Column Writing from the Kingman Daily Miner

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6 • MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

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Life advice from remarkable women

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have met some remarkable people throughout my journalism career. There have been art students who want to share empathy, scientists who have raw passion for music, mathematicians, administrators, and so many more who have amazing stories.

And once a year, I get to meet Claire eight more remarkable people who Whitley are, literally, women making history. Miner For two years, I have covered the News Women Making History awards. I Editor have met all kinds of women from a young health caregiver, to a Middle Eastern dancer, to a woman who is truly the kindest, most generous soul I have ever met.

It is amazing to be part of a community that has recognized women like this for 35 years. It is an honor and a privilege to cover the event and to share these stories.

I can say with confidence that these women are some of the most extraordinary people I have met.

They epitomize why I wanted to be a journalist: Everyone has a story, and everyone can learn from that story.

I have learned so much from them, even in the short interviews and interactions I have had.

The first thing that I learned is to do what I love.

My career is mine alone to pick, and I should only pick something that I truly love to do.

I learned that there is always time to volunteer. We spend so much of our lives saying “I can’t” or “I don’t have time.” And frankly, that’s a lie. There is always time to give back to the community in some way, shape or form.

I should never be afraid. I was told that if I want something, I should never be afraid to get it. I will accept failure, and the next day, try again. I learned that I can do better each day. “If it can be, it is up to me.” I can do whatever I want to do, and the only person who can stop me is me.

One kind act can make a world of difference. When I wake up in the morning, I want to decide to do one kind thing for someone. Every day. Every morning.

Plan to do something nice and kind and genuine for another.

The last piece of life advice I learned was that I don’t need anyone’s permission to be who I am. I don’t need to ask for permission, and I shouldn’t ask for permission. Who I am is a blessing that I should always keep exploring.

And the list could go on.

One of my biggest flaws is that, even as an independent adult, I don’t think I’m grown up yet. I look at these women, and talk to these women, and I can’t help but think: “I want to grow up to be like you.”

I truly stand in awe of what these women have done, the lives they have lived, and how honored and humbled and genuine they all are.

So thank you. To the women I interviewed this year and the ones I interviewed last year.

If I ever truly grow up, I would be grateful to be half the woman any of you are.

What two Republicans tell us about today’s GOP

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he experience of two Republican lawmakers from Pennsylvania – a state that President Donald Trump won in 2016, and one that remains critical to his reelection chances – tells us a lot about the state of the GOP in 2019.

First up, there’s Pat Toomey, the Keystone State’s junior senator. If Pennsylvania voters know one thing about Toomey, it’s that he frequently plays it cagey, waiting until the last moment until he goes public on a big issue.

That’s what happened in 2016, when Toomey refused to say whether he’d vote for then-candidate Trump.

Locked in a tight re-election race, Toomey made disapproving noises in the direction of the Republican nominee, feeling like a “no,” only to announce, at the final second, that he’d voted for Trump anyway.

The outrage over that bait-andswitch was huge. Toomey had positioned himself as an independent thinker, only to fall in line and do something so predictably Republican that it dinged his credibility at home.

Toomey finds himself at a similar point again this week, now that the majority-Democrat House, with some Republican support, has approved a resolution nullifying Trump’s executive end run around Congress on the border wall.

As in 2016, Toomey has been publicly indecisive, saying that while he “continues to believe that the president’s $5.7 billion border wall funding request was reasonable ... [he] hoped this dispute would have been resolved through the legislative process.

I am concerned about the presi-

dent’s emergency declaration, and am still considering how I will vote on a resolution of disapproval.”

You can forgive some PennsylJohn vania voters for Micek being skeptical National about Toomey’s Columnist sincerity. The chances are good that he’ll probably end up voting with his fellow Republicans here.

Which brings us to the case of Toomey’s fellow Pennsylvanian, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents one of those classically moderate suburban Philadelphia districts you’ve heard so much about.

Fitzpatrick, who was reelected in 2018 in a part of the state where Democrats cleaned up, has emerged as a principled voice of opposition to the Trump White House.

He voted with Democrats this week on the nullification resolution and a bill that would require universal background checks on all gun purchases.

He also joined with Democratic members of the state’s Congressional delegation and Democratic Sen. Bob Casey to ask the Pentagon to fully explain how money being diverted to the wall would affect about $200 million in military construction projects back home.

As the House geared up for that nullification vote, Fitzpatrick uttered perhaps some of the most consequential words by a Republican in this young Congress.

