everett, LD18 Senate candidate, turned in 1,000 signatures. He focuses on energy: "I'd like to work with others on the right solutions... in particular nuclear power." On water: "We have disparity in what's even being reported. First, I think somewhat like Doge, we need to take a full accounting."
Winn previews July 21 primary: "We have nine congressional seats. Six are currently in the hands of Republicans." She notes attacks on Juan Ciscomani: "They're already spending money now to damage Congressman Ciscomani's reputation. They're lying about what he has done."
U of A Wildcats Tournament Outlook
Winn celebrates the Arizona Wildcats' tournament run. Seeded No. 1 in their bracket after a 82-80 victory, they face Liberty next. "We are number one in our bracket, of course, and we want to go all the way to be in the final four and then to be the national champs. That's what we're going for. Nothing less." She praises their resilience and looks forward to Selection Sunday.