Election: Katan

In the candidate coverage up to now, it appears that the articles have derived from interviews with the candidates. This time I smell a rat, and I've verified with Paul that Cindy's story includes information from outside that context, reference to his protest a couple of years ago that got some public attention but is probably seen in a negative light at the Courier. That was the only inserted information. From this I think we should be concerned about editorial interference with the election, and watch this coverage more closely for bias.

Verde Independent: Meteor Crater Staycation

I first saw Meteor Crater in 1970 amid a three week-death march around the Southwest plotted by my ambitious but largely clueless dad. It was cool then and it's still cool. It suffers a bit I expect from its roadside-curio image left over from the Route 66 tourist traps, but today besides the Really Big Hole it features a pretty good set of modern museum displays on astrophysics and space stuff. if you haven't been it's worth the trip, and thanks to Steve Ayers for this little feature on it.

Column: Rodeo can help drive economy

Something odd is going on here. Normally a piece like this will be labeled "Talk of the Town." Here it's just called "Column" to distinguish it from the letters. Is this a new idea for the editors, or is it some form of special treatment for George, who I'm sure is not on the editors' list of faves?

As to George's idea itself, I dunno. I would not like to see the middle school grounds turned into a baseball park, and while an equestrian center is more 'traditional' for Prescott, it's still devoting a lot of resources to a sport, exclusively serving the small number of residents who are into it. I gather George is imagining that businesses would lease the City property more or less permanently, and that's better than offering a big developer a sweetheart deal on public land to build something really awful, like say a hockey arena.

Update, 6:30pm: Mayor Wilson, in the comments, says, "With a new multi-use facility, the Prescott Rodeo Grounds could be used for many other functions, such as concerts and other events. The possibility of a permanent “Rawhide” type attraction has also been discussed." Oh, lordy.

Let's see, the City already owns an underused theatre that with some investment and commitment would be great for concerts, etc. There's also a really good facility at Yavapai College that can't draw enough people to break even, and a really big multi-use facility in PV that if it maintains its current success rate will likely be an antique mall in another ten years. Concerts are not turning profits here, Mayor. And a faux-cowboy show for the tourists? Are you serious? Completely apart from the lowbrow creepiness of the idea (sort of an update of the old Smoki shows, I suppose), are you saying you'd sell the fairgrounds to an attraction producer? I gotta wonder whether the voters might like to have word with you about that. With ideas like these floating around I'd just as soon see the whole place in weeds.

But we all ought to notice that the Mayor is describing a process in which the voters are apparently not considered stakeholders, working out what to do with public lands behind closed doors. I for one would like to hear a whole lot more about that.

Editorial: Fast-track tactic means no good

From the comments:

Could you smarten up? It's HENRY. Henry Paulson. As for the speed of legislation --you're probably among those who really don't get what a train wreck we've gone through in the last year, and how urgent was the need for action. None of us will ever know how much worse it might have been if the legislators had dithered. But I am quite sure that if they had, you would have written this very article, but inverted, bizarrely comparing their inaction to some other completely incomparable crime rather than the brutal murder of a civil rights worker. Perhaps those people in Queens who allegedly did nothing while Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death.

I couldn't have said it better. The editor is falling in line with the concern trolls, those who employ the tactic of faked and ignorant objections only to obfuscate, confuse, delay and obstruct. Stick to the local beat, Editor, where you still have a chance to project some credibility.

What if you gave a party and no one came?

Isn't it a bit odd that after stumping up the tea-party protest yesterday, there was no coverage of the events in the Courier? Hmm.

Update, 5:45pm: Ah, there it is. The revolution!

That's the way it is

I grew up with Cronkite, and it's gratifying to hear this week that in the context of our culture of tearing down anyone who espouses higher values, he has maintained his reputation for relentless integrity as well as his public affection. We would all do well to keep him in mind as a model for journalistic professionalism. I'll miss him.

Local legislators get renewable energy, county savings bills signed into law

This brief rundown of what passed and got the Governor's signature is good, but it's a long way from enough. Voters really should get a lot more information about what's going on in the legislature, from the introduction of bills, through committee debates and changes to final votes, regardless of the advertisers' ideas about what sells. I think covering state and local governance should be the highest priority for any paper's resources, including the Courier.

I'll be talking about this and other legislation at length with Rep Mason this weekend on The People's Business, 2pm today and tomorrow on KJZA, 89.5 and 90.1FM.

Talk of the Town: We need to fix immigration laws

Robert Greybehl is trying to say something here. It seems like the editors could have given him a little more help in saying it, as it's pretty much coherency-free. That they stuck the Talk of the Town label on this rambling LTE indicates a certain disregard for both the writer and the reader.

TGIF Open thread

Remember what happened 40 years ago? I hope we still have the capacity to think that big.

New gun law makes bar owners first line of defense

Here's what I asked for yesterday, and I'll bet more than a few local residents will be surprised that bar operators are not pleased with the bullets & booze bill. I know and work for some of these people, and I know that many of them are very big on Second Amendment rights. But where the rubber meets the road, they agree across the board that public safety demands clear limits, and they apparently don't buy the idea that all CCW holders are cool, well-trained professionals who are just there to defend us from the bad guys with a dead-on hipshot across a crowded room.

