Music
Mar 27th
Music means a lot to me. Maybe too much — I have to have it at all times! If a song catches my ear I will remember forever where and when I first heard it.
When I landed in Quartzsite as a boondocking RVer — no electricity; no television — I bought a little radio that pulled in two FM stations. Both played classic rock and I enjoyed hearing the 25-year old songs. Coming from a big-city multi-format new-music radio market, that first week was pleasantly nostalgic. The next week the same songs played every day and grew familiar again. Hearing the SAME songs week three irritated me.
I discovered Quartzsite’s own little radio station, KBUX, that formed the soundtrack to the Quartzsite experience. Polkas, waltzes and country tunes flowed from RVs, stores and vendor booths. The “programming” was switching between two long reel-to-reel tapes —played, rewound, re-played. Waaaay too much repetition!
Making the best of the situation I amused myself by making up new lyrics for old songs. I knew the words by heart so the task was pretty easy. ‘Mess’ became ‘dress’ as in “What a Beautiful Dress I’m In.” This turned into some raucous campfire fun at night and quickly grew from nutty to naughty.
Terri Clark’s “When Boy Meets Girl” devolved into “When Boyd Meets Earl.” And any lyric with the word ‘truck,’ well, that’s just fair game.
I learned about an AM station in Parker, KLPZ, that featured live, local on air talent. Imagine! A local business employing local people and keeping local advertising dollars in the community.
Ten years later KLPZ thrives; growing, changing, adding new programs and talent — even throwing in an occasional thrill ride (yuk, yuk). AND — this is great — we can call in song requests. I have my own personal juke box in the Little Bit More Show. What fun!
And 10 years later those classic rock stations are still playing the SAME songs, now 35 years old. I pity my rock-jock pals whose station managers restrict them to small playlists. Their poor ears!
Rock on, KLPZ!!!
# # #
Cate Mueller is a web designer, editor, reporter and photographer in Bouse, Arizona. To visit her website, click here.
Havasu execution appeal rejected
Mar 27th
AP- The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of an Arizona inmate whose execution was stayed last year. Daniel Wayne Cook was scheduled to be executed April 5, 2011, for killing a man and a teenage boy in 1987 in Lake Havasu City. But the day before, the high court stayed the execution until it ruled on Cook’s claims of ineffective counsel during post-conviction proceedings.
Last week, justices ruled in the case of another Arizona inmate convicted of sexual conduct with a minor in 2002. Attorneys for both sides will likely argue whether that opinion applies to Cook’s case before a new execution date is set.
Another incident
Mar 26th
A separate incident from the crash which backed up AZ 95 for a few hours this morning occurred at around lunchtime by Resort Drive on the north side of Parker. Traffic was unaffected. CRIT Police and Fire responded to the scene, along with River Medical.
Crash impacts Parker-Havasu traffic
Mar 26th
9:50am– A head-on collision 2.28 miles north of Bill Williams Bridge is impacting traffic between Parker and Lake Havasu City. The crash is reportedly between a truck and motorhome, and both northbound and southbound lanes of AZ 95 have been closed since 9:28am.
10:43am– La Paz County Sheriff’s Department urges travelers to take an alternate route, calling the accident “severe”. ADOT has changed its timescale from “11:30am” to “Until further notice.”
10:58am– The best alternate route from Parker to Havasu may be west on Highway 62 to Vidal Junction, then north on U.S. 95 to Needles, CA and then east on I-40 to AZ 95, and south to Lake Havasu City. (Estimated time 2 hours. Compare with 50 mins once the road opens.)
11:21am– Traffic is being allowed through one lane at a time, alternating northbound and southbound.
12:22am– Eyewitnesses report the vehicles involved are a minivan and truck towing a boat, not a motorhome as previously reported. Traffic is now flowing.
This incident is similar to one a week ago, on the same stretch of highway.
Large brush fire makes for smoky Sunday
Mar 25th
A large wildfire in the valley south of the town of Parker is charring acres of river brush and sending a huge plume of smoke into the air that can be seen dozens of miles away.
The La Paz County Sheriff’s Department says the fire “may take a while to be contained” and is advising people to stay away from the smoke. Dispatch sent out a Health Advisory for people in the area. Smoke appeared to be blowing west toward Big River, CA just across the river (above).
Photo via Lisa Hedley Davis.
Parker Blues Festival a hit
Mar 24th
Hundreds filled the lawn at the south stage at La Paz County Park for the Parker Blues Festival, where blues bands entertained the happy crowd, classic car owners showed their shine, beer was served and vendors sold food next to the Saturday swap meet. The weather was kind too; festival goers had a temperature of around 82 degrees with partly sunny skies, giving way to more cloud as the afternoon progressed.
The event is on one of the last weekends for many winter visitors before summer temps send them packing up north and the Parker area gives way to summer visitors bound for the water, many of whom are already on the river this weekend in boats and on watercraft as the music plays not far from the shore.
Town of Quartzsite says it did not fire prosecutor in Foster case
Mar 24th
A press release for the Town of Quartzsite says that, contrary to reports earlier this week on Parker Live, it did not “fire” Special Prosecutor Tom Jones for seeking to dismiss charges against former mayor Ed Foster, but reassigned the case because of a statement Jones made in an email to the Town.
In his email to Chief Gilbert, Jones gives the reasons he does not believe that he would be able to convict Foster of the charge and, in closing, stated: “Since the AG is already somewhat involved, I would recommend that someone refer this issue to them.”
The Town’s press release indicates that Town Manager Alex Taft, who was copied in on the email, took this as a “recommendation that the case be referred elsewhere” and sought to do so.
The judge took the motion for dismissal “under advisement” and later dismissed all charges pending against Foster.
Earlier this week, reports suggested that Special Prosecutor Jones sought to dismiss the case because he believed the charges against Foster were “bogus”.
Charges against Quartzsite mayor candidate Ed Foster dismissed
Mar 21st
Charges against former Quartzsite mayor and candidate Ed Foster were reportedly dismissed in court this morning.
The charges, which Foster has maintained were politically motivated, were being handled by a Special Prosecutor for the town, Tom Jones. Jones received the case because Town Attorney Martin Brannan stepped down from the case after Foster’s attorney moved for his disqualification.
After reviewing the charges, Jones was reportedly going to dismiss the case. Some of Foster’s supporters speculate this is because he knew the charges were bogus. When he appeared in court this morning on the case, Jones reportedly told the judge he had been fired by the Town in an email late yesterday.
During the court proceedings, Town Manager Alex Taft reportedly entered the courtroom with a letter for the Clerk, but the Judge in the case said the letter was inadmissible and all charges against Foster would be nevertheless dismissed.
Foster and his allies see this as a victory for justice in the case, which they maintain arose because the Town Manager, Town Attorney and Police Chief see him as an enemy.
Foster is one of two candidates in a run-off election in May for his old position as Mayor.
Local Frank Gustafson in accident
Mar 19th
A local businessman was involved in a head-on collision near Cattail Cove on Highway 95 that had traffic backed up for several hours early this morning.
Parker Live spoke to his wife Terri Watts early this morning and his daughter Amy this afternoon. Gustafson is currently in hospital in Las Vegas for leg surgery. Amy says he is coherent and she was able to speak to him by phone before he went in for surgery.
“His femur is jammed into his knee so orthopedics in Vegas are going to do surgery,” she said.
The accident involved Gustafson’s van and a smaller white vehicle. The driver of the white vehicle reportedly died at the scene.
