Editorials

The cap-and-gown of graduation is a time-honored tradition. Rarely worn, the robe and mortarboard are so heavily symbolic, they have survived 900 years.

Editorial: This year the Verde Valley saw first-hand the potential of the relationship between tribal police and federal agencies.

How much can Cottonwood taxpayers take? The City has put money – a lot of it – and time – a lot of it – into the Riverfront Water Reclamation Facility with too little to show for it.

“We’ll be dead by then.”

City councilmembers vote on this, that and the other week after week, month after month. But their primary decision-making responsibility is the municipal budget.

Under the guise of improving efficiency and removing politics, Camp Verde Town Council removed the Marshal’s Office from the supervision of the town manager.

Pity, fear, anger, disgust, trust – whichever way they react to the problem, Cottonwood residents see the problem is real.

No one wants the first driving class their child takes to be the result of getting ticketed by law enforcement.

Monday is the deadline for candidates to get their signatures and paperwork in to run for city and town councils. One of the first questions we ask of those that do so is, “Why are you running?”

The Title 42 Public Health policy is one of those cross-administration programs that was controversial under President Trump but has remained in place under President Biden.

It’s a fact of life that airplanes and helicopters are noisy. In Cottonwood, it’s also a fact that residential areas have grown up around the municipal airport in what used to be a more remote part of the city.

It is a question of trust, responsibility, finance and patience.

A bill quietly moving in the state Senate could turn more Arizonans into California drivers.

The grown-ups have shown up, but it’s a bit late in the day and anything but a sure answer to a crisis.

We are seeing yet another fallout of the failures of the community to lessen the spread of COVID-19 as nurses play hard-to-get.

If you’ve been feeling frustrated with politics and government crises – real or imagined – all around and just want your community to function the way it’s supposed to, Yavapai County has a plan.

They are thinking about it.

When the Omicron variant of COVID-19 first started spreading in Arizona, some businesses started going back to their most rigorous pandemic policies out of precaution.

A unique holiday is at hand Monday, for those who get off work or school for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

An idea with support from a cross-section of people is always worth serious consideration.

What do Americans really think about the First Amendment?

A common theme emerges in talks about the present and future in Verde Valley communities. It’s an old theme but a goodie: Affordable housing.

Years from now, it may be instinctive to look back on 2021 with a cringe or, for many, a moan of mourning.

Once feeling ignored, the Verde Valley became the plaything for the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission up to the 11th hour as it was deciding on the final draft maps for legislative and congressional districts for the next 10 years.

In 2020, there were 1,982 deaths in Arizona attributed to opioid overdose. That was a 45% jump from the year before, indicating the public health emergency declared by Gov. Doug Ducey in 2017 has not ebbed.