Correction
"A Cold September Day" by Ed Harris published on the Letter to the Editor page on February 29 included a typographical error. The last line should read, "Every angel rejoicing....." We apologize for the typing error.
Coal day in hell
With gasoline prices racing toward $5 a gallon N.Y. Senator Chuck Schumer is begging the Saudis to pump more oil while American resources remain off limits, Anwar, the Gulf of Mexico, coastal California and B.O. has given thumbs down to the Keystone pipeline deal.
The Democrat Administration, through the EPA, has now set its sights on the coal fired Navajo Generating Station. After a huge outlay of tens of millions to install scrubbers to clean up emissions, further demands are being made for additional millions to improve those standards by a whopping one percent. This action seems in line with the President’s promise to cripple the coal industry and increase electrical rates to encourage conservation and promote Green energy; like Solyndra. What a fraud; I'm green with nausea.
The Native Americans whose plant is threatened have cried foul and claim further expense might force a permanent shut down. Result, no jobs and no electricity. Not only is this plant a major source of electrical power for Arizona, it is the primary supplier of power to the CAP pumps bringing water to the central deserts. Feeling thirsty yet? In one decisive move our water and power bills would suffer massive increases. Don't tell me this man doesn't know what he's doing. He prefers America be dependent on foreign energy sources.
But, there is no shortage of wind power, the blow-hard at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue never seems to run out of gas.
Randy Edwards
Cave Creek
Negro Creek
I am white and have a black friend that I try to keep it light with. Sometimes he appreciates my humor, sometimes not but I try to avoid PC on purpose. I think PC is killing us, if not placing us into a form of thought control that eliminates much of the English language from use. I told him I was going to change my name to 'Joe Nigger' so that every time someone called out to me, someone else would be there to beat the crap out of them. The fighting words clause in the constitution that regards free speech seems to be expanding these days. Pretty soon there will be nothing we can say verbally that the left won't jump on. So much for the 'Big Tent' idea they claim.
John M. Resler
Captain USAF (Retired)
Tempe
PC speech mandated by the gummint?
So now the Minister of Truth is dictating what we should call the hordes of Hispanic invaders: undocumented "workers" and itinerant visitors and paperless tourists, etc. in place of INVADERS (some of whom are armed).
What is wrong with plain English? Charles Dickens wrote about Tiny Tim, a cripple. Tim was not "differently abled," as today's speech Bolsheviks dictate we refer to him.
What next: Stephen Foster's new lyrics, if written today,
"The sun shines bright
On my old Kentucky home.
'Tis summer,
The African-Americans are homosexual."?
George Orwell IS alive and well!
J-P. A. Maldonado
Phoenix
Uphold the integrity of the 2005 General Plan
We just found out that there is a "minor amendment" being proposed to the Cave Creek General Plan. This "minor amendment" is to allow a 123 room Hotel Resort with a Commercial Zoned area right smack in the middle of a long-standing, established rural residential neighborhood.
As concerned citizens ... We Do Not Want This in our Neighborhood.
We feel we have been deceived by concealing the true intentions, magnitude and impact of this overall project.
As residents of the immediate area, why were we not informed of what is being proposed?
We are very upset with our Cave Creek elected officials for not telling us and then finding out that non-Cave Creek people and organizations were advised of this project before their own citizens were informed. It appears that this "minor amendment" was to conceal the true intentions, magnitude and impact of this ill conceived, unsettling speculative development venture.
We expect our elected officials to uphold the integrity of the 2005 General Plan and its explicit policy to protect the community, neighborhoods and residents and discourage precisely this type of incompatible land use and development. This proposal is totally out of line with the current rural development patterns.
We want our elected officials to stand up for the citizens of this community and stop these developers, land use attorneys and land speculators from encroaching on established rural residential neighborhoods. We built a home in Cave Creek so we could be in and enjoy a rural residential neighborhood.
We expect our elected officials to uphold their sworn duty and responsibility of protecting the integrity and well-being of existing residential neighbors and quit subsidizing development using our general tax and water rate dollars.
If the community wants a 123 room hotel resort, why not use the land near the post office where those" Casitas" were supposed to be built but never were, or somewhere in the commercial zone areas of the Town Core or put this resort in one of the town council members’ neighborhoods?
We do not want to see a precedent set leading to future rezoning anywhere in Cave Creek.
