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Posted by John Aabbott on February 9th, 2007Webmaster Note: Since Gold Rush Days are coming up here in Wickenburg, I thought I’d rerun this article by John Aabbott, originally published February 10, 2006. If you’re visiting Wickenburg for the “big event,” please support the local businesses while you’re enjoying the Chamber-sponsored activities. After all, those are the businesses who fund the Chamber; it would be nice if they benefited from this event. – Maria
This weekend is Wickenburg’s annual “Gold Rush Days” celebration. It’s the town’s one annual big event and it draws thousands of people to town, with an art fair, carnival, and parade, as well as …
Continue reading “Help Keep the Gold Rush in Town“
Posted by John Aabbott on October 29th, 2006Let me get this straight:
The Chamber of Commerce is publicly supporting Town council Candidates Kristi Henson, Scott Stewart, and Phil Richardson, along with the mayor who’s up for recall, Ron Badowski. Right?
Why are those names so familiar? Could it be because three out of four of them are on the Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors?
So the Chamber of Commerce is supporting political candidates who just happen to fill three of the five Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors positions? The Chamber of Commerce is, in effect, supporting itself to fill three political positions?
Hello? Does anyone else out there see something …
Continue reading “Oh, the Tangled Webs they Weave“
Posted by John Aabbott on September 1st, 2006Wickenburg is for sale. Have you heard? Just propose a rezoning to pack as many homes as you can into a piece of property, whisper the right words to our elected officials, and they’ll give you the votes you need to cut Wickenburg into smaller and smaller pieces. Heck, they don’t even pay attention to the recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Commission anymore. Why should they? P & Z doesn’t have as much at stake as these folks do.
Worried about infrastructure to support all these new homes? Why should you? The elected officials certainly don’t seem to be worried at …
Continue reading “Your Vote Can Stop the Selling Off of Wickenburg“
Posted by John Aabbott on August 2nd, 2006It recently came to my attention that a number of Wickenburg residents are not only pro-development, but are doing their best to “maximize the roof count” in town. Why? So the town can “attract better stores.”
Better stores? Do they mean like Wal-Mart? The same company that moves into a community and drives the other businesses out of business?
I’m not just saying this because I don’t like to buy cheap junk made in China from a company that practices cut-throat competition and pays poor wages. I have the research documents to support this statement:
The “Impact of the Wal-Mart Phenomenon on Rural Communities” …
Continue reading “Just Say No to Wal-Mart in Wickenburg“
Posted by John Aabbott on April 29th, 2006I’m not sure if this is a distinction Wickenburg wants. Unfortunately, it’s there: local sales tax in Wickenburg restaurants is a whopping 11.5%. To put that in perspective, that’s 3.55 percentage points above Scottsdale and almost 2 percentage points above Sedona. Only the farming community of Eloy is higher at 12.6%. Only 13 of the 93 localities in the state have restaurant sales tax higher than 10%.
What’s going on here? We all know that the mayor and council have been scratching for revenue sources for quite some time. The retail sales tax went up about 3 years ago. Annexation has run …
Continue reading “Wickenburg Restaurant Sales Tax Second Highest in Arizona“
Posted by John Aabbott on March 7th, 2006One of the old photos of Wickenburg that I tracked down is this old postcard of the Rancho Grande Motel in downtown Wickenburg.
I’m no expert, but I’m guessing that this postcard was from the 1950s or early 1960s. (It would be a lot easier to tell if there were cars in the photo.)
The Rancho Grande Motel, circa 1950s or 1960s.
The motel still exists. It’s now the Best Western Rancho Grande Motel and, as you can see in the photo below, it’s been expanded a bit with a huge sign. The cover over the drive-through area for check-in was removed; I …
Continue reading “Rancho Grande Motel“
Posted by John Aabbott on January 18th, 2006Wickenburg Farmer’s Market, which Maria featured in a December 13, 2004 article (since deleted), has gone out of business.
I’m not a business expert and I don’t have any inside information, so I can’t tell you exactly why they went out of business. But I suspect it was a combination of two things:
Stiff competition. It’s hard to sell fruits and vegetables in a small store when there are two supermarkets selling fruits and vegetables. While the Wickenburg Farmer’s Market had good prices, it wasn’t as convenient as a supermarket. After all, is it worth making two stops if you need some produce, …
Continue reading “Another One Bites the Dust“
Posted by John Aabbott on January 6th, 2006What better way to launch the Before and After section of wickenburg-az.com than with a report on something that currently exists but will soon be removed forever?
I’m talking about the Hassayampa Well, one of the few “attractions” listed in the AAA Tour Guide‘s entry for Wickenburg.
I don’t know the story behind this attraction, and I hope someone who does shares what they know by using the Comments link below. (I just tried Googling it and came up empty; I guess this entry will fill that gap, anyway.) I just know it the same way any other winter visitor might know it …
Continue reading “The Hassayampa Well“
Posted by John Aabbott on January 6th, 2006Greetings to all wickenburg-az.com visitors! I’m back for a few months, with plenty of time off (for good behavior?) and hope to spend some time contributing to the site.
The new site looks great, although I noticed that some of my old articles are missing. (I guess Maria will put me to work moving them over to the new site next week.) I like the idea that I can add new articles (and even update old ones) from any computer on the ‘Net and I that don’t have to mess around with HTML formatting. I hope other people around Wickenburg — even …
Continue reading “I'm Back (Again)“
Posted by John Aabbott on January 10th, 2005I was extremely pleased to see Mr. Prather’s submission appear on this site. It seems that I’m not the only one who is outraged by the sudden appearance of two dollar stores and two payroll advance places in town.
But I think what bothers me most is what was voiced in a Letter to the Editor of the Wickenburg Sun last week. The letter’s author, who runs a painting business in town, was clearly upset that the town has been attracting nationwide chain businesses rather than supporting the “mom and pop” (his words) businesses that have been in town for years.
The way …
Continue reading “Wickenburg Business, Take 2“
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