Thank you
Thank you Steve LaMar, Susan Clancy, Dick Esser and Mark Lipsky for stepping forward to challenge the dishonest and irresponsible members of the town council in the March recall election. Cave Creek needs new leaders now that can unite the town behind honest and responsible leadership to restore its reputation and potential and put it on a sensible path to secure its economic future. I ask all voters to stand up and join with me to elect Lamar, Clancy, Esser and Lipsky. It is our opportunity to correct a huge mistake and return our town to the kind of place we want to live in.
Bob Williams
Cave Creek
Cave Creek Museum friends
I hope that my message finds you in good holiday cheer! I'd like to take just a few moments of your time to gently remind you that our year-end fundraising campaign is still in progress.
Last year was the first year that we had a formal year-end campaign as such. And it was a huge success raising over $4,000! At present, we have a long way to go to match, and hopefully exceed, last year's amount.
I want to share with you a just a couple examples of how your donation can make a difference.
Our Historic Church, Cave Creek's first, needs to be repainted.
The PC in the Research Library has reached end of life and needs to be replaced.
Help fund the recent acquisition of an original drawing of our Golden Reef Stamp Mill.
So won't you please take a few moments to make your tax free, year-end donation now?
On a side note, in addition to making year-end donation there are several other ways that you can support the Museum.
Renew your membership or become a member by visiting our Membership page.
Shop at smile.amazon.com and be sure to name the Museum as your designated charity
Help tell the story of the history of the Desert Foothills by becoming a volunteer.
Tell people you know to about us.
Thank you for all you do. You are truly appreciated!
Evelyn Johnson
Executive Director
Please help support The Helping Hands of Maricopa County with their 2014 Tax Credit Drive
Tax donations to support The Helping Hands of Maricopa County are vital to our continued growth. For many years, the Heart Awakening students and programs have been supported by the generous donations of people who wish to see the work prosper. Your donation will help support somebody who is unable to provide their own healing and many others in need of support.
Reduce your state taxes up to $400 and support THHMC, a local non-profit education program; with this dollar-for-dollar tax credit ($400 for married couples filing jointly, for individual tax payers, the limit is $200). The Helping Hands of Maricopa County (THHMC) is a public tax exempt 501(3)(c) charity. Donation receipts will be supplied. To find out more about our organization please visit www.thehelpinghandsofmaricopacounty.org.
A tax credit is different than a tax deduction because it is an actual credit against the income tax imposed upon an individual. It’s simple! Redirect your tax dollars! Receive a dollar for dollar tax credit for your contribution to THHMC!
Donations at any level are a blessing and are greatly appreciated. At present donations may be mailed to The Helping Hands of Maricopa County, P.O. Box 4195, Cave Creek, AZ 85327. Credit card donations are accepted via PayPal or phone. If you wish to donate by credit card today please click on the DONATE button in this link or call 480-488-1731. If you wish to be contacted regarding donations, please email [email protected].
Drop off deadline December 30, 2014.
Envelopes sent via USPS must be postmarked by December 31, 2014.
Many Blessings,
The Helping Hands of Maricopa County Inc.
Desert Foothills Land Trust
There is exciting local conservation work to be done – and we need your help!
Please support our land protection efforts by making a year-end financial gift to Desert Foothills Land Trust (www.dflt.org) . Your one-time or monthly gift will make a real difference right here in the community.
Because of the generous support of donors, we have already permanently protected nearly 700 acres on 23 properties right here in the North Valley ... including many preserves that are open to the public for recreation and exploration. These are our communities' treasures.
But we are not done! Your help will ensure the Land Trust can expand our work to pursue new land conservation opportunities, to be good stewards of our protected lands, and to connect the community to these special places.
For example, in November we hosted the third annual Desert Discovery Day at the Jewel. This free event allowed hundreds of children of all ages to spend the day exploring the natural world - learning about native plants, panning for gold, and looking for frogs in Cave Creek. This direct connection to the precious Sonoran Desert is why the Land Trust's work is so important ... and why your support is so critical!
