Walmart worries from a citizen of Cave Creek
Jason Walsh | Carefree
As a citizen of Cave Creek I am very concerned about the possibility of a Walmart opening in my neighborhood. I moved to Cave Creek a year ago for several reasons. One was because of the beautiful open spaces offered by the undisturbed desert. Another was because of Cave Creek’s strict zoning and ordinance policies. I am an architect and I deal with city agencies on a daily basis; street lights restrictions, lot sizes, and low-density zoning appealed to my personal taste when I was selecting a future home. One of the other major reasons for moving so far away from my workplace was because I simply did not want to intermingle with and surround myself with criminally prone under-achieving “pardon my French” TRASH! When I moved into my previous neighborhood it had many large open lots located on the corners of large intersections. Over the years those lots filled up with various retail shops, then later I noticed a ‘not so great crowd’ walking the streets, at my grocery store, in my video store, etc.
I MOVED. And just in time, crime has significantly increased there.
No matter where the location, Walmart attracts TRASH! A case in point, last week on Fox News they had a story regarding a young woman kidnapped at knifepoint in a Walmart parking lot located in a newer, more upscale part of Chandler. You would think that one would be safe in that type of neighborhood. Well, safe I suppose as long as you were not near a Walmart.
My point is that Walmart inevitably, no matter the location, attracts criminally prone undesirable people. I challenge you to take a trip to any Walmart and observe what kind of people walk in and out of the doors. Notice how many taxis are parked out front. I don’t mean to be judgmental but from my observations people taking a taxi to Walmart usually do so because they have been in serious trouble with the law and have lost their driving privileges, can’t stay current on their insurance payments, or haven’t managed their money properly to repair their vehicles.
Walmart attracts TRASH, lowers nearby property values, increases traffic, and crime.
Neither myself nor any of the numerous neighbors that I’ve spoken with would WANT TO or HAVE ANY REASON TO shop at a Walmart.
I personally choose to surround myself with respectable, responsible, inspiring people, at work, socially, and especially around my home. That’s why I chose Cave Creek as my new home. Clearly the people who choose to live there respect and admire the beauty of the desert, enjoy the quiet dark skies, and have done something right to be able to have the opportunity to reside in this beautiful town.
As a concerned citizen I urge you to keep Walmart out! And keep the upper class neighborhood … UPPERCLASS!!
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Lost pet notice won’t be up at Post Office
Febe Herrera | Cave Creek
As I look around and see our town changing, I take heart every time I go to the local Post Office – it’s like a meeting place for friends and neighbors. But something BIG has changed and I would like to express my feelings.
Why has the Post Office taken down the community bulletin board? Our pet dog wandered away and I was told that they are not permitting any more notices to be posted – no reason “why” – just that we can’t do it any more.
Local notices are so important in a small town. Are we getting too sophisticated? This is how to get the word out about obituaries, lost and found, employment seekers, etc.
Does anyone else feel like I do?
Our dog answers to Blackie. He’s a 15-pound Scottish Terrier with tags. He was lost Saturday, May 24 (School House Road north of Fleming Springs Road). If found, please call 480-488-0504.
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The neglected call of the owl
Jack C. McVickers | Scottsdale
Having read about the latest management failure in Scottsdale, “Fault council for passage of retirement boondoggle,” by Laurie Roberts, AZ Republic, May 28, 2009, I once again ask the question, “WHO, WHO, WHO?” I have asked this question of Scottsdale’s leaders so often that I am beginning to sound like an owl. But I never get an answer. No one is ever identified. No one is ever punished.
Since the year I served on the “Citizen’s Budget and Bond Review Committee” in 2000 I have time and time again advised the council to establish a “Procedures Manual” and a formal “Limits of Authority” document for each employee. Had this been done we would know today WHO it was that approved 100 retirements when the limit was to be fifty. WHO had that authority under the approved procedures? WHO exceeded their authority?
And what happened to Scottsdale’s “Code of Ethics?” How on earth can someone be on a committee that devises a special payment plan and then personally benefits from that plan? But this isn’t earth. This is Scottsdale. Typical Scottsdale.
