BISBEE WIRE #65/around town/ voting/taxes/nooz sources/lackawater/budget busters/word

editor: fred miller January 5, 2024 #65/January 2024

Hello,

Welcome to the new year that will look kinda like the old year cept for...elections. This year will be preparation for inundation thereby causing consternation about fixation and affection for genuflection.

There are always year end stories and predictions about the new year. This article by Jen Fifield of VoteBeat talks about what the issues may be around this election year.

Lukeville border crossing is now open after a month of closure. The Dept. of State for Mexico continues to have a warning in place for U.S. citizens, Sonora is Level 3 – Reconsider Travel due to crime and kidnapping in the Department of State’s Mexico Travel Advisory.

As usual this issue grew longer as tidbits from the firehose of information were too good to ignore. Maybe this year I can limit myself to shorter issues more often. And maybe not.

Some of the things I hope to cover in depth this year are: Tourism in Bisbee, Home Insurance price hikes (our house was unchanged during the year but the insurance jumped from $1100 to $2400! ...send me your horror stories, I wanna start a file), who is going to do what to who electionswise, examining the changing state of journalism, and mulling over some changes to the Wire. I may even wax philosophically now and then.

We live in a wonderful place, bubble though it may be, and I hope you all appreciate our little burg enough to help out however you can in organizations doing good in our community. I've been a board member for the Bisbee Foundation for many years, and we welcome donations for our grants and scholarships. And, for those of you fortunate to have the means, endowments are one of the best means to ensure that issues of our community you are interested in will get the funding they need. If new in town check out the website for info; it is a good way to get acquainted.

fred

................​AROUND TOWN................

THE LIBRARY Gotta give em some big props. They keep offering opportunities for residents. They now have a basic bird backpack to check out. And birds, specifically cranes, are the subject of a talk Tuesday Jan. 9 at 5:30. 6 Main, call for more info. 520 432-4232 For a list of all the wondrous stuff they do, go here: website .......... BISBEE NEIGHBORHOODS? A bit confused about the various neighborhoods of Bisbee? This map wil get you sorted. Go here Also an informative blog post about researching the history of your house. ........ NEW BREWSKIS IN WARREN Ballpark Brewing Company is a new brewery located in Warren on Center AV. (just Northwest of the 4 way at Congdon and Bisbee Rd.)Ave., which may be open as soon as next month. ............ WARREN HISTORIC SURVEY...WALKING, PHOTO-TAKING, UPDATING The Warren historic designation property surveys are being done Tuesday, January 16 thru Thursday, January 18 and volunteers are being sought to help. The tasks include walking assigned streets, updating the previous surveys by noting any significant property changes since then, and taking photos of the property. This is a curbside project and does not require door-knocking or any contact with the resident. If interested in participating, please show up at the entrance to the Warren Ball Park at 8 am Tuesday morning, January 16. ......... SOUND BATH Recent Bisbee Music Hall of Fame inductee, bassist Frank Tornoe, is known for playing in several Bisbee bands. Another creative aspect will be on display when he debuts a solo immersive ambient electronic show on January 23, 7PM at Club Kilimanjahro. Bathe in music. www.franktornoe.com ........... NIX ON PRIVATE NO PARKING SIGNS An increasing number of no parking signs have appeared trying to claim private parking on public property. No mo! The council voted to remove any signs for private parking not put up by the city. Signage on private property is ok. .......... HILLCREST APTS WORK GETS COUNCIL OK With council approval of air monitoring of asbestos removal, work on the Hillcrest Apts can begin and hopefully be done in a couple months. After the work has been completed, the building will be put up for sale. City officials hope that the hazardous removal will provide the impetus for a sale. .............. CABLE CUTTING HAS A NEW MEANING; SABOTAGE? Although there has been local frustration with outages of Sparklight, the internet provider, and others, may have been hit with sabotage. An article in the Herald has speculated that several outages of different county internet providers was due to someone(s) going around and cutting the fiber optic cables that provide internet services. There has been no suspects, but the Tucson PD and possibly the FBI are investigating. .......... NEW FEES FOR SOLAR INSPECTIONS The council indicated they would approve changes to the zoning code to include fees for solar equipment inspections at their recent meeting. Both residential and commercial plans and inspections will be included. ........... COCHISE COUNTY 2024 ECONOMIC FORECAST FORUMJoin the Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation and the Small Business Development Center at Cochise College for a look at Cochise County's Economy in 2024! Wednesday, January 31, 2024 · 11am - 1pm -Doors Open at 11:00am...Lunch is at 11:30am...Program at 12:00pm Sarah Murley, Economist and Principal at Applied Economics.