Explaining his looming “no” vote, Fitzpatrick said his action

was “much bigger than any one issue, and any one president. This is about the Constitution, the separation of powers, and about setting precedents that apply equally to all future Congresses and all future presidents.”

Fitzpatrick is a former FBI agent. He’s a straight-shooter.

And that’s about as clear-eyed a statement of principle that you’re going to find in the Washington swamp.

It’s also a roadmap for Toomey and other Republicans who might be on the fence about voting against the president on his likely unconstitutional power grab.

After two years of slumber, many members of Congress have admirably woken up and remembered that not only are they members of a co-equal branch of government, they’re members of a superior branch of government, and reclaimed the powers and prerogatives that go along with that.

Toomey, who can be thoughtful and deliberative when the occasion arises, also likes to fancy himself a creature of the Senate and a defender of the institution.

He could decide that the Constitution and precedent win out over the White House not getting its way on what, really, is a simple budget vote.

A lot of eyes will be on Toomey in the coming days as the Senate gets ready for its mandatory nullification vote. If he’s smart, Toomey will have one eye on Fitzpatrick, who’s providing smart Republicans with a way forward.

Even if they don’t regain the House in 2020, more Fitzpatrick-style Republicans could help the GOP reclaim something even more important.

Its soul.

continue to participate in educational shooting programs within the community and schools. This funding is garnered through grants that are offered to shooting programs each year to provide supplies toward programs in archery, pistol, shotgun as well as hunters education and 4-H. The Arizona Friends of the NRA Foundation continues to promote education in the shooting sports and stands fast in holding true to aiding programs which promote safety and education in all shooting sports. Their support of youth, military veterans, woman in shooting programs as well as

self defense has allowed many programs within Mohave County a solid foundation and backing for sustainability of said programs within the area which allows those programs to continue here and state wide.

The local Friends of the NRA Committee #19 invites anyone interested in joining to start planning next years program to contact Stacy Hadley 928-279-8156 as well as reserving next year’s date of Feb. 22, 2020. We look forward to hearing from you!

Jody Schanaman Friends of the NRA Committee No. 19

THANK YOU To our volunteers Kingman Friends of NRA Chapter 19 would like to extend a huge thank you to all sponsors and volunteers as well as attendees for making this year’s Fund Raising Dinner such a tremendous success.

The evening was a fantastic success due to all of the support and sponsors as well as the attendees who joined in on the celebration and made it all the more worthwhile and entertaining.

The community support allowed the committee to exceed it’s goal which will provide local youth to

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Published Sunday through Friday by Mohave County Miner, Inc., 3015 Stockton Hill Road, Kingman, Arizona. Suggested retail prices by carrier: 1 month $8.80. Mon.–Fri. single copy rate: 75¢. Sunday single copy rate: $1.50. By mail inside Mohave County: $69.30 for 3 months. By mail outside Mohave County: $69.30 for 3 months. Phone 753-6397 ext. 1. Periodical postage at Post Office, Kingman, Arizona 86401. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Kingman Daily Miner, 3015 Stockton Hill Road, Kingman, AZ 86401.

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6 • TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

KINGMAN DAILY MINER •

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When one DTO leaves, another is ready to take its place

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rug trafficking organizations have been deeply rooted in American history. These Mexican DTOs are not the first, nor will they be the last.

Before them were the Colombians in the 1970s, and 100 years before them it was the Chinese. When one organization starts being cracked down on, another starts to grow. It’s how it works.

The earliest American “war on drugs” was a response to opium. Its use was originally meant as a pain reliever in the 1800s. Popularity of opium grew largely because it was used to treat symptoms and not the cause of the pain. According to Howard Abadisnky, a professor of criminal justice, opium was used to treat everything from diarrhea to insomnia. Claire Opium then morphed into morphine, Whitley which was widely used and abused.

Miner This widespread use of opiates, News and their availability, increased Editor dramatically throughout the 1800s, until, in 1900, there were 628,177 pounds of opiates imported into the U.S. During the turn of the century, a synthetic opiate – aka heroin – was created, and then marketed as a non-habit-forming analgesic meant to take the place of morphine.

After WWI, the surge of xenophobia prohibitionism that deemed alcohol and drug use activities associated with the “alien population,” addicts had to turn to illicit means. They turned from smoking opium to the more readily available heroin, thus giving rise to an enormous black market. During the same time frame, bootlegging was also going on. However, when Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the now illegal drugs weren’t repealed with it. This left drug trafficking as an important source of revenue for organized crime.

DTOs have been operating out of Mexico for more than a century. They implement bribery and violence as tools, and in the 1940s Mexican drug smugglers were notorious in the U.S. The most recent rise in DTOs from Mexico didn’t start until the U.S. started collapsing on Colombian cocaine runners in the 1980s and 1990s, though.