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Walmart tried …
Bob Williams | Cave Creek
I suppose the Walmart antagonizers are proud of their ugly performance in the May 21 Public Meeting that Walmart sponsored to provide information to the public and answer questions on their proposed Supercenter in Cave Creek. The rest of us were pretty well mortified.
In the interest of providing all the information possible, Walmart sponsored a second public meeting on May 21. They met their obligations with the Open House on May 6 so this meeting was not required – but they volunteered to do it anyway. The group that attended was, for the most part, the rudest, most obnoxious group that I have encountered in 10 years in Cave Creek. I was embarrassed for our community and felt badly for the consultant who tried desperately, but largely unsuccessfully, to answer legitimate questions. He was largely unsuccessful due to the ill mannered, rude, disrespectful and discourteous attendees who clearly did not attend to listen and who clearly did not deserve the effort they made. Linda Bentley’s report on the meeting in last week’s Sonoran News was accurate as usual, but way too kind.
Most of us recognized the usual dupes from the County and from the Carefree HOAs that always seem to show up to annoy. I asked 10 or so long term Cave Creek residents who attended if they knew or recognized the ugly group there and they did not. I assume, therefore, that they were not from Cave Creek.
What a shame. The presentation was excellent then the meeting was hijacked and those who attended to learn something just left. Thanks for trying, Walmart.
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Summer blizzard forecast for Scottsdale
Keith Grayson | Scottsdale
Scottsdale taxpayers can expect a "snow job" of gigantic proportions this summer as the Scottsdale Airport Authority/Commission, the Executive Jet Operators/Service facilities, the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona/Scottsdale Republic pour forth reams of words in an endeavor to sucker them to agree to and pay for an upgrade to the airport to allow larger jets to land there.
This is a total unnecessary waste of money that the City of Scottsdale does not have and a classic example of a "keeping up with the Jones" mentality that has contributed to the current fiscal problems in this country.
Carefully deleted from all the material printed to date is the fact that an engineering study presented to the Airport Commission over a year ago revealed many taxiways and aircraft parking areas did not meet the current 75,000-pound standard and were in need (some urgently) of upgrade. This has been carefully hidden in the rush to meet the proposed 100,000 pound standard.
If, as claimed in one Scottsdale Republic article, and I quote "a tremendous influx of large executive jets is unlikely" why do it? In addition, there are 3 airports in the Phoenix metropolitan area and within spitting distance of Scottsdale Airport that are already capable of handling these larger jets and do so.
I agree many of the new executive jets will meet stage 4 noise standards, however, there are hundreds of aging passenger aircraft such as the Boeing 727, 737, Fokker F28, and DC9s that have been converted to executive jets that are scarely capable of meeting even stage 2 noise requirements. Such airplanes would be able to land at Scottsdale Airport if the weight limit were increased.
Obviously, someone needs their ego brushed, and the Arizona/Scottsdale Republic is willing to blaze their trail. Makes one wonder what the payoff is. Maybe a couple of pages of advertising!
I agree with Bob Popow. The Arizona/Scottsdale Republic is carefully ignoring and not publishing any criticism of this project. Ask yourselves why!
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Response to Mr. Cooper
Mark Lipsky | Former and future citizen of Cave Creek
I would like to respond to Wes Cooper’s recent letter about the Gitmo detainees. I’ll make an assumption here: that Mr. Cooper fully supported sending our troops, our country’s most precious asset, thousands of miles from home to fight and die on his behalf in Iraq. Yet now, when his country needs his support to house a few prisoners in the state of Arizona – or any state in the union – Mr. Cooper uses the issue to bash fellow Americans rather than step up to the plate and accept his responsibility as an American citizen; a responsibility that generations of Americans have taken on during every war we’ve fought in foreign lands since the founding of the Republic. Instead of honoring our troops and our country by selflessly asking his government to house these detainees in Arizona, Mr. Cooper flies the yellow flag of cowardice. “Not in my backyard!” Well, Mr. Cooper, the over 4,000 troops who died for you in Iraq – and the tens of thousands more who have suffered grievous harm – salute you.
