Letters: More on prop tax-dodging

Marian Littel gives us a little more (couldn't resist, sorry) on the tricks available to large property owners for paying less than their fair share. Interesting, and yet another gift to the Courier editors that so far goes unaccepted.

Kamin: "Ron Paul was right, Rudy was wrong"

It's getting to be that I look forward to John K's columns. I'm not sure that the headline was the best choice, but the piece is good stuff, and not just because I happen to agree with his points, but rather that they're made with precision and strength, and a voter might profit from reading them.

Talk of the Town: "CPA stands up for Hambrick, Townsend"

Vic Hambrick's accountant is annoyed that he's being implicated in alleged hanky-panky, and barks back, at one point comparing the Courier's research skills unfavorably with those of a fifth-grader and its reporters of a certain lack of sense. He goes on to ask some pointed questions about how this story has been covered. In case you're keeping score, here are some answers.

"ROI Land Management & Development Company owes her $295,000." Did your reporter verify this statement or ask to see a copy of the note or agreement?

This refers to the May 6 story, and Joanna's balancer came in the same paragraph: "He denies owing her any money." That was the end of it, no mention of proof. Is that the reporter's job? It may be, when they're already stringing you up on the editorial page.

"Did your reporter question how the transfer of real property could have anything to do with solving anyone's tax problem? Or did they confirm Victor Hambrick even had a tax problem before printing this statement?

There's no telling what questions Joanna asked, but there is certainly no answer to this in any of her stories. This was an allegation made by Townsend, though, not the Courier. Should the Courier have printed it without followup or fact-checking?

I also notice that he has to do this on the opinion page, rather than have his viewpoint and assertions of innocence covered in the original story.

It's exactly this sort of sticky complexity that keeps most papers away from investigative work, and I don't mean to criticize Joanna or the editors for going after the story, that's a good thing. You have to mind your Ps and Qs, though. If this accountant really is innocent -- and everyone is until proved guilty, right? -- the Courier may have unfairly screwed up his business and professional reputation. We'll see as the story continues to develop what's just. What we know so far is that the Courier's actions have made it an important part of the story, always a dangerous play for the press.

A1: "Six new roundabouts up for review"

It seems the roundabout idea is working just fine after all. I seem to recall that the Courier, along with a horde of letter-writers, predicted a massive failure back when this was approved. Anyone got a relevant link?

A1: "Chamber opposes sales tax initiative"

Dave Maurer is a pretty smart guy, and knows a boondoggle when he sees one. I'll bet the unnamed Courier editor would not have imagined that he'd wind up on the other side of the issue from the CofC when he rashly wrote in support of the initiative to kill off funding for open space back on April 18.

I love this bit at the end: "... the Chamber suggested that the city, the initiative group, and other interested parties get together to "develop a plan that can be supported by everyone."" That's exactly what Norwood should have got in gear as soon as he heard that Behnke was out for bear -- and you can bet he heard about it long before the initiative effort started.

A1: "Henson gets another stay in Arizona as he fights extradition"

I understand that lawyers have to make whatever argument might work, but I can't see how Henson's lawyer is doing anything useful with this desperate rearguard action that sacrifices his client's credibility.

This is a low-level international story taking place in our jail, and there's a local angle to it that the Courier has so far missed or skipped over, in that there are widely circulated allegations that Henson is being mistreated in the YavCo jail, including denial of necessary medications and impeding contact with legal counsel. Whether any of this is true or not, it's at least a factor in the story that deserves reporting and at worst an issue with our local authorities that needs fixing.

Editorial: "'Just showing up' offers ample rewards"

Yeah, yeah, it's wonderful that a kid decides to go to school every day. Does anyone else think that giving a 15-year-old a car is a bizarre indulgence?

A1: "State is looking into assessor dealings"

Joanna Dodder adds a sighting of AG Terry Goddard to the Hambrick story, along with something from the Arizona Department of Real Estate, indicating that state-level officials are looking into it. Most of the body copy is review, but there's a stronger track on how Vic thinks land changes value depending on whether he's buying it or selling it. OK, we all do that, but we're not all the assessor.

Editorial: "New teen driving law is a good move"

The unnamed editor makes a good call and writes an informative piece about the new law. I'm afraid I missed the bit where the editors urged legislators to carry and support the bill while it was in process. What other good in-process bills might deserve support when it could make a difference? Leaving out the Paris Hilton bill, of course.

Talk of the Town: "Data leads to new inconvenient truth"

Terry Lovell is back with a flailing response to actual climate scientist Tim Crews, whom we read last week in this space. Lovell's original piece came in on April 15.

Lovell's arguments blather for themselves -- he maintains cluelessness about the carbon cycle, for example. My question is this: OK, we're having a real debate on the editorial page -- why did the first piece sit for a month unanswered, while the redirect comes out in a week? It's perfectly plausible that Crews took a while to get around to it (I wouldn't be surprised if he's busier than Lovell at work), but it's also plausible that it sat on the spike for a while. Just askin'.

Update, 7:15pm: Ever wonder where this stuff comes from?

Kamin: "Arsenic: How Bush and Clinton left Prescott holding the bag"

A big cookie and latte for John Kamin, who's done some homework and come up with a solid think piece on the arsenic problem. Go, read. Now, will this make it into print?

Update, 8:20: Link fixed, thanks, John!

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.