Pinal County, AZ–Please join Pinal County Sheriff’s Office July 9th 2011 to help kick off the 2011 School Supply Drive.  We will spend the day at Walmart collecting much needed school supplies to distribute to our most valuable resources, our children and teachers of Pinal County.

Summer break is going to be over before we know it and teachers and students are going to be returning to the classroom. Children always look forward to arriving on the first day of school with new notebooks, backpacks, and pencil boxes.  Some students won’t have the school supplies they need, and some teachers will be purchasing the needed supplies using their own money.

To help alleviate the burden on families and teachers and help meet this community need, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office started a campaign in 2010 called “Stuff the Bus” (STB).

According to National Retail Federation, the average family with children in kindergarten through 12th grade is expected to spend at least $548 (per family) on school related supplies this year.

You can help the Sheriff’s Office help relieve the burden for both our youth and our teachers!!  The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office will kick off the 2011 Stuff the Buss School Supply drive on July 9th and will be collecting school supplies and accepting donations from 8:00 am till 2:00 pm at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 1781 W. Hunt HWY in San Tan Valley.

PCSO is looking for all the traditional back to school items including; pencils, wide-ruled notebook paper, spiral binders, crayons, markers, pens, glue, Kleenex, hand sanitizer, copy paper, red pens, highlighters, plastic zip bags, staples, elastics, paperclips, stickers, construction paper and other arts & craft supplies.

Cash donations can be made to the Pinal County Justice Foundation, our 501c3 partner, by contacting Detention Officer Marty Boisvert at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 520-866-5189.  Questions can also be directed to Ofc. Boisvert.

Starting the 11th of July, you can drop supplies you want to donate off at any of the PCSO Substations or any of the Pinal County Department’s participating in this years challenge.Show support for your favorite county department and drop your donation off in their collection boxes!  Let’s see if anyone can de-throne last year’s winner, the Pinal County Treasurer’s Office.

County Departments wishing to participate in our collection challenge please contact Ofc. Boisvertto arrange for the delivery of a collection box.  Bragging Rights and an appreciation plaque will be awarded to the County Department collecting the most supplies

DALLAS — Kimberly-Clark has teamed up with a mobile shopping application for a promotion at Walmart stores.

As part of Kimberly-Clark’s integrated commercial program linked to the upcoming release of Disney and Pixar’s "Cars 2," Kimberly-Clark said it will use CheckPoints’ app to drive shoppers to Walmart stores and engage them with Kimberly-Clark brands, such as Kleenex, Scott and more.

How it works: When Walmart shoppers enter the store and "check in" through the CheckPoints app, they are directed to specially marked Kimberly-Clark products that carry "Cars 2" promotional stickers. After scanning the package barcode with their smartphones, shoppers gain "Cars 2" premium rewards points, which are redeemable for "Cars 2" items, such as movie tickets and more.

"Kimberly-Clark is using innovative marketing to engage shoppers with our brands and incentivize them to add more Kimberly-Clark products to their shopping baskets," Kimberly-Clark director of shopper marketing Richard Moulton said. "CheckPoints’ mobile shopping app offers us an easy way to reach consumers on the go, encourage them to check out the ‘Cars 2′ promotion this summer, and stock up on our leading brands at Walmart. We will offer interesting content, fun games and premium ‘Cars 2′ rewards right in the palms of their hands."

For more information on the Kimberly-Clark program visit Kimberly-Clark.com/CARS2.

BRISTOL, Va. —

Deputy Shane Charles returned home to Buchanan County on Thursday after nearly three months of therapy in an Atlanta hospital for gunshots to his arm and lower back.

After crossing into Virginia, his escort of Georgia police steered into the Walmart parking lot near Interstate 81’s Exit 7, where a dozen regional police and sheriff’s deputies waited to escort Charles the rest of the way home.

“I know that my recovery will be a lot better now that I’m back,” Charles told them.

The welcome offered a sort of closure to the March 13 firefight that left two Buchanan deputies dead and two others wounded on a mountain road just south of Grundy.

“Of course, Shane’s got a long way to go,” county Sheriff Ray Foster said. “We’ll help him any way we can.”

Moments after arriving, a smiling Charles, chauffeured in a pickup truck, waved the crowd closer to the passenger window for handshakes and hugs.

“Thank you so much,” one officer said.

Others offered support and praise for a job well done.

The wide grin was a welcome sight for friends and fellow officers. But the chest brace holding him up and the wheelchair lowered from the truck’s cargo hold were grim reminders of the mid-March tragedy.

It was on a Sunday afternoon that Randy Gilbert Newberry, a quiet 52-year-old local man without a criminal history, peppered bullets into Charles and his best friend, Deputy Eric Rasnake. A bullet punched into Rasnake’s shoulder, through his lung and out his back. Another went into his chest and a third shot struck the back of his head.

