What would you say to yourself to convince yourself to stop smoking? We asked smokers to write themselves a letter. Their compelling reasons to quit, captured in thirty second (:30) commercials, will began airing statewide Dec. 29, 2009.
The Arizona Smokers’ Helpline new television and radio advertising campaign features real people struggling with tobacco addiction. Smokers know the harmful health effects of tobacco and second hand smoke. In fact, in Arizona 89 percent of people report their homes are smoke free. However, 15.9 percent of Arizonans still light up. That’s roughly 735,000 people.*
“Quitting is hard,” Arizona Smokers’ Helpline Director Stephen Michael said. “It might be the hardest thing you ever do. But, we also know, we can help.”
“It takes on average 8 or more attempts to stay quit for good,” Michael said. “This campaign features real people struggling with quitting. Not just success stories. The point is to let people know that when they are ready, help is here.”
The Arizona Smokers’ Helpline is a free service available by phone that offers quit support to all Arizonans. By calling toll-free to 1-800-55-66-222, smokers (and chew tobacco users) will work directly with a “quit coach” who will assist with setting a quit date, surviving cravings, and help with access to Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRT) or prescription medications.
Additionally, on the Arizona Smokers’ Helpline website at www.ASHLine.org, there are more real life stories and a new WebQuit feature providing those who are quitting with help 24/7. Successful quitters and people struggling with tobacco addiction are encouraged to visit www.ASHLine.org where they can submit their own story.
“We are extremely excited about this new campaign and the potential it has to impact people’s lives,” said Wayne Tormala, Bureau Chief of the Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Tobacco and Chronic Disease.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Star Valley mayor wants to finish what he started
Star Valley Mayor Bill Rappaport proudly shows off one of the town's newly paved streets.
By Jim Keyworth
Gazette Editor
Bill Rappaport never asked to be mayor of Star Valley, but after 10 months on the job he’s actively seeking a four year term so he can finish what he’s started.
Rappaport happened to be in the vice mayor’s seat when former mayor Chuck Heron resigned in March of 2009. At the time he took the reins, Rappaport said his intention was to only serve until a new mayor could be elected.
That has changed.
“The town is run completely different now,” Rappaport told the Gazette. “I’m completely open. Anybody can speak on agendized items; I bring them right into the discussions, something that was never done before.
“That’s why a lot of the issues that have come up have been resolved at council meetings.”
Rappaport says his management style is all-inclusive.
“I try to be as much of a mediator as I can,” he explained. “I let the council make the decisions. That’s why the council meetings are so completely different than they used to be.
“We listen to our constituents. They drive the council. I think we’re doing the right thing.”
Rappaport says he also has reached across the border – both physical and psychological – separating Star Valley and its big brother Payson.
“The first thing I did when I was appointed mayor was to start a dialog with (Payson Mayor) Ken Evans,” Rappaport said. We’ve accomplished a lot so far – a lot
“Our town council is working very, very closely with the Payson Town Council. Our sewer and water commission is working with their water department.”
It was water, of course, that led Star Valley to incorporate – specifically Payson’s heist of water from the Tower Well in the heart of Star Valley. Rappaport says he has done a 180 on the issue.
“It’s taken me five years to realize what this whole water thing was about,” Rappaport said. “We’ve already spent $150,000 on attorneys to find out we have no case.
“We’re very conservative how we spend our money, and I can’t see spending money on frivolous lawsuits.
“What (Payson) did for the acquisition of that well was completely legal. The only one who could have stopped it was (Brooke Utilities President Robert) Hardcastle, and I believe the developers had cut a deal with Hardcastle.
The coming of Blue Ridge has also impacted Rappaport’s thinking.
“Payson took our entire council and sewer and water commission up to Blue Ridge on buses,” he said. “We spent the whole day up there.
“You have no idea how big that project is until you go through it. It turned my mind around completely; it changed everybody’s opinion about what’s going on.
“It’s going to happen and it will change everything up here.”
But Rappaport says the towns commonalities extend beyond water, especially the need to focus on economic development.
“Both towns, despite what has happened in the past, need to realize that we both need each other,” he said. “We need them more than they need us obviously – that’s where the kids go to school, that’s where we do our shopping.”