• Economic Overview of Cochise County. We'll take a look at population, jobs, GDP, income, retail, and more.

• Bright Futures Ahead. We'll stop and take note of the positives in Cochise County, as well as areas where we can get to work.

• What's Trending? We'll discuss indicators of what may come for Cochise County's economy in the upcoming years.

RSVP is required. Single Tickets are $25. Reserved table of 6 is $200. Tickets sold on Eventbrite. Tables can be reserved through Eventbrite or by contacting Sarah Pacheco pachecos@aredf.org .......... NEW BUSINESS REPORTING REQUIRMENT Beginning 1/1/24, businesses that are registered with the corporation commission will now need to file a new form detailing their ownership. It is required. Per a press release from the AZ corporation Commision, "The United States Congress has passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. This Act mandates beneficial ownership reporting for corporations, limited liability companies, and similar entities registered in the United States. Entities formed or registered before January 1, 2024, must file an initial beneficial ownership report before January 1, 2025. " The from must be sent to the feds and not the state. There are significant penalties, $500 a day, for not filing the form. There is a list of exempt organizations that include non profit 501c Info is here and fact sheet is here <><> CANYON VISTA OFFERS UP TO 20,000 SIGNING BONUS FOR RN'S The Sierra Vista hospital is offering up to $20,000 signing bonus according to an ad in the AZ Republic. <><> The Kroger-Albertsons merger comes to a head: Kroger and Albertsons have proposed what would be, if approved, the largest merger in retail grocer history. The Federal Trade Commission should decide this month whether it will sue to block the merger, and several state attorneys general, including those in Minnesota, Arizona, and Nevada, have been closely scrutinizing it as well. California’s AG already confirmed he’s actively considering trying to block the merger.

..............COCHISE COUNTY................ GET INVOLVED! CEBV, Citizens Engagement Beyond Voting has expanded and now will include our county in their focus. They will have a 'learning the essentials of political persuasion workshop on Jan 18 6:30, and one on letter writing and messagin on Jan 25. Go here to sign up. They also have learning workshops about the basics of boards, councils, and commissions. <><> JAIL TAX TAKES EFFECT The county jail building tax of .5% will be collected from Jan 1, according to a recent decision by an appeals judge. The tax, which was passed by a narrow margin, will support the building of a new jail. Although there was a lot of lip service during the campaign to building the jail in Bisbee on the site of the current county lockup, there has been no decision made. Officials in Bisbee should be insistent and firm in support of the jail being built in Bisbee. Why? Because it is an economic generator for our town. The tax collected on most general purchases in Bisbee will now be over 10%. And that is a burden to small businesses and consumers. <><> I've never cared for the term substance abuse because it seems to indicate that there are dosages that don't abuse the drug. It implies one can take just a quarter spoon of heroin and that is not abuse or maybe just a really really thin line of coke on the mirror or just take on oxy every ten hours? Anyway there is headway being made in our county regarding drug takers. The Tucson Agenda has a good article about the work of Sonoran Prevention and how there seems to be a diminution of overdoses and a rise in availabilty of Naloxone treatment. From the article, "Creating systemic change doesn’t come quick, but it seems as if the project’s efforts are starting to pay off: As of December 28, Cochise County recorded 42 fatal overdoses, a nearly 13% decrease from 2022." ............. VOTING EQUIPMENT DEMO In a collaborative effort between Cochise County and Cochise College's Civic Engagement Committee, a Voting Equipment Demo and presentation by the Election Systems & Software is set to take place on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at the college's Sierra Vista Campus. Two sessions will be offered – one from 10 to 11 a.m. and the second from 6 to 7 p.m. This FREE event welcomes the public to attend. This joint initiative provides an opportunity for citizens to see the voting equipment, ask questions and get more information. ....... This is the current voter registration in Cochise County District 1 Dems/6626; Repubs/14,333; Ind/2240; PND (no choice)/9266 District 2 Dems/9367; Repubs/7500; Ind/1541;PND (no choice) 7663 District 3 Dems/5130; Repubs/12,233; PND (no choice)/6864 Total Registered: 88,854 Dems/21,123; Repubs/34,066; Ind/5675; PND (no choice)/27,973; Others 4196