The Colombians were increasingly subcontracting to the Mexican DTOs for transportation. However, rather than paying cash, the Colombians were paying in product. Thus, DTOs such as the Sinaloa Cartel were gradually taking over the cocaine trafficking business.

To be honest, the drugs that were seized and people that were arrested in Golden Valley wouldn’t have made the head of the Sinaloa Cartel bat an eye.

A measly $50,000 to Ismael El Mayo Zambada, who is operating the cartel during Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s imprisonment, is like dust on the bottom of our shoes. The best estimates suggest that Sinaloa controls between 40 and 60 percent of Mexico’s drug trade, annually earning around $3 billion. They operate in as many as 50 countries and are rumored to have bases in 1,000 U.S. cities, including Phoenix.

So why is the Sinaloa Cartel so successful?

In a large part, the Sinaloa Cartel has focused solely on drug trafficking. Other DTOs are diversifying their repertoire and branching out into assassinations and kidnapping. They are a polydrug organization, trafficking cocaine, which it is known for, but also deals in heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana.

The Sinaloa leaders have focused their efforts on maintaining the dominant hand in the drug-trafficking arena.

Another reason Sinaloa is doing so well is because of their creative ways of getting drugs across the U.S. border. They have utilized tunnels, catapults, submarines, speedboats and semi-submersibles in addition to traditional methods such as air transport and container ships. Sinaloa also utilizes aircraft known as ultralights, “that look like flying lawnmowers.”

Those ultralights can carry 300 pounds of marijuana or cocaine or meth. Tunnels, which can be made for about $1 million, can be paid for in full with just one load.

Also, unlike other DTOs that are largely hierarchical and family based, Sinaloa has a decentralized structure. It is, essentially, many smaller organizations linked together. This has been susceptible to bouts of barbaric violence when sects decide to splinter away, but the decentralization has also made Sinaloa very adaptable in the competitive and unstable environment that makes up Mexican drug trafficking. This means the organization is very hard to dismantle, as evident by the fact that “El Chapo’s” imprisonment didn’t faze the organization.

However, the MAGNET bust did make a difference.

It made a difference to the people of Golden Valley.

To our neighbors, to our families who now have less meth and heroin to worry about. In the grand scheme of things, this won’t change anything. It won’t change how the cartel operates, and it certainly won’t change the demographics of drug users in the area over night, but we have to look at in on our level.

It does matter.

And every single arrest or bust will matter to this community.

Kingman

COMMUNITY VIEW

There’s more than one way to fund the libraries I

f a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” – Thomas Jefferson The importance of public libraries and their role in education is fundamental to the development of a free and prosperous society. Public libraries can be a determining element in sharing the opportunity for knowledge, while forming the new generation of professionals and educated citizens who will guarantee the principles of freedom that our Founding Fathers envisioned for our republic.

The problem that we have been facing, as a free society in the last decades, is the continued and always increasing the burden of taxation to fund such a task.

Taxation is against the principles of freedom, since it requires the coercion by the state in taking wealth from individuals without their consent, with the justification that it is used for the common good or service. Forced taxation becomes even more reprehensible when the taxpayer does not want to use or does not need the service, but regardless, he or she is still forced to pay for it. This is what I denounce, without apology, as “legalized extortion.”

I created a free-market solution that would solve the problem in funding public libraries without the use of coerced tax dollars, while creating a surplus of revenue that could benefit other public services in Mohave County.

The principle of the solution is based on the free-market service called advertising where no coercion is necessary, and the potential advertiser is motivated by potential economic and positive image gains in return for the initial investment that is also a tax write-off as an expense.

The general concept is that every inch of the library is a potential place for advertisements and sponsorships where private businesses or individuals can sponsor specific items or places.

Here are some examples: 1) Books An average library has 30,000

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books or more.

Each book can be sponsored by a business or individual for the affordable rate of $120 for a year.

A specific sticker created Gianluca in-house will be Zanna applied to the Mohave plastic jacket of County the book. Just Resident imagine the potential revenue: multiply $120 x 30,000 units or so. Discounts for volume purchase can be made available.

Two proposed conditions: A) The book chosen to be sponsored will be selected in a blind system to guarantee that every book is encouraged to be read. We do not want to penalize or support any specific author. Freedom of speech must be guaranteed in our libraries. Sponsors will still be recognized on a publicly available list.

B) The sponsored product must be family-friendly oriented. No X-rated products, alcohol or any product that is not allowed to minors.

