News

Charges against former Quartzsite mayor and candidate Ed Foster were reportedly dismissed in court this morning.

The charges, which Foster has maintained were politically motivated, were being handled by a Special Prosecutor for the town, Tom Jones. Jones received the case because Town Attorney Martin Brannan stepped down from the case after Foster’s attorney moved for his disqualification.

After reviewing the charges, Jones was reportedly going to dismiss the case. Some of Foster’s supporters speculate this is because he knew the charges were bogus. When he appeared in court this morning on the case, Jones reportedly told the judge he had been fired by the Town in an email late yesterday.

During the court proceedings, Town Manager Alex Taft reportedly entered the courtroom with a letter for the Clerk, but the Judge in the case said the letter was inadmissible and all charges against Foster would be nevertheless dismissed.

Foster and his allies see this as a victory for justice in the case, which they maintain arose because the Town Manager, Town Attorney and Police Chief see him as an enemy.

Foster is one of two candidates in a run-off election in May for his old position as Mayor.

A local businessman was involved in a head-on collision near Cattail Cove on Highway 95 that had traffic backed up for several hours early this morning.

Parker Live spoke to his wife Terri Watts early this morning and his daughter Amy this afternoon. Gustafson is currently in hospital in Las Vegas for leg surgery. Amy says he is coherent and she was able to speak to him by phone before he went in for surgery.

“His femur is jammed into his knee so orthopedics in Vegas are going to do surgery,” she said.

The accident involved Gustafson’s van and a smaller white vehicle. The driver of the white vehicle reportedly died at the scene.

UPDATE: Traffic moving.

7:44am– Morning commuters between the cities of Parker and Lake Havasu have been halted for over an hour as a reported head-on collision impacts both northbound and southbound lanes of Highway 95. People stuck in the jam called KLPZ 1380am to report that the tailback is at least 5 miles in length and has the highway at a complete standstill.

7:48am– Reports suggest that the highway may be blocked in both directions for at least 3 more hours. Stay tuned. We’re trying to reach law enforcement for advice for motorists.

7:58am– The wife of the driver of one of the vehicles involved says the accident occurred around 6:10am this morning, and people have been stuck in traffic since then. It involved a high-speed collision between a larger van and a smaller white vehicle. Many vehicle parts are scattered across the pavement. She says she was told the investigation may take some time, which would confirm a report suggesting traffic may not be moving for another while.

9:22am– DPS confirms that traffic is being allowed through in a controlled way, alternating northbound and southbound lanes, and the jam is beginning to clear.

As the Arizona Department of Transportation progresses on a $6.7 million project to improve an 11-mile stretch of Interstate 10 east of Quartzsite, drivers are asked to plan ahead and allow extra travel time between peak travel hours.

I-10 is currently reduced to one lane in each direction daily from mileposts 52-63 as concrete repairs are completed near the Bouse Wash Rest Areas. The rest areas remain closed while the repairs are completed.

Speed limit throughout the work zone is reduced to 55 mph. Law enforcement is on-site to control traffic and monitor speeds. Message boards are in place to advise drivers of lane restrictions.

The project is scheduled to be completed in early summer.

ADOT advises drivers to proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down and be alert for construction equipment and personnel.

ADOT works to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but there is a possibility that unscheduled closures or restrictions may occur. Weather can also affect a project schedule. To stay up-to-date with the latest highway conditions around the state, visit the ADOT Traveler Information Center at www.az511.gov or call 5-1-1.

This morning after 9am, KLPZ announced a free-for-all, as a wrecked semi-load of fresh strawberries found its way to the front of the radio station at 6th Street in Parker. In a shorter time than anyone imagined, hoards of radio listeners had crowded the small street outside to get their crates of strawberries.

Parker Towing’s Mark Schifo had offered to give them away to locals, food banks, shelters, jails and others after ending up with the rig. Insurance companies who write off the damage typically instruct towing companies to dispose of the produce, but on this occasion gave him permission to give them away rather than waste them. Mark said it felt good to do something for his community.

Within 52 minutes of 10am, KLPZ listeners and their friends and families had cleared out 10,000 cartons containing an estimated 200,000 strawberries.

KLPZ has always known its listening audience to be vast and engaged; the independent radio ratings agency Arbitron rates KLPZ 1380am as the premier radio station in the area with thousands listening during any part of the day. But it’s another thing to see those listeners respond so quickly during work hours.

The station apologized in person to many listeners who showed up too late, saying that the rush of listeners coming to take how strawberries had been much bigger than expected.

This has happened before. In November 2010, a semi load of frozen peaches bound for Jamba Juice stores across the U.S. crashed, and KLPZ helped give away pallets full of them to listeners.