ACCUSATIONS CONTINUE UNABATED AS MORE PEOPLE  ARE ATTACKED/MALIGNED:
Those who are participating in the defamation of character efforts in Quartzsite should do a fast review of the legal fallout of such a move. Lawsuits are expensive to defend when innocent people are attacked simply because they hold a different opinion or refuse to align themselves with the attackers, as the Town, already inundated with suits, can attest...
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LA PAZ COUNTY HIRES BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY IN LAST DITCH EFFORT TO DEFLECT $12.3 MILLION DOLLAR JUDGEMENT DEBT

The La Paz County Board of Supervisors have just announced their intent to investigate filing bankruptcy with the hiring of a bankruptcy attorney.  This would reject Willett's request to own the landfill in exchange for relief from the debt owed him. County officials can face more problems than they might suspect as bankruptcy limits even further their ability to pay -- as evidenced by this case against Orange County for failing in their duties will attest.

Quartzsite businessman Richard Oldham had offered to pay off Willett, without the risk of bringing sludge through the area -- but that offer was effectively prevented from even being heard, and misrepresentations of Oldham's offer were erroneously published and openly discussed -- all without interviewing Oldham concerning the details...            READ  MORE

LESSON IN JOURNALISM: THE REAL THING
Professional journalism involves reporting real facts: not paraphrasing announcements or providing information simply on the basis of 'hearsay.' It is for this reason there must be a place for the free press, for First Amendment Rights which are designed to hold our leaders accountable, as well as laws in place to demand they provide substantiating documentation upon demand...                               READ MORE

PINAL COUNTY SHERIFF PAUL BABEU TURNS TO ALTERNATIVE MEDIA TO WARN OF ESCALATING DANGER ON ARIZONA'S BORDER   VIDEO  WATCH MORE

Sheriff Babeu has discovered he's been tar-geted by Mexico's drug cartels and has taken a position along side Jan Brewer to warn Arizonans of risks they may not have realized existed this side of the border...

FOSTER SUCCEEDS IN FORCING THE
TOWN COUNCIL TO FACE REFERENDUM
IN EFFORT TO DISEMPOWER MAYOR...

Once more, town officials have publicly failed in efforts to withhold power -- and documents -- from Quartzsite's new Mayor, Ed Foster. In an unprecedented move to again carry the issues before voters, Foster's supporters easily obtained the number of signatures required to force a referendum, effectively preventing the proposals to undermine Foster's Mayoral authority from even  taking effect... READ MORE

 ARIZONANS WEIGH IN ON
BREWER'S BATTLE:

Jan Brewer has no shortage of fans in Arizona where polls prove her constituents -- including Hispanics who have legally come to the U.S. -- admire and support her challenges to those who would hand over the State of Arizona to illegal immigrants. In fact, her staunch dedication to listening to her constituents has earned her a large following across the U.S. Look out, Obama!

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT to FILE SUIT AGAINST STATE OF ARIZONA   

Critics charge Obama is allowing border issues to escalate to press through immigration amnesty program -- but both the State of Arizona and Governor Brewer are named in the lawsuit brought by the Justice Department, which accuses both of overstepping authority that is actually under the purview of the Federal government...     READ MORE

BP CONTINUES TO STALL WHILE SPILL WORSENS...          READ MORE

WAR CRIMINAL BLAIR GETS PEACE MEDAL -- STUNNED REACTION WORLDWIDE...                   READ MORE

CITIZEN'S  COALITION
CONFUSION OVER MIX OF COMMENTS BY WINSLOW CAUSES
CONCERN...

The Citizen's Coalition -- with Foster as past Director -- has a stated goal: Education. The 'Reform Slate'  is a separate, independent group with no affiliation whatsoever with the Citizen's Coalition, past or present.
            VIDEO HERE                    READ MORE

SHE'S NEVER TRIED A CASE, SHE'S NEVER BEEN A JUDGE: WILL KAGAN PREVAIL?

Kagan's manipulation of the facts on partial birth abortion are challenged as her appointment is considered -- critics proclaim she will 'rubberstamp' Obama's agendas...
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WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON IN THE GULF?     CRITICS SPEAK OUT

There is a solution: READ MORE -- VIDEO HERE
APPEAL'S COURT VERDICT IN: COUNTY LIABLE IN YAKIMA DEAL -- JURY'S AWARD STANDS           READ MORE

COUNCIL'S MEETING DISRUPTED AS THREE COUNCILMEN [2 ALREADY UNDER RECALL] WORK TO  UNDERMINE NEW MAYOR...

Under FOSTER'S reign, the citizenry can finally have their say in Quartzsite's town Hall meetings. But a few citizens took the opportunity to make long diatribes, most of them critical of the council's perceived inability to 'get along.' COWELL and WINSLOW are cur-rently under recall, with efforts pending against LUKKASSON, LIZARRAGA and KELLEY.

