BISBEE WIRE #76/election results/commentary/strategy/ASK ANITA/lots more

BISBEE WIRE

editor: fred miller           August 5, 2024              #76/August 24

Hello,

Preseason is done and the regular season has begun. Given how contemporary campaigns are run there is no real excuse to not give up a few hours a week to do something; post cards, phone calls, texting, emails, letters, all from the comfort of your home. If you can, shoe leather is always welcome as in knockin on doors, meet and greets, pressin flesh; whatever your energy allows. Check out the action plan that Michael Moore is putting out down below. 

This issue has been kind of hurried because we are prepping to visit our daughter and son-in-law in Colorado. It is always good to see the, they go out of their way to make us comfortable, but it is sometimes difficult. Like many families we have some fundamental and unbridgeable political differences that emerged with the rise of old man trump.  The last few years, they and us have established an unspoken truce of sorts and we don't talk politics. As you might guess, it leaves me gasping for air cause what else is there? There are few safe subjects because any problems/issues are looked at through the lens of how people view the world. Very glad the Olympics will be still going.

Bring some warmth and a smile into your life by checking out the wonderous Gretchen Baer's Kamala Harris art car!

fred

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

BISBEE MENTIONS

The dive bar.

fhttps://www.arizonahighways.com/blog/bisbees-st-elmo-makes-national-dive-bar-list?

The Library

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/07/23/national-library-award?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1nLP2-bfL1XnJqxUGHuy9XzQwISDdUCt6L2X2o7YQslsb0Vntq9_uK-Cw_aem_7CnJlCNumpxeZNHRh4EhtQ

The Food

https://thisistucson.com/eat/bisbee-road-trip-southern-arizonatucsonarticle_15cc8688-32e3-11ed-951d-536cce291ed5.htmlutm_source=thisistucson&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_

The Cuteness

https://www.thetravel.com/cutest-mountain-towns-in-arizona/

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THE BALLLPARK

Working with a limited budget from donations and events like the annual vintage baseball tournament in early April, Friends has built new bathrooms, restored the stands, replaced the eight-foot high wooden fence, installed new lights — and more.

Mike Anderson, a Friends member and a prolific keeper of the park’s and the city’s histories, explained the big summer project of removing and rebuilding the level of the infield in partnership with the school district. Friends dropped $30,000 for the infield project.

The top eight inches or so of the infield have been removed and work includes the slope of the outfield and the sidelines.(from the HR).................THE WOMEN'S Māori HAKAIf you would like to see something fun check out the New Zealand women's rugby team getting a gold medal and doing a Māori Haka here  You don't wanna see your female friends look at you like this!.................THE MISSING MONEYClick here to see if there is any missing money in your name.https://azdor.gov/unclaimed-property

??????????????ASK ANITA??????????????

Dear Anita,

        I’ve come to notice with the passage of time that a disturbing number of my neighbors are crazy—not eccentric or mildly off-kilter but flat-out nuts, bonkers, bat-guano crazy. Is this a Bisbee thing or is it happening all over? I’m not sure what to make of it. Any ideas?

        —Normal Guy in an (Possibly) Abnormal Town

Dear Normy,

Well the bats have returned to Bisbee. And given it is election time, there is an abnormal amount of caca around. However likely that is not what you are referring to.

There is fine wavering line between quirky and crazy. Bisbee is often referred to as quirky but I too wonder whether the line has been crossed.

Obviously TDS is a factor (trump derangement syndrome). Covid has left an impact, drug use hasn’t helped. 

Checking a few back issues of the Police Beat in the Bisbee Observer, my hazy recollection of recent issues tends to agree with you. People lying in the road, yelling in the middle of the night, seeing invisible people, hearing voices when no one is there, and more.

Reading the national new it appears we are not alone. It is just more apparent in a small town. As of right now, luckily, our neighbors (and ourselves!) are normies…I think. Another four years of Trump we may have to have Bisbee designated as a true looney bin.

I recommend you try meditation, electrify your fences, and avoid eye contact. If that all fails, I may be reading about you in the police beat. Good luck.

Send your question to bisbeewire@gmail.com with ASK ANITA in the subject head

\.............ELECTION COMMENTARY...............

The one clear thing to come out of the primaries was that election denying, voter suppression, fiddling with voting mechanics, and hand counts of ballots will be well represented by candidates that won primaries at the state and county levels. Maricopa, Mojave, Pinal, Cochise all elected republicans that espoused one or more of those views. It wasn't a clean sweep, some candidates that spouted those views were defeated. But it is clear that republicans are no longer a conservative party, but have become uncompromisingly authoritarian, seeking to impose restrictions in most areas of public life.