..............NEWS SOURCES................ FACT CHECKING Misinformation is rampant online. Fake news is often designed to spread as quickly as possible: If something is shocking, inflammatory, or surprising, we’re more likely to pass it on to other people. On social media especially, that can quickly mean inaccurate content starts trending, which of course means it’s then shared by even more people. Quick check... Check the url...secure sites are quickly identified by HTTPS (the 'S' is thkey) Do not go on sites that are just HTTP, they are not secure and can transmit your information to nefarious people. It doesn't take much to spot phony stuff if you are diligent. Knowing your sources, checking the context, looking for patterns, and doing your research. These sites enable you to check dubious claims. Snopes is one of the more well known and does a good job of deflating claims. Factcheck one of the Annenberg Public Policy projects that 'aims to "reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics." Mostly focused on the voter/elections/politician claims. Reuters news service also runs a fact check service mostly for social media claims, particularly for photos and vids. They are one of the largest news services in the world. Free subs are available. <><> LIST OF NEWSLETTERS, MEDIA, These are many of the news sources I use regularly. Most are free, but all deserve support to not only survive, but thrive. If you have the financial resources, please subscribe or donate. These are in addition to the New York Times and Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Arizona Star, and Arizona Republic. https://www.myheraldreview.com/ ... indispensable local news coverage building both the hard copy and digital services. $120 a year for digital. https://thebisbeeobserver.com/...local articles, house auctions, incorporations, and the police beat makes the $1 worth it. Arizona Agenda....the best source for most political stuff happening in the state with emphasis on the capitol but includes a lot of county references.Free but subs preferable if you have the dough. Tucson Agenda...spin off of above focus is on Tucson but also covers Pima and Cochise some. Free but subs preferable if you have the dough. https://www.azmirror.com/...Good statewide coverage, not a lot of investigative, but solid info bout what is happening. Free but subs preferable if you have the dough. https://themarkup.org/...a nonprofit newsroom that investigates how powerful institutions are using technology to change our society. Free but subs preferable if you have the dough. Mother Jones...hard cover mag and online. old fashioned muck raking journalism with very good graphics.Free newsletter. Mag is $12. High Country News... coverage of western states lotsa environmental stuff and more. Sub $30 https://popular.info/ ....You are not a spectator and democracy is not a game.Every day there is an avalanche of information — but much of it is a distraction. This newsletter guides you through the noise and helps you focus on what’s important. Free but subs preferable if you have the dough. https://heated.world...An important newsletter about climate change and the supervillains that deny and promote it Free but subs preferable if you have the dough. https://ambrook.com...good stuff about agriculture, issues about both large and small farming. Free but subs preferable if you have the dough. https://www.votebeat.org...elections and voting is the focus.elections are fundamentally a local issue, their coverage is rooted in local communities. Free but subs preferable if you have the dough. https://www.mouseprint.org/...consumer newsletter detailing practical info on products, downsizing of packages, and more. Free New Lede...environmental reporting. Free

https://www.beautifulpublicdata.com...data sets that are collections of images, videos or other unusual visual information. Free https://www.reuters.com/...largest news service, solid reporting, mostly international news Free https://www.opensecrets.org...research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Our mission is to track the flow of money in American politics and provide the data and analysis to strengthen democracy. Free https://www.wired.com...mostly articles about technology, but covers a wide range of subjects The Weekly Lyer Report...put out during the lege in session, the single best coverage of the good, the bad, and the ugly in the lege. Free

