BISBEE WIRE #105/events/ nye flam chen/new vision for tourism/Bisbee economy/attorney needs attorney/is privacy dead?
- fred
- 12 minutes ago
- 28 min read
editor: fred miller December 29, 2025 #105/December 2025 |
Hello, Dagnabit! A couple of issues ago, for the second time in lotsa years, I misspelled Randall Pipkorn’s name. And he even corrected me the first time as well as this time. Whether a ‘c’ or a ‘k’, he is a sterling jeweler selling his Bisbee turquoise in stunning settings at Panterra. I get a curious combination of ummmm, ennui, laziness, lethargy, and a sense dislocation, around the holidays, I spose cause the myth of Jaysus was busted for me long ago by historians, and replaced by orgies of consumption that illustrate the negative aspects of capitalism. (I mean isn't there anything that can't be an opportunity for profit?) I don't like to participate in either. But out of some arcane sense of obligation, I came up with a few things I hope to see happen in the coming year. My Wish list for 2026 (in addition to the good wishes good health...)A city contract with Bisbee Forward for visitation marketing C'mon, it can't really be this difficult can it?Electric police cars Why not? Grants don't prohibit it. The savings are huge. Bisbee Gives Day The lively, dynamic Sara Prochnau suggested this. One day of the year to focus giving in Bisbee. Growth of news/public affairs on KBRP An increase in volunteers and tech help with an infusion of some serious money would expand the station to a serious news sourceThat rabid republicans come to their senses and build, rather than destroy, democracy. Ha!That the resistance to anti-democratic authoritarian actions coalesces into a millions strong movement with a strategy for moving forward and tactics blunting the dark forces. Yeah!The SF forty-niners prevail! A def possibilityNot really many changes planned for the Wire. One special issue I'm hoping to get out in the next few weeks, it's the...'this is the plan, this is who doing what to us, how uncomfortable it is because of how successful they have been, and ways to stop em'...issue. If you are interested in informing me of some activity in the community, put together a couple paragraph blurb and send it to bisbeewire@gmail.com. In January, I'm putting together a lil article on availability and schedule of physical activity; gyms, classes, yoga, movement, walking, hiking, etc. Please send info for a listing by Jan 8. But no music unless a 'big' event, TWIB is good for that. I'm thankful for the feedback and support I get for my work with the Wire. I'm at 1035 subscribers and it is very gratifying that people find useful information. Please send it on to peeps that might be interested. I'm grateful that people have shared their wisdom and experience with me because it has helped make the newsletter better. Stay tuned and hold your hats, treat one another nice, a turbulent year is ahead. fredA DIFFERENT VISION OF TOURISMIt is a pivotal time in the history of our City, challenging and promising, and it is not too grandiose to believe that the decisions we make about how we move forward this year will determine our lives for the next decade. We will soon be selecting a new city manager, doing a re-evaluation of tourism/marketing/visitor center that has important economic implications, conducting elections for council and mayor, as well as dealing with other major issues, such as housing, sewage infrastructure, attracting new businesses, drawing new residents, homelessness, and more. The most pressing issue that needs to be resolved soon is that of how to proceed with Tourism efforts. Visitation has replaced mining as the economic lifeblood of our city-it provides an estimated 50-55% of direct and indirect spending as well as significant employment. If we fail to encourage and build visitation to our city, we will be started on a downhill slide with city services beginning to be curtailed or not maintained-police, fire, garbage, sewage, streets,and more-businesses closing, school enrollment shrinking. Deterioration in short. Like it or not, our quality of life depends on attracting visitors to share the wonderful place we call home. We have an opportunity to do things differently than in the past. Circumstances-the vacuum of marketing efforts, the city manager departing, a fair amount of money available, and contemporary ideas emerging as to what is possible-have converged to a point where different approaches are now possible. And necessary. Bisbee Forward (BF), a new business organization that formed early this year and has a combination of 60 newer and older businesses employing 350 people, has offered to help with marketing the city, for free. It is a generous gesture for all of us. (info about BF is on their website) However, detailed talks that were proceeding with the City and BF, about how a different arrangement would work, have stalled. The City has called off negotiations with Bisbee Forward (BF) because they have had a few complaints about the contract process-not putting the 'marketing contract out for competitive bidding. And there has been some grumbling because BF would be getting a big chunk of start-up money for a new organization with no track record. And there were a few complaints received by the mayor that BF would favor their own businesses. The Bisbee Vogue organization has articulated most detailed questions about the process. What BF has proposed is to become an unpaid DMO (Destination Marketing Organization) for the city for the next year and a half. They have said they would provide a marketing strategy, a functional website that extols our many-faceted city with numerous tracking tools that allow analysis and understanding of digital engagement, the marketing campaign performance metrics, the impact on actual visitors and spending, and communication system to handle phone and email queries. They have asked for some of the remainder of this year's