Rappaport is also proud of his close relationship with the state’s Native American communities, especially the Tonto Apaches. He has breakfast once a week with Tribal Chairman Ivan Smith, whom he considers a close personal friend.
Meanwhile back in Star Valley, much has happened in the 10 months Rappaport has been mayor – the most visible the paving of 20 town streets and roads.
“All the streets that are in Star Valley’s inventory are now paved. The next project is Valley Road.
“When the weather warms up, we’ll start doing the sealing and resurfacing, so all the roads in Star Valley, except private roads, are all surfaced now.
Hopefully by March or April of next year, we will have the culverts and bridges worked on. That’s the next project.”
The best part, according to Rappaport, is that thanks to photo enforcement none of it has cost the taxpayers a penny.
“It’s all been paid for by people from the Valley and out of town,” he said. “I was the one who brought (photo enforcement) to Star Valley, the reason being that we were averaging about three fatalities through that corridor every year – and these weren’t people hitting elk.
“We did a study at that time and the average speed limit was 72 mph in a 45 mph zone. The average speed right now is 43 mph. We have not had one fatality since we put it in in that strip between the two cameras.”
The numbers are staggering.
“Right now we’re averaging about 100 tickets a day,” the mayor said. “Star Valley has become the poster child for photo enforcement throughout the state. In fact, over the last 10 months since I’ve been mayor, I’ve given talks to three different towns about photo enforcement. The last one was Globe and they’re going ahead and putting it in.”
And while the revenue has been put to good use, Rappaport says the money is nothing more than a pleasant side benefit.
“We stress the fact that it saves lives,” he said. “The revenue – when we put it in, we hadn’t even considered it. It was presented to us by Redflex as revenue neutral.
“We have almost a 99 percent collection rate from our tickets and right now it’s 60 percent of the revenue for Star Valley – probably about $75-100 thousand per month.”
What the town generated from photo enforcement was supposed to go for law enforcement, but Rappaport says his relationship with the state’s Indian tribes has allowed the town to divert it to other needs.
“The tribes have been giving me money, they give us grant money every year and all that money is earmarked for police enforcement,” he explained. “We just sign a contract with the county each year. So money from photo enforcement goes into the general fund.”
Rappaport wants people to judge his performance on three commitments he says he made when he became mayor:
1. To make sure we have a safe and sustainable water supply. That’s always been the goal of Star Valley and it always will be.
2. To make sure all roads were paved. That’s something people can see and feel. They’re on them every day.
3. To maintain the rural integrity of Star Valley.
“That’s why I moved here,” Rappaport said. “I could’ve moved anywhere in the country.
“I like Star Valley the way it is. I don’t think it will ever change.
“We’re not going to put in a strip mall. The only reason we’re doing a feasibility study on a sewer system is that it’s part of our general plan; it’s a 25-year buildout to see if it’s feasible.
“We can’t come up with that kind of money. It’s between $40 million and $100 million.
“There’s only 2,000 people in Star Valley. The cost would be prohibitive. The septic systems are fine if you take care of them.”
To emphasize what he likes about Star Valley, Rappaport likes to point out the problem the town has with a maverick cow that’s smarter than your average bovine.”
“There’s a cattle ranch that borders a vacant lot at the corner of Pinion Drive and (Arizona) 260,” he said. One cow in particular that’s smart as a whip walks through there and walks these cattle up Pinion.”
Rappaport thinks the current council is pretty savvy also.
“We’ve got such an exceptional council,” he said. “We’ve got a really nice balance.
“The next four years, we want to continue with the streets, we want to do the bridges, the culverts, to address the flooding issues, the floodways.
“We’d like to improve the look of Star Valley. My pie in the sky dream is that we secure the funding to purchase the Freegard property (next to the Landmark RV Park on 260). I’d love to turn that into a public park. That really is the centerpiece. If we could keep that a green area…
Rappaport is opposed by former vice mayor Randy White. The ballots go out in the mail Feb. 7 and we’ll know who won March 9.
Rappaport, a retired dentist, is philosophical about the outcome.