Every dem candidate has to paint their republican opponent as extreme, antidemocratic, and anti-freedom, but not evil. And their own message has to be that the economy is doing well for a lot of people, but there needs to be changes made to lower prices by; curtailing money grubbing by corporations, streamlining regulations to allow make it easier for small businesses to startup and existing business to cut paper work, ensuring equal access to clean water, and pressuring utility corporations to lower prices.

Tom Crosby/R district 1 supe in our county, handily won his race against Clint Briseno who had the backing of the official law enforcement community-whether in endorsements outright or appearance with him. His support in the district is solid despite going to trial (date to be set Aug. 15) on two felony counts. Theresa Walsh/D has her work out for her. But If her main focus is on the amount of money Crosby has cost taxpayers in her district she can win.  By focusing on the money as specifically as possible, I think she can get votes from those repubs who find Crosby repugnant and costly. His intransigence (rejecting a dept of health grant of more than a million dollars); his insistence on 100% hand counting (expensive, inaccurate, time consuming) costing hundreds of thousands of dollar in legal fees; his waste of county workers' time dealing with the problems, and his ideological blindness to follow the county attorney's advice.

In Cochise, Kari Lake got 53.7%, Lamb 40.9% of the county vote. Lake, who has lost repeatedly in court cases that she initiated contesting the last election, has consistently supported extremist views. Although passes herself off as a journalist, she was a news reader.

She now needs to pivot to the general election and broaden her base of support to bring in moderate Republicans and independents who will actually decide a general election. But the win against Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb and a relatively unknown candidate, Elizabeth Jean Reyes, was not as clear-cut as she needed  Lake must do what she’s failed to do so far in her short political career: tone down the nasty rhetoric and work to appeal to middle-of-the-road voters.Ha!

Gallego ran unopposed

Mark Finchem former lawmaker and failed secretary of state candidate won his bid against state Sen. Ken Bennett in a Prescott Arizona legislative district. Bennett, although very conservative, was the voice of reason in the latest lege session, blocking several extreme measures.  Finchem had a margin of around of about 15% over Bennett, a lead of nearly 8,000 votes.

Finchem was responsible for grant to David Stevens, CC recorder, getting a $1million taxpayer funded grant for testing paper used in voting machines (even though there has been few problems with paper). Ultimately the grant was cancelled and 20 tons of paper and a dandy roll sit in a warehouse somewhere unused. Stevens was also on a board of a company owned by Finchem.)

 In Maricopa County, Stephen Richer/Recorder and Supe Chair Jack Sellers, both Republicans overseeing the county’s elections, lost their races.

Sonny Borelli, a cheerleader for 100% hand counts of ballots and was a leader of a dog&pony show  in various counties  'proving' handcounting is better, was elected supervisor in Mojave County.

But all is not lost. Some of the more dipshit politicians lost. For instance in Leezah Sun, former democratic State Senater District 22 who was kicked out of the legislature ran and lost big in the democrat primary.

Fun facts about her ….She had her campaign manager steal signs from her opponent in the last election.  The city manager of Tolleson and two others say she screamed at them, called one a “douchebag” and fell into an anger-induced “trance-like” state at their office before being escorted out. Separately, she allegedly threatened to smack one of the employees in the face and “throw her off of this balcony to kill her,” per a lobbyist who heard her and contacted the police. In a very long response, Sun denied ever making physical threats, saying she’s a pacifist. 

And the aptly named Sen.Justine Wadsack lost her seat in LD17. Former Sen. Vince Leach has beat her by about 4%. In her Tucson based district she was known for extreme views. But what might have beat her was she was clocked doing 71 in a 35 mph zone, tried to use her senate privilege to get out of a ticket, threatened the cop, didn't have an insurance card, and said it all was a political vendetta against her. Whoops!

Another race of interest was for Arizona’s Congressional District 8 in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Abe Hamedah beat Blake Masters 29% to 23%. Hamedah has not conceded from being beat by AG Kris Mayes. It would seem to be rational that he would have to concede after losing 4 court cases. But...and old man Trump playing both sides of the street endorsed both of them, trying to guarantee his endorsement power.  Also defeated was Ben Toma, whose  legislative track record, has been defined by culture-war issues and hostile immigration proposals. He also championed sweeping income tax cuts and universal private school vouchers.