visitor center budget, $100,000+, to help get started. The money is needed to rebuild the website, insurance, contracting with a marketing agency, and a few other expenses. No money would be paid to BF for anything other than getting the marketing going. They will also separate accounting and bank accounts for the DMO as well as making monthly or quarterly reports to the council. In short, this is the modern tourism infrastructure that is needed and that the city has had little of this the past three years. It has been this failure to capture and utilize metrics that would have told us necessary basic info about visitors, along with inexperienced personnel, and lax oversight, that resulted in unclear goals of marketing the city and the resultant unfocused, scattered marketing and advertising efforts. Overall, because of these failures the city has become less competitive in attracting the long term visitation that will solidify our economy, upgrade needed services, attract new residents, and continue a thriving cultural life. This is big picture stuff. Although Bisbee continues to get publicity about the various facets of our city, some as a result of the advertising that has been done, and some a result of random discovery, it is not a true measure of success. That only comes from the various factual measures of taxes, occupancy, employment, day trippers, overnighters, and also anecdotal info. It is only recent that objections to a contract with BF have surfaced. As far as putting a contract for bid, it is unclear whether selecting an organization to be Bisbee's DMO would have to go to open bid. There is local precedent for not doing so in at least one instance, the Friends of the Animal Shelter contract with the City was not part of a bid solicitation. And it seems common sense that the council can choose who they want to do the marketing of our City if they demand local knowledge and expertise; something that outside marketing agencies don't have. The process has been unfolding over a period of several months and during that time, Joe Estes, the attorney under contract to the city, has said little publicly about the city negotiating with BF, including any general summation of an executive session in November nor an executive session in December. If this was a problem, wouldn't the issue have been raised earlier? (The city does not have an attorney on staff. Mr. Estes is employed by Pierce Coleman PLLC under a contract with the city. His hourly rate has been $240 that will increase to $255 p/h, effective Jan. 1.) BF has said they will hire a marketing agency that will, under their direction and in consultation with the council, carry out the marketing plan. Could the city do that by hiring someone? Sure, but the track record has been abysmal. Several problems with the past visitor center manager, who was reporting directly to the city manager, led to her resignation. Is there anyone in the City admin that is competent enough in marketing and managing an outside agency to assume that role? Doubtful. An outside agency needs specific knowledgeable direction and BF has that kind of knowledge about Bisbee through it's many members, as well as expertise in their Marketing steering group along with the experienced help of long time business owners and mangers, who would take the lead. Bisbee Forward represents a large portion of the business community that serves the public, and yes they have been in existence for less than a year, but there are many seasoned business owners and managers that are part of BF. As well there are many people that have been involved in tourism efforts for the past three decades that have experience about what has or has not worked. They understand that marketing Bisbee effectively isn't simply about driving tourism. It's also about promoting our community as an attractive place to be and live. And it is a partnership with the city and residents. This is a good opportunity for the city. A contract can be written that can legally protect both the City and BF. There can be punitive stipulations in a contract that could be enacted if BF fails to meet specifications, or spends money unwisely, or does not communicate what they are doing to the city. The duration of 18 months is not a long time and the onus would be on BF to get up and running quickly. Starting up needs money, website rebuilds need money, targeted advertising needs money, a marketing organization needs money, legal help needs money. That is why BF is asking for $100,000+ to get up and running. This is the year for a new approach to the entire structure of tourism. A contract for marketing with BF is a start. A discussion about the function/purpose, location, operation, and budget of a modern visitor center is long overdue. Other areas that need to be scrutinized are possibly separating city marketing from the operation of the visitor center with separate budgets; if adding another building-the Fair building-to the City's existing stock of real estate in order to locate the visitor center there is good move (see below); renaming the visitor center fund to something more appropriate like the visitor marketing fund which was the initial purpose of the fund; how best to utilize the money in the visitor center fund; stopping the transfer of money from the ill-named visitor center fund to capital improvements fund and recapturing that money. These are several of the issues that need to be publicly discussed with an aim toward resolution. Once these 'inward looking' mechanics have been decided, there can be unanimity looking 'outward.'...............AROUND TOWN................ CITY HALL NEW YEARS HOURS 520 432-6000 Closed 1/1/26 Thursday, Open 1/2/26 Friday .......TRASH COLLECTIONThursday 1/1/26 moved to Wednesday.......LIBRARY & ANNEX HOLIDAY HOURSWednesday 12/31 close at 3 pmThursday 1/1 closedFriday 1/2 open 10-5 Library & Annex++++++++++ NEW YEARS EVE The Bisbee Arts Commission presents…..