“If I don’t get elected, if they want to take Star Valley another way, there’s other things I can do,” he said.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Not necessarily another man's treasure...
Off the Rim
By Jim Keyworth
Gazette Editor
When I was in college, I spent several summers working for the Genesee County Road Commission, within which my hometown, Flint, Mich. is located.
Next to working at one of Flint’s General Motors factories, it was just about the best summer job a college kid could get. Besides, only the children of General Motors employees got the GM summer jobs, and my dad wasn’t.
But dad did have a little pull at the road commission.
Most of the college kids who worked for the road commission got stuck running tractor mowers at a 45 degree angle on the banks of the freeways.
Every week or so one of them tipped over. Nobody ever got seriously hurt, though, because the first lesson they taught the summer crew was how to jump off a tractor when it started tipping. We were, after all, college students, so the mowers learned the lesson well.
When it rained and they couldn’t mow, these guys would be assigned dumptrucks. I forget what they were hauling to where, but I remember that they used to have dumptruck races on the backroads after they had delivered their loads and were on their way back to the yard.
Thanks to my dad, I escaped the jumps off the tipping tractors and the dumptruck races. An old school chum of my dad’s – Fern Shell was his name – was the foreman of the road commission sign department. Because he knew my dad, Fern chose me as the single summer employee in his department.
It was the best of all county road commission jobs.
We would go out after somebody knocked over or stole a STOP sign and replace it. We’d also replace light bulbs in traffic signals.
And while we were waiting for someone to steal a sign, we’d work in one of the county’s five or six parks – installing swing sets or putting up signs.
I’m pretty sure I learned as much those two summers in the sign department as I did in college. From grizzled sign department veterans like Frank Perrow and Ken Lybolt.
Neither of them was educated. Frank, who stenciled the brown park signs, was always asking me how to spell some four-letter word like SLOW (as opposed to SLO, SLOE, or SLLOW).
But Frank and Ken were wise in the ways of the world. I was getting married for the first time one of those summers and Frank would kid me about which body parts I had to be careful with and which were indestructible.
We carpooled to work, and Frank would never allow me to drive my Volkswagen beetle (it was the 60s) on paydays because such a small car would never hold all of our money.
Frank and Ken also taught me a few things about being a man. About how on your lunch hour, real men stop at a convenience store and buy a big onion to eat like an apple with your sandwich. About how to play poker while eating your sandwich and onion and still have time to grab a 10-minute catnap before beginning the afternoon’s work.
I also learned a lot those summers about consumer preferences. During the big summer holiday weekends, we could get overtime by being on garbage detail in the parks.
I needed to make all I could those summers, so I always volunteered. Our three-man team would consist of one guy driving the garbage truck and two of us emptying the trash cans into it.
I remember being amazed at how many Sara Lee products were consumed on picnics. And by how much food people wasted.
But at least they put that food in the trash cans. What I saw last Saturday while helping my Mesa del Caballo neighbors clean trash along Houston Mesa Road was a display of just about how dumb people can be.
Here’s some of what I learned:
O A lot of people drink and drive. You wouldn’t believe the number of empty beer cans and wine containers along the roadway.
O A lot of people throw their cigarettes out the window. Can you imagine anything dumber than that, especially along Houston Mesa Road. Whatever could they be thinking? Is it that much work to use an ashtray and empty it when it gets full?
O A lot of people are pigs. In fact we talked as we labored about whether being a pig and being stupid were mutually exclusive or went hand-in-hand.
O We also pondered eternal philosophical questions like: If trash is thrown in the forest where nobody can see it, is it really there?
The moral of the story, I guess, is that no matter how old we get, we never stop learning – especially about the flaws and frailties of the human race.
Of course, there were also some tangible rewards. The Consort and I got motivated for the cleanup by deciding we were going to find a big gem, the Holy Grail, or maybe a $1 million bill.
We didn’t, but among the nine of us in the crew we scored three golf balls and a dime. Oh yeah, and five tires. Very useful if you’re building a boat dock or a swing.
We weren’t.