Please stop the Planning Commission efforts and vote down this proposed "minor amendment" to the General Plan.
Thank you,
Ray L. Robinson
Cave Creek
Here we go again
Here we go again … more rhetoric about CCUSD93 doing so much with so little funding from unsympathetic taxpayers! And, still more rhetoric about "low" tax rates! Well, let's examine the financial realities … CCUSD93 has some of the highest operating budget tax levies per student in Maricopa County.
Let's look at the numbers! According to the Maricopa County Treasurer, CCUSD93 (5,575 students, 7 schools) taxpayers experienced a $4,562 primary property tax levy per student in 2011-12. The only higher primary property tax levy per student is Scottsdale Unified District (25,219 students, 31 schools) who levied their taxpayers with primary property taxes per student of $5,324. These primary property tax levies fund the M&O, unrestricted capital outlay and soft capital accounts of school districts and do not include budget overrides.
The remaining 14 unified districts in Maricopa County averaged a $2,146 primary property tax levy per student. Taxpayers in a comparable-size unified district in Maricopa County (Queen Creek, 5,151 students, 7 schools) experienced a $1,810 primary property tax levy per student in 2011-12.
How about the operating budget override (M&O, K-3) property tax levies per student among Maricopa County unified districts? Well, CCUSD93 override property tax levies (about $600 per student) were among the top four of the sixteen unified districts in the County; the remaining unified districts had override property tax levies per student at the $500 level. The Maricopa comparable size unified district noted earlier (Queen Creek, 5,151 students, 7 schools) had a budget override tax levy per student of approximately $450.
As for the prattle surrounding the "low" CCUSD property tax rates, the net assessed value of property within CCUSD93 is $1.8+ BILLION. CCUSD93 administrators should compare this with the Queen Creek unified district (5,151 students, 7 schools) which has a 2011-12 net assessed value of $236 million. The primary tax rate of Queen Creek unified district of $4.0187/$100 assessed value is nearly three times that of CCUSD93 ($1.4149/$100 assessed value), but they collected far less revenues from primary property taxes (despite higher rates) because of the significantly lower assessed valuations. This is reflected in the median new home/homes for sale prices in the two districts: $170,000-$262,000 in the Queen Creek unified district vs. $500,900-$639,000 in the Cave Creek unified district.
Despite the higher level of operating budget property tax levies per student, CCUSD93 administrators have chosen to continually "kvetch" about insufficient funding to operate the district schools. The numbers say otherwise! Do the CCUSD93 administrators ever bother to review these numbers, easily available to the district taxpayer on the web? One wonders!
Alexei Westfall
Email
EVB’s coverage of the Arpaio Cold Case Posse’s findings
Channel 12 EVB’s coverage of the Arpaio Cold Case Posse’s findings about the authenticity of President Obama’s birth certificate didn’t discredit Arpaio and the Posse, it discredited EVB.
The EVB anchors “forgot” to mention that Obama’s father was a Kenyan, a British subject, who was never an American citizen, which means Obama isn’t a natural born citizen, and therefore is not eligible to be president. That ends the eligibility controversy period.
Let’s examine their broadcast of the issue. Evidently if the findings weren’t favorable to Obama, a firewall was in place to prevent the truth from getting past the mainstream controlled media. The two anchors were supported by two candidates running for Sheriff Arpaio’s job – one a Democrat and the other a RINO (Republican In Name Only). Those four plus a technician, who couldn’t render a firm decision, endeavored to stop, discredit, and overthrow the posse’s findings, instead of just reporting them impartially. The hand-picked opponents of the posse’s findings were judge and jury. Both sides of the issue weren’t allowed. No advocates were permitted.
Some questions remain. One, are citizens savvy enough to see through the stacked broadcast? Two, are they smart enough to stand by Sheriff Arpaio, who has endured persecuting intimidation from President Obama’s Justice Department, as well as by a certain group of citizens, whom Lenin labeled “useful idiots?”
Or will citizens wake up to the fact that there are enemies within our gates whose purpose is to grab power, and to destroy freedom, American and us?
Sincerely,
Arden Druce
Camp Verde
SB 1474 too expensive!
As a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and a member of several gun organizations, it is strange to be in opposition to a gun bill in our legislature, but I am.