*****City Park 62 Brewery @ 11:00 pm****
++++++++++ GOT SOME TIME? GIVE SOME TIME! There are many organizations that have worked to provide services, events, and entertainment to us over the past year(s). They enrich our life through their deeds and words and without a doubt are the underpinning of our cultural life. As this tumultuous year comes to a close, we need their sustenance and all of them can use some dough and some of your time. And, quite possibly, you might find that the connectedness in the cooperative actions of an organization is an antidote to the poison of division and isolation. A partial list of non-profits that can always use a bit of help... Bisbee Bloomers/info Bisbee Coalition for the Homeless/info Bisbee Community Chorus/info Bisbee Library/info Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum/info Bisbee Restoration Museum/info Bisbee Science Lab/info Bisbee Senior Center/info Bisbee Wellness Initiative/info Bisbee Women’s Club/info Bisbee Vogue/info Boys and Girls Club/info Coaster Races/info Cochise Chess Club/info Cochise Harm Reduction/info Friends of Bisbee Animal Shelter/info Friends of the Copper Queen Library/info Friends of Warren Ballpark/info Goar Park lunches/info Old Bisbee Firewise/info ++++++++++ THE BISBEE FOUNDATION GRANT CYCLE OPENS; NEW SOLAR GRANTS The 2026 grant cycle of The Bisbee Foundation will open on January 1. Timelines for the applications for Foundations’ 41st grant cycle are: Scholarships-January 1 through March 1; Grants-January 1 through April 1. For the first time, the Foundation will be offering Solar grants, up to $5000. The solar grant program is designed to help community groups, individuals, and organizations offset the initial costs of installing solar systems or for use in public art installations. Grants are to be designed for beneficial public use and not for private residential use. In addition to Solar, major areas of interest are Culture, Arts and Humanities, Environment, and Historic Preservation. Grant applications in these areas are specific for projects, operating support, or historic preservation. Mini grants are for organizations, individuals, and teachers. Scholarship and grant guidelines are on the organization website, applications must be completed in full and emailed to the Foundation by the appropriate dates. While email is preferable, but if not available, applications may be sent to P.O. Drawer BK, Bisbee 85603. ++++++++++ BSERC BACKYARD PROJECT MOVES FORWARD The Bisbee Science Exploration and Research Center hosted two recent meetings for partners on the Bisbee Backyard Project. Allen Compton, Principal Architect for the Project presented advanced schematic designs, which include demonstration gardens, exercise paths, community meeting spaces, a literacy walk, and water conservation and energy generation demonstration sites. A generous grant award from the late Raul Grijalva provides funding to finish the design and begin preliminary work on the hardscape. This work in progress has been under development for the past 4 years. Stalled several times due to federal funding quagmires, the project is now back on the fast track. According to Thora Colot, Director for the Backyard Project and Executive Director for the Bisbee Science Lab, “This project is such an incredible opportunity for Bisbee, to become a hub of scientific inquiry about the climate, flora and fauna of Bisbee’s unique sky island environment…This will expand recreational resources for the San Jose neighborhood, provide experiment and data collection sites for scientists and intriguing models and demonstrations for teachers, students and tourists.” Go here for more info. ++++++++++ BISBEE VOGUE MARKS 35 YEARS OF FITNESS AND COMMUNITY IMPACT BV has put out a report detailing the financial and fitness impact they have had on the Bisbee community during the past 35 years. The report is available on their website, as is a parking map of OB and a restaurant guide. The organization, once named the Bisbee 1000; The Great Stair Climb and now Bisbee Vogue, has emphasized fitness. Over the many years they ran the Bisbee 1000, thousands of people came to town to run/walk the race, eat, and stay overnight. During that time, stairs were cleaned and repaired, some of which they paid for, and they commissioned local artist Judy Perry to paint murals marking each of the staircases of the 1000. It was, and is, one of the main events that has helped Bisbee gain recognition far beyond the county borders. After selling the 1000 to Wick Communications in 2023, they have broadened their fitness vision. To that end, they have funded and built the Bisbee outdoor recreation center, as well as placed artificial turf around the city pool. They have established pickleball courts near the rec center in Higgins Hill park and in Vista Park in Warren. And they are developing, in conjunction with St. Patrick’s, and outdoor playground for games. Their plans for 2026 involve making the pickleball courts and surrounding area in Vista Park more fun and useful. They are soliciting feedback