...............STATE AND THE LEGE................ The Lege is back in session January 8, but it’s worth noting that lawmakers have already introduced 124 pieces of legislation as of Monday, many of which Hobbs previously vetoed. A 2024 guide to the lege from the Arizona Agenda. In this issue they help you separate the people who really control the Capitol from the jokers who take up all the oxygen in the room, introduce you to the workers who make it all happen and shine a light on the power players behind the scenes. Jan 8, Hobbs State of the State address Jan 12 Hobbs delivers her budget proposal ........... GAIL GRIFFIN HAS WATER BILLS READY TO GO The House Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee has already scheduled a hearing for Rep (19) Griffin's bills. HB 2016 (grandfathered right; subsequent AMA; extension) , HB2027 (subsequent AMAs; assured water supply), 2099 (active management area; groundwater right) ............The 2022 election denialism continued through the end of 2023... ...as Trump-endorsed congressional carpetbagger Abe Hamadeh, who is also the failed attorney general candidate from now two calendar years ago, argued in court that he should replace actual AG Kris Mayes, since she “usurped, intruded into or unlawfully holds” the office after beating him by 280 votes. Meanwhile, his election-denying allies have come up with a new legal strategy: arguing that judges can’t decide election cases because they’re biased because they’re elected too. Also, Scottsdale Republican Rep. Alex Kolodin filed a Bar complaint against the Cochise County attorney for telling the county supervisors there that finger-counting ballots was illegal — they’re now facing criminal charges for attempting to do just that. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is preparing for AI-fueled election disinformation by creating some deep fakes of himself. Failed gubernatorial candidate turned U.S. Senate hopeful Kari Lake couldn’t convince a judge to throw out Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s defamation lawsuit against her. And Colorado Supreme Court justices barred Trump from the 2024 ballot there for engaging in “insurrection or rebellion” on Jan. 6, 2021, and two secretaries of state have also said he won’t be on their ballots, though appeals continue and lawsuits linger in other states. Meanwhile, Karl Rove ponders whether banning Trump from the ballot is bad for democracy. <><> STATE BUDGET DEFICIT MORE THAN $400 MILLION AND GROWING Among other things the lege will have to deal with...No mo dough. The budget deficit is due to lack of money coming in and the huge growth of charter school scholarships now approaching $1 billion. The repugnican fiscal geniuses of Ducey's reign passed a flat tax in 2021 despite warnings that it would significantly reduce revenue by about $1 billion. What has happened last year? Sho nuff, revenues revenues so far are down about $830 million. Not content with that, they also wanted to shift educational funding for private schools to the public. So instead of individuals paying for private schools, us taxpayers are getting to pay for those personal choices. WTF indeed! <><> ELECTIONS PROCEDURE MANUAL IN PLACE If you want to know how elections are run, this is the book for you. A new Elections Procedure Manual, the guidebook for running elections, has been approved and is now in use. Covering everything from early voting to election day procedures, the 300 page manual is considered the 'bible' for elections directors. The manual was drafted over the past year with input from all county recorders, tribal officials, and the public. <><> 'AUDIT' CONCLUSIVELY BACK BY TRUMP The Arizona Republic has conclusively proved that the Trump campaign was behind the effort to 'audit' the results of the 2020 election. Through emails and public records request the media company was able to show that Senate Prez Karen Fann used at least $5 million in taxpayer money to fund what was essentially a Trump multi-state effort to discredit the election. Fann denied that it anything to do with Trump. <><> SUNLIGHT ON DARK MONEY ELECTION FINANCING STILL IN PLACE Despite court challenges to the Voters Right to Know Act passed by 70% of voters, continues to be in place for this election. Both private and public legal attacks have so far been thwarted. Us voters, according to the legal challenges, are just too dumb to know what we are doing when we pass referendums. A judge has ruled that people have an absolute right to enact laws regarding campaign financing. Take that mofo's! <><> CONTACT INFO FOR ARIZONA STATE REPS AND SENATORS Let them know what you think about issues, laws, and them. All members of the House All members of the Senate Bisbee is in District 21 Senate: Rosanna Gabaldón Email: RGABALDON (602) 926-3424 House: Consuelo Hernandez Email: CHERNANDEZ (602) 926-3523 Stephanie Stahl Hamilton Email: SSTAHLHAMILTON (602) 926-3279 Almost all of the rest of Cochise County is in District 19 Senate: David Gowan Email: DGOWAN (602) 926-5154 House: Lupe Diaz Email: LDIAZ (602) 926-4852 Gail Griffin Email: GGRIFFIN (602) 926-5895 <><> ARIZONA WASTES THE MOST FOOD OF ALL STATES A 2022 study showed that Arizona wasted more food than any other state in the nation, discarding $9.5 billion in produce and other foodstuff.