Gun ownership is a huge personal responsibility. It requires education, training and respect for the weapon. Being taught how and when to use a firearm is of the utmost importance, and there was nothing in the guns on campus bill that requires training.
The news of the unfunded portion of the bill authorizing students to carry guns on college campuses if they have a concealed carry permit, is outrageous. The bill states that weapons must be stored in safely locked boxes outside buildings. There is no funding for building or maintaining these storage boxes. The estimate for the three state universities to do so is more than a million dollars.
The tax payers of Arizona don’t need another burden to build storage lockers for college students to bring their guns to school. I strongly object to this kind of legislation because it taints all the responsible gun owners as crazed right wingers who want to arm everyone. This bill needs to be shelved.
Thank you,
Ruben Diaz
Cave Creek
February 29 issue
As an avid reader and supporter of Sonoran News, I wish to make one comment regarding a letter on page five of above mentioned issue.
Ed Harris wrote a lovely "ditty," "A Cold September Day." His last line reads, "Every angle rejoicing....."
I do hope the author meant "angel," rather than angle.
Is this his typo or one of Sonoran News'?
Keep up the good work. Please continue to prove Obama isn't a citizen, and keep an eye on the school district!
Mila Delaware
Resident of "way" North Scottsdale and concerned citizen
Editor note: Unfortunately, the error was made internally in the process of typing a submission that arrived on paper. We strive for electronic submissions, which eliminate such possibilities for error.
A question of Constitutional rights
A Georgetown date under Obama’s laws:
A Georgetown coed meets a man in a bar. After two drinks each they decide to go to her dorm and share her bed. Not wanting to be “punished” with a baby for her actions, she stops by the campus pharmacy to obtain contraceptives. The pharmacist sends the bill to the Catholic Church. Obama’s law forces the church to pay for the student’s contraceptives even though this is against the church’s moral teachings. Two days later the coed is afraid that the contraceptives may have failed and she may be pregnant. She returns to the pharmacist and obtains an abortion pill. Again, Obama forces the Catholic Church to pay for it.
A Georgetown date under the US Constitution:
A Georgetown coed meets a man in a bar. Being on tight budgets they each have only one drink. They use the money they saved by foregoing a second drink to pay the druggist for her contraceptives and her abortion pill.
Question:
Do you agree with Obama that the coed has a constitutional right to have the Catholic Church pay for her contraceptives and abortion pill so she can afford to have two drinks in the bar rather than just one?
Jack C. McVickers
Scottsdale
Letters
My compliments to your writers on an excellent page of opinions which seemed most entertaining, as well.
Lawrence Rupp
Cave Creek
Editor note: We are blessed with an extraordinarily intelligent readership – they are active and involved. We sincerely appreciate them.
Stones
I read with great interest the letter published in the February 25 edition of your paper titled “Total lack of humanity.”
Perhaps I can offer a response to balance the blame placed upon the Muslims of the world. I ask the letter writer to reflect upon the following, which great world religion was controlling was responsible for: the introduction of slavery to the Caribbean, the Crusades, bought and sold men and women of different color in Africa and ‘imported‘ them as slaves to America, destroyed the Aztec and Mayan civilations (sic), the Spanish Inquisition, destroyed the population and cultural (sic) of the Native American tribes, destroyed the cultural (sic) and population of the Islands of Hawaii, the Genocide of the Australian aborigines, The Holocaust.
Perhaps there is a way to reduce the probability of such inane letters in the future: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
Tex Walton
New River
Israel
I feel this administration hasn't tried to work with Israel. I felt Israel has showed enough restrain and has the right to defend their country. I'm 100% with Israel and I pray they will attack Iran very soon.
Sincerely,
Violet E. Leinweber
Scottsdale
What am I missing? Please tell me!
A few minutes ago I heard on a news station that consumer debt is on the rise and that is a good thing! I was told on the news that this was a sign of consumer confidence and not an act of desperation! News agencies, like Associated Press have yet to give Obama anything but positive spin since he took office. We are making less today than in the past and our money is inflated by the Federal Reserves' printing presses running 24/7/365! If we don't vote Chairman Obama out of office in November say good bye to America! Anyone but Obama. Anyone whose parents did not hate America, that is!
Sincerely,
Joseph DuPont
Towanda, Pennsylvania
Regarding St. Patrick's Day – March 17:
For most people St. Patrick's Day is a day of parades, parties, leprechauns and green beer. But just as Christmas is about more than commercialized fun, so too does St. Patrick's Day have a deeper meaning.