and dough for the project. Head to their website for more information. Go here ++++++++++ MARAVILLOSO! SANDHILL CRANES AT WHITEWATER DRAW Put some magnifico splendiferousness in your life. The overwintering of 18,000 or more Sandhill Cranes is a natural, spectacular event that is readily accessible to humans. This vid from last year illustrates the magnificence of these beautiful birds. As our environment and their habitat get more cluttered and developed, there is less and less chance to see the movement of all kinds of species. Get it while you can. ++++++++++ If you find the Wire useful and would like to donate to offset the cost of news subscriptions, use the QR code for Zelle with my email bisbeewire@gmail.com or send a check made out to fred miller, 39 Hazzard, 85603. I would appreciate it, thank you. ++++++++++ BISBEE MEDIA MENTIONS Dark Skies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH8dAZVl2xA Bisbee Library https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4rmnKKuBd4 Queen Mine history https://farmonaut.com/mining/queen-mine-bisbee-7-legacies-of-bisbee-copper-queen Gretchen Bonaduce Arts All about the Samlor/Chris Blessing author Artsy Town https://www.investopedia.com/5-artsy-towns-for-retirees-11867092 Copper Queen Mine History https://farmonaut.com/mining/copper-queen-mine-tour-sustainable-mining-insights-2026 BBC ..............EVENTS............... Compiled from various sources including TWIB, bisbee.az, The Bisbee Observer December 31...Lots happening, but the main event will be Flam Chen's music/parade/aerial arts @ city park, free. Go here for more listings. https://bisbeeaz.com/ December 31.. Swing dance party at the Legion, 8:00 $55 at the door Hard Rockin NYE party at the Grand Magic Kenny Bang Bang 10:00 at Gene's Place Fatigo at the Silver King 8:00 Super Beat Brothers St. Elmo's 9:00 Counter Clockwise at the Bisbee Social Club Ball Drop at Old Bisbee Brewing January 2…Central school movie/This Is Spinal Tap 6:30 January 3...Power To The People Resistance Music Festival. Oldfield Mile-high Oasis. 5288 N Lead St Ave. 10-4, Bring lawnchairs, food availa ble, not booze. More into, Scott at 520 321-5579 or here January 9…Paul & Steve Bovee retrospective . Central School 6-8:30. The long time Bisbee artists will showing work spanning decades. January 10…Layla Love "REWILDING & THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE" At Artemizia , 818 Tombstone Canyon Saturday, January 10 1-4 pm. Free Admission to the Opening. Show runs through Sunday, March 1, 2026. February...The great, really good, spectac, one&only KBRP Pickleball Tourney!!!! More details coming soon... ..............BISBEE ECONOMY.............. The cat is finally out of the bag...The Restoration Museum board is considering offering the city a gift of the Fair building at 37 Main. And the City is apparently considering the offer that has not yet been made. Although details were likely discussed in an executive session, they have not been made public it. Picking up on the trickle of public info, the thought is to have the viz center move into the Fair bldg, and I guess, the Restoration museum would still be operating. When the city-actually the taxpayers of the city-accepts a building or real estate, they assume the upkeep. I spoke to a person familiar with the building said it is in good shape, with a new HVAC, new electrical and several other maintenance and upgrades. However, the building is 116 years old. And the city already owns: The post office/library building, Pump house and reservoir shacks, the burned out building at 30 main, City Park and the offices beneath it as well as 10 other parks, fire stations on Bisbee Rd in Warren and on Hwy 92, the Police Station, the Mule Gulch operator building, City Hall, Hillcrest building, the Cemetery, along with a multitude of lots throughout the city. (From a public records request, I received a 3-page list of city owned property but not in an easily understandable format so I'll have to spend some time on the Treasurer's website or in-person visit, checking all the parcel numbers.) If we were a well-off city with a solid and growing tax base, it might be a better consideration. But we are not. Our budget is $10 million+ and may be less than that this year with revenue down. It is a distinct risk taking on another old building, as much as an historical gem the Fair bldg is, with the existing huge maintenance load. Federal grant money is rapidly decreasing, the national economy is iffy, and our population base is not growing; flashing red lights about another acquisition. I remain skeptical. Maybe in a couple of years. ++++++++++ THEY COME… Standard Waffles has opened at 2-4 Shearer St. next to the Canyon Rose suites and run by the same people; Nicole France and Mark Gray (pictured). The airy rooms with art deco walls is open and spacious with huge windows. The cute lil upstairs loft is inviting for intimate conversation and reading. They are opening slow and minimal which is deliberate because they are still tinkering with things. The menu is tight