Town will furlough employees to balance budget
Drop in tax revenues catches council by surprise
By Matt Brabb
Gazette Correspondent
In a startling move indicating just how deeply the current economic crisis has impacted small communities around the state, the Payson town council voted unanimously to furlough town workers for two days a month in an effort to combat a $2.6 million budget shortfall. Even members of the police and fire departments will not be immune to the furlough.
“There is no other option to deal with the shortfall we’re facing,” stated Mayor Kenny Evans.
Town manager Deborah Galbraith recommended the measure to the council after a special session was held earlier in the day to go over options available to the town to meet its obligations for the Payson general fund budget.
The town will borrow $1 million from the water department to help offset the $2.6 million deficit, but will still need to find another $750,000 in addition to the money saved from the furloughs to pay for this year’s budget. The council scheduled another special meeting for Jan. 13 to work on finding ways to accomplish the additional savings.
“We realize the pain that is caused when we reduce salary or hours,” said Evans. He further acknowledged that “Every dollar of payroll we reduce will have a multiplier effect in the community.”
Still, the drastic drop in sales and income tax in late 2009 took the town by surprise, leaving town officials few options in its effort to keep the town’s budget balanced. The town receives sales tax revenues from the state government, and those revenues turned out to be some $120,000 below expectations. That, coupled with slumping local sales tax revenues, which were nearly $1 million below projections, has resulted in the deficit the council is now grappling with.
“We are doing everything in our power to mitigate the pain; options are so limited that we have to move forward,” said Evans, speaking of the impending furloughs.
Evans, noting the budget chaos that the state government is currently embroiled in, claimed that town leadership is trying to stay ahead of the curve by taking these actions now. He praised town employees, calling them “loyal to a fault.”
In more upbeat news from last Thursday’s council meeting, the creation of the Payson Advisory Youth Council was announced. The seven-member council, including as many as four alternates, was created to give the youth in the community a voice in town affairs. The new youth council has been tasked with a number of duties including surveying local youth about their issues and concerns, providing feedback to the town council, and planning their own activities, including fundraisers and volunteer work.
Members of the inaugural council are Alicia Bayless, Lauren Best, Daniel Conley, Sam Grassel, Payton Pettet, Austin Shannon, and Anthony Smith. Alternate members are Tyler Aguirre and Dillon Walker.
In other business, the council voted to partner with Operation Bass Inc. to become the official host of the FLW Outdoors Fishing tournament to be held this September at Roosevelt Lake. The tournament had a $700,000 economic impact last year, and this year’s event is expected to be even larger. It will be televised on the Versus television network, and as many as five million people are expected to watch on the live weigh in date. Payson, as the host city, is expected to figure prominently in the coverage of the event.
By Matt Brabb
Gazette Correspondent
In a startling move indicating just how deeply the current economic crisis has impacted small communities around the state, the Payson town council voted unanimously to furlough town workers for two days a month in an effort to combat a $2.6 million budget shortfall. Even members of the police and fire departments will not be immune to the furlough.
“There is no other option to deal with the shortfall we’re facing,” stated Mayor Kenny Evans.
Town manager Deborah Galbraith recommended the measure to the council after a special session was held earlier in the day to go over options available to the town to meet its obligations for the Payson general fund budget.
The town will borrow $1 million from the water department to help offset the $2.6 million deficit, but will still need to find another $750,000 in addition to the money saved from the furloughs to pay for this year’s budget. The council scheduled another special meeting for Jan. 13 to work on finding ways to accomplish the additional savings.
“We realize the pain that is caused when we reduce salary or hours,” said Evans. He further acknowledged that “Every dollar of payroll we reduce will have a multiplier effect in the community.”
Still, the drastic drop in sales and income tax in late 2009 took the town by surprise, leaving town officials few options in its effort to keep the town’s budget balanced. The town receives sales tax revenues from the state government, and those revenues turned out to be some $120,000 below expectations. That, coupled with slumping local sales tax revenues, which were nearly $1 million below projections, has resulted in the deficit the council is now grappling with.
“We are doing everything in our power to mitigate the pain; options are so limited that we have to move forward,” said Evans, speaking of the impending furloughs.
