Arctic hummer braves major winter storm

Photo by Minnie Norman
Ever felt alone in a cold, cruel world.  Be thankful you're not this guy, photographed on the Norman deck in Mesa del Caballo.

Public notices in newspapers facing scrutiny

By RYAN VAN VELZER
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Tuesday, Feb. 2) -- In a digital age, should Arizona taxpayers have to continue covering the cost of publishing public notices in newspapers?

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, says it’s wasted money when government bodies can easily post the notices on their Web sites. He’s sponsoring a bill to remove a requirement in state law that public notices, also known as legal notices or legal ads, run in newspapers.

“It is extremely costly to do print media,” he said. “You’re dealing with essentially 19th century technology to disseminate information.”

Another bill, sponsored by Rep. Sam Crump, R-Anthem, would establish a committee that would spend two years studying the most efficient and effective ways to post public notices. He said the committee would review trends to determine whether newspapers, Web sites or a combination offer the best way to reach the public.

“It’s really a matter of the horse and buggy and getting used to the automobile,” said Crump, who this week resigned to run for Congress.

Public legal notices are the fine print ads providing information on the actions of federal, state and local governments as well as corporations. Among many other things, they give notice of city hearings, proposals for new buildings and new laws such as a sales tax increase.

By law, public notices must run in a general circulation newspaper printed in English for a period four days if published in a daily newspaper or once each week for two consecutive weeks in a weekly newspaper.

The two bills on the future public notices come as local governments deal with strained budgets and as newspapers face eroding advertising revenue and competition from the Web.

Tim McGuire, Frank Russell Chair for the Business of Journalism at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said there was a time when publishing public notices in newspapers was necessary, but not anymore.

“It’s a subsidy newspapers are looking for, and its usefulness is long past,” he said.

Paula Casey, executive director of the Arizona Newspapers Association, said newspapers act as neutral parties to verify that notices are posted in a complete and timely manner. Government Web sites are difficult to navigate, she said, while newspapers have simple layouts that consolidate all notices in one place.

“The notices would be fragmented in a hundred different Web sites,” she said.

A 2000 report from the National Newspaper Association estimated that public notices represented between 5 percent and 10 percent of revenue at community newspapers.

Newspapers have already begun to publish public notices online through the newspaper association’s site, which automatically uploads more than 55,000 notices a month, Casey said. That combination of print placement and online access is more cost-efficient than government bodies offering the access themselves, she said.

Teri Hayt, president of the Arizona Newspapers Association and managing editor of the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, said readers look at these public ads as they would any other article or advertisement.

“It’s content,” she said.

Todd Madekzsa, director of legislative affairs for the County Supervisors Association of Arizona, said posting public notices online would save counties money at a time when they dearly need it.

“If we can save $8,000 in six different areas, we can keep a sheriff’s deputy on the streets,” he said.

Biggs said HB 2244, which has yet to be scheduled for committee action, would make public notices more accessible while reducing costs.

Posting online would make notices available to a wider audience and would increase government transparency, he said. Typing in a key phrase and pulling up a notice would be easier than searching through fine print, Biggs said.

“Use the 21st century technology we have,” he said. “It’s cheaper, more efficient, more transparent and more available.”

Crump’s bill, HB 2302, which was held without consideration recently by the House Government Committee, would create a committee that would examine among other things, the age of the population, the availability of Internet access in rural versus urban areas and the costs of upgrading government technology for archiving the notices.

Crump said that the goal of the committee is finding the best way to disseminate essential information while protecting the taxpayers’ interests.

“The public needs to know what we are doing,” he said.

Examples of public notice ads:
By Cronkite News Service

* Bids for construction
* General public improvements
* Community facility improvements
* Street and highway improvements
* Increase in water or sewer rates
* Zoning ordinances
* Award of contracts
* Notice of intent to contract
* Calls for bids on district bonds
* Election of board directors

STAR VALLEY CANDIDATES DEBATE IS ON

Event will be held Feb. 9 at Star Valley Baptist Church

The Rim Country Gazette Blog, KRIM-FM and the Mogollon Connection (the new newspaper coming to the Rim Country Feb. 10) are sponsoring a debate between the candidates for Star Valley mayor and town council from 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, at Star Valley Southern Baptist Church, 4180 E. Arizona Highway 260.

