Archive for July, 2011
Regarding comments…
Jul 29th
Readers,
Parker Live has a very good reputation for promoting free speech in our area. Not only do we try to update the site as often as we can with news pertaining to Parker and La Paz County; we also allow one of the most open comments systems on sites such as this (most news website contributions from readers are heavily moderated).
We keep it this way despite frequent calls to moderate more heavily, in large part because we believe in spaces for people to exercise First Amendment rights, and think that many voices – however irreverent, however politically incorrect, however unwelcome – is better than none.
Still, we’re running a household here on this piece of cyberspace. That means wiping your feet when you come in, being respectful of the others in here and making sure your comments are relevant to the discussion going on.
So, I urge the readers who leave comments to remember to post your comments only in relevant places (that means under the article heading the subject was posted in); leave a comment only once (rather than copying and pasting elsewhere); and be respectful of the others you’re conversing with.
Thanks for being here and helping Parker Live reach over 22,000 unique visitors this month alone!
Have a great weekend,
John
Attorney General statement on Quartzsite
Jul 29th
The Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has released the following statement with regard to the ongoing Quartzsite town hall dispute:
“Normally, we do not release the results of an investigation until it has been completed. However, because this is a matter of unusual public interest, we are prepared to say that, based on review of a video of a July 10 meeting, there is reasonable cause to believe that there has been a violation of the Open Meeting Law, inasmuch as the public was excluded. The meeting was held under the misconception that an emergency meeting can be conducted without the public present.”
“Independently of the question of whether the Town Council had a legitimate reason to hold an emergency meeting, even proper emergency meetings must allow the public to be present. The exception is if there is a legitimate basis for an executive session, and the City Council did not attempt to hold a proper executive session during the emergency meeting. The investigation of this and other alleged violations of Open Meeting Laws is ongoing.”
Hwy 72 delays next week
Jul 28th
The Arizona Department of Transportation will be working on minor roadway repairs at various locations along State Route 72 between Bouse and Vicksburg beginning Tuesday (August 2) through Friday (August 5). The work is scheduled to take place between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. each day. Drivers should expect delays as workers direct alternating traffic through the work zone.
ADOT advises drivers to proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down and be alert for construction equipment and personnel.
ADOT works to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but there is a possibility that unscheduled closures or restrictions may occur. Weather can also affect a project schedule. To stay up-to-date with the latest highway conditions around the state, visit the ADOT Traveler Information Center at www.az511.gov or call 5-1-1.
Arizona Highways-Will Parker Soon Be A Ghost Town?
Jul 28th
This is from a blog post for Arizona Highways:
I’ve always been intrigued by the stories of those folks who live in tiny, rural communities — Who are these people? What do they do? Where do they work? What’s an average day-in-the-life like?
My curiosity has deepened thanks to my gig here at Arizona Highways… you see, one of the perks of the job is that I get to travel around our amazing state.
Along the way, I’ll sometimes pass through a middle-of-nowhere outpost… I usually want to stop the car, get out and wander for a bit. Sometimes I’ll take that moment… I did that recently when I passed through Quartzsite.
Occasionally, a stop-over can turn out to be very fruitful, like when my colleague (and sometimes partner-in-crime-slash-fellow-jerky-girl), Managing Editor Kelly Kramer and I (I, being Kathy Ritchie the Associate Editor in this outfit) stumbled upon Daniel’s Really Good Fresh Jerky in Parker, AZ.
Whoda thunk it? Really good jerky in Parker.
Unfortunately, rural America is shrinking fast. And rural Arizona is certainly no exception. The 2010 Census Report shows that places like Parker, Bisbee and Tombstone have lost a good chunk of their populations.
■The town of Hayden shrank 26 percent, dropping to 662 people in the past decade.
■The Sun Valley area in Gila County dropped 79 percent, to 316 residents.
■Parker dropped 2 percent. Superior fell 13 percent.
■Tombstone and Bisbee each lost 8 percent of their populations.
The reason?
According to Mark Mather, Associate Vice President of the Population Reference Bureau, a research group in Washington, D.C, “many rural areas can’t attract workers because there aren’t any jobs, and businesses won’t relocate there because there aren’t enough qualified workers. So, they are caught in a downward spiral.”
Here’s another interesting tidbit, as some rural areas simply wither away, metropolitan areas are ever expanding and exploding… In fact, according to the report, of the 10 fastest-growing places, all were small cities incorporated into the suburbs of expanding metro areas, mostly in California, Arizona and Texas.
But let’s face it… many of the off-the-beaten-path-hamlets in Arizona are not going to be absorbed by the bright-lights-big-city.