Please make a generous year-end contribution to protect the land you love. People like you who support our efforts are truly the heroes in this story!
With sincere thanks, and best wishes for a warm and wonderful holiday season!
Sonia Perillo
Executive Director
Post election thoughts and plans
For those of you who have been concerned with unbridled development in Scottsdale these past years and have been upset by what you see is being routinely approved – more bars, high rise apartments, inconsistent developments in rural areas, etc. – there is reason to be optimistic.
This past election, two new council members were voted in despite a major push fuelled by dark money to discredit them. These new council members have committed to listening to the citizens and not pass just anything that comes before them. We are optimistic they will look at the real impact of proposed changes on the city, its financial situation, and its residents.
Combined with Guy Phillips, who is already on the council, we now have three council members poised to serve as representatives of all citizens. This election can and should be seen as the beginning of a new chapter in citizen involvement ... not the end. We must continue to be organized and vigilant to ensure that Scottsdale's brand, tourist appeal, and financial prosperity are not compromised by those who seek to fundamentally transform our city with their high rise, high density “big city” vision.
The General Plan will be up for ratification by the voters in 2015 or 2016 and we will continue our prior efforts as advocates for: developing genuine guidelines for growth; eliminating loopholes, inconsistencies and ambiguities; and creating a Scottsdale-specific vision.
Many recent cases that have had a major impact on our city have passed through the approvals process as “minor” amendments, thereby escaping increased scrutiny and avoiding a super majority council vote to be passed. This is one major reason why, as a community, we need to focus on the General Plan, but especially the Land Use section. This section is critically important to ensure that proposals calling for dramatic increases in height and/or density that stress infrastructure, increase congestion, obscure views and, in general, diminish or degrade our quality of life and tourist appeal, are subjected to rigorous public review and can be satisfactorily justified by our elected officials.
We are considering forming a new citizen group to work with other like-minded organizations and citizens, which will be active and effective in protecting citizens against inappropriate changes to their neighborhoods while preserving the character of our city and the quality of life our residents moved here to enjoy. In this effort, we will need your help. There will be more on this after the holidays, early next year.
For now, have a great Holiday Season and welcome a New Year full of renewed hope and expectations.
Howard Myers
Jim Heitel
Copper Phillips
Ned O’Hearn
Speaker of the House Trey Gowdy – How does that sound?
After the latest round of betrayals when John Boehner threw in with Barack Obama, it has become clear – Boehner has to go. We need the Speaker of the House to be Trey Gowdy – a true conservative.
Let me explain: in the last 7 days, Boehner has single handedly betrayed us and squandered the election results before a new Congressional majority could be sworn into office.
After securing 15 more seats in Congress in November's mid-term elections just weeks ago – the biggest GOP House majority in over 80 years – we need a strong leader who's fired up and eager to take on Barack Obama and his arrogant Imperial Presidency!
Instead we have John Boehner, who is giving in to the whole Obama agenda – amnesty, Obamacare, and a fully funded government. It's all a done deal.
The American people are desperately looking for leadership to reverse the disastrous course Barack Obama and the Democrats have plunged our country down.
We need Speaker of the House Trey Gowdy.
In the past two-and-a-half months, more than 200,000 patriotic Americans have already signed on to call for a conservative leader the House of Representatives – a last line of defense against Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid.
Will you join the call and sign the petition to draft Trey Gowdy to be the next Speaker of the House -- replacing John Boehner who has too often compromised and capitulated to Barack Obama?
America needs a strong leader like Congressman Trey Gowdy who's proven he will stand up to Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid – and even liberals in his own party when necessary.
The response has been overwhelmingly in favor of drafting Congressman Trey Gowdy for Speaker of the House, BUT I'm worried we might miss our window of opportunity if we don't get your signature in right away!
Gowdy is listening, but he's not convinced yet.