When the meeting was finally underway, Councilmen LUKKASSON, COWELL, and WINSLOW criticized Foster, each making various unsub-stantiated claims, with LUKKASSON and WINSLOW asking newly elected Foster to resign his post, drawing angry outbursts from the crowd that had assembled.             READ MORE

GOVERNMENT INACTION IN BP SPILL BRINGS FIRESTORM OF CONTROVERSY
FOSTER DENIED ACCESS TO PAYROLL RECORDS: PER  ALEX TAFT
After repeated efforts by both Mayor Foster and Councilman Robert Kelley to secure the documentation pertinent to four questioned payroll  expenditures [take home pay totaling $8,977.31 during  a two week period] Foster resorted to filing a public records request that should have brought the Town Manager into compliance.      REQUEST AND RESPONSE HERE

In the past, a document request has resulted in such information being disseminated. This time, however, Taft simply refused to comply.

Providing evidence of a document request subsequently rejected by Town officials will bring  the State Ombudsman's office  into the issue, and lend credence to those that complain that Taft is not abiding by the law in such instances. More than a simple document request, Foster cannot perform his duties as Mayor if he is prohibited from seeing documentation pertinent to the town's expenditures.
 

RECALL EFFORT MOVES AHEAD: BOTH COWELL AND WINSLOW'S COMPLETE

A series of decisions unpopular with voters have now resulted in Petitions for Recall on Joe Winslow and Barbara Cowell. Both councilmen's petitions needed at least 61 signatures to succeed -- and circulators reported that both petitions contained over 100 signatures, due to voter discontent over issues with the two.
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Recall workers gather petition signatures. Enough signers are already in on Cowell & Winslow's recalls.

Once a peaceful small town known for tourists and an unparalleled rock vending trade, Quartzsite is now embattled, embittered and fighting for solvency amidst a series of controversial moves  by Town Manager Alex Taft while new Mayor Ed Foster seeks advice from those more than familiar with Quartzsite's reputation for  it's  volatile political climate...

Two weeks ago, the Town Hall meeting during which Foster was sworn in deteriorated into virtual mayhem when Taft's proposals to disempower the new Mayor were passed by four council members in spite of strong public outcry demanding the new Mayor have a chance to prove himself before officials sought to withdraw his powers.

Four of them [Winslow, Anderson, Cowell and Lukkasson] immediately went ahead with the decision to vote for the withdrawal of powers from Foster --and without a single word of discussion between them during the meeting. But the move wasn't without a swift and strong backlash from Quartzsite's voters, who promptly began requesting and signing recall papers against those that challenged Foster's rights as Mayor.

Both Winslow and Cowell's positions were already under fire from previous actvities undertaken by the two who are not newly elected and, thus, accessible under recall.

The remainder of the officials have just now taken their seats. Lizarraga abstained, and Kelley voted against the measures to limit Foster's powers.

Foster's Mayoral rights are stipulated under Arizona Law and this week the battle lines are being drawn between those that would challenge Foster -- and may soon discover they have problems they've not even considered. Councilmen that choose to  break the law in order to do what they wish -- or what they are ordered to do by another official -- are not protected against suits brought by those effected by those choices.

Quartzsite is already in an insurance pool [provided insurance only because an insurer is forced to take them] through the Arizona branch of the League of Cities and Towns.

Because of a series of poor choices, the town is virtually 'uninsurable.' Were Foster to challenge those individuals that comprise the sitting council in court, anything they've done that resulted in the breaking of a law would leave those individuals at risk of a suit against them personally, with their personal assets at risk.

Some of the officials with oversight responsibilities concerning Quartzsite have already expressed concern over these pending issues.
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A political battle has ensued since four sitting councilmen sought to disempower Quartzsite's newly elected Mayor Tuesday, in spite of strong public outcry...   
                  SEE: DISEMPOWERED       READ MORE

Foster has addressed the issue of Tuesday's council meeting here, in The MINESHAFT, his local publication.


The already established and required emergency protocol communities are to have in place in the event of an emergency [CLICK FOR THE PUBLIC HEALTH SECURITY AND BIOTERRORISM PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE ACT] that would have prevented the problems that resulted in Quartzsite's dilemma... Citizens, in fact, have the RIGHT to know [Click for the RIGHT TO KNOW ACT] if there is a problem that may effect the safety of their drinking water. [Click for the SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT.] Read here for UNDERSTANDING THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT.]                              READ MORE


Steve Bennett's pool [shown here] was the focus of concerns about drinking water over the weekend. ADEQ will arrive Monday to test the water for contaminants and see what, exactly, is in the water.   

The 'public' meeting of the town's incumbents has already created a flap: attendees have indicated that the acting Mayor stated that the town would have to learn to get along without vendors... and he now denies he made that statement.