On The Border

Good morning, it’s Monday February 1st and this is The Herald Review’s Daily Chirp podcast. We’re bringing you a closer look at one of our top stories, along with other important things going on in our community. 

Today - According to the Sheriff’s office, crossings by undocumented persons from Mexico have been on the rise since last March.

Before we begin, some local history.

Tucked on the corner of San Pedro and Fifth streets, the Benson Historical Museum is filled with a treasure trove of exhibits that introduce visitors to the area’s rich history. They even have a 1.72 million-year-old prehistoric mammal exhibit which came from area excavations, just 12 miles from Benson.

Today’s history is brought to you by Benson Hospital - they’re doing more than treating illnesses in Benson, they're building a healthier community. Benson Hospital is now collaborating with the Diaper Bank of Southern Arizona to provide diaper assistance to families in need. For more information visit their website at bensonhospital.org.

Now, our feature story. 

law enforcement officials have said that the number of undocumented individuals crossing into Cochise and its neighboring counties has skyrocketed since March. In some months they’ve seen five times as many people coming in.

The increase in illegal crossings is followed by a spike in human smuggling across the area. Sheriff’s deputies, local police and Border Patrol agents have been attempting to capture the coyotes — which are people who smuggle immigrants across the U.S.–Mexico border.

On Friday morning a group of legislators from Arizona and other states gathered in front of the Sierra Vista Justice Court building for a briefing from Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels and Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre on how dire the situation has become.

McIntyre highlighted two recent events in which coyotes carrying several undocumented people in their vehicles attempting to race onto I-10 ended up in fatal and near-fatal crashes.

The fatal wreck occurred in the Bisbee traffic circle in early January after authorities tried to stop the driver who had eight undocumented people in his vehicle. The driver, William Brown of Mesa, was driving at speeds often exceeding 100 mph. Investigators said Brown had retrieved his human cargo in Douglas and was heading toward Bisbee.

And on Tuesday night, a 16-year-old boy carrying several undocumented people in his truck tried to turn onto I-10 near Benson and crashed into another motorist. The other driver and his passenger were injured, as were the undocumented people riding with the teenager.

McIntyre said that Brown is facing two counts of first degree murder; the 16-year-old will be tried as an adult.

Michael Hyatt, is the agent in charge at the Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station near Bisbee. He noted that human smuggling involves more than just people walking across the border into the United States. According to Hyatt inside that human smuggling is a lot of child exploitation and sex trafficking. 

brought to you by ApexNetwork Physical Therapy in Benson and Sierra Vista. They’re doing more than just treating patients, they’re helping patients get back to living their daily lives. Using extensive knowledge, their therapists treat each patient one-on-one, focusing on individual care. To learn more, go to ApexNetworkPT.com.

We recently spoke with Benson's athletic director, Chris Taylor, about the Wrestling season. Here are his thoughts on wrestling during the pandemic.

Next, an announcement brought to you by our sponsors, Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative.

The Arizona Fraternal Order of Police wants Google to stop providing a platform for individuals who record law enforcement and then post videos on YouTube bad mouthing the cops. At least one local lawman agrees social media holds sway over some people against the police.

In a press release sent earlier this week, the AZFOP asked the public to sign a petition that calls on video giant YouTube — owned by Google — to immediately de-platform the accounts of multiple so-called ‘police auditors.’ They claim that these video camera vigilantes regularly interfere by harassing, threatening, and abusing police officers to create a video spectacle.

Finally - we’d like to remember the life of David Thompson, a builder and teacher. The issues he felt strongly about and worked for were: ending America's Forever Wars, Reducing Income Inequality, making America great by encouraging immigrants from all over the world to come here, empowering women in formerly all-male occupations, and serious gun control. Like Charles Lindbergh, he flunked out of college after 3 semesters. He went to work in New York City in the shadow of the Empire State Building while going to college at night. After two years he had enough credits to qualify for Marine flight training. He graduated near the top of his class and was sent to Vietnam. In back to back tours he flew over 500 missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. These were the best years of his life until he retired to Sierra Vista. 

After retiring in Sierra Vista in 2014, he started a pro-bono career as an after-lunch, after-dinner speaker for the library, Democratic Women of Southeast Arizona, and a few other local organizations. He also served on the City Planning and Zoning Commission and was an honorary board member of Southeast Arizona Contractors Association.

He will be greatly missed by comrades, colleagues, friends, nieces, nephews, and siblings. Thank you for taking a moment today to remember and celebrate David’s life.

Thanks for tuning in to the Herald Review podcast today, join us again on Tuesday! For more information on any of the stories you heard about today, visit us at myheraldreview.com. 

