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.

Sedona News – The Unauthorized Happiness Improv team is shocked to announce the release of a show date for the month of February. “This is great! I’ll put on another pot of coffee and wash my on-stage pants”, proclaims Chuck Tyler, a founding member of the comedy troupe. Due to the demands of pulling off the widely successful Sedona International Film Festival, the troupe had decided to give the venue a break by skipping a performance that month. The troupe knew that Executive Director, Patrick Schweiss, would be crossing T’s and dotting I’s to accommodate the roughly 10,000 people who…

Read More

Sedona News – If you have a piece of wood and a wood carving knife, come to Monday at the Museum at Sedona Heritage Museum on Monday, February 13, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and join the Verde Valley Woodcarvers. Hundreds of people have tried their hand at carving with this group since its founding in 1997 by Norm Knight. The group consists of carvers ranging from beginners to master carvers. Come by with your own equipment or just come to watch these artisans do relief carving, chip carving, and bark carving. There is no fee for this demonstration. “Monday at the…

Read More

By Amaya Gayle Gregory Oh God … she squirms … there’s no way out!  No exit. No escape. No where to go. No one to get there. There’s just this, in all its apparently simple complexity, its seemingly complex simplicity.  People, when they come face to face with it, talk about dying. It is the big topic, the one people would rather ignore, deny, or shove under the bed. They can for a while, that is until they open the door and the unwanted guest steps across their threshold. But why wait? Death is a key player, an important feature…

Read More

… watching movies on aviation topics always seems to grab me and fortunately I have a portfolio of tens of thousands of photographs that I took whilst flying. The shot above shows the Village underneath low lying clouds and the beauty of the red rocks as you look north towards Sedona … directly above the village is the wilderness area and the Chapel area above that … Sedona itself is under the blanket of white. Above the clouds was the never ending cloudscape consisting of cloud canyons and mountains … a place disconnected from the world below and a world…

Read More

Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “Kitchen Brigade” showing Feb. 4-9 at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Cathy Marie (Audrey Lamy), an imperious sous chef, wants to open a restaurant. With financial difficulties, Cathy accepts a job at a shelter for young migrants. At first she hates the job then her passion for cuisine starts to change children’s lives. It takes the kindness and vulnerability of the young people to get her off her high horse. Forced out of necessity to take a job as the hostel’s live-in cook,…

Read More

… wonderful to be back this morning, breathing and all that good stuff essential to life as we know it. A wonderful weekend with lots to do and so it continues into the new week … even though we live in a continuum it is nice to insert marker points to give us fresh beginnings and endings. Late afternoon today I went down to the Del Rio Lake in Cottonwood with Eric, as a friend of ours had told Eric there were wood ducks on the lake … we arrived … took our shots and departed. One of the woodies…

Read More

Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona encore of “Janis: Little Girl Blue” showing Feb. 4-7 at the Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatre. This special encore of “Janis: Little Girl Blue” is in honor of what would have been Janis Joplin’s 80th birthday on January 19th. Oscar-nominated documentarian Amy Berg examines the meteoric rise and untimely fall of one of the most revered and iconic rock ‘n’ roll singers of all time: Janis Joplin. Joplin’s life story is revealed for the first time on film through electrifying archival footage, revealing interviews with friends and family…

Read More

By Stephen Williamson Sedona, Az – Has anyone else noticed that the reporting and editorial content of the Red Rock News has changed since paper went all-out in support of a Mayoral candidate who lost the election?    Not so long ago the paper’s news articles as opposed to its editorials were factual and objective. The article titles were usually  basically neutral as was the content of those articles.  And while there were editorials over the years that were often negative and extreme about the City, that was not the dominant theme.  If you’ve been watching, all that has changed.…

Read More

Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “Body Parts” showing Feb. 3-9 at the Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatre. Innovative and incisive, “Body Parts” explores the evolution of desire and “sex” on-screen from a woman’s perspective. Demystifying the often invisible processes in creating intimacy for film and television, the documentary sheds light on the most closely-guarded secrets of an industry now at a crossroads. “Body Parts” features candid interviews with actors and creators who are advocating for real change, including Jane Fonda, Joey Soloway, Angela Robinson, Karyn Kusama, Rose McGowan, Rosanna Arquette,…

Read More

Verde Valley News – No-cost tax preparation and e-filing services for taxpayers of all ages by AARP Tax-Aide IRS-certified volunteers will be at Camp Verde Community Library again this year.   Patrons requiring tax assistance need to first come to Camp Verde Community Library’s PC Help Desk, pick up an AARP Taxpayer Packet, and sign-up with their name and phone number.  You will then be contacted by an AARP representative to set 2 appointments to meet with them at the library at the agreed upon time which will be on Tuesdays during tax season between 3 and 6 pm. AARP representatives…

Read More

By Tommy Acosta Sedona, AZ – Having grown up in the mean streets of the Bronx there is one lesson we learn early on, and that’s don’t mess with the cops when they got you down, and outnumbered. The beating of Tyre Nichols at the hands of the police preceding his death at the hospital could have been avoided if only he had the sense to not resist them. People fail to understand that on the streets, cops are basically “God.” You can’t fight them. If it takes one, two, five, ten or twenty officers they will eventually put you…

Read More

By Amaya Gayle Gregory It’s a hard-earned, well-researched belief. There’s a mountain of support for it, an overwhelming consensus that says it’s true. It seems to pop up whenever you lose it and get angry, or hide under the covers unable to face the moment. It hangs around at the edges, waiting to claim a chunk of your heart … or the whole damn thing. It says that you aren’t supposed to act that way, that you aren’t supposed to hurt, to grieve, to react in any human way. If you do, you can’t pass go and have to go…

Read More

Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona encore of “The Father” showing Feb. 3-9 at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. “The Father” is the winner of two Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was nominated for four other Oscars including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Olivia Colman. Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) is 80, mischievous, living defiantly alone and rejecting the caregivers that his daughter, Anne (Olivia Colman), encouragingly introduces. Yet help is also becoming a necessity for Anne; she can’t make daily visits anymore…

Read More

Sedona News – The upper portion of Cathedral Rock Trail, located on the Red Rock Ranger District (RRRD), will close for construction February 1 through roughly March 31. The area will close to the public while the Red Rock Trail Crew reconstructs rock walls and installs check steps on the trail. The closure order may be lifted during February – or extended past March 31 – depending on the duration of trail work. The trail will be closing due to the inability to safely reroute hikers around the area. Hazards include the possibility of large rolling rocks and other falling debris during…

Read More