with only Waffles (it's a Waffle shop!) plus coffee, assorted drinks, and water. The waffles are an interesting mix with pearl sugar that is added to the batter and then caramelizes when heated. Crunchy and soft. No syrup or sugar needed. They have a few toppings, berries and cream and banana and Nutella for an extra yummy. Hours are Fri, Sat, Sun 9-1. May be open more soon. Check for Info here .......... A second auto parts store is coming to San Jose. Autozone is piling dirt in Ace Hardware's front yard for a new building. No word on opening date. .......... Porky's Bar BBQ opened in the Quarry's building at 40 Brewery. Owner Pat Gahn, a former musician, has returned to his first love, food, with the restaurant. A menu anchored by pulled pork and smoked meat with smoking done on-site. Open Friday-Sunday from noon to late. .......... THEY GO… Muffin Top cafe, in the Safeway plaza announced their permanent closure effective immediately. .......... THEY STAY… After two decades, the long time owner of Belleza Gallery, Lou Anne Sterbick-Nelson, has passed the ownership torch to artist Clement Scott. Ms. Sterbick-Nelson also founded the Women's Transition Center/Renaissance House. .......... SALES TAXES (TPT) (for actual sales one month prior) Bed taxes for November brought in $30,169, the highest total since April of this year, 35% higher than Nov. 2024. Regular (3.5%) taxes on hotels was $21,447 also the most since April. As was Bar/Restaurant sales at $50,080. Retail taxes were the most since June, at $105,218. And were significantly over past Novembers. October, when these sales occurred, was an exceptional month for sales and overnight visitation. There have been some anomalies in the bed tax totals over the past year or so with some significant differences year to year. for instance July/25 & July/24 seem exceptionally high for the summer periods. I'm trying to find out more. One possibility is that one or more lodging places paid back bed taxes that inflated some of the reporting. I asked the economist at ADOR, and she told me that when any back taxes are paid, it is attributed to the month they were paid, not the month when they were due. And I couldn't get the totals of the back taxes sooo, that makes if very difficult to pin down the visitation for a particular month. I'm going to keep at it cause it looks kind of hinky to me. .......... HOUSE SALES November has been a slow month, much slower than Novembers of past years (7/24; 13/23; 9/22; 17/21; 13/20) Address olp/list price/sale price 53 Spray 139k/129k/$112,000 1608 West Blvd 385k/325k/$305,000 1368 W. Cameo 375k/375k/$360,000 .......... BUILDING PERMITS Residential permits for November totaled $236,956, for maintenance, replacing, electrical, plumbing. It was the lowest total since March of 2023. It is too risky drawing conclusions from one month, but if the next few months are down a close look is in order. Nationally there were downward trends over 2024 of about 5%. Commercial permits were $176,500 mostly for work done at Safeway, Copper Queen Hospital, and Ace Hardware. .......... BANK DEPOSITS INCREASE IN BISBEE & THE COUNTY Year County Bisbee % change 2020 1,484,880 91,050 13.0% 2021 1,753,329 102,140 12.2% 2022 1,665,100 111,869 9.5% 2023 1,600,826 99,982 10.6% 2024 1,647,242 105,104 5.1% 2025 1,668,820 110,534 5.2% ......... BANKRUPTCY FILINGS INCREASE (BF’s are not broken out by city) The number of bankruptcy filings in Cochise County for all chapters totaled 151 in 2024, up 22.8% from 123 in 2023. Despite the jump in 2024, bankruptcy filings were still down 57.5% from the record high of 355 back in 2010 and 31.1% lower than 2019, the year prior to the COVID pandemic. (from https://cochiseeconomy.com/banking-and-bankruptcies .......... ++++++++++ City of Bisbee Job Openings https://www.bisbeeaz.gov/Jobs.aspx Personnel Director Police Officer’ Firefighter EMT/Paramedic Transit Driver ++++++++++ ..............COCHISE COUNTY................ The Sierra PD has charged Chief Civil Deputy County Attorney, Paul Correa, with tampering with evidence-a felony, public sexual indecency, and harassment by surveillance-both misdemeanors. The attorney was fired the day after the incident by County Attorney Lori Zucco after the allegations were made public. Correa has been accused of following and filming a young girl at Target in SV on Wednesday. The girl told her mother about being filmed, the mother called the father and the girl’s father drove to the Target lot and blocked Correas car, go out and saw Correa in his car looking at his phone in an agitated manner. Police are seeking a warrant to examine the personal and work phones seized from Correa. Correa was released on Wednesday after the incident and then was arrested on Thursday after a ‘high-risk’ traffic stop in Benson. The criminal complaint was filed by La Paz county attorney, the office handling the prosecution because of the conflict of interest with the CC attorney. Go here for the latest H-R article. ++++++++++ INCREASED LICENSE PLATE READERS USE IN COCHISE COUNTY Tombstone joins Benson, Sierra Vista, Douglas, CC Sheriff, ICE, Border Patrol, in using automatic license plate readers (ALPR). It is another invasive technology, designed for mass surveillance, that adds to the ever-expanding databases of the location and movement of citizens. There has been increasing criticism of the invasion of privacy and tracking, with info shared not only with law enforcement but insurance companies. Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) are a surveillance technology that can alert law enforcement about vehicle locations in real time or provide information on past movements. In recent years, growing numbers of public and private entities have begun using ALPRs, moving some communities to implement policies aimed at limiting the potential damage posed by the technology. ++++++++++ SHERIFF’S OFFICE TESTING DRONES FOR BORDER SURVEILLANCE An extensive article about the increasing testing and use of drones in warfare and police enforcement was in the Herald Review by the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. Drone use, utilizing some experience and information from Ukraine, is being tested to improve border surveillance with the cooperation of the Cochise County Sheriff’s office. Various kinds of drone are being tested including those that can fly up to several hours, rather than the usual 30-60 minutes, and carry a payload of up to 100 pounds. One of the several main points the article makes, is as law enforcement has become more militarized, there is less oversight of the newer technologies including drone use. Ft. Huachuca has been the major Army drone testing site and that has increased in the last couple of years because of the trump administration's determination to recast the border to a military zone. The personal security and privacy of individuals is becoming non-existent as aerial surveillance, license plate tracking of vehicles, and phone tracing has rapidly increased, while laws regulating the use of these newer technologies have not kept pace. It is not a stretch to say that the era of Big Brother has arrived with the front man being an old, balding, overweight, cruel, egomanic. ++++++++++ TWO SV COUNCILMEMBERS TO RUN FOR MAYOR Two Sierra Vista City Councilmembers have said they plan to run for mayor of the city next year. Carolyn Flowers and Mark Rodriguez have both stated plans to run for mayor and succeed Mayor Clea McCaa, who has said he does not plan to seek reelection to the office. (Herald-Review) ++++++++++ OPEN ENROLLMENT: MANY OUT-OF-DISTRICT STUDENTS As parents jockey trying to find the most suitable school for their children, the number of students have increased in some districts and decreased in others. Charter schools continue to impact the census of public schools. ++++++++++ COUNTY PLANNING DOC OPEN FOR COMMENTS The Cochise County Comprehensive Plan is the County’s long-range guide for future growth, development, and conservation. It establishes a shared vision - supported by goals and policies - that direct how the County will manage land use, infrastructure, natural resources, and community needs. The current Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2015 and, under Arizona law, must be updated every ten years. A draft updated Plan is now available for review on the project website: cp2045.cochise.az.gov🔗 Deadline: January 25, 2026
..............STATE................ SILLY SEASON AT THE LEGE State senator Janae Shamp wants Arizona researchers to investigate criticism of President Donald Trump, referring to it as "Trump Derangement Syndrome," or TDS. She has also introduced bills ranging from a ban on fluoride in Arizona’s water system to expanding religious exemptions in the workplace. Clearly she is a victim of TDS herself. What can be more deranged than; talking about voting irregularities with no proof, people publicly insisting trump did not know Epstein, and that the dept of defense’s pete hogshead is a military genius, to name a few of the derangements currently in vogue. ++++++++++ OTHER LEGE ACTION... AZ LD-19 rep Gail Griffin (r) has prefiled 16 bills, almost 10% of the more than 175 bills have been prefiled. For a look at what they want to do to us, go here ..............EVERYTHING ELSE............. FED FRIGHT! ARE WE NOW IN A DEVELOPING SURVELLIANCE STATE? Apropos of drone testing and license plate readers and phone tracking...from a Wired mag discussion about a survelliance state vid. "...a survelliance state is where the government is fundamentally hostile to privacy." and "...where the state has the capabalities to surveil everyone on a mass scale and the political will to do so." ++++++++++ SHIITE! LEGITIMATE PROTESTS AND GROUPS NOW TARGETED And now, the first arrests linked to NSPM-7 have begun, including multiple people attending a peaceful protest outside an ICE detention facility near Chicago. NSPM-7, or Trump’s National Security Presidential Memo #7, categorizes a sweeping range of commonly held political beliefs as signs of “domestic terrorism” and directs the federal law enforcement to investigate and disrupt