Evans, noting the budget chaos that the state government is currently embroiled in, claimed that town leadership is trying to stay ahead of the curve by taking these actions now. He praised town employees, calling them “loyal to a fault.”
In more upbeat news from last Thursday’s council meeting, the creation of the Payson Advisory Youth Council was announced. The seven-member council, including as many as four alternates, was created to give the youth in the community a voice in town affairs. The new youth council has been tasked with a number of duties including surveying local youth about their issues and concerns, providing feedback to the town council, and planning their own activities, including fundraisers and volunteer work.
Members of the inaugural council are Alicia Bayless, Lauren Best, Daniel Conley, Sam Grassel, Payton Pettet, Austin Shannon, and Anthony Smith. Alternate members are Tyler Aguirre and Dillon Walker.
In other business, the council voted to partner with Operation Bass Inc. to become the official host of the FLW Outdoors Fishing tournament to be held this September at Roosevelt Lake. The tournament had a $700,000 economic impact last year, and this year’s event is expected to be even larger. It will be televised on the Versus television network, and as many as five million people are expected to watch on the live weigh in date. Payson, as the host city, is expected to figure prominently in the coverage of the event.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Competition needed to keep media at their best
What do you expect from a newspaper?
Perhaps a quick scan of local stories, or a great sports story about a local team. Maybe you are only interested in real estate trends or investment trends. Perhaps you only wish to know the latest trends in dining or hiking or state or local government decisions. Perhaps the latest response from the local fire or police department, or notices about open or closed businesses interest you.
Some folks love to see their names in print, while others like to take an occasional anonymous shot at local politicians or Town Council decisions. Civic organizations always want to publicize important events. Churches and clubs seek publicity for various fund- raisers or gatherings. Buyers and sellers seek aligned purposes.
The Public Pulpit is our most varied arena for discussion of trends and events. That’s an awful lot for fifty cents.
Public papers are a relatively new thing in world history. Gutenberg’s printing press changed things radically and quickly for “the masses.” Information became much more widely disseminated - not simply passed about in small vocal circles. Learning to read became mandatory, and “Freedom of the Press” became one of the most sacred rights for all of mankind. An informed public is absolutely necessary in order to insure that the best possible decisions are made by its leaders. Ideally.
For better or worse, manipulation of the public is a hallmark of great leadership. Unfortunately, leadership does not always come in a trustworthy package. Malevolent despots and, sadly, many “Wannabees” have also discovered the power. Every dictator attempts to either silence the public press or poison it with self-serving mistruths.
Even here, in the majestic U.S., the public has actually been lied to and misled by some of its elected leaders in order to instigate certain political agendas. The worst of these were accomplished by presidents of both political parties. They will have to answer to an eternal court for their malice. The costs resulting from their actions are uncountable.
Sooner or later, however, the truth bursts its way forward and becomes known to the general public once again. A widely dispersed news platform is necessary in order to illuminate all sides of an issue. Competition for the public’s trust and interest is needed, hopefully keeping news organizations at their best.
History appears to reveal that given literal and correct information, free of negative bias, the general public knows perfectly well which proper actions to take. It is the greatest hope we have.
Determining the course of action for the U.S. is probably beyond the ability of small local newspapers. An informed public, however, has influence far beyond its physical borders, especially in the modern age of personal computers. The whole is made up of many parts. Knowing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is something which can and will benefit any community regardless of its notoriety or geography. Knowing Who, What, When, Where and often How and Why are excellent advantages. Broad knowledge enhances public and, frequently, private life.
Radio and television give us snapshots of world events. The Internet has become our encyclopedia. The publication of books and magazines is mostly devoted to leisure reading, and has greatly diminished in recent years. Internet Blog sites like www.rimcountrygazette.blogspot.com give in-depth reporting and a unique perspective for general interest reading. Nothing can satisfy the immediacy of interest in local life like a local newspaper, however.
O.K., it’s often a quick read and may end up as a wrapper or a cage liner. It‘s versatile, you see. (no extra charge) It serves in many capacities in addition to its informative nature. In today’s economy, it’s difficult to find anything so valuable at 50 cents.
