CAREDF enlisted the assistance of a highly reputable freelance reporter to work on a series of articles covering our partnering communities of the region. The first city to be chosen in the series was the City of Coolidge. Upon researching the area, conducting interviews and consulting with CEO Barry Albrecht, Teya Vitu presented his final piece creating a very positive image for the City of Coolidge.

The full article has recently been published in the Casa Grande Valley Newspapers’ TriValley Dispatch. A link to the article is: Coolidge: Eye on the future with a business-friendly attitude

Additionally, an abbreviated version of the article was printed in the Arizona Republic’s Southeast Valley community newspapers and posted on their website: azcentral.com

Please take a moment to read a great article from an out-of-area perspective on the City of Coolidge. You may even discover something new that you may not have known about our neighboring community.

Have a wonderful day!

Put your car keys beside your  bed at night. Tell your spouse, your children,
your neighbors, your parents, your Dr’s office, the check-out girl at the
market, everyone you run across.

Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your
home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for
your car.

The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either
you turn it off or the car battery dies.

This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator.

Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away,
think of this:  It’s a security alarm system that you probably already have
and requires no installation. Test it.

It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking
until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key
fob chain.

It works if you park in your driveway or garage.

If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your house,
odds are the burglar/rapist won’t stick around.

After a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see
who is out there and sure enough the criminal won’t want that.

And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot.

The alarm can work the same way there.

This is   something that should really be shared with everyone.

Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.

Between 8/7/10 and yesterday 3 counterfeit $100.00 bills and 1 counterfeit $20.00 bill was used to pay for items at two different businesses in the City of Maricopa. Please pay extra attention to all $100.00 bills used.

Please call Sgt. Judd if you have any questions at 520-251-6373.

If You Receive a Counterfeit:

• Do not return it to the passer.
• Delay the passer if possible.
• Observe the passer’s description, as well as that of any companions, and the license plate numbers of any vehicles used.
• Contact your local police department or United States Secret Service field office. These numbers can be found on the inside front page of your local telephone directory.
• Write your initials and the date in the white border areas of the suspect note.
• Limit the handling of the note. Carefully place it in a protective covering, such as an envelope.
• Surrender the note or coin only to a properly identified police officer or a U.S. Secret Service special agent.

For all businesses that operate ATM Machines, please check your ATM Machines at least once a day, and encourage your customers to alert you if something does not seem right with the ATM Machine.

What is ATM Card Skimming and PIN Capturing?

• ATM Card Skimming is a method used by criminals to capture data from the magnetic stripe on the back of an ATM card.
• The devices used are smaller than a deck of cards and are often fastened in close proximity to or over the top of an ATM’s factory-installed card reader.
• Pin Capturing refers to a method of strategically attaching cameras and various other imaging devices to ATMs; in order to fraudulently capture the ATM user’s PIN.

Where to spot a card skimming or pin capturing device on an ATM?

Light diffuser area, Speaker area, ATM side fascia, Card reader entry slot, ATM keyboard area.

FLORENCE — The Pinal County Library District launched a new program today that offers students of all ages live, one-to-one help from certified tutors online.  The program also offers professional writing help for job seekers interested in creating or improving their resume.

The K-12 Student Center, College Center and Adult Career Center from Tutor.com includes live, one-to-one tutoring, a real-time writing center and 24/7 access to worksheets, videos and tutorials in just about any subject.   Any patron with a Pinal County library card can access the new online services from the library or right from home.

The live, online tutoring and resume writing service is available every day from 1:00 pm until 10:00 pm.  The service is completely free for Pinal County library patrons.  To access the service please visit the library’s website at http://catalog.pinalcountyaz.gov.

“I’m pleased that we are able to offer a valuable service that helps both students and job seekers,” said Library District Director Denise Keller.  “The best part is that it is free to use for our library members.”

Students of all ages and job seekers can find the help they need by simply visiting the library’s website and looking for the Tutor.com graphic.   Tutor.com has a network of over 2,000 certified tutors as well as career specialists who are ready to help with just about any question you may have.  Here’s the type of help you can get in each center.

• K-12 Student Center:  Students can get help with homework, test preparation, skills and concepts they are learning in class and standardized test preparation and college entrance exams.  Subjects include math, science, social studies and English.