organizations and individuals who espouse such views. Under NSPM-7, anyone who holds virtually any vaguely left-of-center political views is now considered a target for federal prosecution. Simply holding a protest sign or posting on Facebook could be enough to get a knock on the door from the FBI. What are these ideas that are so dangerous that they can be directly linked to terrorism? The list includes such vague concepts as “anti-capitalism,” “anti-Christianity,” “extremism on migration, race, and gender,” and opposition to “traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.” ++++++++++ EMAIL BLIGHT: UNSURE ABOUT AN EMAIL'S ORIGIN? RESEARCH DOMAINS Check the URL. If the message seems overly generic, slow down. Scrutinize everything. To research domains, use a link-validation tool. The simplest one to remember is who-is.com. When dealing with unsolicited texts, always take 30 seconds to examine things thoroughly. Use the link-validating tools at your disposal. Keep your eyes open for threatening or urgent language and unfamiliar domains or area codes. All those things should immediately set off the red flares of your internal scam-o-meter. If something smells fishy or smishy, it usually is. Go here for the full H-R article. ++++++++++ FOOD FIGHT! RFK junior has plunged the department that regulates food and additives into so many controversial rulings and regulations that food processors have begun fighting back. Some of these are
Industry Fight Back Americans for Ingredient Transparency (yeah, I know wtf kind of name is that?!) has formed a lobbying group to stop the spread of state laws targeting artificial ingredients and ultraprocessed foods. The regs coming out of DHHS attack the whole model of modern food products of cheaper ingredients and higher product prices. And… A note…In addition to these food-related regulations and initiatives, Kennedy Junior has overturned policies regarding vaccines, drug trials, water fluoridation, and many more. He’s turned the department’s autism programs into anti-vax propaganda. He has authority over who loses and who keeps Medicaid coverage. He has targeted abortion medication. And 20,000 workers have been fired or left including thousands of scientists. ++++++++++ BOOZE FLIGHT! The production of Jim Beam, the largest maker of bourbon in the US, will be halted for at least one year. The plant in Clermont KY produces roughly 9 million gallons of the 27 million produced by the company, owned by Japanese conglomerate Suntory. The other two plants in Kentucky owned by the company will continue production. It follows cutbacks by other distillers, George Dickel/Diageo, Jack Daniels/Brown-Forman, and other brands, as well as other large distillers have gone into receivership. The glut of American whiskey, an estimated 16 million barrels aging, is due to a slowdown in buying/drinking after the pandemic, changes in drinking habits, a 9% decrease in exports, particularly to Canada, because of trump tariffs and the erratic policy approaches. Sales had risen from $1.4 billion to $5.2 billion in sales in the past 20 years. However premium brands continue to grow, as younger consumers drink less, but better. ++++++++++ INFO INSIGHT! A GOOD SOURCE FOR CHECKING INFORMATION ON THE WEB Newsguard is worth it! Quicki nformation reliability checks of urls, bogus articles, and sources. They also have vids and podcasts about tracing the sources of articles appearing on the web. A recent post raised alarms about the realism of google’s new AI Gemini 3 or better known as nano banana. ++++++++++ VOTER SPITE! YOUR PRIVATE DATA IS USED FOR VOTER PURGING Access to your voting data is demanded of states by the Dept. of Justice. It is being used to build a national database to influence elections. Go here for the article. ++++++++++ BOATERS PLIGHT: SURVIVORS DIDN’T 'SURRENDER CORRECTLY' “Trump posted edited footage of that strike on his Truth Social account on September 2. He wrote that the attack was conducted “on my Orders.” After the killings sparked a congressional firestorm, however, Trump and Hegseth distanced themselves from the attack on the survivors. “I wouldn’t have wanted that. Not a second strike,” said the president. The war secretary claimed that he “did not personally see survivors” amid the fire and smoke and had left the room before the second attack was ordered.” Read it here ++++++++++ PRINT SMITE! THE DISAPPEARANCE OF PAPER MEDIA Almost 40% of all local U.S. newspapers have vanished, leaving 50 million Americans with limited or no access to a reliable source of local news. More than 130 newspapers have shut down in the past year. The media industry hemorrhaged 16,680 jobs in the first 10 months of 2025. Traditional outlets are abandoning expensive investigative reporting just when we need it most, choosing instead to appease the powerful rather than hold them accountable. 