Author: Tommy Acosta

Tommy Acosta is the publisher, editor, and lead opinion writer of Sedona.biz, the hyperlocal cyber magazine known as "The Voice of Sedona and the Verde Valley." He writes on local issues, politics, national affairs, culture, and personal reflection, often with a provocative or satirical tone.In addition to his work as a writer, Acosta is a working musician and reflexologist. He has written extensively about the challenges Sedona's musicians face, noting their low pay despite the town's vibrant music scene.Acosta describes himself as a "political actualist," rejecting strict party affiliations and instead focusing on how people are manipulated by political processes. His coverage spans local Sedona issues, tourism, short-term rentals, cultural events, community building, as well as national commentary and critiques of political figures, sometimes through imaginative pieces like "What Would Tommy Do?"Acosta is deeply engaged in Sedona's cultural and spiritual community, advocating for local musicians, artisans, and businesses, and writing about Sedona's unique identity as a spiritual and artistic hub.

Flagstaff AZ (January 30, 2013) – Arizona Snowbowl’s 75 birthday candles will be dancing down the mountain at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 1 in a torchlight parade kicking off 10 days of anniversary festivities! www.arizonasnowbowl.com/celebrate “A bonfire, food specials and prizes at Hart Prairie Lodge will warm spectators as Snowbowl employees light up the night in a procession down Sunset run,” said Marketing and Sales Director Dave Smith.

Read More

Cottonwood AZ (January 30, 2013) – Wyatt Earp, the great nephew of “the” Wyatt Earp will present his famous one man play The Gentleman Doc Holiday at Old Town Center for the Arts, on Saturday, February 9th at 7:00 pm. Last year Wyatt performed to a sold out house at OTCA, in his one man play Wyatt Earp: A Life on the Frontier. Doc Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Read More

Sedona AZ (January 30, 2013) – Gallery of Modern Masters, at Hillside Sedona, is pleased to announce an art auction during the month of February to benefit Rainbow Acres, a local charity that provides homes for adults with developmental disabilities. The painting to be auctioned is “Winds of Change” from the “Ghost Riders In The Sky” series of original works on canvas by the husband and wife team of Michael Redhawk and Marlys K. Mallet. Silent and secret auction bids for the painting, valued at $3,500, will be accepted during the month of February with the winner announced March 1st.

Read More

Feb. 5 simulcast will feature Justice Sonia Sotomayor; Feb. 7 event will feature Lemba Jews Sedona AZ (January 30, 2013) – New York’s famous 92nd Street Y comes to Sedona on Feb. 5 and 7 when the Sedona International Film Festival hosts the live simulcast of programs and discussions with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (Tuesday, Feb. 5) and the Lemba Jews of Zimbabwe (Thursday, Feb. 7). The special events will take place at the festival’s Mary D. Fisher Theatre, live as they are happening in New York.

Read More

Flagstaff AZ (January 29, 2013) – NAU Jazz Festival is celebrating its 51st year on Feb. 21-23 at the Ardrey Memorial Auditorium on the NAU campus. Guest artist Brice Winston will perform with NAU’s Jazz Ensemble One on Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. The concert program will begin with NAU Jazz Combo I performing originals and arrangements of jazz standards. The feature of the evening will be Brice Winston performing the music of Maria Schneider, John Mahoney, Rob McConnell and others with NAU Jazz One.

Read More

Sedona AZ (January 29, 2013) – The Sedona – Verde Valley chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBOSVV) will hold their monthly meeting on Thursday, February 14th at 11:15am at Heartline Cafe in West Sedona. Business women, will LOVE our February 14th event! For the first time ever, you will get to ask very successful local business owners how they built their successes from the ground up. Want to know the mistakes they made, so that you can avoid them? Want to know what it takes to make a local business boom? Bring those burning questions you have…

Read More

Sedona AZ (January 29, 2013) – What would the world look like if everyone else around you accepted and shared his or her greatness, as well? This February 17-23, you are invited to participate in an experiential international project that explores this possibility: International Share Your Greatness Week. Participants will personally challenge themselves to grow individually and collectively. The goal of this world-wide event is to directly and indirectly positively impact the lives of thousands of people.