..............WATER................

SACRED COWS AND COLORADO RIVER RUNNING DRY

This article, written by journalist Scott Carrier, is about why the Colorado River is running dry. The source of life for 40 million people in five states and Mexico, the river has come very real human caused problems, in addition to the 22 year drought. Currently the two main reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead ,are 1/4 filled. This is not a screed about beef, but it is inescapable when talking about one of the main causes of water problems.

From the article:

"The river supplies 40 million people, the large majority living in cities, and you’d think this is where we could conserve a large amount of water. But it turns out that the cities—all the homes and lawns and golf courses and public parks and even the celebrity swimming pools—account for only 12 percent of what’s drawn from the river. Industry, such as factories and power plants and data centers, uses another 8 percent. And the rest, 79 percent of what we take from the river, goes to agriculture.

This seems like a lot of water being used for farming, but it’s actually a normal percentage compared with other river systems around the world; it takes a lot of water to grow food. What’s not normal about the Colorado River, however, is that an enormous portion, as much as 70 percent, of the water devoted to agriculture goes to just two crops—alfalfa and grass—to make hay. When you do the math, this means that more than half the water siphoned from the Colorado River is used to grow food for beef and dairy cattle, as well as for some sheep and horses." "... One ton of Colorado River hay is worth about $275. It takes as much water to grow that 1 ton of hay—450,000 gallons—as it does to supply four average homes with water for one year. It takes about 1,800 gallons to produce one pound of beef. This means that every time I eat a quarter-­pounder, I’m also consuming 450 gallons of water. This is not an efficient use of a scarce resource. It’s like driving a semitrailer to the grocery store to buy a bag of chips." ...... VIDS OF A WILLCOX AZ DAIRY FARM It helps to see the extent of Riverview Dairy and their subsidiarity, Turkey Creek Dairy's reach in Sulphur Springs. Owners of 51,000 acres, combined they milk more than 13,000 cows a day. Much larger they breed about 100,000 heifers a year on their property. That necessitates a lot of water and feed. ........

ALARMING WATER USE PROJECTIONS IN FIVE RURAL AREAS The series of reports from Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) about various management areas is bleak. Of the five rural areas charted for projected problems, the Wilcox basin shows the most demand-agriculture-far exceeding groundwater supply. The annual reports, mandated by law, are the first comprehensive survey of groundwater supply and use. Reporter Tony Davis of the Arizona Star has a succinct summary of the individual reports. An excerpt from the article : "Biggest future water loser. Almost certainly, it will be the Willcox Basin. About halfway between the states of Rhode Island and Delaware in size, it contains enough unused state and private land for agricultural water demand to more than double between now and 2075." For more information go here for Shar Poirer's article in the Herald Review although it might be paywalled.

