Arts and Entertainment

Diana Gabaldon to Headline Third Annual Sedona Book Festival

June 20, 2011No Comments2 Mins Read

samaireformayor

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Well Red Coyote Offers More than Books

Sedona, AZ (June 20, 2011) – The third annual Sedona Book festival will be held on Saturday, October 1, from 9 am to 5 pm, on the beautiful Sedona Center for Arts & Technology, Yavapai College, located at 4215 Arts Village Drive in Sedona.

International bestselling author, Diana Gabaldon, will be the festival’s keynote speaker. Gabaldon is the author of the popular Outlander series and will be celebrating a special 20th anniversary edition of the first book in her epic series.

06202011dianagabaldon — International bestselling author Diana Gabaldon

“We’ve had a lot of feedback from participants of the past two festivals,” says Joe Neri, founder of the Sedona Book Festival, “and we are making some significant changes to the festival format this year.”

In addition to Gabaldon, Jeff Smedstad, owner and chef of the Elote Café in Sedona, will be conducting a cooking demonstration. Local author and writing instructor, Kris Neri, will be conducting a comprehensive publishing workshop for writers.

“We have redesigned the physical lay-out of the festival at Yavapai College,” Neri said, “allowing much more room for authors and attendees indoors, as well as taking advantage of the scenic outdoor patio for several special vendors.”

The Sedona Performers Guild will provide live music on the outdoor patio during festival hours.

The book festival is free and open to the public. A portion of festival proceeds will be donated to the Yavapai College Foundation – Greater Verde Valley Chapter.

Registration is now open for exhibitors and vendors. For more information, visit www.sedonabookfestival.com, or call Joe Neri at (928) 282-2284.

Scott mayor

samaireformayor

diana gabaldon well red coyote

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THE MOMENT IS UPON US

Dear Sedona,

The moment is upon us. The time for a united effort to shift the focus back to our community is now.

The ability to thrive in our community, our environment, our workforce, and the tourist industry, is entirely possible because we have all the resources needed for success.

Still, we need a council that isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions, that makes decisions based on data and facts, and through discussion, rather than moving and voting in group unison as they so regularly do.

This is my home. I have been a part of the Sedona community for 28 years. I witnessed the road debacle, the lack of planning, the city circumventing the local businesses ability to thrive, while making choices to expand the local government and be in direct competition with private industry.

I am a unique candidate because unlike the incumbents, I don’t believe the government should expand in size, nor in operations, nor would I attempt to micromanage every aspect of our community.

City government should stay in its lane and allow the competitive market of local private industry to prosper. And it should defend our community from corporate takeover and infiltration of our town.

I do not agree that we should sign onto International Building Codes and regulations by signing Sedona up to the ICC. It is imperative that we remain a sweet, rural community.

Where are the arts? Where is this organic thriving element that we allege to be animated by. Where is our culture? Where is our community?

The discord between the decision making process and the desires of the community have never been more clear. It has been nearly a decade in the making.

It is time for a new era of energy to take charge. An energy that is reflective in the ability to succeed rather than be trapped in out of date consciousness.

It has been a great honor meeting with each of you. I hear your concerns over the insane and out of control spending and I echo them. A budget of $105,000,000 in a town of 9700 residents is completely unacceptable. A parking structure (that looks like a shoe box) originally slated to cost 11 million, now projected to cost 18 million, is incomprehensible. Especially, considering there is no intention of charging for parking.

For those who are concerned that I lack the political experience within our established system- that is precisely what Sedona needs… Not another politician, but instead a person who understands people, who listens to the voices within the community, and who will act in service on their behalf with accountability, for the highest good of Sedona. What I am not, will prove to be an asset as I navigate the entrenched bureaucracy with a fresh perspective. Business as usual, is over.

Creative solutions require new energy.

Every decision that is made by our local government, must contemplate Sedona first.

Does this decision benefit the residents?
Does this decision benefit the local businesses?
Does this decision actually help the environment?
Will this decision sustain benefit in the future, or will it bring more problems?

What we have now is a city government that expands to 165 employees for 9700 residents. Palm Desert has 53,000 residents and 119 city employees. Majority of our city department heads are not even in town. I find this problematic.

Efforts towards championing in and courting new solutions for our medical needs are imperative. We are losing our doctors. We must encourage competition with other facilities rather than be held hostage by NAH, who clearly have their own set of dysfunctions.

We must remember that so many move to Sedona for its beauty, hiking, and small town charm. Bigger, faster, and more concrete does not, in broad strokes, fit the ethos of Sedona.

The old world must remain strong here in balance, as that is what visitors want to experience. Too many have noted that Sedona has lost its edge and charm.

As Mayor I will preserve the rural charm of our community, and push back against the urbanization that is planned for Sedona.

As mayor I will make it a priority to create opportunities to support our youth. After school healthy, enriching programs should be created for our kids, and available to the Sedona workforce regardless of residency and regardless of school they belong to.

As Mayor, I will create an agenda to deliberately embody the consciousness of our collective needs here, allowing private industry to meet the needs of our community rather than bigger government.

I hope to have your vote on Aug 2nd. I am excited and have the energy to take on this leadership role with new eyes, community perspective, and the thoughtful consciousness that reflects all ages of the human spectrum.

Thank you deeply for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Samaire Armstrong

Heads or Tails
By Tommy Acosta
Let’s face it. I love conspiracy theories. The more far-out the better. Yup. I’m one of those. Looking at the Trump raid fiasco there can only be two theories that I see fit perfectly into the scenario that’s being weaved for public consumption. The first is that what is happening is actually being engineered by the forces that want Trump to return to the White House. Just like with the Russia-Russia thing, what is going to happen after all the hoopla,Trump will be found completely innocent just like before and he will be loved even more by his fans and followers. Those who tried to put him down will be chagrinned while those who supported him politically will be exalted. Republicans will be revived, and they will go out and vote in a new Congress and Trump will rule once again. Then there is the other side of the coin. Read more→