2) The Official Name of the Library An open-bid auction will give the opportunity for a business or individual to officially give their name to the library for two fiscal years. A billboard will be placed on the premises of the library with the name of the sponsor.

For example, “Business X Public Library.” Imagine the potential positive-image return for the sponsor and economic benefit for the library: a win-win situation.

This requires a minimum 2-year contract.

3) Parking Spots Each parking spot can be sponsored with a plaque positioned on each. A minimum 1-year contract.

4) Tables and Chairs Each table will have a center plaque with the name of the sponsor, and each chair will have a special sticker on the back. A

minimum 1-year contract.

5) Bathrooms Each outer door of each bathroom can be sponsored with a plaque, in addition to each door of each stall. A minimum 1-year contract.

Potential Pool of Sponsors Mothers and children are great users of libraries, creating a perfect niche of potential customers for our ideal sponsors: grocery stores, doctors, dentists, lawyers, home services, beauty saloons, hospitals. From small businesses to corporate enterprises, every local business can benefit in sponsoring our library in exchange for a fantastic image return and potentially a huge economic return with a guaranteed tax write-off.

Think about it: “This book is brought to you by X Grocery Store.” Would you go spend your money at that store knowing that your money goes back to educating your child? I would.

Other Important Considerations: 1) The use of two or more third-party advertising firms would guarantee a professional, competitive way to find sponsorship without creating a burden on the county.

2) The county owns the library.

It is still a public library, but it’s now finally funded by private businesses and free, willing individuals without the use of forced and increased taxation.

3) An assessment of actual operating costs of the library must be addressed in relation to the private sector.

4) This model could be used for every library around the state of Arizona and the nation.

5) It is worth trying. The taxpayers deserve to know there is an alternative to taxes.

I pledge the first $1,000 to sponsor the Mohave County Library with my Zanna Coffee. I am pretty sure many other business owners will want to be part in this venture.

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6A • SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2017

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RANTS & RAVES Got something on your mind? Tell us about in 40 words or less. If your rant or rave is about a specific story please mention the headline.

City, KAA hire attorneys: Councilman Travis Lingenfelter started this fight with the Kingman Airport Authority, prompting the city to wastefully hire attorneys to fight the authority, and now questions why the airport authority hired attorneys to challenge the city’s attempt to break a valid lease.

Anti-hunting groups: Are you serious? Calling the Humane Society a “radical group!?” The only good thing about this article is that you told me about Arizonan’s for Wildlife. I would love to sign their petition.

Leave the big cats alone.

New youth center: Article starts out saying it’s not about religion, ends with kids and God. So which is it? How about a mix of youth-oriented activities with some seminars helping them into the job market and an awareness of the adult world?

Harvey Weinstein: Notice to all humans that are being assaulted this week. Report it now. I am tired of hearing about assaults from the iron age and from the years that dinosaurs became extinct. Report it now.

LETTERS

Too familiar with cancer

‘I don’t care if you’re upset if I blocked you’ - Words from a bloviating bully This guy (Rep. Paul Gosar) gets his “power” from us and then bites the hand who made him by ignoring us. He believes that his position is only for his personal use. His loyalty is first to himself and then to his troglodyte members of his faction of Congress.

Assuming Mr. Gosar cares, which is a long shot, a careful reading of the Constitution would tell him just who he represents. Gosar represents the dregs of our very flawed House of Representatives. Getting rid of people like him will go a long way to restoring our democracy.

Hats off to Ms. Morgaine. Let’s look for more like her for the 2018 election.

Arthur Finn Prescott Valley

KAA needs Bob Najaka, or someone like him Kingman Airport Authority has been a old boys club for too long. Dave French is retiring and good ridance.

French has controlled the KAA for over 15 years with manipulation of KAA Board and/or City Council, often voting at each meeting when on both at the same time.

Steps need to be taken to review the city with KAA. The award plaque showing Kingman Airoprt of the Year in 2002 was due in big part to a great airport manager at the time, Bob Najaka.

Suggestion: Fire all of them and hire Bob back.

Danny King Local Resident

Kneeling during the national anthem is in the First Amendment I think as a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, I honor one flag, and I worship one God. Worshipping any object is ungodly and is plainly stated in the Bible I follow. The First Amendment says you can freely kneel during any event in protest for any reason you like.

It is amusing a draft dodger, a man who got a questionable medical excuse for heel spurs but could dance all night long in them New York City night clubs, is now some huge patriot.

I am not buying his belated patriotism, and this Russian scandal makes me truly wonder where his true loyalty lays.