An old axiom states that “two is better than one.” in most cases - especially when each challenges the other to be its best. An informed public deserves the best information it can get. Businesses and organizations need as much publicity as they can get. Institutions need as much scrutiny as we can give them. Fifty cents seems like an extraordinarily small price for such benefits, even if the price is an addition to a weekly budget.
Only time will tell how the public chooses to rank its sources for information. One thing is for certain, however, how a public acts is always based on what it believes.
Humane Society cookbook has pet treat recipes
The Thursday Morning Committee of the HSCAZ has printed its first cookbook -- "Favorite Recipes for People and Pets
By the Supporters of the Humane Society of Central Arizona!" The cookbook is dedicated to the special animals who find their way to Payson’s shelter, and is a collection of recipes from animal loving folks who were willing to share their favorite recipes in an effort to ensure that the animals are continually well fed and attended.
The book is a treasure trove of interesting quotes, poems, and stories, and includes 200 delicious recipes from beverages, appetizers, sauces & dips, to soups, main dishes, side dishes and more. In addition, the cookbook contains sections on outdoor grilling, kids’ favorites, pet treats and helpful hints for your pets and your kitchen!
This superb collection of recipes and more sells for $15 and can be purchased at the following Payson locations:
Humane Society of Central Arizona
HSCAZ Thrift Store
Western Village
PostNet
Loot Fashions
Sunday, January 10, 2010
RANT & RAVE: January 10, 2010
Editor’s note: Each week we print a selection of anonymous rants and raves submitted by our readers. Keep them under 250 words (yes, we increased the word limit), free of profanity and personal attacks, and have at it. You need not sign your submission, which you may e-mail to peoplesgazette@gmail.com or mail to Gazette Editor, 7736 N. Toya Vista Road, Payson, AZ 85541. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Gazette staff.
And don’t forget to visit BY THE PEOPLE. Just click on the right. You can leave your comments on any subject there as well.
Oh its election time again and our options are more limited than normal…what is a voter to do? After the past 2 years of a corrupt council making the vast majority of their decisions behind closed doors or under the cloak of consent agenda items, this has been a quiet two years. No more of the in-public rancor of before, but is it better? Not hardly! Now bad things happen quietly instead of good things happening noisily. So we have no choice to vote for mayor. It is vote for Kenny (Evans) or leave the ballot blank. I plan to leave the ballot blank and not vote for mayor at all. It is our best choice. For council, there are 4 people running for 3 positions. Three of the candidates currently serve. So again, not very good options. Of the 3 incumbents, Ed Blair is the only one who has earned my vote to serve another term. He at least listens to citizens, talks with them and tries his best to represent them. I do not plan to vote for Mean Mike V. as it is obvious he is in cahoots with developers and wants to grow this town as big as he can as fast as he can. And Su also has not earned my vote. Though she tries to be sunshine and flowers, she is the exact opposite. So that leaves the new candidate Fred Carpenter. Fred is a tough one. I think he means well and would be an improvement over Su or Mike. So here is what I plan to do: Vote for Ed Blair. Vote for Fred Carpenter. Vote for no one else. Lets send a message that Ed Blair is the type of councilor we like and hopefully the others will get the message!
Vote NO on Home Rule. If the Council has less money to spend, they can do less damage to our town!
So Mike Vogel selects Board and Commission members based upon how long the individual lives in the area. He chooses a realtor who just moved to Payson this past year to serve on Planning and Zoning stating he was qualified because he lived in the area (Strawberry) for a long time! Since when does this make sense? Since Mike wanted to stack the Planning and Zoning with his realtor friends. I think he is hoping the economy will improve and we can start bulldozing our forests to build the 7 story buildings he is pushing for. Tell Mike Vogel no! Vote for someone else besides Mike Vogel for Council. Anyone else but Mike! Anyone but Mike! Anyone but Mike!