The debate is free and open to the public.  More information on the format will follow shortly.

Consumers Council says avoid tax refund loans

(Editor's note: Watch the blog for an upcoming series of columns on income tax filing by local tax preparer Debra Speakes.)

Phoenix, Arizona Feb. 3 - The Arizona Consumers Council joins the Consumer Federation of America and the National Consumer Law Center in urging Arizonans to avoid quickie tax refund loans.

These loans, which usually cost $35 to $130, last just 7-14 days, until the IRS gives the customer his refund. Some smaller tax preparation firms charge even more, tacking on additional fees that can reach the hundreds of dollars. These high fees don't buy much: according to the IRS, those who e-file and choose to get their refund by direct deposit should have their money within three weeks.

Equally costly are refund anticipation checks. With RACs, the bank opens a temporary bank account into which the IRS direct deposits the refund check. After the refund is deposited, the bank issues the consumer a check and closes the temporary account. Also, if a taxpayer's RAL application is rejected, she is automatically given a RAC at a cost of $30 or so, even though the taxpayer may not have asked for it.

RALs and RACs Drain Hundreds of Millions from Taxpayers

According to the National Consumer Law Center, RALs drained something like $738 million from the refunds of about 8.4 million American taxpayers in 2008, plus over $68 million in other fees. In 2008, about 12 million taxpayers received a RAC, at a cost of about $336 million.

While that's a lot, it's less than in the past. Tax preparers have dropped their fees on these loans substantially in recent years. And, federal regulators are stepping in. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ordered Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, which is one of the three biggest RAL lenders, to get out of the RAL business. SBBT provided the bulk of Jackson Hewitt's RALs, leaving that company without a RAL source for over half of its stores.

And, more regulation may be on the way: in early January, the IRS announced that that it will regulate the tax preparation industry.

Use these alternatives to avoid fees

Leslie Kyman Cooper, executive director of the Arizona Consumers Council urges consumers to take these steps to avoid costly and unnecessary tax refund loans:

Wait for your refund. Waiting a just a few days can mean $50, $60 or even more in your own pocket.

Have your taxes done for free. Low income taxpayers can take advantage of VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) or AARP programs. Use this website to find a location near you for free tax preparation.

Free File. Use the IRS's Free File program, where the IRS has partnered with commercial tax preparation and online software companies to provide free federal tax preparation services and e-filing for most consumers. Tax preparers are not allowed to sell refund anticipation loans through Free File.

Don't pay check cashing fees. Have your refund direct deposited. Open a bank account if you don't have one. Or, select a debit card and have the IRS deposit your refund to it. But be a careful consumer: read the fine print and don't pay outrageous fees.

Watch what you sign. Tax preparers can share or sell your confidential information if they get your signature on a form that allows them to do so. Read disclosures carefully, and don't let your secrets be sold.

About Arizona Consumers Council

The Arizona Consumers Council has been protecting, education and advocating on behalf of Arizona consumers for over forty years. Find more information on this issue and others at our website.

Dustin and Gwen: a story you won't soon forget

Photo by David Rennick (on his Blackberry)

Dustin and Gwendolyn

By Jim Keyworth
Gazette Editor

This is a simple little story that will make you forget about all the stuff that makes life a pain. In fact, looking at life in a positive light is its moral.

Best of all, it's a very real story that happened right here in the Rim Country.

Pastor David Rennick of Payson United Methodist Church has a 13-year-old son named Dustin who has some special needs. He is a seventh grader at Rim Country Middle School.

Through some visits to the Humane Society of Central Arizona with his father, Dustin became acquainted with a four-month old kitten named Gwen who came to the shelter with half its right rear leg missing.

There was a connection between Dustin and Gwen from the beginning.

"He sat down (in the cat house) and Gwen sat right down in his lap," Rennick explained.

After a few visits, Dustin asked if he could adopt Gwen.

"He relies upon a wraparound community of teachers and other professionals within the community to help him be successful in school and in his life," Rennick said. "I think the light bulb just went off for him. He said, 'Dad, I'd like to do this for Gwen -- like what people do for me.'"