That means a day will come when many these places will simply cease to be much of anything at all… maybe some will be resurrected or maybe some will fall off the map completely.
I don’t know how or even if we can save some of these rural outposts, but what I can suggest is that the next time you drive through a Parker or Superior, get out and walk around.
You never know what you might find.
~KAT, Associate EditorShare this:
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Here’s My Reply:
Parker Area Tourism
July 28, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Dear Miss Ritchie:
I first want to thank you for telling people to stop in Parker and get out and look around. I am confused though, as to why would you include Parker, AZ in your “Future Ghost Towns” story with a 2% reduction from the 2010 census. You failed to mention that although the Town was down in their count for the census, our county was up. So, they moved outside of the one-square mile township. These numbers do impact our local government because counties and municipalities generally are allocated a portion of these receipts based on resident population. Our economy is based on tourism and our county and town are far from becoming “ghostly.” La Paz county saw a 6.7% increase in total travel spending for the year 2010. In 2009, we saw a decrease of almost 17% in total travel spending. The entire State of Arizona was down 10% in total travel spending. So, we’re on our way back up. In recent and consecutive years, La Paz County has provided up to $216 million in total travel spending. (Per Dean Ruyan Associates for Arizona Office of Tourism.)
The Town of Parker is in great financial shape and our Downtown Shopping Area will be full this year. Four new businesses have moved into the downtown area that include Sears and the return of a NAPA Auto Parts store. Furthermore, the County is in negotiations to house a 2500 ft tall solar power plant that will employ 1500 people for 2-3 years and 41 permanent employees. Plus, it will provide another “destination driver” attraction to our area.
In addition, for the year 2010, according to Dean Runyan Associates for the Arizona Office of Tourism, La Paz County is tied for third place in State Transaction Privilege Taxes Generated by Direct Travel Spending. That’s ahead of Mohave County and Yuma County on Arizona’s West Coast and includes Maricopa County! Unbelievable!
And, your readers should know that Parker, Arizona is the home of the famous “Parker Strip Recreation Area.” Parker is the home to many beautiful hotels, motels, RV Resorts and camp sites along both the Arizona and California sides of the 16-mile stretch of the Colorado River. We boast the best boating on the “West Coast” of Arizona, the “East Coast” of California and “Best in the Desert Racing Association” has tagged Parker, Arizona as the “Off-road Capital of the USA.”
So, don’t put us in that category just yet, Kathy! And, by the way, when you and Kelly were in Parker at Daniel’s Really Good Jerky, you were right across the street from our visitor’s center. It is surprising to me that a managing editor and an associate editor for an Arizona Highways “blog spot” wouldn’t stop in a visitor’s center to learn more about the community.
Thanks for your time!
Mary Hamilton
Executive Director
Parker Area Tourism
Thank you!
Jul 28th
As summer break comes to an end, PAACE Staff would like to thank the following people in the community for all their support during our five Strength from Character Summer Camps. Stephanie McDowell, Colorado River Regional Crisis Shelter, for her dedication in teaching our camp participants about the dangers of bullying. Officer Cherre Hooper, La Paz County Probation Department, for her support during camp activities. Keith Moses and Clark Daniels, Blue Water Cinemas, for their continued generosity in supporting PAACE activities. Darla Tilley and volunteer transportation staff from the Parker Community/Senior Center for their transportation services on a weekly basis. We also want to thank the parents and everyone else who helped support our camps. It was a GREAT summer!
KLPZ segment on bond proposal
Jul 28th
La Paz County Administrator Dan Field stopped by KLPZ studios this morning with Assessor George Nault and Recorder Shelly Baker to talk about the latest in regards to settling the County’s debt to Yakima Company. Watch here.
Public hearing on bond proposal scheduled
Jul 28th
A public hearing will be conducted by the Board of Supervisors of La Paz County, Arizona at a meeting of the Board on Thursday, August 25, 2011, which begins at 10:00 a.m. (or as soon thereafter as can be accommodated by the Board’s agenda) in the Board’s Meeting Room, located at 1108 Joshua Avenue, Parker, Arizona, on a proposal for the County to incur “long-term obligations” of the County (within the meaning of A.R.S. § 11-391) in a principal amount not to exceed $19,000,000 with estimated total financing costs (including interest costs) of $18,900,000.
Payment of the principal of and interest on the long-term obligations is expected to be paid from a transaction privilege excise tax to be imposed by the County pursuant to law and will not be secured by the full faith and credit of the County or ad valorem taxes. The purpose of the long-term obligations is to pay obligations of the County resulting from a final court judgment against the County, court costs and attorney fees including outside legal counsel retained by the County, but not costs incurred by the County Attorney in connection with the judgment and interest accrued on the judgment amount, to pay transaction costs and to create reserves.
