Desert Messenger

6 www.DesertMessenger.com July 13, 2016 OPINION DESERT MESSENGER Quartzsite's FREE Community Paper Proud to be a Quartzsite Licensed Business 928-916-4235 O� T��� - E���� T���! Founded by Walt Akin October 1, 2004 P�������� �� P���� R��� P��������� C�. P.O. Box 3185 Quartzsite, AZ 85359 P�������� ����� � ����� 1st & 3rd Wednesday Sept. thru May with Special Summer Editions June, July & August EDITOR/PUBLISHER Shanana "Rain" BearCat CONTRIBUTING JOURNALIST Joanne Winer GUEST COLUMNIST Jedidiah Free GUEST COLUMNIST Gypsy Jane Finley CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Starr BearCat NAME PLATE LETTERING Paul Winer www.DesertMessenger.com www.MyQuartzsite.com E-mail: Editor@DesertMessenger.com Copyright 2013 Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Desert Messenger. LIKE US on Facebook.com/ DesertMessengerNews FOLLOW US on Twitter @QuartzsiteRain By Shanana "Rain" BearCat LETTERS TO EDITOR POLICY Desert Messenger encourages letters from its readers. Letters should be no longer than 300 words, and may be edited for grammar, content and length. OPINIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THOSE OF THE DESERT MESSENGER. We invite you to not only see a problem, but search for the solution to share with the community, keeping the benefit of all in mind. Letters considered libelous, in poor taste, on a personal issue, mean spirited or dominated by Scripture quotes will not be published. Third party letters will not be accepted. To avoid confusion over people with common or similar names, writers must provide a full name and indicate the name they are known by. Writers must provide a full street address and phone number. Rvers can provide the location of park/BLM land, etc. Street addresses will not be pub- lished. Phone numbers are for verification only and will not be printed. Mail letters to: Desert Messenger, P.O. Box 3185, Quartzsite, AZ 85359 or E-mail to Editor@DesertMessenger.com 928-916-4235 At the General Election in No- vember of 2016 the Quartzsite Fire District Board will increase its membership from three to five members. There will have three seats available. If you live within the boundaries of the fire district and are interested in serving the community as a Fire Board Member please contact La Paz County Elections Department at (928)-669-6149. Please be aware that Rainbow Acres and La Paz Valley are within the boundaries of the fire district and qualified per- sons from those areas are welcome to run for the fire board and rep- resent their area. The Quartzsite Fire Department also has a limited number of Board Member Packets for this non-partisan nomination petition. Packets must be properly complet- ed and filed at the Elections De- partment in Parker between July 11th, 2016 and August 10, 2016 to be eligible. For more information contact Kevin Scholl the Elections Director at the above number. If you would like to speak to a cur- rent board member, please call the Fire Station at 927-6556. Fire board openings Chamber & Tourism on summer hours Watching the news just plain sucks! When I hear of such horrific shootings over and over, my heart sinks to the ground. Loss of lives due to uncontrolled anger is totally unacceptable! Being pissed off at someone is not a good enough ex- cuse to shoot anyone! I don't care who you are, just stop it! Yes, people are angry. Yes, life isn't what you'd like it to be. So get out and do something about it. Then I heard Dallas Police Depart- ment Chief David Brown encourage those who have been protesting to get off the protest line and apply for a job.Now, that made me smile. "We're hiring," he said. "We'll give you an application. We'll help you resolve some of the problems you're protesting about." Sunday evening almost 50 people gathered at Quartzsite Town Park for a prayer vigil. Everyone shared their feelings about recent events. Pastor Bruce Swart graciously facilitated the short noticed gath- ering. Folks from many different denominations were present along with QPD officers and QFD Fire- fighters & EMTs. Even in these try- ing times, the feelings of optimism and hope for our community and the world was palpable. Someone said, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem!" You all know I'm a solution ori- ented gal, however life can be chal- lenging for even the most positive thinking ones. I've been blessed with lots of life skills training. Smile and others smile. Yawn and others yawn. The same is true of anger. Do not allow anger in others to provoke anger in you, and vice versa. Identify what emotions are underneath that anger..where is it coming from and see if it "fits." Or turn off the TV, sit and stare at the stars and know that we are all connected, especially in our collective pain. Breathe deep and release the struggles of the day. Go say Thank You to Police Officers and Firefight- ers for taking care of our community during these difficult times. "Where there is anger, there is always pain underneath." -Eckhart Tolle And remember.. Be gentle with yourself. The new Chamber Area Chamber & Tourism are now on summer hours. The office is Open 10am-2pm; closed Tuesdays and Sunday. Drop in and see what's happening! Check out the Facebook page for updates: business and social media tools, current events, etc. The Chamber & Tourism is located at 1240 W. Main Street, Quartzsite, directly across from McDonald's. For more info visit www.QuartzsiteTourism.com or call 928-927-5200. DEADLINE : WED. AUGUST 3 RD for the aug. 10 Th edition Desert Messenger News Email: editor@DesertMessenger.com 928-916-4235 www.DesertMessenger.com "You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

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