
March 16, 2021
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Regarding the potential widening of Highway 89, including an approximate one-mile segment called the “Narrows,” rather than “disturbing disregard” for safety, community members are creating an informed, reasonable dialogue and putting safety first by researching, discussing and sharing alternatives to the widening.

RE: “California, huh?” – Robert Pike hit a bullseye with his letter of Sept. 22! He bases his correct analysis of why folks are leaving California on his having lived there for 17 years, and he certainly experienced some of the worst political decline, particularly if he moved here to Arizona relatively recently.

Former President Donald Trump should be barred from running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, based on his involvement in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection, as the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee found, (“Trump says he has been notified he’s a target of the US probe into efforts to overturn 2020 election,” July 18).

With all of the opposition to the proposed Whiskey Row hotel, I am at a loss to understand why there has been so little public outrage over the downtown area’s other development project – another five-story hotel/condo complex – slated to be constructed on the site of the old City Hall.

Regarding the June 4 story, “Workforce Housing Committee kicks off effort to create more affordable housing in Prescott,” it stated: “On Wednesday, May 31, the newly appointed seven-member Workforce Housing Committee conducted its introductory meeting in what is expected to be a multi-year effort toward creating more housing options for workers in the community — especially for those in the middle-income range.

Patrick Leyden’s April 4 Letter to the Editor was a sad read. His point was that it did not matter if the prosecution of Donald Trump, a former president and candidate for the 2024 Presidential election, was politically motivated or not, that the only relevant issue was whether Trump was guilty of the crime.

Regarding Donald Scott Aper’s letter, “Still moderate conservative, but not GOP,” he failed to mention that President Joe Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris have visited our border, and hundreds of thousands of people from more than 150 countries have pretty much walked across our border in the past two years.

Yavapai County Recorder Michelle Burchill, along with the Voter Registration and Elections Department, would like to thank the full-time staff, seasonal staff, poll workers, county departments, sheriff’s office, county attorneys, the local political parties, county administration and the BOS for their support.

In response to the July 11 Courier article, “Yavapai County officials say Aug. 2 primary will move smoothly despite two key resignations,” the Democratic Women of the Prescott Area (DWPA) would like to thank Yavapai County Recorder Leslie Hoffman and Elections Director Lynn Constabile for their faithful, professional service.

Prescription drugs are an expense that Arizona residents already struggle to afford. Now, as Congress debates how to lower the cost of medications for people, the FDA is moving in the opposite direction and proposing a new policy (GFI #256) that could raise the cost of many medications for pets by more than 300%!

A few days ago, I read the “COVID-19 Update” in The Daily Courier that reported a Harvard study has concluded that those who report eating more “fruits, vegetables and legumes” have a 9% lower risk of getting COVID and those who eat the most fruits, vegetables have a 41% lower risk of developing severe COVID.

Editor: On behalf of Prescott Valley American Legion Post 140 and Earnest A. Love Post 6 in Prescott, we would like to publicly thank Prescott Valley Vice Mayor Lori Hunt for taking her personal time, away from town business, to train for and become a judge at the American Legion High School Oratorical Scholarship Program.

Let me begin by respectfully acknowledging that Howard Mechanic has probably forgotten more information about Prescott water usage and history than I’ll ever know. And, yet, I couldn’t help but be taken aback by something he acknowledged deep in his recent column in this newspaper, essentially that our active management area is in “huge overdraft.”

This past Sunday’s production of ¡Andalusia! in our own Yavapai College Performing Arts Center may have been the best Arizona Philharmonic concert yet — judging by audience reaction: Frequent bravo’s, olé’s, and maybe the longest standing ovation for a classical concert in Prescott, ever.

The House recently passed a $770 billion military budget for 2022. It was approved with a truly bi-partisan vote of 363 to 70. Why is it that each year the Congress has no problem passing bills to fund the Pentagon, but when it comes to funding for the needs of our citizens, it is too expensive?