Ralph Hill Kingman

O

ctober is cancer awareness month, and I can’t help but reflect on the effects these deadly diseases have had on my family and me. I’ve lost two strong women, my grandmother and my aunt, to two separate kinds of cancer: ovarian cancer and breast cancer.

Every year, I think about the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school. It had started just like any other summer.

I threw a party at the end of the school year for a homework burning bonfire, I searched for a job, I wrote random short stories and I tried Claire to finish a novel I had been writ- Whitley Miner ing for years.

News However, Editor there was one event that occurred that summer which changed my life forever.

My grandmother on my mom’s side had ovarian cancer.

She had it for a year or more by this point, but it was different this summer. This summer she was not going through chemotherapy again. She was letting herself go.

Mom and her two brothers eventually had to stay at my grandparents’ house, rotating shifts, to keep my busybody grandfather away from the prescriptions.

As the summer progressed, I saw how exhausted my mother was becoming. Her eyes grew redder each time she came home.

The purple bags under her eyes couldn’t be hidden beneath her glasses despite her attempts.

I saw this, and took it upon myself to fill her role. I busied myself in cleaning the house and cooking dinner. I baked cookies in order to keep my mind off that house that was only a mile from my own. Often times, when my younger uncle was in the caretaker position, he walked down the hill for a beer and an escape.

I watched his defeated shoulders and bedraggled face, and wanted to see the famous smile I knew and loved – the one that reminded me so much of grandma. With this thought in mind, I baked a fresh batch of snickerdoodles just for him and Mom. To my dismay they didn’t eat much. I knew it wasn’t the taste, since I had gotten compliments from them before. Rather, it was the depression. It was their traumatized souls. Instead of feeling

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bitter I accepted what they were going through. The loss of a parent must be devastating.

A few weeks later my worry escalated. Mom planned to donate blood like she does every few months. Dad tried unsuccessfully to stop her. I followed her into her room, fists clenched, and at the young age of 15 berated her for the lack of concern for herself. I told her it was a ludicrous idea to give blood in the state she was in. She was depressed and weak.

What good would it do for any of us if she were to collapse completely?

I remember seeing her face covered with shock. Here I was, her chipper, happy-go-lucky daughter chiding her like some toddler sneaking candy.

After that things got a smidgen better. Mom started to take better care of herself, or so it seemed.

Dad and my brother helped me with the housework and cooking.

Even with our hearts heavy, we took time out to have some fun.

Mom and I played scrabble. Dad played his strategy computer games, and my brother went to visit friends.

A bigger distraction soon presented itself.

That summer we were invited to the Boise Music Festival. I was excited. The family was abuzz with nervous energy. We would see my older sister for the first time that year, since she had officially moved to “the big city.”

We set out on a cool July morning, hopes high. All of it was a facade. Our faces full of smiles hid the gravity of the situation at home.

My grandmother was dying.

I had gone with my mother to see her the day before we left, and despite attempting to be emotionally detached, I felt tears sliding down my face. Here was the grandma I had loved so much, lying with her wild, young spirit shattered. I gripped her hand in mine, eyes clouded over, trying not to think that this was the last time I would ever see her alive.

Yet, she wasn’t really alive. She was nothing but a shell of the person I knew.

Standing, I leaned over her and whispered, “Go in peace, Grandma.”

I kissed her forehead, and fled the room that was rank with sickness.

Three days later we got the call.

Grandma had died.

In the middle of the parking lot, my mother wept. I sprinted toward her already certain what had happened. I did not allow tears to come to my eyes as I held her close, consoling her. My older sister, who had been absent for a long while, was shocked. She too tried to comfort my mother, but she ended up crying with her. It fell on me to run back to break the news to my older brother and father.

The four-hour drive home was somber, all our thoughts remaining our own.

Cancer has been a familiarity in my life. For several years, I wore the teal rubber bangle around my wrist for hope, for a cure to ovarian cancer, for a wish that my grandmother hadn’t passed that way, rotting from the inside out.

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Published Sunday through Friday by Mohave County Miner, Inc., 3015 Stockton Hill Road, Kingman, Arizona. Suggested retail prices by carrier: 1 month $8.80. Mon.–Fri. single copy rate: 75¢. Sunday single copy rate: $1.50. By mail inside Mohave County: $69.30 for 3 months. By mail outside Mohave County: $69.30 for 3 months. Phone 753-6397 ext. 1. Periodical postage at Post Office, Kingman, Arizona 86401. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Kingman Daily Miner, 3015 Stockton Hill Road, Kingman, AZ 86401.