Three poachers fined more than $23,000; hunting licenses revoked for a total of 25 years MAMMOTH, Ariz. – Three Mammoth residents face a total of more than $23,000 in fines and restitution, and 25 years of hunting license revocations, for four poaching incidents in 2009 in which seven deer were unlawfully killed. The “Operation Mammoth Bones” case, concluded
Friday by Arizona Game & Fish Commission action, resulted in hunting license revocations of ten years each for Dominic Rodriguez and Kyle Roan of Mammoth. The commission ordered Rodriguez to pay $4,500 in restitution and Roan to pay $3,000 in restitution. The civil assessments were in
San Manuel
addition to $7,633 criminal fine against Roan and a $6,177 criminal fine for Rodriguez. The commission also revoked the hunting license of Logan Formo of Mammoth for five years. He was also ordered to pay $1,500 in restitution and criminally fined $537. “Poaching is not hunting. It’s a crime against nature and
the citizens of Arizona,” said Regional Supervisor Raul Vega of the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) in Tucson. The investigation began in May 2009 with the discovery of two mule deer carcasses in the Tucson Wash area west of Mammoth. “This was a tremendous team effort, and as a result
we were able to put together a good case against the three individuals involved,” said AGFD Wildlife Manager Ben Brochu, the lead investigator. “We are especially grateful to the public for providing information that helped us solve these crimes, and to the Pinal County Attorney’s Office for prosecuting them.”
Information provided by the public to the AGFD Operation Game Thief Hotline (OGT) at 1-800-352-0700 led to a break in the case. OGT is available 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Information may be provided anonymously if needed, and online at http:// www.azgfd.gov/ogt_form. shtml.
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Proudly serving as the Tri-Community’s source of weekly news since 1954 Vol. 57 No. 7
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Periodicals Postage Paid at San Manuel, Ariz. 85631
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Write On! now an elective for Mountain Vista students By John Hernandez Mountain Vista students have a new elective class which allows them to be patriotic and creative. The students make cards and write to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The class started out as an after school activity in November 2007. It was the idea of Bonnielee Walsh. Bonnielee came up with the idea after writing her son who was stationed in Iraq during
Operation Iraqi Freedom. She would write letters and send packages of goodies which he shared with his friends. Her son wrote her a letter telling her about a soldier who had been in Iraq for 8 ½ months and had not received a letter from anyone. She then found out the information she needed to get the program started and the Write On! program was born. Writing letters to our soldiers overseas is nothing new for
Above are some creative samples produced by the Mountain Vista Write On! class. (John Hernandez photo)
Bonnielee. While in high school, she wrote to soldiers fighting the war in Vietnam. She had heard they were lonely and wrote letters to cheer them up. During the first Iraq War she wrote a Marine regularly. After a year of writing each other, he asked if he could meet her. They have now been married for 20 years. Being married to a Sergeant Major in the Marines (retired) and having two sons in the service, she knows the hardships and loneliness they feel so far away from home. “Whether you are for or against the war, you should care about the troops,” she said. “They should not be forgotten.” Bonnielee said, “The kids in the class really want to write the troops.” The students enjoy the class and are very creative and artistic when making the cards. Many of the soldiers write them back and some have sent gifts to the class in appreciation for them caring about the troops. One former Army recruiter who had been deployed sent everyone in the class a handmade bracelet made by Afghani women. Another “pen pal” who was
By Jennifer R. Carnes My mom makes the best peanut brittle candy. Period. Well, she wouldn’t tell you that herself, but I have no problem unequivocally stating that. I remember that she always made peanut brittle around the Christmas holidays. She’d break it all up and put it in special holiday tins. We’d leave a tin in the mailbox for the mailman. All our relatives would get a tin along with their Christmas presents. The absolutely best part, though, was all the pieces that she deemed too small to give away – those were ours to eat. Watching her make the candy was really special too. I always thought my mom was something of a magician. She always knew exactly when to put in the next ingredient. To the young child I was, it was magic when the clear, hot, bubbling confection turned that beautiful opaque caramel color signifying it was ready to cool. It’s memories like these that the Oracle Historical Society needs. They also need kids
to be announced for kids to try out some of the recipes gathered. The workshop series is being held in conjunction with the Smithsonian Exhibit, “Key Ingredients: America by Food,” which will be visiting the Tri-Community at the Oracle Historical Society’s Acadia Ranch Museum March 19 through May 1. The wall hangings created by the workshop attendees will be displayed at the Museum during the opening reception March 19 from 1-5 p.m. They will be on display again April 9 and 10 during the Oracle Artists Studio Tour at the RLV OracleArt Barn. Although not many participated in the first workshop, the class is still open to local youth. Kids ages 5 to 18 are welcome to participate as are their parents. A small materials fee of $5 is requested to help pay for the special photo fabric. The materials fee as well as a handwritten recipe and the family photo should be submitted as soon as possible to Maggie Miller; these can be left at the Oracle
Bonnielee Walsh and the Write On! class work on letters for servicemen and women. (John Hernandez photo) a pilot stationed in Egypt sent the class pencils and tablets that were decorated with Egyptian hieroglyphics. Bonnielee lets the students be creative but insists that if they use an American flag drawing or art work that it be red, white and blue. If they use a ribbon it must be yellow as the reminder
to remember the troops. Bonnielee buys some of the class supplies and they also get donations. They recycle old calendars and greeting cards as well as any card stock that has art work on it. If you would like to help the Write On! Program, they are looking for donations of
construction paper, colored markers, glue, sticker art, rubber stamps, colored ink, used calendars or greeting cards, and ribbons. You can drop off the supplies at the Mountain Vista School office; let them know it is for the Write On program or for Bonnielee.