A good preacher can spot a sermon from a mile away -- or right under his nose. Rennick used the story of Dustin and Gwen, now called Gwendolyn, for the foundation of the sermon he delivered last Sunday.

"I lifted up the notion of how we cling to our disabilities," he said. "We got some older folks in the church here, so it's not uncommon to see canes, walkers, air tanks, glasses, hearing aids -- (and then there's) the handful of meds we take in the morning.

"We cling to those -- we get so caught up in our disabilities that we forget what our abilities are. The punch line was that I don't think this cat even realizes that she needs a fourth limb to get along in life."

(Editor's note: My thanks to Dustin for making this one of the best stories it has ever been my pleasure to tell.  What a special kid.  "Out of the mouth of babes and infants," indeed.)

Plug-in cars key to cleaning Arizona's air

Bret Fanshaw of Environment Arizona stands next to an electric car manufactured by Tesla Motors at a news conference announcing a report detailing how electric and hybrid vehicles can benefit Arizona's air quality. The group said Arizona will benefit even more from such vehicles as more of its electric supply comes from renewable sources. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Ryan Van Velzer)

By RYAN VAN VELZER
Cronkite News Service

SCOTTSDALE -- Plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles can help clear Arizona’s air, and the benefits will increase with more on the road and with utilities developing renewable energy sources, leaders of an environmental group said last week.

“As we face higher pollution levels from transportation and electricity generation, electric cars can be a good solution to reducing air pollution and smog,” said Bret Fanshaw, an associate with Environment Arizona Research & Policy Center.

The group released a report touting the benefits of the vehicles, noting that they produce no tailpipe pollution when using electricity and can be recharged from the power grid. Meanwhile, gasoline-powered vehicles contribute 36 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions in Arizona, the group said.

“It’s a no brainer for our next generation of transportation needs,” said Adam Slusser, a customer advocate for California-based electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc., who participated in the news conference.

While generating electricity to power the cars can produce greenhouse gases, Fanshaw said that electric vehicles still have a much smaller carbon footprint than vehicles burning fossil fuels. With Arizona requiring utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025, that benefit will only increase, he said.

Fanshaw noted that the U.S. Department of Energy has provided a grant for construction of charging stations for electric cars in Phoenix and Tucson and in four other states. Nissan has committed to offering a total of 4,700 plug-in electric vehicles in those areas.

“In the next two years Arizona is going to see a lot more electric cars on the road and hopefully, in turn, will see reduced pollution levels, better air quality and hopefully people will be paying less to get around,” Fanshaw said.

Jeanine L’Ecuyer, spokeswoman for Scottsdale-based Ecotality, an electric transportation and storage company that will build the charging stations, said making it easier for people to charge electric cars is key to expanding their use.

“Infrastructure makes all the difference,” she said in a telephone interview.

Mark Shaffer, communications director for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, noted that Maricopa County is under a federal mandate to reduce air pollution by 5 percent annually over the next three years.

“One of the solutions are these electric cars,” he said in a telephone interview.

Environment Arizona Research & Policy Center lists these as advantages plug-in electric vehicles have over gasoline-powered cars:

* Plug-in hybrids converted from conventional hybrids can achieve 100 miles per gallon or more.

* Some electric cars for sale in the U.S. can go more than 200 miles on a charge.

* Rapid chargers have been developed that in less than 30 minutes can give batteries a charge good for 100 miles.

* Electric cars are easier to maintain that gasoline-powered cars.

Gila County Manager Steve Besich dies

Courtesy photo

Steve Besich

It is with deep sorrow and regret that we note the passing of long time Gila County Manager, Steven L. Besich, in Globe, Arizona.

Steve began his career with Gila County in 1985 as Economic Development Specialist. He was promoted to Community Development Deputy Director and has been County Manager for over 20 years. Additionally, he served under former Governor, now Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, as Liaison for Rural Affairs.

Steve is known by employees as Mr. B., Boss, and of course Mr. Besich. He has provided guidance, support, and leadership to us all. Throughout his career he never lost his passion for his work and for the employees and citizens of Gila County.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Shirley L. Dawson, Chairman
Gila County Board of Supervisors