Whew! In other news.  JD Vance was on the border last Thursday for another photo op.(Speaking of the flip flopper, here is a detailed rundown on his past connections.)  He wore a brand new western shirt. Whining about the border and blaming Harris for bringing in fentanyl and terrorists, he spent an entire 45 minutes near the border wall at unnamed locations in Cochise County that looked suspiciously like right outside Naco. John Ladd, a rancher that has had legitimate problems from immigration, is developing hoofs from being trotted out so often for the photo ops. Drum roll!

Meanwhile old man trump was briefly silenced as he tried to get his foot out of his mouth after questioning whether Kamala Harris was black. I suggest that the Veep even after going to a black college and in a black sorority, really learned she was black when her family was rejected from renting an apartment from Trump realty.  Another Drum roll!

.............ELECTION RESULTS...............

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS/ALL PRECINCTS COUNTED FOR COCHISE COUNTY ELECTIONS (as of 8/02 5:00 pm) (there may be some slight adjustments before Friday's meeting to certify the results.)

https://www.cochise.az.gov/DocumentCenter/View/19046/Primary-2024-Unofficial-Results-PDF?bidId=

...The Cochise County Board of Supervisors is meeting on Friday, August 9, to certify the results of the July 30 Primary Election. starting at 10:00am at the usual location: 1415 MELODY LANE, BUILDING G, BISBEE, AZ 85603. It is their statutory obligations. If you are able to attend  please do! Members of the public may also attend this meeting via Microsoft Teams computer or mobile app, or via phone by calling 602-609-7513 or 888-680-6714, Conference ID 320 199 160#.

MAYOR BISBEE

Total registered voters in Bisbee 3463 

Total Votes Cast 1530    44.1% turnout for mayor

Ken  Budge, 1124….73.4% of the vote

Gretchen  Bonaduce, 256…16.7% of the vote

Wanda  Leikem, 246  16.07%  of the vote

Ward 1 Total Votes Cast 531 total registered: 1171   45.3% turnout 

Karen  Schumacher, 429…80.7 %

Shay  Sanders, 101…19.%

Ward 2 Mel Sowid unopposed

Ward 3 Junaetta Hill unopposed

(TOTAL BISBEE REGISTERED VOTERS 3463

1698   dems-----612 repubs---9 green---212 Indy----31 libertarian---23 no label---109 ither---768 party not designated

Ward 1---- total reg  1171.___652-Dem-----143 repub----78 indy---230 party not designated---- 68 all other

Ward 2 ---- total reg  1200____565 Dem---233 repub….70 indy---276 party not designated---- 56 all other

Ward 3 -----1092 ___481 Dem----236 reppub----64 indy----263 party not designated----48 all other)

VOTERS IN COCHISE COUNTY

Total Registered Voters  78,151    Voter turnout was 33.8%

Ballots Cast – Total  26,471

Ballots Cast – Republican  17,304  65.3%

Ballots Cast -Democratic  8989  33.9%

Ballots Cast- 212 The Green Party, Libertarian, No Labels, Non Partisan 0.8%

COUNTY SUPERVISOR

DISTRICT 1   D/ Theresa Walsh will run against R/Tom Crosby

Repub Tom  Crosby 3,900

Repub  Clint Briseno,  3,518

Democratic Theresa Walsh unopposed

DISTRICT 2  D/Joni Ciacomino will run against R/Kathleen Gomez

Giacomino, Joni 2056  61.7.%\

Lindemann, Mitch 1252 37.6%

Repub  Gómez, Kathleen L. ran unopposed 2,810

DISTRICT 3 D/Joy Banks will run against R/ Frank Antenori

The former state legislator ended up with 1,670 votes, bested Nancy Olmstead Katie Miller and Sonia Gasho  He pulled in 35.8%

County Recorder D/Anne Carl will run against R/David Stevens

******Repubs ran unopposed and Dems put up no candidates for the following: County Assessor, Sheriff, Treasurer, School Superintendent, District 5 Superior Court 

JUDGE DISTRICT 4

Karwaczka, Richard G. 9196 59.01% of the vote

Faulkner, Ruth 6340

COUNTY ATTORNEY

D/Scott Eckstein will face R/Lori Zucco

STATEWIDE VOTING

Statewide registered voters: 4,109,270   Total Ballots Cast: 1,201,994

29.25% of eligible voters voted. Voting results here.

