Desert Messenger

WHAT'S INSIDE 3 Angel Tree 5 Chief Ponce graduates FBI 5 General Store's 45th 6 Editorial 7 Letters to the Editor 8 Food Handler Classes 10 Senior Moments 10 Rainbow Acres Craft show 11 Restaurants 12 Garden Angels 13 Light Parade 14 Around Town 14 Silent Auction 15 Band Scramble 16 Soup & Chowder Fest 18 Book Bonanza 19 The Salvation Army happenings 26 TOPS 27 Art Guild 27 Museum 29 Salome High 31 Calendar 32 Puzzles 33 Nancy's Kitchen 33 HerbMama 34 Churches 36 Classifeds 36 Paul Winer's Cartoon www.DesertMessenger.com • "Quartzsite's FREE Community Paper" • 928-916-4235 WEDNESDAY, December 6, 2017 VOL. 14 # 268 Now in our 14 t h YEAR! Alwa y s FREE! SEE SHOOTING PAGE 8 Runaway teen found safe On November 25th the search for Quartzsite resident 17-year- old Rhiyanna Timberlake end- ed when she reached out and made contact with her family. She was reported missing to the Quartzsite Police Department (QPD) on the morning of No- vember 7th. Reports were that she may have been in Quartzsite, nearby Ehrenberg or Blythe. According to her mother, the teen is currently with a family friend at a safe location. 3 big events planned for Sat. Dec. 9 The Quartzsite Improvement Assoc. (QIA) will be hosting the 4th Annual Soup and Chowder Festival and Operation Hero Comfort Annual Silent Auction. Several restaurants and cooks from around the area will be serving up their favorite soup and chowder recipes starting at noon. The Silent Auction will take place beginning at 11am. The Annual Christmas Parade will start at 7pm. Floats will head east on Main St., ending up at the Community Center with refresh- ments and Tree Lighting. See articles on Pages 13, 14, & 16. Officer involved shooting On November 28, 2017 at around 1:50 a.m., an Attempt to Locate (ATL) was put out by the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) dispatch regarding a shooting suspect wanted by the Phoenix Police Department. Sladjan Petkovic, 36, is accused of fatally shooting his neighbor, 45-year-old Steven Arvallo, as part of an ongoing dispute in their southwest Phoenix neighborhood, Phoenix police said. Around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, offi cials received a call from a truck driv- er who reported he had been shot by a passing vehicle on I-10 in La Paz County near milepost 62, said DPS Director Frank Milstead. The driver was injured from broken glass but is expected to be okay, Mil- stead added. As the trooper was checking the area he located a male subject stand- ing outside of a car by the highway. The male suspect immediately opened fi re on the trooper who returned fi re and upon the arrival of La Paz County Sheriff Deputies, Quartzsite Police Department Of- fi cers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agents, the suspect continued shooting. The gunfi ght went on for nearly fi ve minutes before La Paz County deputies arrived. The gunfi re exchange then continued for 20 to 30 minutes as more law-enforcement offi cials arrived. There were 300 rounds of ammo exchanged, Milstead said. The suspect was shot and wounded during the exchange and was airlifted to a Phoenix area hospital. No offi cers were injured. Arizona law-enforcement officials held press conference Wednesday, November 29th to discuss the November 28th shootout in more detail.

• Cover