Stories by Tim Wiederaenders

Oh, what a difference 10 years makes! In this space in 2012, we published this:

As the prices at the pump continue to fluctuate (higher?), and the suggestion has surfaced to suspend at least temporarily the federal gas tax (more than 18 cents per gallon)...

We have all heard about increases in the minimum wage. In Arizona, it has been ratcheting up over the years and now stands at $12.80 per hour. Across the country have come calls for $15 per hour or more.

Lately law enforcement agencies have been conducting “enforcement details” to make sure the motoring public is following the laws they’re supposed to.

The threat of death changes a man, or at least the way he lives his life.

School districts here in Arizona are facing a quandary. This spring, unless the legislature enacts a spending-limit exemption by March 1, they will have to cut about 17% from their budgets.

“Too often in the name of ‘progress,’ which in my opinion is merely a synonym for ‘profit,’ we forfeit not only our liberties and personal rights, but we also sacrifice the reasons we live where we live.”

David Stringer, who sought to defeat Sheila Polk in 2020 in the race for Yavapai County attorney, has been reprimanded by an Arizona Supreme Court Presiding Disciplinary Judge for using mailers unethically in his campaign.

This year, 2,236 liens are listed for a Feb. 8 Yavapai County online auction.

Like Leroy Jethro Gibbs (NCIS), I do not believe in coincidences.

Less than one month after Kenneth W. Thompson was killed in prison, the Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday, Jan. 19, ruled on his death penalty appeal, affirming his conviction and sentence in a Prescott Valley double murder.

’TIS THE SEASON — We are getting a lot of inquiries this year: “What’s that smoke from?”

As some readers of the Courier have noted lately, yes, fatalities in the Quad Cities seem to be increasing.

Every now and then I come across a tidbit that makes me nervous but warms the heart.

Kenneth W. Thompson, 38, who in 2019 was convicted in a Prescott Valley double-murder case and sentenced to death, has died in prison and his death is being investigated as an apparent homicide, the Arizona Department of Corrections said Thursday, Dec. 30.

Over the years I have seen news events, tragedies and issues of concern come and go, in waves.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Affinity RV Service & Sales has just become part of a larger group, with its sale to RV Retailer LLC in November.

A group of local ladies have started something they call the “Blessing Brunch” — and they’re lighting up the holidays in a unique way.

You’ve gotta love the Prescott-area Christmas traditions.

Details are emerging surrounding Arizona’s first known case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant — which is in Yavapai County — such as officials believing more omicron-positive individuals likely exist locally.

We are seeing a shift. The Prescott City Council is expected to have a “call to the public” soon (at the beginning of the meetings), and the Prescott Unified School District is open to public comments, as long as they’re respectful and relevant.

I cannot let this one pass.

Sheriff David Rhodes pleaded guilty on Thursday, Dec. 2, in federal court to operating a boat while under the influence of alcohol.

I wonder sometimes about, let’s call it, a theory I heard many years ago: What Wall Street does is an indicator of what is to come in six months or so.

Oh, the silly season is upon us! Shopping, that is … people clamoring for things they don’t truly need?

The Prescott area is heading into the holidays — Thanksgiving and Christmas — with an ongoing COVID surge as well as family gatherings and community events.

It happens every year, and each year we get complaints — about controlled burns on the forest.

Remember the juniper tree on Interstate 17 just north of Sunset Point, decorated annually for Christmas? Chino Valley has a similar “tradition,” where a family years ago adopted the three horses in the roundabout at Highway 89 and Outer Loop Road.

When it comes to violence in schools, one solution exists that seems to be perfect.

The Friday Catchall: • SHOTS – With great consternation, it seems, people read the recent Courier story about Dignity Health-Yavapai Regional Medical Center pushing its vaccination-mandate-for-employees deadline from November 2021 to February 2022.

Goldwater Lake, located south of downtown Prescott, has experienced a fish die-off similar to recent fish kills at smaller lakes in the Prescott National Forest — including Mingus, Granite Basin and Horsethief Basin.

“Don’t horde money, buy gold,” is what friends of mine have been saying for years. And you’ve likely heard this in recent radio commercials.

It is a myth that if you are vaccinated for COVID-19, you won’t get sick.

The last time I sat in my recliner and watched television was the week ending July 30, 1998. Yep, ...

As I think about my father today, on his birthday, one of my fondest memories is of the time Dad and I went to the U.S. Open golf championship. It was 1978 at Cherry Hills in Denver. The pro to see was Jack Nicklaus.

When it comes to medical transport in the Quad Cities, there’s a high-stakes debate going on.

The news story about “Mary Anne” and “Ginger” — the little Prescott pigs that were lost or stolen on Sept. 7 — has a happy ending.

As you listen to what’s going on in politics today, remember that one of the best things we can do as American citizens is become involved.

As I sit here trying to imagine a Quad Cities without water – maybe not in my lifetime but someday, pundits say – I marvel at the theoretical water wars.

It is an assumption of “if you build it, they will come.”

Two little pigs are missing in Prescott. No joke.

From time to time we find words that mean two very different things. Take, for example, the matter of “growth.”

So simple, even a child could operate one.

The Prescott City Council has three back-to-back meetings set for Tuesday, Sept. 14, with topics ranging from subdivisions and the tribe to zoning, “Christmas City” funding, birdwatching, and more.

People are growing tired of events “returning for first time since COVID” or “returning virtually.”

Remember Sept. 11, 2001? While you enjoy reading some of our readers’ submissions on “Where were you?” — the first is in today’s Courier, to be followed by more on Friday — recall that we gasped when the planes struck the World Trade Center, we cried when the buildings collapsed, and we displayed our patriotism as though the Constitution had just been signed.

Hope Fest, an event that began as a small summer concert in 2012, has evolved into a gathering that draws thousands of people to the Yavapai County Courthouse plaza each year.

The Town of Prescott Valley is bringing retired Department of Public Safety Director Col. Frank Milstead in this month to consult “to make sure the town sets a level of expectations, and gains an understanding of how officers view and feel about the department.”

I receive a lot of studies, ranking cities across the nation in some way or another. And I’m here to tell you: believe less than half of them.