........

AMERICA'S WATER WOES

Several articles about water and the politics of water, including the article above. One of the best overviews of the problems of water shortages

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WATER WISE COCHISE COUNTY EXTENSION

A really good source for vids of presentations around the county. Lotsa of helpful hints about water conservation.

...............EVERYTHING ELSE................ HOW HOMES CAN SURVIVE WILDFIRE This article is one of the best at summarizing and suggesting ways to help keep your home fire-safe. “...embers and small flames are the main way that the majority of homes ignite in wildfires,” The home and everything within 5 feet of any part of the structure are the Immediate Zone and the most critical for home survival. <><>REALLY? TAX BREAKS FOR THE WEALTHY? "According to an analysis by American for Tax Fairness of new Federal Reserve data on household income and wealth, America’s billionaires and centi-millionaires (those with at least $100 million of wealth) collectively held at least $8.5 trillion of “unrealized capital gains” in 2022. These profits from unsold investments constitute the largest source of income for the super-rich. This staggering accumulation of “quiet” income may never be taxed unless special taxes on the ultra-wealthy now under consideration in Congress are enacted. <><> CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM VID W/ROB REINER A discussion about his doc on the rise of religious nationalism. There is a trailer <><> STATEWIDE TRAUMA/911/EMS DATA VISUALIZATION Tracking data is now available on the health dept site with a dashboard that enables a quick view of: 911 calls, EMS incidents, number of falls, vehicle trauma, trauma injuries by race, trauma injuries by year <><>WENDALL BERRY INTERVIEW The journalist/farmer was one of the first to write about the detrimental effects of agibusiness and promotion of sustainable farming. https://ambrook.com/research/perspective/wendell-berry-kentucky-clearing-brush?utm_source=Ambrook+Research+Newsletter&utm_campaign=cdf32796b3- <><> FUNNY, RAUNCHY SONGS Clever songs about sex and other stuff from two very funny women. Hand jobs, secretions, pregnant women, blow jobs, kanye, weed; what's not to like? <><>CHICKEN BROTH MONOPOLY That's right, almost all boxed broths are derived from one dehydrated company. This short vid says buy Better Than Bouillion. See it here. <><>STUPENDOUS, MAGNIFICENT, WONDERFUL NATURE PHOTOS https://earthunreal.com <><>DANCING ON STAIRS As someone who has been a Walter Mitty dancer all his life it is enthralling. Very cool vid with lotsa examples. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/01/20/arts/dance/stair-dancing.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20231202 <><>DIANNA NYAD A LIAR? Given that there is a movie about Nyad's accomplishments (J. Foster, A. Benning) and her famous 'grit', this article is worth reading. In it, many of her claims are debunked and the article is peppered with factual examples of lies. Lotsa people in the 'swim' community are quoted. <><> UNCLAIMED BAGGAGE STORERead about where the stuff you forgot on an airplane ends up. Check out the online shop of lots and lots of leftover stuff winds up for you to buy at very good prices. <><> FREE ONLINE LEARNING Coursera offers free and paid courses for both lifetime learning as well as business certificates and degrees. Quite specific and helpful in knowledge building.

............... WORD...............

I had amnesia once -- or twice.

Protons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic.

I am neither for nor against apathy.

All I ask is a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.

If the world were a logical place, men would be the ones who ride horses side-saddle.

What is a "free" gift? Aren't all gifts free?

They told me I was gullible and I believed them.

Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home, and when he grows up, he'll never be able to merge his car onto the freeway.

Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone.

One nice thing about egotists .. they don't talk about other people.

My weight is perfect for my height ... which varies.

I used to be indecisive. Now, I'm not sure.

The cost of living hasn't affected its popularity.

How can there be self-help groups?

Show me a man with both feet firmly on the ground, and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants off.

Is it just me, or do buffalo wings taste like chicken?