Congressmen Gowdy is well known for standing strong on principle, despite the mainstream media or public opinion – these qualities will make him an excellent Speaker of the House and would return the House GOP to a strong position.
It's critical we not only elect strong conservatives to congress, but we must also replace weak leaders like John Boehner.
Our Plan:
1. Gather five-hundred-thousand more signatures to show Gowdy we're serious.
2. Deliver a copy of the signatures and the Official Draft Gowdy Petition to every GOP Congressman's office on Capitol Hill.
3. Notify the media of the official tally to show the ground swell of support we've uncovered for Congressman Trey Gowdy to replace Boehner as Speaker of the House.
Gowdy won't back down on Benghazi. AND I'm willing to say he wouldn't have compromised and capitulated to Barack Obama like John Boehner JUST DID AGAIN!
Once you've signed, donate $5 or more and make sure we get this petition in front of another 10,000 Americans.
Let me remind you what we could have accomplished under Gowdy's leadership:
• We could have STOPPED the pork-filled House bill to fund the government,
• We could have said no to the massive debt increase in the latest tax-and-spend liberal budget,
• We could have protected disabled veterans' pensions AND CUT CONGRESS INSTEAD; and,
• We wouldn't be on the verge of a massive new Amnesty bill.
That's why it is so important that we raise up 1 million Americans who will sign their name on the dotted line to draft Trey Gowdy as Speaker of the House.
Frankly, it doesn't do Americans any good when Republicans appease Barack Obama – and that is exactly what is happing today with John Boehner as our speaker. Whether its raising the debt ceiling, selling out our veterans (Gowdy is a veteran), pushing Amnesty, or caving in on fully funding Obamacare – our GOP leaders have failed us.
That's why with your signed petition today, we will start a grassroots movement to make Trey Gowdy the next Speaker of the House. We can't let the establishment keep putting up their cronies year in and year out to block true Conservative ideas that would shrink government and their power.
Will you sign your name today?
If you support having a strong, conservative leadership team in the US Congress – led by a no-nonsense, conservative prosecutor and military man – I'm asking you to do two things immediately:
1) Please sign your Draft Trey Gowdy for Speaker Petition. I need you if we are going to reach our goal of 1 million signatures.
2) After you sign, please make a generous donation to help us reach our goal. Even $5 will help us distribute this petition to thousands more patriotic Americans.
The truth is – the final vote for GOP leadership elections is just around the corner. And if the American people are going to have a conservative voice in Congress to lead the GOP – I must have your support today.
Sincerely,
Rusty Humphries
The nation is broken
The Obama/Holder Administration has gone way beyond Impeachable Offenses in the way they have corrupted the Federal Agencies to use them in criminal enterprises in bringing Heroin from Afghanistan to the United States. Recently the CIA came out in support of the White House in deceiving the Public about ISIS and their military efforts to re-unite the Persian Empire, and the CIA was used extensively to cover up the flow of weapons from Libya into Syria, and Benghazi incident. It would appear that President is able to totally corrupt the CIA, and the Armed Forces through his Homosexual agenda.
That brings me to my main point of Impeachable Offenses which are very serious indeed; that President Obama /Holder is bringing in Opium / heroin into the United States using our military, and the CIA / FBI. These security Agencies that were created to protect America are being used to bring America into bondage, and destruction. President Obama has turned all of the Federal Government into a worldwide criminal syndicate. American towns are over run with low price heroin on the streets where a decade ago has rarely reported any heroin activity.
There is no easy way out of this mess Obama / Holder has created for America. The whole country is setup for disaster, total breakdown, massive chaos, and civil war if the nation refuses to take action soon within the next coming months. Delay will cost the lives of millions of Americans.
Because many of the United State Senators, and Congressman, and all the Federal Agencies are directly involved with President Obama’s plan of remaking America into an African cesspool of crime and lawlessness, any hope for an immediate solution is totally impossible. Prepare to meet thy God.
