May 4, 2016 • Vol. 14, No.25
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Anthem | Black Canyon City | Carefree | Cave Creek | Desert Hills | New River| North Phoenix | Tramonto
YCSO awarded $6,800 grant for driver safety education YAVAPAI COUNTY – State Farm Insurance has awarded a grant to the Yavapai County Sheriff ’s Office to aid YCSO’s driver’s safety education programs. YCSO Sheriff Mascher received a $6,800 check from State Farm Insurance, presented by State Farm Agent Penny Hubble from the Chino Valley Office. Funds received will be used in the purchase of equipment and software necessary to produce educational video segments on topics of driver safety with a focus on teenaged drivers. This basic curriculum is already in place as part of YCSO’s Rightby-Kids program featuring its mascot, Deputy Do-Right. The ongoing outreach to schools
ELIZABETH MEDORA STAFF
YCSO photo
Pictured left to right: Agent Mike Nache – Prescott Valley, Cathy Trent – Prescott, Deputy Do-Right, Sheriff Mascher, Agent Penny Hubble – Chino Valley, and Deputy Scott Reed.
throughout Yavapai County is facilitated by 2 YCSO Law Enforcement Education
Carefree Mayor Les Peterson announces candidacy for reelection TARA ALATORRE STAFF
CAREFREE – Carefree Mayor Les Peterson announced his candidacy seeking election as the town’s mayor-elect last week in a press release, with the town’s upcoming general elections approaching this November. Mayor Peterson has been serving as interim mayor for the past year after the former and now deceased Mayor David Schwan resigned due to illness with ALS in the early spring of 2015. Peterson was
On the ballot: Weighing the pros and cons of Prop 123
Pictured: Les Peterson
vice mayor at the time he was appointed to serve as interim mayor by the Carefree Town Council, and according to town
PETERSON
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GRANT
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NORTH VALLEY – As easy as 1-2-3? Not necessarily. On May 17, voters will be choosing whether or not to approve Proposition 123, which would provide schools with a payout from the lawsuit multiple Arizona school districts and educational organizations filed against the state government over lack of inflation adjustments to education funding. Per the Prop 123 Analysis by Legislative Council available on azleg.gov, “Proposition 123 would amend the Arizona Constitution to increase the annual distributions from the state trust land permanent funds to schools, universities and other
public institutions from 2.5% of the average market values of the funds to 6.9% for the next ten fiscal years.” Prop 123 has both strong proponents and opponents who are debating how this proposition will affect schools currently and in the future. Morgan Abraham, Chairman of the Committee Against Prop 123, says Prop 123 is “kicking the can down the road.” “The future kids and the future students weren’t the ones sued, so why are they the ones paying for it?” Abraham asked. As a supporter of Prop 123, Pearl Chang Esau, president and
PROP 123
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8-year-old Valley girl launches ‘Buddy Bench’ to make sure every kid has a friend BEN BROWN CRONKITE NEWS
PHOENIX – Can you remember what you were doing at age 7? I was running around, playing with friends. The only thing I worried about was what was the snack that day. Amaya Read, at 7, was thinking on a much bigger scale. “When you’re a new kid, and you don’t really know who everybody is, it’s really hard to pick out your friend,” said Amaya, a second grader at Sonoran Foothills School in Phoenix.
Photo by Ben Brown/Cronkite News
Amaya Read, 8, launched “Buddy Bench” at her school to make sure every kid has a friend.
Sonoran Foothills School opened this year. And for Amaya, it was off to a slow start.
LETTERS:
PARKSIDE:
MUSIC:
Local residents weigh in
Community Association
Outlets at Anthem hosting
on community issues
welcomes new member
live music series
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BUDDY BENCH continued on page 9
OTHER : • Bluhm Column
6
• Service Directory
15
• Classified Ads
18