Read More

Sedona AZ (January 29, 2013) – Studio Live presents Songs From My Red Suitcase: A One Woman Musical Play Saturday, February 9th at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $15.00 general admission, doors open at 7:00 pm. Most of us know Vismaya, who now goes by Ingrid Hagelberg as a cabaret/jazz singer. However, when she first arrived in the USA, in Los Angeles, she was also recognized as a class act singer/actress. In L.A., Ingrid played a starring role in I Remember Mama, a play about a Norwegian immigrant family in the early 1900s. 

Read More

Joan Collins To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award Sedona AZ (January 29, 2013) – The 26 film screeners who reviewed nearly 1,000 films for the 19th annual Sedona International Film Festival, Feb. 23 to March 3, have selected the final 159 for the week-long event. Films this year in the documentary, feature and short film categories cover a range of subjects from Last Will. & Testament about William Shakespeare to Avenue Rats Lost Downtown, a documentary about homeless kids in Seattle to A Virus Called Fear which focuses on how fear controls us to even a short list of films for…

Read More

Sedona AZ (January 29, 2013) – Hot Topics Cafe, a partnership between Philosophy in the Public Interest and the Compassion Project programs at NAU, will hold an open public discussion about second amendment issues at The Sedona Public Library on Tuesday, February 5 from 5:30 to 7PM. The program is free and all are welcome. While gun control and gun rights were not originally on the list of Hot Topics for this year’s program, the tragedy in Newtown, CT, and the ensuing discussions in the halls of Congress resulted in members of the Hot Topics program committee requesting that it…

Read More

Sedona AZ (January 29, 2013) – Your former piano teacher might not approve, but thousands have learned the secret of how to play piano without reading music.  If you’ve ever wondered how it’s done, mark Monday, February 18, 2013 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on your calendar.  That’s when the Sedona Parks and Recreation brings in Craig Coffman to teach the nationally renowned “How to Play Piano in Three Hours” workshop at the Sedona Teen Center, 525-B Posse Ground Road.

Read More

Acclaimed play from the U.K. debuts on big screen at Mary D. Fisher Theatre Sedona AZ (January 29, 2013) – The National Theatre of London returns to Sedona on Monday, Feb. 4 when the Sedona International Film Festival hosts the big screen premiere of the acclaimed British stage production “The Magistrate”. There will be two shows: 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. at the festival’s Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Academy Award nominee and Tony Award-winner John Lithgow (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Shrek, 3rd Rock from the Sun) takes the title role in Arthur Wing Pinero’s uproarious Victorian farce, directed by Olivier Award-winner Timothy…

Read More

Sedona AZ (January 27, 2013) – The Humane Society of Sedona, has all kinds of cats and kittens.  Socks Kitty is nearly 6 years old, so he’s past his high energy and hi-jinx days.  He has mellowed out into a young adult with a very sweet disposition.  Socks Kitty is a silver tabby cat with lots of white.  He may have come to the Humane Society as a stray, but he is obviously from a good home and is used to people, being brushed and getting petted.  If you’re looking for a calm cat to be your new best friend,…

Read More

Jerome AZ (January 25, 2013) – Gallery 527 once again will have plenty of jewelry from local favorite Marian Ward. Marian has created plenty of hearts for Valentine’s Day as well as her elegant designs of fine silver and other precious metal clays. Brandi Lee Cooper’s lamps will illuminate the window and a few new pieces by Shane McDermott have arrived. Stop by to see his interpretation of photography on canvas as well as his stunning dye infused metal prints. Art Walk festivities begin at 5pm on February 2nd. For more information about Jerome Art Walk on February 2, 2013,…

Read More

Sedona AZ (January 25, 2013) – Teri Bays, Sedona resident, liturgist and church musician, writer, actor, artist/designer is hosting a celebration of the release of her new book, “Through Stained Glass: The Priests of My Life.” The book signing party which will include readings of excerpts, poetry, music and refreshments will take place Tuesday, February 5, 4-7pm at The Fireside Room of Heartline Café, 1610 W. SR89A, Sedona.

Read More