Thanks for tuning in to the Herald Review podcast today, join us again on Tuesday! And remember, the Herald Review is here for you with local news you can trust. For more information on any of the stories you heard about today, visit us at myheraldreview.com. Right now you can become a member starting at just $1.99 per week.

Support the show: https://www.myheraldreview.com/site/forms/subscription_services/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good morning, it’s Thursday, December 31st and this is The Herald Review’s podcast, the Daily Chirp. We’re excited to bring you a closer look at top stories, events in the community, local history, sports, and more. Today - the fight to stop border wall construction continues.

But first, a quick message from our sponsor.

Before we begin, some local history.

In 1847 Edward Lawrence Schieffelin was born. He was a prospector who first discovered silver in the Arizona Territory. His discovery led to the founding of Tombstone. He, his brother, and a mining engineer made a handshake deal that produced millions of dollars in wealth for all three of them. 

Today’s history was brought to you by Benson Hospital. They’re doing more than treating illnesses in Benson, they're building a healthier community. Benson Hospital donated rescue inhalers to Cochise County Schools to help keep kids healthy and out of the ER. To learn more, visit their website at bensonhospital.org.

Now, our feature story.

Environmental, border community and tribal groups have done everything in their power to stop a 30-foot border wall from going up across Arizona’s rich, diverse, fragile and remote desert ecosystems. They have yet to prevail.

In Cochise County, the San Bernardino Wildlife Refuge and the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area have been blasted, bulldozed and blocked. Vital water supplies have been diminished. All for what some call President Donald Trump’s vanity wall.

The San Bernardino Wildlife Refuge or SBWR is known for its rare migrating wildlife. The San Pedro River is a world-renowned birding site. Both have been altered completely by the wall. 

Massive gates have been installed through washes. Mountains have been blasted. And roads built through remote, pristine lands in the mountains.

Conservationist Jose Manuel Perez spoke to CBS News about the issue:

Federal courts have agreed with the premise of a number of lawsuits to stop wall building, but they stopped short and permitted the building to continue.

One lawsuit to stop the wall due to the misappropriation of funds for areas in Cochise County and other southern Arizona borderlands will now go before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Michael Gregory, a longtime champion for the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, described the wall as Trump’s Mount Rushmore. A monument to his ego and all the hate engineered by his administration. Gregory thinks it should come down.

U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona from District 2 said that they pushed back hard against funding for the wall. 

Here’s Kirckpatrick in a plea to direct budgets elsewhere.

Kirkpatrick said that Biden could cancel the construction contracts with little loss of funding since the contracts will have been signed so recently and the federal government has wide discretion to cancel contracts.

Biden has a lot of flexibility here not to even touch those funds at all. He can also ask Congress to re–allocate those funds to another part of DHS, or get creative with how ‘barrier’ is defined, a term not defined in law. 

Want to stay up to date on what’s going on? Join NABUR – your trusted neighborhood community. NABUR is a free online forum you can trust to connect with your community, focus on facts & make a difference. Join the conversation! Visit Nabur.myheraldreview.com 

We also want to take a moment today to recognize Coach James Bosco Selchow, brought to you by ApexNetwork Physical Therapy. Providing physical therapy to the community, ApexNetwork offers a wide range of services including Manual Therapy, Industrial Rehab, Dry Needling, Golf Rehab and more. To learn more, go to ApexNetworkPT.com.

After 40 years of coaching, James “‘Bosco” Selchow is retiring.

He was hired in 1980, and may be the longest standing coach in the history of Douglas. For the past 31 years has been the head coach of the Douglas High School golf team, but originally coached football and baseball.

By Bosco’s side, supporting him the entire time is his wife, Jana, who is a retired educator. The couple will be celebrating their 40th anniversary this January. Bosco says he was fortunate to have been able to coach his son Jordan while his daughter, Meghan, was a cheerleader.

Now that he has retired from coaching Selchow plans on continuing on playing golf and admits he may attend a high school golf match or two in the coming years. He’ll be spending a lot more time with his son and daughter-in-law and their baby and visiting his daughter in Illinois.

Finally, today we’re remembering the life of 

Leland P Deal, Jr. of Sierra Vista. Lee served his country with honor in the U.S. Air Force from as an Airman First Class. There he acquired skills that served him well in his 33-year engineering career at Honeywell and Bull Technologies in Glendale. Lee also received a Bachelor of Arts from Ottawa University and a Master of Counseling from University of Phoenix. 

This career brought him to Sierra Vista and his beloved Huachuca Mountains. Lee eventually opened his private counseling practice in Sierra Vista continuing to do what he loved, helping others until his retirement in 2012.