The Board of Supervisors will receive oral comments at the hearing. Written comments must be mailed or delivered to the La Paz County Board of Supervisors, 1108 Joshua Avenue, Parker, Arizona 85344, Attention: Donna J. Hale, Clerk of the Board, and clearly marked “Re: Proposal to Incur Long-Term Obligations,” in sufficient time to be received before the Board’s meeting to take place on September 12, 2011, scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. at the same location, at which time the Board expects to take action on the proposal to incur the long-term obligations. Comments may also be made via a link on the County’s main website: http://www.co.la-paz.az.us.
Back to School Bash at Players Youth Center
Jul 28th
Back 2 School Bash/Dance tomorrow (Friday) at Players! Free Games & Prizes & Food from 2pm-6pm. Dance for 12 years old & up is 7pm-10pm; $3 Entry Fee for dance.
Off The Wall #6
Jul 26th
My wife went to a conference recently and returned with all sorts of cool stories and references that she picked up from the guest speaker, who was a mortician. Don’t ask what kind of conference, because I’m not even sure. I just know my wife works with deceased people’s estates and deceased people’s relatives, so going to a conference where a mortician is the guest speaker is fairly routine for her.
So she comes home all full of explanations for things like “graveyard shift,” “wake” and even the old saying “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
I happen to work the graveyard shift at one of my many part time jobs, so I was intrigued. The mortician told my wife that back in the day (i.e. 500-plus years ago), medical science was somewhat unclear on when a person was actually dead and when they were just in a coma. They also drank from lead cups and—according to the mortician—the combination of whiskey and lead could knock someone into a coma and people didn’t know if they were dead or just dead drunk and lead poisoned, so they would lay them on the kitchen table and stand around waiting for them to wake up.
Hence the term “wake.”
However, according to the all-powerful internet, this is a mere hoax, because A) Even though it was the Middle Ages, people were not stupid. If someone was breathing, they were alive. If not, they were dead. B) Most people in the Middle Ages did not have a kitchen, much less a kitchen table to lay people on to wait and see if they were dead and C) Although lead poisoning can indeed be deadly, it doesn’t just happen all at once. It takes years of eating paint chips and/or drinking whiskey from a lead cup.
Trust me on this one: I’ve seen the effect of eating paint chips on my buddy Brad and it has been a slow but gradual decline into psychosis, idiocracy and overall poor judgment during the fantasy football season.
The graveyard shift story the mortician told was that since these Middle Ages boneheads couldn’t figure out if people were alive or dead, they would sometimes dig up coffins and find scratch marks on the inside of the coffin lids. This became such an issue that eventually everyone was buried with a string above their heads that was attached to a bell which was placed over their grave. If a person woke up in a coffin, they would pull the string, ring the bell and someone would come and dig them up. Hopefully.
Since these bell-ringing-not-dead people might wake up in the middle of the night, someone had to hang around the graveyard and listen for the bell.
Hence, the graveyard shift. Other folklore etymology associated with this legend are the words “Saved by the Bell” and “Dead Ringer.” Turns out Saved by the Bell is actually a boxing term (and a television show with Nerd Supreme Leader Samuel “Screech” Powers), while dead ringer simply means someone who looks just like someone else, although you have to wonder if the term originated with the coffin bell gizmo.
This story has more holes in it than a medieval cemetery. First off, why did they have to rig up a string if they were doing the wake thing on the kitchen table? You mean to tell me that after three days in the kitchen the Middle Agers still couldn’t figure out if people were dead and they went ahead and buried them anyway and rigged up the bell system?
I’m no Medical Examiner, but after three days I could make a fairly accurate determination about a person’s life or death status. Think about it.
There were actually some bell ringer coffins created in the 17th and 18th centuries, but they didn’t really work because decaying bodies tend to bloat and shift during the process and sometimes this would cause false alarms, which would no doubt upset both the graveyard shift workers and the immediate family of the dearly departed.
I also checked out the baby with the bathwater story, which turned out to be true. The mortician said that during the Middle Ages, people only bathed about once a year (yikes!). They would heat up a big pot of water and the eldest in the family would bathe first, followed by the rest of the clan in chronological order. The babies would go last and then they would throw out the dirty bathwater.
Hence, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I could probably argue with this one, too, since I’m having a hard time picturing a medieval baby just floating unobserved in a tub of filthy water while somebody prepares to throw it out, but I won’t because I still can’t get over the fact that they only bathed once a year. Even my paint chip-eating buddy Brad showers once a month or so.
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Randy Hartless is Executive Director of the Parker Area Chamber of Commerce, columnist and regular contributor on KLPZ 1380am.