SENATE

D/Reuben Gallgo will face R/Kari Lake

HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES

District 6 D/Kristen Engel will run against R/Juan Ciscomani

District 7 D/Raul Grijalva will face R/Daniel Butierez

STATE LEGISLATURE

VOTER REGISTRATION

Legislative district 19  71,615 total registered (Cochise)

15,769 dems---29,215 repubs----19,235 party not designated

Legislative district 21  78,152 total registered (Cochise)

25,30 dems-----1691 repubs----1601 party not designated

Legislative district 19

Senate D/Bob Karp will run against R/David Gowan 

Representative D/ Gregg  Frostrom Jr will be up against  R/Gail Griffin

R/Lupe Diaz  (Only 1 democrat will be running for the two seats.)

District 21 (Bisbee)

Senate D/ Rosanna Galbadon  unopposed

Representative  D/Consuelo Hernandez & Stephanie Stahl-Hamilton will be up against R/Christopher Kibbey (Only 1 repub will be running for the two seats.)

Corporation Commission

Three Dems run against three Repubs

D/ Ylenia  Aguilar, ,  Jonathon Hill, Joshu Polacheck

R/ Rene  Lopez, Lea Marquez Peterson, Rachel Walden,

...............ELECTION PLAN OF ACTION................

A SERIOUS PLAN FOR THE ELECTION

Michael Moore, he of the oscar winning and funny informative documentaries, has a plan and a toolkit for the next three months, with the end of defeating trump and ensuring a democratic congress  He spells it out in detail in a toolkit here but the end goals are:

Restore full women’s rights; Protect all of our freedoms; Ensure health care, elder care, and child care for all; End all voter suppression and undemocratic actions, from the electoral college to gerrymandering to the filibuster; Get the money out of politics; End the war in Palestine; Reform the Supreme Court; Create an economic democracy that allows the working class and the middle class to thrive; Make the rich pay their taxes; And Save this beautiful planet that God gave us. 

The first steps of the tookit are these: STEP #1.  GET YOUR HEAD ON STRAIGHT. GET YOUR GAME FACE ON!First, we will not win unless we UNDERSTAND and OWN one basic fact:WE.  ARE.  THE.  MAJORITY.America is now us. And who knows that better than we do? The other side. That's why they are so angry, so hateful and have no intention of losing. That’s why our own heads have to be all-or-nothing in the game!

STEP #2. YOU + 3 MAKES AMERICA FREE!

The ONLY way we will overcome the tens of millions of Trumpsters who are definitely going to show up and vote is for every single one of us to get 3 people to vote with us — whether it’s in-person, at home, or 2,000 miles away — no matter where they live.

STEP #3. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! JOIN IN THIS MASS COMMUNITY OF MILLIONS! RIGHT NOW! Sign up with me and my friends right now wherever you’re sitting and reading this. Sign up with your local Dems.

More is coming but remember how we felt three weeks ago? You remember — when “all was lost!” The good people of this country are on fire right now, at an enthusiasm level the likes of which hasn’t been seen since… well, since ever! Today is only the beginning.

..............RESOURCES...............

HARNESS THE POWER OF MUSHROOMS!

"Stevenson is an expert in the small but growing field of mycoremediation, or the use of mycelium to restore the health of soil or water. Certain fungi can essentially “eat” toxins; their mycelium produce enzymes that degrade some plastics, petroleum, and heavy metals. Mycelium are an underground network of fungal strands, and the potential of this fungal root system is already being realized in leather and plastic alternatives, building materials, and meat substitutes."

Go here for the article.

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IF INTERESTED IN HOW SIMONE BILES DOES WHAT SHE DOES

https://www.wired.com/story/the-incredible-physics-of-simone-biles-yurchenko-double-pike/?

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FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

"Nearly nine in 10 consumer companies surveyed say they track customer experience (CX) KPIs such as customer lifetime value and customer retention. Today, most internal marketing organizations can capture and assess CX-related performance of owned media—website interactions, for example—and internally managed advertising and marketing campaigns." Go here for the full article.

...............EVERYTHING ELSE................

Ain't capitalism wunnerful...A report found that In 2023, the eight largest pharmaceutical companies didn’t pay any U.S. taxes. Go here for the article from the Council on Foreign Relations.

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THE LUCRATIVENESS OF CEO OF PUBLIC UTILITIES

Hmmm,in the last two years SW Gas has raised prices  at least twice, courtesy of the Arizona Corporation Commission(vote the buggers out!) It appears one of the ways they are using that new money is to pay their CEO Karen Haller  $7,129,341 in 2023. She assumed  the position in May of 2022.  Ms. Haller received a $1 million bump in pay. Formerly she was their chief legal officer. The former CEO, John Hester  was paid  $6,129,727 in 2022. He was forced out by major investor Carl Ichan who demanded his resignation as well as 4 board seats