Deputies Billy Stilner, 46, of Maxie, Va., and Neil Justus, 41, of Hurley, Va., died in the intense gunfight. Arriving police shot Newberry to death later that day.

Eleven days later, Rasnake had recovered enough to return to the Sheriff’s Office, where a crowd cheered his recovery.

A similar welcoming party awaited Charles in Grundy later Thursday.

“We’ve got food for 200, and I don’t even think that’s going to touch it,” Sheriff Foster said.

Initially, doctors thought Charles was paralyzed from the waist down. But he soon regained some feeling in his legs.

Out on the Walmart parking lot, friends helped lower Charles from the truck’s cab and into a wheelchair.

Beneath the brace, Charles wore his department uniform.

“I found it lying around, so I put it on,” he said.

Escort and Georgia Fraternal Order of Police member Steven Gaynor stood by and watched as Charles was lowered into the wheelchair.

Gaynor met and befriended Charles at the Atlanta hospital.

“He says he’s going to walk again,” Gaynor said. “I believe it.”

——————-Original Report —————

Today, a homecoming celebration for an injured deputy in Buchanan County.

Buchanan County Sherrif’s Deputy Shane Charles, who was injured in the shootout that killed two deputies and injured one more in March of this year, will be released from the hospital today.

Charles is expected to come home this afternoon sometime between 3 and 5 p.m. and people are expected to line the streets to welcome the hero back from the hospital.

There will be a dinner and celebration at Riverview School tonight.

We will have more on 11 Connects and TriCities.com later today.

The Week in Sloth

Thursday 9

Drive-In Double Features (TCM 6 p.m.) Every Thursday in June features a pileup of awesome drive-in movies on TCM. Tonight, we get a full-on giant insect invasion with Them!, The Cosmic Monster, Tarantula, The Black Scorpion, The Giant Claw and The Wasp Woman. (Actually, The Giant Claw is a bird. Not sure how he slipped in there.)

Friday 10

My Babysitter’s a Vampire (Disney 8 p.m.) A young boy is shocked to learn that his babysitter is a bloodsucking monster. Apparently, this is the pilot movie to a new series … in which a young boy is shocked to learn that his babysitter is a bloodsucking monster every week.

“Guy’s Choice Awards 2011” (Spike 7 p.m.) Fast Times at Ridgemont High gets inducted in the Guy Movie Hall of Fame.

Saturday 11

iParty With Victorious (Nickelodeon 6 p.m.) “iCarly” star / underage pop star Miranda Cosgrove teams up with “Victorious” star / underage pop star Victoria Justice for their first-ever crossover movie. It’s a dream come true for tweens and pedophiles alike.

Field of Vision (KOB-4 7 p.m.) Procter & Gamble and Walmart produced this “uplifting TV family movie, which explores the subject of bullying in schools and standing up for what’s right.” Just the kind of thing kids want to watch over summer vacation.

Sunday 12

“65th Annual Tony Awards” (KRQE-13 7 p.m.) NPH is in the house.

“Finding Sarah: From Royalty to the Real World” (OWN 7 p.m.) Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, was recently caught “selling access” to her former husband Prince Andrew—so she’s officially trashy enough to get her own reality show.

“Swamp Wars” (Animal Planet 7 p.m.) “Swamp” has beat out “Alaska” as the adjectivedu jour for basic cable reality shows.

“The Protector” (Lifetime 8 p.m.) Lifetime belatedly gets into the tough chick detective genre.

“The Glee Project” (Oxygen 9 p.m.) Plucky young singers and dancers do the reality show competition thing for a role on FOX’s “Glee”—which totally hasn’t run out of good ideas.

Monday 13

Nora Roberts’ Carnal Innocence (Lifetime 6 p.m.) Once again, novelist Nora Roberts makes the leap from supermarket checkout aisle to made-for-TV movie.

Tuesday 14

“G4’s Proving Ground” (G4 9 p.m.) G4 tests out weapons and gadgets from video games and movies by building them and trying them out on “Jackass”-like guinea pigs.

“The Nine Lives of Chloe King” (ABC Family 7 p.m.) A teenage girl finds out she can transform into a cat. How long before she starts dating MTV’s “Teen Wolf”?

“Jon Benjamin Has a Van” (Comedy Central 11:30 p.m.) Edgy cartoon voice actor Jon Benjamin (“Archer,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “Home Movies”) is a funny guy. But you can add this new vehicle (pun intended) to the pile of spoofy fake news shows already on television.

Wednesday 15

“101 Gadgets That Changed the World” (History 7 p.m.) We’ve got our fingers crossed for ya, Snuggie.

“Happily Divorced” (TV Land 8:30 p.m.) In the wackiest TV sitcom premise the ’70s were to afraid to air, Fran Drescher’s husband of 18 years (John Michael Higgins) comes out of the closet, but neither of them can afford to move out. Hijinks ensue!