VOL. 22  ISSUE NO. 13   |  March 30, 2016

By Linda Bentley | March 30, 2016

Thinking about running for town council?
It’s time …

Carrie Dyrek

CAVE CREEK – Now that Arizona has consolidated its elections so that local elections coincide with the national election calendar cycle, Town Clerk Carrie Dyrek announced council candidate packets to run for mayor or one of six council seats are now available at Cave Creek Town Hall, 37622 N. Cave Creek Rd.

Town Hall Hours: Monday – Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. - Closed Fridays.

The packets will contain the requirements, forms and instructions necessary to run for office.
Nomination signature petitions must be turned in between May 2 and June 1 in order to run in the Aug. 30 primary election with early voting beginning on Aug. 3.

By Linda Bentley | March 30, 2016

Trump draws thousands to Fountain Hills

FOUNTAIN HILLS – Free tickets to see Donald Trump in Fountain Hills on March 19 sold out within hours of announcing the event only two days earlier.

Although the hastily put together rally was supposed to start at 10 a.m., it was subsequently bumped to 11 a.m. after Trump agreed to do a town hall meeting with talk show host Sean Hannity at the Phoenix Convention Center from 9 to 10 a.m.

It didn’t seem to matter much to the thousands that turned out to see Trump – patiently waiting in the scorching heat.

By Linda Bentley | March 30, 2016

House committee calls on IRS to decrease improper EITCs payments

WASHINGTON – On March 23, The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, sent a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen pointing out the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program had the highest improper payment rate of over 27 percent, totaling $17.7 billion in 2014.

The letter stated nearly one third of those improper payments were due to income verification errors and the IRS’s current practice of relying on an applicant’s self-attested income and paying out the EITC before income is confirmed is not working.

By Linda Bentley | March 30, 2016

Xpress Pay owner gets 12 months in prison for criminal tax violations

Instead of making required the federal tax payments to the IRS, Ott transferred substantial amounts of money to his personal bank accounts

PHOENIX – Gregory S. Ott, 65, of Prescott, Ariz., was sentenced on March 23 by Senior U. S. District Judge Fredrick J. Martone to 12 months and one day in prison for evading the payment of federal employment taxes he collected from numerous small business owner clients. Ott entered a plea agreement on Nov. 2, 2015, in which he pled guilty to evasion of payment of tax, a class D felony offense.

BY LINDA BENTLEY | MARCH 30, 2016

Burglaries continue to plague Cave Creek

CAVE CREEK – Robert Sexton arrived at his store March 4 to find it had been broken into. It appears the burglar(s) used a rock to break one of the double-pane glass doors to gain access. Sexton and his wife Beverly, owners of Out West, located at 38252 N. Jacqueline Dr., between Wild West Pawn and the Lazy Lizard in Cave Creek, have become the latest victims in a string of residential and commercial burglaries and thefts that have been plaguing the northeast Valley, including Cave Creek, Carefree, North Scottsdale, North Phoenix and unincorporated county areas.

MARCH 30, 2016

Our animal loving community is being called upon for help Time is of the essence

Kona is a 10-year-old American Eskimo who was found in a home alongside his deceased guardian by the police. Since there were no relatives he was taken to the county kill shelter. Due to Kona’s advanced age and poor medical condition, he had no hope of being adopted and was scheduled to be euthanized. At that point, Animal Guardian Network was contacted for help. Due to Kona’s condition, it was evident that he, and most likely his senior guardian, had not received proper care in a very long time. Even though we were close to capacity at the time, we knew we were Kona’s only hope. Kona’s extensive list of medical needs have now been addressed and he will live at our sanctuary for the rest of his life. 

MARCH 30, 2016

Cactus Shadows HS Student Honored with Financial Scholarship Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Society to recognize student at annual gala

Phoenix – The Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Society (AVHOFS) will host its 10th Annual Patriotic Gala on Saturday, April 9th at the DoubleTree Resort in Scottsdale to celebrate the recognition of non-military individuals and private institutions whose actions have contributed significantly to the benefit and well-being of our military, veterans and their families. Award recipients include: U.S. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema, Copper Star Award; House Speaker David Gowan, Copper Shield Award; Sanderson Ford, Copper Eagle Award; Ms. Patricia George, Copper Sword Award.  Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan will be in attendance as well as many other notable dignitaries. 

MARCH 30, 2016

Babeu: Clinton wrong to say feds have done a good job securing Arizona-Mexico border

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu challenged Democratic Presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s claim on a Phoenix radio station that “We’ve done a really good job securing the border.”

Speaking on 92.3 KTAR, Clinton said, “I think we’ve done a really good job securing the border and I think that those who say we haven’t are not paying attention to everything that was done for the last 15 years under both President Bush and President Obama.”