Sorry to be a bother, but editors, where was this article when it could have done some good, when it was up for vote in the Legislature?

Now, about that headline: while I tend to agree with the sentiments, it's really more than a little over the top, reflecting the editorial position rather than the news. That's a reflex we must resist even when it favors our own opinions.

Editorial: State should back out completely

The unnamed Courier editor kites the idea that if the state won't fund Sharlot Hall Museum, it should give up ownership to an organization that will. It's a fair point in principle, but is that really the outcome we want? I don't think so. The museum offers greater value than its parochial local-curio and tourist-attraction aspects, and stepping it down from a successful professional organization into the hands of well-meaning local amateurs (where it started) would not bode well for its long-term future, even if it does continue to tick over in the short term.

I recognize that the editor may be exercising this logic to evoke exactly this thought process. But he also may just be reverting to his habit of seeing government involvement as bad, as the headline implies.

The positive response is to stand up for our important institutions when the legislature is making bad choices. The museum clearly deserves an unrelenting and vigorous defense.

Update: in response to BearWhizBeer: I checked. The museum is a small state agency by special legislation, and its staff is paid by the state.

Letter: Starting black church is an act of racism

Here's a great example of how privileged white racists convince each other that they're the real victims of racist conspiracy. Because they think about race in terms of exclusion, they infer that everyone else is too.


When I think of black Xtian churches, I just see a difference in style, a difference that devotees would clearly not be able to exercise in a white church, whatever their color. I mean, go on, try to imagine a bunch of Presbyterians doing some real singing and gettin' their groove on for the Lord.

Perhaps Mr Barry would think I'm being racist when I say I play black music.

Talk of the Town: Why Kirkpatrick opposes 'Cap and Trade'

The Representative gives her reasoning for voting against the first significant piece of new-economy legislation to cross her desk, citing possible impact on electric rates in rural and reservation areas. I'm not sure how it works on the reservations, but I know that in the rest of the state the Corporation Commission regulates rates, so we have a constitutional safeguard against the sort of hardship pricing she wants to avoid. We also clearly need strong incentives for all Arizona's energy producers -- rural co-ops included -- to get out of the coal and oil business and into sources that allow the planet to continue to support human life. That's the whole point.

Well, it passed without Rep Kirkpatrick's vote, and if the President gets to sign it we'll see whether her dire concerns were warranted. Right now it appears that she's more short-sighted than I'd like.

The contention that with this vote she hoped to curry favor with moderate Republicans is just hooey. There's no way she's that stupid.

Election: Blair emphasizes need for open space maintenance

Mr Blair regrets his vote to allow us to vote to tax ourselves to acquire open space. He thinks it should have included funding for maintenance of the land so acquired, but I'm not picking up what sort of maintenance he's talking about -- picking up the trash once in a while? The piece includes an interesting logical cul-de-sac, in that Mr Blair laments that city officials -- including, presumably, himself -- "never thought it through," yet he is clearly enthusiastic about having us return him who failed to think it through to the office, presumably so that we may depend on his not thinking things through further. You fumbled that one, Coach.

Thursday Featured Comment

Under the announcement, which I mentioned previously:

"Hello! This is Gordon of the Prescott Arizona tea Party. I want to invite everyone to come on down and help us set America straight! Please bring your goodwill, signs, enthusiasm and your concealed weapon! See you there!"

And here all this time I thought this was a nice group of people who just like the same canned soft drink.

I'm agog.

Talk of the Town: Canadian health care is first-rate

Finally, an informed answer to the ignorant propaganda filling the letters box about public health care, and with the Talk of the Town imprimatur, no less! Will anyone listen?

Letter: Archivist needs help finding Smoki B-17

Here's another interesting story that the editors really ought to follow up. I've been rather heavily involved in the Smoki story in the past, and I encourage anyone with an interest in local history and a sense of humor to take a good look at what was the biggest thing going on in our little town for seven decades. That they bought the country a B-17 illustrates just how big.

Editorial: Local bars should post gun bans

Wow, the unnamed Courier editor is sticking to his guns on this and making some sense. Calling the booze & bullets bill a "potentially dangerous social experiment" is a fair bit more than I'd have ever expected on the op-ed page about anything the NRA has pushed. I'd have liked to see quotes from some of our local swilleries rather than Phoenix, but overall another cookie is definitely in order.

Most councilors, local mayors oppose Wilson action

Here comes the pile-on about the Mayor's letterhead malfunction from last week. Wilson deserves to take some heat for this, but I gotta wonder: if the signature read "Rowle Simmons" instead of "Jack Wilson," would the Courier have put two reporters on it?

Update, 6:45pm: In the comments it appears that the Mayor also suspects some slant in the editorial suite.

2010 Census committee fans out to spread the word

I like that we're seeing a positive take on the census, which has been under steady attack from the dark side as the vanguard phalanx of Obama's socialist jackboots. I'm disappointed with the emphasis on government funding, however, which in certain quarters will be read as government pork. The core purpose of the census is to ensure the correct balance of representation in Congress. Let's put that up front.