210 counties are now news deserts, In another 1,525 counties, there is only one news source remaining, typically a weekly newspaper. Over the past two decades, print newspaper circulation across the United States has dropped by an estimated 80 million, a loss of 70% from 2005 levels. For many readers, digital-only news sites are an increasingly integral part of their news consumption habits. In 2025, nearly a quarter of all newspapers are controlled by the 10 largest companies, as are 60% of all dailies. Arizona has lost 40% of newspapers since 2005 https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/projects/state-of-local-news/2025/report/ ++++++++++ MOFO'S TIGHT! REALLY RICH PEOPLE CONTROL MASS MEDIA Why are the ultra-rich buying up so much of our media? Because if they can control what Americans see, hear, and read, they can choke off any effort to tax their riches, restrict their insatiable greed, and stifle their power. It’s straight out of the same playbook that oligarchs and authoritarians have used for centuries to suppress democracy. For instance
.............. WORD............... WORD ODYSSEY Britt Hanson About words, their origins, and the stories behind them. (Former City of Bisbee attorney and Chief Civil County Attorney Britt Hanson wrote several columns about the origins of words or phrases, which appeared in the Tucson Weekly and the Sierra Vista Herald Review a few years ago. They are too good to be forgotten, so I will include them in most Wire issues.)
Celebrating the “Blues” While the Christmas holidays bring joy to many, others suffer from the blues during this time of year. And, of course, many people are enduring post-election blues. So I thought it would be apropos to riff on all the ways we use the word “blue”: it’s one of those fascinating English words that have many different meanings and is used in so many ways, often in contradiction to one another. But let’s start with blue as a color, which has origins in Germanic Old English, as “bla” or “blaw”. But the modern English spelling and pronunciation come from French “bleu.” How did this word for a color come to be used when our spirits are low? I haven’t found any solid explanation of why blue became associated with feeling blue, but that use goes at least as far back as the 1500’s . Having the blues and blue funk came later, but with the same meaning. And then there is music. The blues were developed by African-Americans in the 1800’s, distinctive for a repeating progression of chords and repeating lyrics, sort of like call and response. The lyrical themes were often toil and hardship, so it’s not surprising that the music was called the blues. To hit a blue note is to strike a note off-key, like a minor when a major is called for. Sometimes we use it to mean saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Just when it starts to get you down, the word blue oddly heads off in an entirely different direction: it can convey happiness and optimism. Referencing blue as a color, Willie Nelson lyricized about “blue skies from now on”, and Columbus sailed the ocean blue. And how about those cute little blue birds? And many are especially fond of blue eyes, which can make you think wistfully of someone in particular, like old blue eyes, Frank Sinatra. In a very different vein, to be blue-blooded means to be an aristocrat, the inheritor of noble blood. What does blue blood have to do with aristocracy? One of my favorite sources, the Online Etymological Dictionary, explains it this way: it came into English as a translation of Spanish slang for aristocrat, “sangre azul.” The guess is that this comes from Spanish aristocrats who had no Moorish or Jewish ancestry, and therefore had paler skin in which the blue veins showed. This sounds like a bit of a stretch to me, but then again, remember that we say that someone argues until they’re blue in the face. This expression goes back to the mid-1800’s, so maybe it refers to the veins in the face popping from exasperation. Now, when you’re exasperated, or feeling blue, it’s good to have a true blue friend to call on. The most likely origin of this expression goes back to 17th Century Scottish Presbyterians who opposed the rule of James I. They wore a blue badge to signify their unwavering loyalty to the national covenant with England. Today Australians use true blue to refer to patriotic Australians. Blue chip stocks refer to corporations that are large, profitable and not very risky. Why blue chip? Those of you who play poker might have a clue: the blue chips are the highest denomination in poker. So the original analogy comes from the gambling involved in both stock market investing and high stakes poker. And here’s one more: blue laws. Most recently, this meant laws that prohibited businesses from opening on Sundays in respect for the Sabbath, a day of rest. Those kinds of laws came from earlier ones that punished all sorts of moral failures, going all the way back to the Puritans. They were referred to as blue laws way back then, but no one today quite knows why. The folk etymology is that the Puritans wrote the laws on blue sheets of paper, but no one has ever turned up any blue paper. Sometimes there is just no blueprint for how words originate and evolve. |
Comments