St. Patrick's Day began as a religious holiday honoring St. Patrick - a holy bishop sent to Ireland in 433 A.D. by Pope Celestine I to draw its people into the fold of Christ's universal church. Upon his arrival at Ireland's shores St. Patrick encountered many setbacks and persecutions by the superstitious Druids who had employed magicians to maintain their sway over the Irish race. Despite severe trials, St. Patrick was able to convert all of Ireland and conquer paganism. He is thus credited with driving the Celtic "snakes" out of Ireland.
St. Patrick is credited with many miracles and is responsible for the building of several Catholic schools, monasteries and churches throughout Ireland. He is known for his powerful expositions of the principles of the Catholic faith. He even employed the ordinary, little, three-leaved shamrock plant to teach people about the Blessed Trinity. He was called to his heavenly reward on March 17, 461.
St. Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose total love, devotion and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us.
With respectful and cordial best wishes, I remain,
Sincerely Yours,
Paul Kokoski
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
A 'local kid' achieves notoriety
I haven't commented on this subject all season for fear of jinxing what appeared to be a promising and special basketball season. Our son, AJ Hess, has been attending High School in Paradise Valley since sophomore year. It has been a physically long haul. During his first year I drove him to/from school each day, a 3 to 4 hour proposition covering 140 miles. For the past two school years he has been driving himself, departing home each day by 6:45 a.m.
After late practice, he'd drive home for family dinner which we'd hold up until his arrival, frequently after 8 p.m.; an early night was 7 p.m. I mention his travels at this point because I believe it is significant for the achievements I'll mention momentarily.
Phoenix Country Day is a small private school (approximately 230 total HS students) located in Paradise Valley, with a 50 year history. Athletics, especially Basketball, have never been the top priority there; a solid education has rightfully held that focus. At the end of sophomore year 9 seniors on the boys basketball team graduated, leaving only one senior classman on an otherwise young, undermanned squad. Our expectations for the2010-11 basketball season were understandably conservative. With hard work and dedication to both academics and basketball, the team put together an outstanding season, advancing to the State post-season playoffs. PCDS (Phoenix Country Day School) had achieved that status on very, very rare prior occasions but had never won a game during the State playoffs. Last season they advanced to the quarter-finals by beating two solid teams, one in triple overtime. They ultimately lost to the #3 seed Thatcher, who went on to the finals against Westwind Prep.
During last (junior year) season AJ became only the second student in school history to score over 1,000 points in his PCDS HS career; he did so in only 2 seasons. This season, with the outstanding development of several other players (James Barranco, Nic Meyer, and Alex Sylvester), and the very solid performance of senior guard Nate Nearhood (now the 3rd player in school history to score over 1,000) and the steady work by bench reserves (Harry VanDolah, Alec Schnall, and JB Stockslager), PCDS won the State Division IV SectionChampionship on February 9th. Because of their victories over Phoenix Christian, Canyon State, and Yuma Catholic in the Sectionals PCDS had a buy in the first round of the State Division playoffs. Advancing past Joy Christian, Valley Lutheran, and then Duncan (#3 seed) in the semi-final game pitted PCDS against rival Arizona Lutheran in the State Championship Game on Saturday February 25th at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott. Team captains AJ Hess and Nate Nearhood, with the strong supporting efforts of their teammates and an overall solid defensive effort, led the team to a 20 point victory. It was a classic team effort with each young man doing their job and contributing to their ultimate success. The post-game jubilation is not something I will ever forget, nor I suspect, will the team or everyone associated with the program.
Just as the adrenaline was finally wearing off after the championship, individual awards in recognition of outstanding player achievements have just been announced. We are humbled, but extremely proud, to that AJ Hess (6" 6" PCDS Senior Guard) was named Division Player of the Year, and is one of only five players in Arizona to be elevated to All-State 1st Team. Those are tremendous honors, yet AJ only strived for the success of PCDS and especially for his teammates. His hard work, solid academics, responsible demeanor, team leadership, and on-court generosity earned him the respect of players and coaches, state-wide.
Congratulations to the young men who brought the victory to PCDS, and to our son, AJ, just a local kid from Carefree, for being a great overall individual.
Regards,
John Traynor
Carefree