• College Center: Besides subject-specific help, students can prepare for the GED and get resume help or prepare for graduate school entrance exams.

• Adult Career Center: Adults going back to school can get subject-specific help, prepare for the GED, get resume help or prepare for the citizenship exam.

Each center also includes real-time writing assistance from English tutors or career specialists for adults working on resumes.   Students and job seekers get immediate feedback, writing tips and strategies as well as proofreading.  Need help at midnight?  No problem.  Each center includes 24/7 access to thousands of resources including study guides, worksheets, videos and more in  math, science, social studies, English, resume writing,  GED prep, Citizenship exam prep and more.

Employment Situation Summary

Technical information:

Household data:       (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov *  www.bls.gov/cps

Establishment data:   (202) 691-6555  *  cesinfo@bls.gov *  www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact:         (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — JULY 2010

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 131,000 in July, and the unem- ployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis- tics reported today. Federal government employment fell, as 143,000 temporary workers hired for the decennial census completed their work. Private-sector payroll employment edged up by 71,000.

Household Survey Data

Both the number of unemployed persons, at 14.6 million, and the unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, were unchanged in July. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult men (9.7 per- cent), adult women (7.9 percent), teenagers (26.1 percent), whites (8.6 per- cent), blacks (15.6 percent), and Hispanics (12.1 percent) showed little or no change in July. The jobless rate for Asians was 8.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

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Charles Mingus - A native son of Nogales, Arizona

Charles Mingus was born in Nogales, Arizona. He was raised largely in the

The Tenth Annual Bisbee Bloomers’ Garden Tour is scheduled for September 11, 2010 from 10 to 4pm.  Nine gardens will be featured on this self-guided tour located in Old Bisbee and Warren.  The tour will showcase established gardens as well as gardens in which the soil has recently been replaced because of mining elements in the earth.  Permaculture gardens with demonstrations will be featured.

Again this year, the garden tour will be held in conjunction with the Plein Air Competition and musicians will be featured in some of the gardens.

Admission is $10.  More information may be obtained at www.discoverbisbee.com or at 520-432-3554 or 866-244-7233.

Artists are invited to Bisbee to paint the picturesque hillsides of Tombstone Canyon and the lovely gardens in the Warren District. This is a great opportunity to network with Arizona’s many Plein Air painters, take advantage of a well-organized venue to sell your work, and win $1,500 in cash prizes!

The Bisbee Plein Air Painting Competition is open to any artist who paints using the plein air technique in oil, watercolor, acrylic, or pastel.  The competition is sponsored by the Bisbee Arts Commission, and will occur in conjunction with the Bisbee Bloomers Garden Tour, which takes place on Saturday, September 11.  During the judging on Saturday afternoon, paintings will be displayed for silent bidding and Shade, featuring Duane Reilley, will be playing jazz standards.  Young artists from 8 to 18 are invited to participate in a painting competition held on Saturday only beginning at 10:00 a.m. in Grassy Park.

To register, complete the attached form and mail to:  Kathy Sowden, PO Box 1195, Bisbee, AZ 85603.  Enter by August 21 to receive the reduced adult registration fee.  Emailduran_926@msn.com with any questions, visit us on the web or call Kathy at 520-432-2900.

About the Bisbee Arts Commission – the purpose of the Bisbee Arts Commission is to advise the city on art and cultural activities in Bisbee; promote arts and the city of Bisbee as an arts community; and support artists through financial, organizational, and programmatic resources.

For the proverbial traveler, Bisbee has been preserved architecturally.  Absent are the mules

and dust and later trolleys that passed the banks, shops & saloons.  Today, miners’ boarding houses are now whimsical bed & breakfasts; shops are home to local artisans and saloons, now fashionable dining establishments, along with quaint shops, custom hat works and antique galleries.  Victorian and European homes perch miraculously on the hillsides.  Coffee houses and brew pubs dot the streets.  The Copper Queen Hotel stands majestically as it did in 1902.  Corporate headquarters for the mining company now houses the BisbeeMining & Historical Museum, our Smithsonian-affiliate.  The Phelps Dodge Mercantile, also referred to as the “company store” is as cosmopolitan as ever showcasing jewelry and copper shops, metropolitan restaurants and the ever popular coffee house.   The infamous Brewery Gulch, home to a sophisticated stock exchange remains intact. Gone are the many brothels, saloons and gambling establishments replaced by quirky art galleries, fanciful restaurants and pubs.  You will see remnants of paths, sidewalks and stairs that led to more than 50 brothels along the gulch.  A lone store still provides groceries for residents.  CityPark, once the local cemetery is now home to many events and where children frolic. Nestled in the mile-high Mule Mountains, Bisbee is located 90 miles southeast of Tucson and offers old-world charm, antique shops, fine restaurants, sidewalk cafes and unique lodging.  While here, ride the train underground at the Queen Mine Tour, take a Lavender Jeep Tour, a tour with a ghost host or a local historian.  Go to www.discoverbisbee.com for official visitor information.

The 6^th annual Bisbee Blues Festival announced its 2010 musical line up today.  Spokesperson Paul Orlando stated that the festival has signed Tel Arc recording artist Tab Benoit as the main, but not the only, headliner for this year’s show.  “Tab Benoit certainly deserves top billing at this year’s Bisbee Blues Festival”, said Orlando, “but we have another equally talented artist, Shemekia Copeland, who could headline the event on her own.”

Besides his three Grammy nominations, Benoit won Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year and the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year at the Blues Music Awards (formerly the W.C. Handy Awards) in 2007. The BMA award is one of the highest honors a blues musician can receive.

There have been many comparisons of Benoit to blues guitar heavyweights like Albert King, Albert Collins and even Jimi Hendrix. Despite the hype, Benoit has done his best over the years to maintain a commitment to his Cajun roots.

Benoit’s latest CD is Night Train To Nashville, recorded in Nashville in May 2007. This album captures the magic and intensity of Benoit in a live setting, joined by his faithful backup unit and New Orleans mainstay, Louisiana’s LeRoux, and a series of guests representing some of the most talented voices on the current blues, Cajun and country scenes.

An environmental activist as well as a stellar blues musician, Benoit has made the preservation of the endangered delta wetlands his personal crusade. He serves as president of Voice of the Wetlands, an environmental organization he co-founded in 2003, and he appeared prominently inHurricane on the Bayou, a 2006 documentary by filmmaker McGillivray Freeman that chronicles life in Louisiana after Katrina.

Shemekia Copeland, although young, is already a force to be reckoned with in the blues world. While still in her 20s, she opened for the Rolling Stones, headlined at the Chicago Blues Festival and numerous festivals around the world, scored critics choice awards on both sides of the Atlantic (The New York Times and The Times of London) and shared the stage with such luminaries as Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Taj Mahal and John Mayer. Heir to the rich tradition of soul-drenched divas like Ruth Brown, Etta James and Koko Taylor, Copeland’s shot at the eventual title of Queen of the Blues is pretty clear. By some standards, she may already be there.

In 2004, at the 25^th W.C. Handy Award Nominations, Copeland won the Blues Entertainer of the Year award and Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year.  In 2005 she won Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year once again.  In 2006 she repeated the feat again and added Contemporary Blues Album of the Year to the list.  Then, she won Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year again in 2007.

Copeland’s passion for singing, matched with her huge voice, gives her music a timeless power and a heart-pounding urgency. Her music comes from deep within her soul and from the streets where she grew up, surrounded by the everyday sounds of the city – street performers, gospel singers, blasting radios, bands in local parks and so much more.

“These two artists could stage a blues festival on their own, but we have more great talent coming to lend them a hand”, says Orlando.  “The 2010 Bisbee Blues Festival will also host Bob Corritore, Big Pete Pearson and the Rhythm Room All Stars, a Phoenix based blues band with its own great pedigree.  Train Wreck, a local favorite, and a well regarded Tucson band called The Hounds will round out the card.”

The 6^th annual Bisbee Blues Festival is on Saturday, September 25^th, at the historic Warren Ballpark, in Bisbee.   Budweiser is the presenting sponsor, with additional support from Aegis, Freeport McMoRan and Superior Metal Buildings and Roofing.  The gates open at 10:00 am and the show will begin at 11:00am.

Tickets are $20.00 in advance and $25.00 at the gate and are on sale now.  They are available on the internet at www.thebisbeebluesfestival.com; at the Bisbee Visitor’s Center ; at High Desert Market & Café, in Bisbee; Safeway, in Sierra Vista; and at Zia Record Exchange, in Tucson and Phoenix.