THE PARTY IS OVER
Dr. Wilmoth, Evangelist
Bedford, Indiana
Help a Chaplain disciplined for his faith
This cannot stand. When a military chaplain cannot openly speak about his faith, military disarmament has reached a level that no budget cuts could ever produce.
On November 20, Capt. Joseph Lawhorn, U.S. Army Chaplain at Fort Benning, participated in a mandatory suicide awareness and prevention briefing in which he gave a presentation describing resources – both spiritual and secular – that were available for handling such grave mental health situations. He went further and discussed his personal struggles with depression, describing the spiritual and religious steps that helped him during those dark times in his life.
As a result of the chaplain’s discussion of his faith, he was called into his brigade commander’s office on Thanksgiving Day. There Col. David G. Fivecoat issued Chaplain Lawhorn a Letter of Concern that is to remain in his personnel file for the duration of his stay at Fort Benning. This type of letter can be devastating for career military personnel and would likely prohibit further professional advancement of Chaplain Lawhorn.
The fact that a chaplain was reprimanded for discussing his faith in a suicide prevention course is beyond belief. It casts a chilling effect upon other chaplains and military personnel who would speak about their faith. How else would a Christian chaplain be expected to respond to a crisis that is plaguing our men and women in uniform?
This kind of intimidation must be eradicated from our armed forces. Please join me in signing our petition to Secretary of the Army John McHugh to rescind the Letter of Concern and to reprimand Col. Fivecoat for violating protections afforded to all military personnel enacted into law in the National Defense Authorization Act.
With your help, we can help put on notice those who would be emboldened to take similar actions against chaplains in the future that actions like this cannot stand.
Sincerely,
Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, USA (Ret.)
Executive Vice President
Family Research Council
frc.org
Important reforms
The mission of the Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity is to defend Arizona's taxpayers, families, producers and consumers against the predations of Big Government and its socialist and crony-capitalist allies. To accomplish that mission, we must mobilize grassroots activists like YOU to encourage your elected representatives to support pro-free market policies at all levels of government.
The 2015 state legislative session that begins on January 12th will give AFP-Arizona and its activists and allies an opportunity to play a decisive role in passing several important reforms, including:
Restraining Arizona state government spending, and passing the Truth-in-Spending budget transparency bill, to keep the government's budget from growing faster than our families' budgets.
Enacting pro-growth tax reforms to help Arizona's families and grow our small businesses.
Protecting health care freedom by allowing consumers to purchase health insurance plans across state lines and preserving the ability of families and businesses to avoid ObamaCare by self-insuring.
Expanding school choice programs to enable greater numbers of Arizona families to provide their children with a better education.
Protecting Arizona's electrical consumers from EPA-imposed rate hikes and rolling brown-outs.
Protecting taxpayers and workers from government employee unions, which currently take political action money out of the paychecks of public workers without getting their express annual consent.
Stopping failing school districts from getting more money from voters without disclosing how much money they already get from all revenues sources (currently, that number is almost $9,000 per child per year - enough to put two well-paid teachers in each classroom of 25 students).
Helping job creators by reducing regulatory burdens and passing tort reform.
Promoting fairness and free enterprise by repealing corporate-welfare tax credits and loan guarantees that benefit special interests at the expense of other taxpayers.
For a longer look at our draft 2015 legislative agenda, visit http://americansforprosperity.org
AFP-Arizona thanks its grassroots activists, coalition partners and allied Legislators for their assistance in developing this agenda. We look forward to working with Governor-elect Doug Ducey and the new Legislature to advance economic freedom and well-being in Arizona. But we would remind all elected officials that we will use our nonpartisan Legislative Scorecard to hold them accountable for advancing economic freedom, and we will continue to grade them on missed opportunities when key bills fail to get floor votes.
Thank you so much for all you are doing to advance free-market policies. On behalf of our entire AFP-Arizona team, we look forward to working with you during the 2015 legislative session and beyond!
For Liberty & Prosperity,
Tom
Tom Jenney
Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity
