The F-35, the military's next-generation fighter jet, has begun its first flight tests carrying external missiles at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.
 

Click on the photo or here for report.

  Nature Photo Class and Book Signing at Preserve

Learn the when, where and how of capturing that perfect nature photograph at The Nature Conservancy’s Hassayampa River Preserve from 9 until noon a.m., Friday, March 2.

Professional photographers Colleen Miniuk-Sperry and Paul Gill, authors of “Wild in Arizona: Photographing Arizona’s Wildflowers,” will show you how to take nature photography to the next level. Learn how controlling your camera, understanding light, and applying compositional rules can help you better express your own personal vision.

Class includes a 1 hour lecture and 2 hours of field work.

All cameras and skill levels are welcome. Participants do need to be familiar with how their camera operates.

Following the class, from noon until 1 p.m., Miniuk-Sperry and Gill will discuss and sign copies of “Wild in Arizona” for the general public. Normal admission fees apply for book signing attendees wishing to access to the trails.

Reservations are required for the class. Call (928) 684-2772 or email:bmccollum@tnc.org to make reservations or for more information.

Class fee of $5 per person, $3 for Conservancy members, includes access to the trails before and after class. Friends of the Hassayampa members are admitted free.

Rocks and Bird Classes at Preserve

Get started in the fascinating hobbies of rock hounding and birding at the Nature Conservancy’s Hassayampa River Preserve.

On Friday, February 24, 9 a.m. until noon, local gem and mineral hobbyist Dale Keiser will present the basics of locating and identifying rocks and minerals common to the Vulture, Bradshaw and Weaver Mountain ranges. Bring rock samples for help with identification.

The class will be followed by an optional 1-hour walk to explore rocks at the preserve.

Saturday, February 25, 8 until 11 a.m., professional bird tour leader Kathe Anderson will explain the basics of birding: bird types, binoculars and field guides. The class includes a guided hike along the preserve’s trails to find and identify different species of birds.

Class fee is $5 per person, $3 for Conservancy members. Kids 12 and under and Friends of the Hassayampa are free. Fee includes access to preserve trails before and after the class.

Space is limited and reservations are required. Call (928) 684-2772 or email bmccollum@tnc.org to make reservations or for more information. Also visit our website at www.nature.org/hassayampa.

The 730-acre Hassayampa River Preserve is located on Highway 60 three miles southeast of Wickenburg at milepost 114. It was created in 1987 to protect a rare desert cottonwood/willow streamside habitat that attracts more than 280 species of birds annually and supports diverse plant and animal communities.

The photograph below was taken in January of 2010 along Patton Road. When Pacific Storms carry in winter moisture, flooding in the desert is not unusual. If you are new to the Circle City, Morristown and Wittmann communities, please use caution and never drive across a portion of roadway that has water raging across…as little as 6 inches of fast moving water can sweep a car off the road.

wittmannnews.com ®

Below are the results of an exclusive wittmannnews.com poll where readers responded. The poll is not scientific. The results however may be helpful to you in understanding how those fellow community members may think when it comes to the topic of having a Private Prison placed within the Wittmann-Morristown areas.

It may also help you understand how the community support will or will not favor such a plan.

Survey Results
      Yes:       113

       No:       164

Maybe:          02

Undecided:    01

Total:           280 participants.

(Multiple votes from one IP address were not included in the count you see above. Excluding all but one vote per IP address is intended to purvey more realistic results if county or state officials polled residents on the same question. Multiple votes from single IP addresses raised the total number of votes placed to 330.)

The question asked of readers to Wittmann News resulted after the news that City of Goodyear officials successfully blocked attempts to have another private prison built in their community. Officials with the State of Arizona said they too felt, that the best interests of all those concerned would not have benefited by having another facility built in the Goodyear community.

As a result a tip was received by wittmannnews.com from a reliable source within the business community. Details were relayed about a Nevada Investment Group who owns property it bought prior to 2008 in the Wittmann/Morristown areas, and who had begun shopping deals with owners of a Private Prison suggesting the property be considered for purchase for the construction of the facility turned down by Goodyear.

The property itself is now zoned commercial/residential and is inside Surprise City limits due to annexations that ran rapid when the BNSF Rail Road’s Western Division initially introduced plans to construct a transfer-shipping facility near Nadaburg’s original School Site. With plans on that initiative indefinitely on hold; investment groups who tied up monies in land purchases along that scenic corridor extending between Surprise and Wickenburg have been left empty handed. This was especially compounded as the result of the housing market crisis which halted plans to build on the old Chrysler Proving Grounds and other grand scale communities riding on the housing industry high of the mid 2000’s.  

As a result investment groups which had purchased land in the rural desert in the Northwest Valley have been trying to drum up buyers for other projects. Those lucky enough to escape the zoning restrictions enacted by the United States Air Force through Luke Air Force Base, found that if annexed by municipal jurisdictions, their holdings in property might find a faster rebound than if left stranded on an island of land falling under the jurisdiction of Maricopa County alone.

Wittmann News contacted Arizona, Maricopa County and various communities planning and zoning officials (some who only confided under the condition of being “off record”) and was told that parcels of property had been considered for possible Private Prisons throughout their jurisdictions but would not release the exact locations. Some of those who wittmannnews.com talked to said that even if a seller and buyer was in serious negotiations, a full impact study and survey of those living in the community would follow before any actual deals could see a sale of property to the closing table.  In addition with the just announced decline by the City of Goodyear, officials tell wittmannnews.com that the process is now returned to square one.

One person wittmannnews.com spoke to off the record said:

 “Obviously the mission to build another private prison in Arizona is going to be directed on the path of least resistance.”

If the survey wittmannnews.com is any indication that a greater path of resistance is to be in the Wittmann-Morristown communities; it is obvious that other areas are going to be considered before striking up negations with land owners in the Wittmann-Morristown communities. The findings of the wittmannnews.com survey were not as over whelming when it came to opposing the private prison idea as some may have expected. Still…enough of a margin exists that should suggest to those in the process of planning they won’t be met with open arms by the majority.

Considering Wittmann, Circle City and Morristown residents several angles have to be looked at. There are many long time residents who do not wish to see more urban development which would include even a far-a-way notion for a private prison being constructed. Add to that the concerns from family oriented households that chose the rural settings of Wittmann, Circle City and Morristown as a way to escape the growing violence and crowded lifestyles they experienced in the inner cities of the Phoenix Metro. The survey suggests that they too would be no more inviting to seeing a private industrialized prison than those old timers in the community. The mental picture of razor wire fences popping up and blocking their view of the morning sunrise or the breath taking sunsets known for silhouetting a cactus in the evening glow does not bode well for many who took the survey.

Of course before sunrise and sunset views become the most debated issue - the greatest concern would be the looming issues a prison-type setting would bring. In considering correspondence received by wittmannnews.com concerning this subject; it is the conclusion after reviewing writings from readers that the only habitat provisions open for discussion is preserving free open range to cattle, javelinas, coyotes, ground squirrels and bunny rabbits.

You can still get cookies from the Wittmann Girl Scout Troop #1057

The Wittmann Girl Scout Troop will  be heading the St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 17th in Circle City, with a bake sale to raise funds for the troop immediately following the parade.

The local Girl Scout Troop will also have a booth at Grand Desert Days on March 10th at Speedworld!

If you are unable to make those events you can call the local Girl Scout Leader Jan Meiers by phone at 623-302-4228 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            623-302-4228      end_of_the_skype_highlighting and make a request for more information or place an order for cookies.

If you wish to communicate by email send your information to benjamingroff@wittmannnews.com who will forward your information to a local Girl Scout Leader. A local Scout Leader will be certain to contact you with details on how you can make arrangements to support the local Girl Scouts and get a box (or two, or three…) of cookies. Please include a phone number you can be reached at to help the Girl Scout Troop to get the cookies to you as quickly as possible!

You can also request to learn more about Scouting from a local Girl Scout Leader by sending inquiries to benjamingroff@wittmannnews.com . The information you provide will be shared exclusively with the local Girl Scout program and will not be released by wittmannnews.com to any other organization.

To find Girl Scout Cookies in areas outside the Wittmann,
 Circle City-Morristown areas click here!

Birders Anonymous meets at the Church of the Palms, 14808 N. Boswell Blvd., Sun City, Az  85351,

Click Here for Directions.

Want to learn more about Bird Watching? Become involved by calling organization for more information!

Birders of all skill levels are invited.

For more information:Call Mr. Wall at 623-875-7057.

Wickenburg Children’s cultural Organization (WCO) will stage a Music in the Park event, 100 Minutes of Arizona Music,  on Sunday, March 4, 2012 from 2 pm until 5 pm on the grounds of the Garcia Little Red Schoolhouse.  A variety of performers will play or sing music with Arizona roots. Among them will be Holly Samsill, Nelson Campos, the Wickenburg High School Drum section, Morristown string students and more.  Various others singing or playing music that is identified with Arizona.  

This is a free event as part of WCO’s celebration of Arizona’s Centennial.  The LRSH property celebrated its centennial in 2005.  Ignacio Garcia, a pioneer landowner, deeded land to Wickenburg as the site for its first schoolhouse in 1905, starting as a frame building, only a few years later the current brick building was erected.

There will be refreshments available for sale at this event.  Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets as seating.. 

The Garcia Little Red Schoolhouse (LRSH) is located at 245 North Tegner Street in Wickenburg. For additional information on this event call the LRSH from 10 am until 2 pm, Tuesday through Saturday at 928-684-7473.  .

 BANDSTAND BOOGIE IN WICKENBURG  
Wickenburg Children’s cultural Organization (WCO) will host “Bandstand Boogie”, an evening of dining and dancing in an undisclosed location.  This year’s Bandstand Boogie has a speakeasy theme.  Once you purchase your tickets you will be given the location.  Swing and Sway to the music of Max Borjon and his Big Band Orchestra on March 31, 2012, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. 

Max Borjon Lopez, aka Max Borjon, was born in Prescott and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. After graduating from college in the Bay Area, Max started Max Borjon Orchestras and Entertainment, where he formed an 18 piece big band that performed at corporate and public events. Max has performed with such artists as Lew Rawls, The Temptations, Debbie Reynolds, Frankie Lane, Kay Star, Charro the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, Frankie Avalon, The Stars of Lawrence Welk, Freddy Cole Show, Wayne Newton, Carol Lawrence, Little Anthony and The Imperials, Patty Page, and the Tex Benneke Orchestra.

The mission of the WCO is to enrich the lives of children through music and the arts and help preserve the Garcia Little Red School House.  The proceeds from this annual fundraiser will allow the organization to continue these efforts and will highlight the efforts to build a bandstand in the Schoolhouse Park for community concerts and events.

The cost for an evening of fun is $100.00 per person.  Reservations can be made by calling 928-684-7473.  We hope to see you at the event.

You can click on the photo to the right for the best fishing times & conditions; at Lake Pleasant and also search other areas.