I have always believed that the best possible education of our children is the key to a successful and prosperous society. Arizona in particular needs all of the support it can get for its school systems because of the woeful results reported year after year on a national comparison of educational accomplishment. Accordingly, I have contributed generously for several years here in Payson to the Credit for Kids program. This year I am not. Why? I expected to see my contributions used for the direct benefit of the kids. I expected the Credit for Kids money to be spent as a supplement for more educational supplies, library improvements, musical instruments and instruction, physical education programs, after school educational opportunities etc. At the same time I expected that state and local school funding would be spent wisely for similar purposes. Yet at Frontier Elementary School I see a new sign, unexplainably lighted at night, declaring the name of the school as if it were previously unknown and generally used to proclaim all the many days the school is scheduled to be closed or scheduled for half days. Worse, I see a new prison-like iron fence enclosing the school. This school, with its cheap dome construction containing almost no windows, already was like a dungeon. Now the children can grow up feeling even more fearful, isolated and separated from society. Oh, and lets not forget the expense of the new driveways and parking lots for the convenience of the teachers and ever so busy parents. If I thought my dollars would be used judiciously in combination with government funding for the full benefit of the children I would continue to contribute. Sadly, I perceive unwise and irresponsible management of these scarce funds by our local board and supervisors. Pity our future generations.
When the Roundup decides to declare the drought over again, as they have done twice already, may the words of Arizona Republic Reporter Shaun McKinnon ring through their denseness. On Dec. 30, he wrote: “Long droughts do not end after one storm or one season or even one year…. Climatologists refused to put a period on Arizona’s dry streak, one that started in the middle of the previous decade (that would be the mid-1980s). Repeat after us, they said: One year does not a drought end.”
A high school coach and a student get into a little skirmish and the local newspaper can’t wait to tell the sordid tale. Is this something that needed to be shared with the whole community – and the entire world? Is it all about selling newspapers (and advertising)? Does anybody at the Roundup give a damn about our image, about what’s really important to us as a community?
The Roundup’s water series is a joke – and a very inaccurate one at that. I am on one of the local water boards in the area and I counted seven mistakes of fact in the latest installment. Pete Aleshire is in desperate need of an editor who can check the accuracy of what he spews. Remember folks, just because the Roundup says it’s true doesn’t make it so.
Has anyone else noticed that the Rim Country News is history – to no one’s surprise. What a piece of junk that was. Shame on them for wasting perfectly good trees to print it. Good riddance.
The person who wrote a recent rant criticizing Christmas and our savior Jesus Christ will surely burn in everlasting hellfire and damnation. This is a Christian nation, by God, and we will celebrate as we please.
Commercialization of Christmas? You think? Let me count the ways. And then the Christians get bent out of shape because Christmas is becoming religion-neutral. Why aren’t they outraged about how the true meaning of the holiday has been wrung out of it by the retail establishment. As they like to put it, what would Jesus think?
How about a Rave for a change. Many thanks to Chris and Maria Higgins for filling the coffee house void by moving Scoops next to Sawmill Theaters and expanding its offerings. Losing Fireside Espresso was a big hit for our little community. A town without a coffee shop is a poor town indeed. Now it’s up to us to make Chris and Maria’s investment pay off. Visit Scoops before or after the movies – or anytime you need a little caffeine.
And don’t forget to visit BY THE PEOPLE. Just click on the right. You can leave your comments on any subject there as well.
Oh its election time again and our options are more limited than normal…what is a voter to do? After the past 2 years of a corrupt council making the vast majority of their decisions behind closed doors or under the cloak of consent agenda items, this has been a quiet two years. No more of the in-public rancor of before, but is it better? Not hardly! Now bad things happen quietly instead of good things happening noisily. So we have no choice to vote for mayor. It is vote for Kenny (Evans) or leave the ballot blank. I plan to leave the ballot blank and not vote for mayor at all. It is our best choice. For council, there are 4 people running for 3 positions. Three of the candidates currently serve. So again, not very good options. Of the 3 incumbents, Ed Blair is the only one who has earned my vote to serve another term. He at least listens to citizens, talks with them and tries his best to represent them. I do not plan to vote for Mean Mike V. as it is obvious he is in cahoots with developers and wants to grow this town as big as he can as fast as he can. And Su also has not earned my vote. Though she tries to be sunshine and flowers, she is the exact opposite. So that leaves the new candidate Fred Carpenter. Fred is a tough one. I think he means well and would be an improvement over Su or Mike. So here is what I plan to do: Vote for Ed Blair. Vote for Fred Carpenter. Vote for no one else. Lets send a message that Ed Blair is the type of councilor we like and hopefully the others will get the message!
