Talk of the Town: "Pumping will harm the Upper Verde River"

John Zambrano lays out chapter and verse on what we all know to be true. I'd like to say that it will end the chaff-tossing on this and allow us to start moving forward on a reasonable solution, but that would be more than optimistic.

Even the most ardent pumping advocates agree privately that their plan is unsustainable, but they think they can buy time for technology to provide the solution. Everyone at the top of this issue knows what the solution is: a massive solar-powered desalination operation on the Gulf of California providing water for the entire Sonoran region. Up here in YavCounty we're fighting over table scraps when we could be planting the farm that will feed us all. It's pathetic.

Update, 7:15 May 18: We interviewed ADWR Director and way cool cat Herb Guenther today, and without prompting he laid out the solution exactly as I have above. Listen on 89.5 FM Saturday or Sunday at 2pm -- it's in two parts, the first this weekend and the second probably week after next.

Editorial: "Yavapai County: Rural in name only"

I saw this headline and first wondered whether I was in for another inadvertent rerun on the op-ed page, but no, it's not the same as yesterday's. Just the same idea, lamenting our loss of innocence and bucolic bliss, applied over a list of county budget requests related to lawnforcement. And my response is the same: y'all think growth is good, don't bitch when you get what you want.

Seriously, guys, we could use some deep, integrative thinking from people who closely watch the flow of events in our area about where we're headed and how we can shape our progress to build and maintain the community we all want. That's the sort of leadership an editorial can contribute. This sigh-and-surrender-to-the-inevitable BS is totally counterproductive.

Letters: Brass tacks

Today we've got more outrage about the Prescott East Strip Mine -- editors, here's another gift from your readers of an idea for a hot story -- as well as a dope slap about teacher pay and a whiny golfer.

Here's my idea for golf courses: restore the land and unspoil your good walk, boys.

A1: "Copper Basin could be under construction by June"

There's something sort of endearing about this Council-meeting report by Cindy Barks. Under a straight, boring headline, this very straight story about the road-work bid veers off into backroom-deal territory toward the end, where we get hints of contractors and city staff stabbing each other in the back. In a bigger town that part might have been the whole story, with an investigation of shoddy work and corner-cutting, maybe a sniff test around conflict of interest or collusion. But in Prescott it's deemphasized and made polite. Very nice.

A1: Bleeding leads

Yikes, we've got a lot of gore today. Sentencing for the guy who supplied the gun for a head shot, two dead in a high-speed head-on, another guy stabs his girlfriend 80 times. It's coincidence that this all comes up on the same day, but it's bound to reinforce unreasonable fear of crime and mayhem. This might be a good reason to pull out some of that "community journalism" stuff to provide a little balance, but -- well, check the editorial above.

A1: "Plate covers may not keep motorists from getting a ticket"

I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, Mirsada Buric (today with the '-Adam' reattached, for some reason) brings us some straight news, that DPS is undertaking tougher enforcement against photo-obscuring plate covers. On the other hand, she provides brand names and pointers to those covers and a particular spray-on glosser. That seems awfully close to the line for aiding and abetting, and I'm not sure the paper ought to be helping spread the idea that evading traffic enforcement is a legitimate sport. I think the whole camera-enforcement thing is pretty dumb, but let's not pile stupid on stupid.

Update, 9:25: Oh yeah, and let's not forget number agreement in the headline.

Cartoon: Updated food pyramid

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

I got so scared I forgot what I was supposed to be scared about last week. Somebody remind me.

A1: "Commission recommends plan for Indigo Resort"

A private franchisee wants to build another hotel in PV. No big deal, no particular controversy over it, and it seems like it ought to be on the business page. But I keep coming back to the lead, and wondering why the story starts with the franchisee's country of origin.

I know, my PC-addled brain is just overly suspicious of any reference to non-white people. But I gotta think that if the franchisee were British, it wouldn't be in the lead. I also wonder whether Ken Hedler wrote it that way, or maybe the editor moved that bit.