Kids, family recipes, special photos sought for workshop in Oracle who are willing to share their memories of family and food. Last week, the Oracle Historical Society, along with RLV OracleArt and 4-H, hosted the first in a series of workshops for children, “Food is Art.” Organizers talked about the planned project. Kids participating will take an old family recipe (Nana’s enchiladas, Tio’s famous salsa or, in my daughter’s case, my mom’s peanut brittle) and a photo of the person who made the food. The recipe and the photo will be transferred to special photo fabric and then kids will create a special quilted wall hanging. (The photo and recipe will be returned when the project is complete.) Local quilters Gloria Mork and Janet Walker will work with the young quilters. Artist Selina Littler and art educator Maggie Rush Miller will add their expertise as well. Three more sessions are planned: March 4 at 10 a.m. and March 5 at 11 a.m. at the RLV OracleArt Barn for the quilting sessions. A third workshop will be held in April with the date and time
The first workshop held in the ‘Food is Art’ series kept these young ladies’ attention last week. The girls invite others to join them for the next three workshops. (Jennifer Carnes photo) Fire Station or at the Sierra Oaks School office. For more information or to make other arrangements, please contact Miller at 520-603-9077. “Food is Art” is funded by a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts.
“Key Ingredients” is sponsored by the Arizona Humanities Council. To learn more, go online to www. oraclhistoricalsociety.org. And if you want to find out what’s in my mom’s peanut brittle candy recipe, I guess
you’ll just have to attend the opening reception of the “Key Ingredients” exhibit and see it on my daughter Lauren’s wall hanging. (You might also check online at www. copperarea.com – I might just share it there.)
Economic development in the Copper Corridor
A self-sufficient Superior — A future the Chamber of Commerce strives to support By Lana Jones The all-volunteer run Superior Chamber of Commerce works hundreds of hours each year to support businesses, non-profits, and the overall advancement of Superior. They host five major yearly events, such as the recent Third Annual Home and Building Tour. They also contribute to and spearhead many other events around the town.
Why do the four officers, six board members, and close to 50 volunteers devote their time to these events and other chamber projects? Pete Casillas, Chamber president, said it wasn’t for monetary or political gain. “The gain is literally seeing our hometown succeed,” he said. The yearly events help Superior succeed by drawing
attention to the community and bringing in significant sales for local businesses. The events also support local non-profit groups and help supplement the Chamber’s operations budget. The Chamber has been around for more than 25 years but has really stepped up their efforts in the past few years to support economic development and the quality of life in Superior.
Those two pieces—economic development and quality of life—go hand in hand, and that’s why the Chamber supports businesses and economic development. That guiding principle is evident in their slogan. “Support your local businesses! When they succeed, our community succeeds!” Casillas explained further:
“It’s important to find ways to be self-sufficient, self-reliant. We’re built on a mining community but it doesn’t mean we need to depend on a mine to exist. Part of the Chamber’s goal is to be viable with or without a mine.” To further that goal, the Chamber pursued and received their 501(c)(6) status last year and have multiple projects in the works.
The Chamber will operate the Caboose Visitor Center for the town. The Caboose’s grand opening is scheduled in March. Mila Lira, Chamber board member, said that moving into the Caboose and making it a focal point was one of the most immediate projects the Chamber was working on. See Economics, Page 7