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Vote NO on Home Rule. If the Council has less money to spend, they can do less damage to our town!
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So Mike Vogel selects Board and Commission members based upon how long the individual lives in the area. He chooses a realtor who just moved to Payson this past year to serve on Planning and Zoning stating he was qualified because he lived in the area (Strawberry) for a long time! Since when does this make sense? Since Mike wanted to stack the Planning and Zoning with his realtor friends. I think he is hoping the economy will improve and we can start bulldozing our forests to build the 7 story buildings he is pushing for. Tell Mike Vogel no! Vote for someone else besides Mike Vogel for Council. Anyone else but Mike! Anyone but Mike! Anyone but Mike!
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I have always believed that the best possible education of our children is the key to a successful and prosperous society. Arizona in particular needs all of the support it can get for its school systems because of the woeful results reported year after year on a national comparison of educational accomplishment. Accordingly, I have contributed generously for several years here in Payson to the Credit for Kids program. This year I am not. Why? I expected to see my contributions used for the direct benefit of the kids. I expected the Credit for Kids money to be spent as a supplement for more educational supplies, library improvements, musical instruments and instruction, physical education programs, after school educational opportunities etc. At the same time I expected that state and local school funding would be spent wisely for similar purposes. Yet at Frontier Elementary School I see a new sign, unexplainably lighted at night, declaring the name of the school as if it were previously unknown and generally used to proclaim all the many days the school is scheduled to be closed or scheduled for half days. Worse, I see a new prison-like iron fence enclosing the school. This school, with its cheap dome construction containing almost no windows, already was like a dungeon. Now the children can grow up feeling even more fearful, isolated and separated from society. Oh, and lets not forget the expense of the new driveways and parking lots for the convenience of the teachers and ever so busy parents. If I thought my dollars would be used judiciously in combination with government funding for the full benefit of the children I would continue to contribute. Sadly, I perceive unwise and irresponsible management of these scarce funds by our local board and supervisors. Pity our future generations.
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When the Roundup decides to declare the drought over again, as they have done twice already, may the words of Arizona Republic Reporter Shaun McKinnon ring through their denseness. On Dec. 30, he wrote: “Long droughts do not end after one storm or one season or even one year…. Climatologists refused to put a period on Arizona’s dry streak, one that started in the middle of the previous decade (that would be the mid-1980s). Repeat after us, they said: One year does not a drought end.”
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A high school coach and a student get into a little skirmish and the local newspaper can’t wait to tell the sordid tale. Is this something that needed to be shared with the whole community – and the entire world? Is it all about selling newspapers (and advertising)? Does anybody at the Roundup give a damn about our image, about what’s really important to us as a community?
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The Roundup’s water series is a joke – and a very inaccurate one at that. I am on one of the local water boards in the area and I counted seven mistakes of fact in the latest installment. Pete Aleshire is in desperate need of an editor who can check the accuracy of what he spews. Remember folks, just because the Roundup says it’s true doesn’t make it so.
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Has anyone else noticed that the Rim Country News is history – to no one’s surprise. What a piece of junk that was. Shame on them for wasting perfectly good trees to print it. Good riddance.
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The person who wrote a recent rant criticizing Christmas and our savior Jesus Christ will surely burn in everlasting hellfire and damnation. This is a Christian nation, by God, and we will celebrate as we please.
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Commercialization of Christmas? You think? Let me count the ways. And then the Christians get bent out of shape because Christmas is becoming religion-neutral. Why aren’t they outraged about how the true meaning of the holiday has been wrung out of it by the retail establishment. As they like to put it, what would Jesus think?
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How about a Rave for a change. Many thanks to Chris and Maria Higgins for filling the coffee house void by moving Scoops next to Sawmill Theaters and expanding its offerings. Losing Fireside Espresso was a big hit for our little community. A town without a coffee shop is a poor town indeed. Now it’s up to us to make Chris and Maria’s investment pay off. Visit Scoops before or after the movies – or anytime you need a little caffeine.
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