A1: "Spending package going to the Senate"

I guess there was a severe shortage of space left over from ads today. There's a lot of important information in this story, but it reads like it was edited with a Veg-o-matic. I'm familiar enough with most of these issues to figure out what's going on, but a less informed voter will likely be awfully confused. No blame for Joanna Dodder, I know she writes better than this.

A1: "City prepares for 'physical availability' application to state"

OK, tell me what I'm getting wrong here: the city is so far along with its pipeline plan that it was ready to put it out for bid, but only now "appears ready to seek a more official determination" on how much water the ADWR will actually let us suck out of Big Chino. Does this seem backward to you?

Another cookie for Cindy Barks.

Editorial: "Rural area, big-city confrontations"

Yup, it's tough to be a cop in PV. I get the impression it can be tough to be a resident of PV too. So the unnamed Courier editor not only repackages page one, he repackages several page-one stories -- gotta hit that illegal-alien angle again -- and leaves us with ... well, nothing.

If it were me I might make a mental connection along the way to the population growth that the Courier has always defended as both inevitable and good for us. But that's just me, I'm sure.

A9: "Recommendations in on revised PV utility rates"

In this interesting nugget, buried pretty deeply in the section, it appears that the PV Council is moving forward on another rise in utility rates, closely following a new rate schedule that just went into effect in October.

This is the regular council-agenda story. The agenda stories for Prescott usually run on A1 or A3 and make the free site. Is there a reason that the PV agenda runs farther back?

A3: "Moore likely edges Schmidt for CV Council final seat"

Doug Cook gets all the numbers in order, I'm just a little confused about their meaning. First, the distinction between the candidates is really vague:

Schmidt touted a conservative “smart growth” plan based on private industry paying infrastructure costs for building new homes and businesses. Challenger Moore advocated shopping locally while luring more small and big businesses to town.

Maybe I'm thick, but I don't get how this delineates a "hot-button issue." Then we read that "Moore barely beat Schmidt" by 3.7%, which would be a pretty decisive split in any other election, particularly the defeat of an incumbent. Near the end we learn that Schmidt drew more votes than Moore in the primary, making this the sort of come-from-behind horse race I'd expect would play in the lead. It sure feels like something is being soft-pedaled here.

Cartoon: Say "mnff"

The artist makes a statement that is highly relevant to our community -- that Big Pharma is controlling the debate -- and one I wouldn't dispute. What bothers me is that the piece also accuses doctors and Congress of acceding to this manipulation because of money, implying venal corruption across the board.

We'd do better to understand that Pharma's money has been carefully targeted, favoring certain classes of politicans it sees as reliable, and coopting medical organizations rather than 'doctors' broadly.

No one expects a cartoon to provide nuance. But let's also recognize that while broad-brushing of this sort puts a sharp point on the message, it also unfairly erodes our trust in people who are generally working in good faith for our benefit.

Talk of the Town: "Lovell’s use of science was misleading, irrelevant"

Now this is really interesting and weird. This piece ran last Thursday in the same space, but under a different headline. It's been very slightly reedited, with no content changes. What the heck is going on down there?

I like the new headline a whole lot better.

A1: "City pushes off projected date for Big Chino water pipeline"

Surprise! The Big Chino project is bigger and more complex than city staff expected. Cindy Barks plays it straight, as usual.

A1: "Suicide attempt results in officer-involved shooting"

A third barricade situation in PV results in suicide by cop. Mirsada Buric restates the police report and quotes the police spokesperson. We get the facts, and learn nothing.

Letters: Mixed bag

Candace McNulty applies the wry eye, Harry Hebden feels insulted, Al Berkowitz likes his house and Lawrence Lopez serves some snark -- or does he?

Wiederaenders: "Honors, new moms reveal weekend of joy"

This feels a bit like Tim's thinking of giving up newspaper work in favor of a cushier spot on an airline magazine -- or maybe taking over Jerry's breezy B1 column. Harmless.

Editorial: "Not everyone learned Indian Fire lesson"

Shorter unnamed Courier editor: people who flick butts are stupid. Funny, I thought I knew that already.

In looking over that first draft, try this test next time: Does this editorial make voters any smarter about this issue?