Sunday you published a rant that said, “Recent data from the UK shows 63.5% of all COVID deaths were vaccinated.” While it may have said this in part of the UK report, the writer fails to point out that because the older population is so highly vaccinated the percentage numbers alone are a distortion of what is happening.

Pandemic: A disease across the planet, not something created by any political party. No one — left, right nor from outer space — wants lockdowns, people losing jobs, schools closing. That being said, everyone not willing to do a few simple things will cause everything to happen we don't want.

I believe it is fantastic that the Prescott area has many wonderful trails and opportunities to get outside and see what nature has to offer. There are many trails to enjoy and recently has been reported areas to go and see the leaves and the changing of the season. I believe one group has been left out.

RE: teaching “the brutality of communism in schools” (Courier, Nov. 25), it would be much more useful to teach something like the history of modern Russia, in which Stalin’s starvation of millions of Ukranians, the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the repression of freedom movements in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, etc.

I do not necessarily agree with Rep. Quang Nguyen that it should be a state law to teach about the brutality of Communism in schools, but I do believe that to teach and have discussions about the meaning and consequences of communism, at least at high school level, is extremely important.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We have so much to be grateful for in the Prescott area; beautiful weather, friendly people, great shops and restaurants. We have the ability to celebrate safely with family and friends if we choose wisely and follow the dictates of the CDC in limiting the spread of the COVID virus. A few precautions can keep us all safe and healthy.

Covid-19 UPDATE, Tim Wiederaenders, Courier Editor “It is a myth that if you are vaccinated for COVID-19, you won’t get sick.” I guess all of the Mandate Now, Risk death over protecting yourself, etc. letter writers didn’t read your little blip about getting Covid and spreading it even if your vaccinated.

It has been documented and widely reported that even if you are fully vaccinated you: 1) can still come down with COVID, 2) can still spread COVID, 3) can still die from COVID, 4) risk serious or fatal side effects from the vaccine, 5) still have to wear masks and social distance in many stores, restaurants, etc., 6) have to provide proof of negative test results from the previous 72 hours if you wish to board an airplane, travel out of country, take a cruise, attend a concert or other community event, attend college, or in some cases even report to work at your own job.

This morning [Sunday] I open the paper to see a Rant & Rave from someone claiming that the hiking trails in Prescott bring in no revenue or tourists. Seriously? Clearly this person has never visited the Peavine Trail, Goldwater Lake, Watson Lake or Willow Lake and dropped his/her $3.00 in the pay station.

In Chino Valley, a “public notice” sign appeared recently on 2 North (just southwest of 2 North and 1 West). This was to change 41 acres from single-family residential, 1-acre minimum to single-family residential 5.05 houses per acre. The result on 41 acres would be a development of 207 high-density lots.

Was it a breeze? Was it a gale? Was it a squall? One thing for sure there were gusts of wind! To all of you that visited the YCCA Open Air Home Show Fair, Saturday May 22, at the Findlay Toyota Center, thank you from the bottom of my heart! Yes, it was a beautiful sunny windy, squally, gusty day, but delightful.

Your news on water shortage is timely. Here in The Ranch at Prescott, which is quite woody, we are seeing the start of dying off of evergreens. Often, the beginning of dying for an evergreen, especially pines, is their end. That tree will be unable to send sap to eject a bark beetle from the tree.

With the advent of electric vehicles coming from many car/truck manufacturers in the near future, I wonder when the states and or the federal government will impose a road use fee/tax to make up for the lost revenue caused by the lack of the electric vehicles owners not paying a road use tax per gallon of gasoline or diesel fuel?

In response to Andrew Seidel's column opposing the proposed bill in the Arizona Senate to expand the voucher program for K-12 education, I'd first like to point out that he is with the Freedom FROM Religion Foundation, a well-known group of atheist activists who fight to exclude anything religious from the public sphere.