Dear Editor, Hello Vail community! I am Leroy Smith, Candidate for Vail Governing Board. I am a former Marine, disabled Veteran, Associate Warden with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Security Monitor at Cienega High School, Federal Whistleblower (sustained), and Correctional Officer for the Arizona Department of Corrections. In my personal and...
The movement to incorporate Vail has started again. It was defeated a few years ago for very good reasons. But now that they are collecting donations, at least one of them being “generous,” they say, they may be planning to mount an aggressive campaign again. They wouldn’t be doing this “mission” to “explore interest and viability“ unless they...
By Debra and April Divine Now let’s be honest. None of us knew if the levees were going to hold. It was predicted for early Sunday August 29, 2021, a hurricane would hit New Orleans (NOLA) again. This time Hurricane Ida. It would be 16 years to the date of Hurricane Katrina. Louisiana was bracing for a rough ride.Residents in NOLA were asked to...
By Shirley Mays Summer is finally and solidly upon us! As an adolescent, growing up during the summer in an area known as “The Valley” in rural Ohio brought great pleasure to my friends and me. The Valley streets were paved with asphalt and we had no sidewalks; we rode our bikes and played barefoot in the streets. All of the streets were dead end...
By Shirley Mays I have a confession to make about one of my guilty pleasures – I love Hallmark movies! Ordinarily, I am an extremely logical, reasonable, slightly obsessive and well-organized individual. But put me in front of a Hallmark movie and I lose myself in the Hallmark movie story. That story that invariably involves two people who don’t...
By Shirley Mays My mom was born on March 26, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother was a domestic who cleaned wealthy people’s homes for a living; her father was trained as a mechanic. She was the only girl in a family of 5 boys and grew up during the depression. Mom would tell me how she and her brothers walked downtown with their red wagon to...
By Shirley Mays The word “civility” has several definitions: courteous behavior, politeness, the act of showing regard for others. Civility also has many synonyms: consideration, courtesy, good manners, graciousness, cordiality, gentility, pleasantry and propriety. Unfortunately, I feel we are living in times where if civility is not dead, it...