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Meeting with Mahmoud Abbas
Ruby Young | Lake Havasu City
This is another waste of taxpayer’s money. Do you really believe a Palestinian will listen to you? They will laugh behind your back and do as they please. You can't stop them, will only listen to bombs and I hope Israel bombs them good. Only then will they get the message.
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Who are the volunteers?
Arlene Kamarata | Cave Creek
They are angels from heaven, can be male or female, Democrat or Republican, of any race or religion. They are regular people who unselfishly give up some of their free time to help others.
I am a caregiver for my husband and thanks to the volunteers from Foothills Caring Corps, I am able to continue dancing every Wednesday morning with the Desert Cactus Kickers. I am also blessed with the volunteers from Hospice of the Valley who give me time to do my own grocery shopping.
There is always a need for volunteers in this area, so if you have extra time and want to do something really rewarding please contact these organizations.
Thank you, volunteers. I love you.
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Rain date for Kiwanis Flea Market
Phyllis Henry | Co-Chair, Kiwanis of Carefree Flea Market
Thank you for the prominent publication of our Kiwanis Flea Market that was supposed to be held Saturday, May 23. Unfortunately we had to cancel it because of Friday night’s rain. Is it possible for you to print a notice that the rain date will be Saturday, May 30?
The banner notice in Sonoran News always brings us a good turnout of local residents. We appreciate whatever you can do to help us redirect people to the market this Saturday.
Thank you.
[Editor’s note: We ran another banner notice on the front page of our May 27 issue to alert our readers about the new May 30 flea market date.]
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Dear Editor, New England Journal of Medicine:
Craig J. Cantoni | Scottsdale
Three esteemed gentlemen with PhD's wrote on your pages how they would fix American healthcare. Jacob Hacker of Yale advocated something called public-plan choice, Mark Pauly of Wharton advocated public subsidies, and Victor Fuchs of Stanford advocated that people pay their fair share.
I've looked through my important papers and can't find a contract that I've signed to turn my body and the fruits of my labor and intellect over to Ivy League professors, my neighbors, or anyone else. Nor can I find anything in the copy of the U.S. Constitution on my desk that authorizes the government to coerce me to turn my self-ownership over to others.
Granted, I don't have an Ivy League degree, as you can probably tell by my belief in individual rights, or, if you will, the Rights of Man. But it seems to me that before people design a healthcare system for me, they should first secure my approval or find authority in the Constitution to bypass my approval.
On the other hand, if such approval and authority are not necessary to transform self-ownership to collective ownership, then I'll get to work with others on designing a system in which the esteemed professors will be coerced to come to our homes and tutor our kids at whatever price we deem fair. Given their lack of knowledge about freedom and constitutional rights, I'd be willing to give them a penny for their thoughts.
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Cars coming from China
Donald A. Moskowitz | Londonderry, New Hampshire
General Motors (GM) received $20 billion in U.S. government loans and might need another $50 billion to survive.
GM plans to close a number of U.S. plants and lay off thousands of workers. The UAW has agreed to eliminate or reduce employee benefits to drop the average wage, including benefits, from around $75 per hour to near $45 per hour, which is the average wage of U.S. auto workers at foreign plants in the U.S. Hopefully, GM will cut management staff and reduce executive salaries. These actions should make GM cost competitive and save thousands of American jobs.
However, to my astonishment, GM plans to increase imports from Mexico, South Korea, Japan and China from 15 percent in 2009 to 23 percent by 2014. Approximately 50,000 cars will be imported from Communist China by 2014.
Evidently the U.S. taxpayers are loaning GM $20-$50 billion to stay alive so it can close U.S. plants, lay off U.S. workers, transfer some production to foreign countries like Communist China and import inferior cars to the U.S. so more U.S. workers can be laid off. And our insurance rates and health care costs will increase from accidents as the wheels falls off the Chinese made vehicles.
We don’t need imported cars. We need fuel efficient, reasonably priced cars manufactured in the U.S.
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