Lee loved touring the National Parks, motorcycle cruising, hiking, bicycling, photography and creating beautiful furnishings. He often spoke joyfully of his adventures such as white-water rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and hiking it rim to rim. Lee was kind, authentic and had a gentle and unique sense of humor. He will be dearly missed by his family, friends, and everyone who knew him. Thank you for taking a moment today to remember and celebrate his life.

Thanks for tuning in to the Herald Review podcast today, join us again on Tuesday! For more information on any of the stories you heard about today, visit us at myheraldreview.com. 

Thanks for tuning in to the Herald Review podcast today, join us again on Tuesday! And remember, the Herald Review is here for you with local news you can trust. For more information on any of the stories you heard about today, visit us at myheraldreview.com. Right now you can become a member starting at just $1.99 per week.

Support the show: https://www.myheraldreview.com/site/forms/subscription_services/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good morning, it’s Thursday, December 3rd and this is The Herald Review’s newest podcast, the Daily Chirp. We’re excited to bring you a closer look at one of our top stories, events in the community, local history, sports, and more. Today, we’d like to highlight Deputy Constance Baker, one of Cochise County’s female first responders.

 

But first, a quick message from our sponsor 

 

Before we begin, some local history.

 

Did you know that for the first 48 years of Cochise County’s existence, the county seat was Tombstone? It remained that way until 1929, when it was moved southeast to nearby Bisbee. 

 

Today’s history was brought to you by Benson Hospital. They’re doing more than treating illnesses in Benson, they're building a healthier community. Benson Hospital donated rescue inhalers to Cochise County Schools to help keep kids healthy and out of the ER. To learn more, visit their website at bensonhospital.org.

 

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Now, our feature story.

Constance Baker considers service to one’s community and country an immense honor. In addition to working with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office she’s also an Army Reservist.

 

Baker has wanted to be in law enforcement since she was a young child.

 

She told us that “As a reservist, the highest honor or privilege you could have is by serving your country. I realized growing up that I could serve my community by working in law enforcement.”

 

As with a large proportion of first responders, Deputy Baker has told us that she is inspired by the people she works with, whether it be fellow law enforcement or other first responders. She is stirred when she witnesses the compassion firefighters exhibit for a complete stranger on a call and appreciates those who act in a professional manner. She feels this attitude makes a huge difference in the community.

 

When Baker talks about working with her law enforcement comrades she says, “What I’ve learned from my sergeant and other people I’ve worked with, I work with the best of Cochise County. That has helped me so much in other areas. Running a business, communicating and being in the reserves and working with the soldiers under me. I think I’ve learned, in all the careers I’ve had, the most about leadership, in working with and helping people and serving others. I’ve learned that from my squad and from my sergeant.

 

To hear more about Deputy Constance Baker in her own words and to read more about the stories of other women serving Cochise County as first responders, make sure you check out myheraldreview.com

 

 

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We also want to take a moment today to recognize an athlete in our community, brought to you by ApexNetwork Physical Therapy. Providing physical therapy to the community, ApexNetwork offers a wide range of services including Manual Therapy, Industrial Rehab, Dry Needling, Golf Rehab and more. To learn more, go to ApexNetworkPT.com.

 

Reagan McGuire is just a freshman on Tombstone High School’s cross country team, but she’s already making a name for herself. Her coach, Jake Winslow, says that McGuire’s desire to become better and her work ethic is what makes her special, as well as why she’s been successful. She finished 11th at the Rio Rico Rattler Invitational, and regularly finishes in the top 5 in the local meets. 

 

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Finally, we’d like to take a moment today to remember the life of John Leo Koren, Jr. John grew up in Buffalo, New York and joined the army following his education. He served in Vietnam until 1969, and then entered on duty with the U.S. Border Patrol. For his first duty station he was assigned to Willcox, Arizona. Multiple moves later, John transferred back to Arizona, to the Douglas, Arizona Station as the Patrol Agent in Charge. He retired in August 2000 with 30 years’ time. After retirement, he held various jobs including doing Background Investigations for CBP, ICE and the Defense Intelligence Agency. He also traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe. He was actively involved with the Fraternal Order of Retired Border Patrol Officers where he served on the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board. John also served as Vice President and President of the Board. He belonged and served as Vice President of the FOP Huachuca Lodge #28 as well.

John met the love of his life, Catherine, while in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They were married in 1985 and the honeymoon never ended. John was a good man, blunt to a fault. There wasn’t a better friend, son, father and husband. He was one of the good ones, and he will be deeply missed. Thank you for taking a moment today to remember and celebrate John’s life.

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Thanks for tuning in to the Herald Review podcast today, join us again next week! And remember, the Herald Review is here for you with local news you can trust. For more information on any of the stories you heard about today, visit us at myheraldreview.com. Right now you can become a member starting at just $1.99 per week.

Support the show: https://www.myheraldreview.com/site/forms/subscription_services/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.