Yesterday I finally did the laundry after procrastinating for a long time, so this morning I woke up to clean clothes to choose from, and I can’t tell you how happy that made me. Simple pleasures. We’re all always chasing after happiness, but I’ve noticed that as I get older, …
Op-Ed/Letters
May, 2022
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2 May
The Taste of Change
Bananas used to be better back in our great-grandparents’ day. They tasted better and had a nicer texture, and didn’t bruise so easily. The old bananas were a kind called Gros Michel (Big Mike, in English). But a fungus killed all the Gros Michel plants starting in the 1890s. By …
March, 2022
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22 March
The Colors of Hope
Have you ever been to a butterfly pavilion? I went to the one in Scottsdale years ago. It was just after I left Reevis Mountain School, where I’d been living for six years. I was full of feelings of transformation, new beginnings, and freedom. I wandered around the pavilion among …
February, 2022
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23 February
Mysterious Lights in the Sky
A couple of months ago, I got to see one of the Starlink satellite trains entering orbit. Starlink is Elon Musk’s system of satellites that are supposed to provide Internet access all over the world. SpaceX has been launching rockets full of satellites for the past three years. Each rocket …
January, 2022
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19 January
Talking Politics
Jan. 10 marked the beginning of Arizona’s 2022 Legislative session, which will be fraught with ultra-partisan politics in a state where many elected officials have bought into the fiction that Joe Biden is not the duly elected president of the United States. Under normal circumstances, the legislative process is an …
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11 January
Potentially devastating school budget cuts
*Reprinted with permission. By Former Superintendents, Jim Rice and John Pedicone Many people may not be aware of an impending education funding crisis that threatens to cripple public schools across Arizona. There is a state process known as the aggregate spending limit, which is part of the state budget. The Arizona Constitution established the …
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11 January
Could a spending limit created over 40 years ago force schools to close this Spring?
Arizona’s schools may be forced to close as early as April 1 this spring. Not because of COVID this time, but because of a perfect storm of problems with our state’s school funding system. (Funding that by the way, despite recent increases, still ranks as the lowest in the nation). The irony is that this spring, school districts are …
November, 2021
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17 November
Dancing through the Chaos
November is National Gratitude Month – which makes sense, given it’s Thanksgiving month. Stretching out a focus on gratitude for the full month could only be a good thing. November’s also Native American Heritage Month, Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and National Diabetes Month. But there’s more – it’s also officially …
September, 2021
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28 September
Chairman Rambler weighs in on legislation which would block Resolution Copper Mine.
San Carlos Apache Reservation—According to a poll conducted by FM3Research , nearly 75 percent of Arizona likely voters oppose the construction of the proposed Resolution Copper Mine that would destroy Chí’chil Biłdagoteel, a sacred Western Apache site also known as Oak Flat located on the Tonto National Forest east of …
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27 September
Superior Mayor Besich with an urgent message regarding new legislation
Mayor’s Minute: Resolution Copper Project is at Risk! Friends, Family and Neighbors, I am contacting you today with great urgency and a simple request: please contact our Senators and Congressmen and ask them to not support the “Save Oak Flat” H.R. 1884 bill that has been proposed by Representative Grijalva …