Kingman soldiers start trek to Afghanistan on April 17
Monday, April 06, 2009
Aaron Royster, Miner Staff Reporter
KINGMAN - From the East Coast to the West Coast, around 450 soldiers in the Nevada Army Guard's 1st Squadron/221st Cavalry will be deployed to Afghanistan.
Sgt. Dustin J. Bonivert and Spc. Alexandro H. Velez will be leaving their Kingman homes, along with approximately a dozen other Arizona residents who will deploy.
"The soldiers will provide security for a provincial reconstruction team that is rebuilding the country and will also conduct combat and infantry missions in Laghman Province to ensure civil order in the region," said Sgt. 1st Class Erick Studenicka in a news release.
As the fourth major mission for the 1/221st CAV since 2001, the tour in Afghanistan has historic significance.
"This deployment of the 1/221st will be the Nevada Army Guard's largest international deployment of one unit since World War II," Studenicka said.
The 1/221st CAV will hold a deployment ceremony at 2 p.m. April 17 at Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South, in Las Vegas. From Las Vegas, the 1/221st CAV will go to Camp Atterbury, Ind., for new gear and training, Studenicka said.
Even before he knew of the deployment, Velez has undergone continuous training - including being recertified as an EMT.
"For medics, it's not something you wait to be told," he said. "You keep your skills up."
Velez, Bonivert and the rest of the 1/221st CAV will go to Afghanistan to begin the mission in June, Bonivert said.
"Most of our missions will be hearts-and-minds missions," he said. "We will be there to win over the general public. We will be working with the provincial reconstruction teams that are already over there, basically providing security for them while they build bridges and schools and things of that nature."
The deployment is scheduled to last about a year, but is always subject to change, Bonivert said.
The 1/221st CAV is an armored reconnaissance squadron outfitted with M3 Bradley vehicles.
It is made up of three troops with a headquarters unit and a forward support company.
In 2003, 1/221st CAV performed a security detail at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. They also spent two years at Fort Irwin, Calif., training other units headed to Iraq until May 2006. Bonivert was a part of that mission.
After California, the 1/221st CAV served on a security mission involving about 100 soldiers in Iraq until October 2007.
Like Bonivert, Velez served a stateside mission as well. Velez was stationed at the Arizona/Mexico border before being deployed to Afghanistan. He expects his second deployment to bring different experiences.
"Everything changes," Velez said. "I would say things are changing all the time, so I wouldn't say what I saw the first tour are things I'd see this time."
This will be the first overseas deployment for Bonivert, 28. Excited, he said the deployment is a little scary.
"The hardest part is leaving my family behind," Bonivert said.
Bonivert has a wife, Amanda, and two children, Marissa, 7, and Joshua, 5.
"One of the biggest things I have learned is all the support we have here," he said, "especially from all my friends and coworkers in the county - learning how much they support me."
Bonivert currently works as a senior engineering technician with Mohave County Public Works.
"We are so proud of this young man," County Public Works Director Mike Hendrix said in a news release. "He's been a tremendous asset to public works and we are going to miss him dearly."
Bonivert has served in the Army National Guard for 11 years. His current military occupation is wheel mechanic.
Bonivert has a very upbeat attitude about his deployment.
"It will be fun," Bonivert said. "I'll make the most of it.
"Like any experience, there are always going to be the bad times," he added. "Hopefully, I'll come out remembering the good times. "
With so many of the 1/221st CAV volunteering to go, it has provided extra motivation for Velez.
"I'm deploying for my buddy next to me and to help others over there."
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Cedar Hills names interim
Ellico to stay on paid leave until investigation ends
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Aaron Royster, Miner Staff Reporter
KINGMAN - After two weeks away from school, students at Cedar Hills returned to classes with a new face in the principal's office.
The change came after the Hackberry School District Governing Board voted Monday at a special board meeting to maintain Principal Brad Ellico on paid non-administrative leave and appointed Emmett Brown interim administrator.
Since the board placed Ellico on non-administrative leave with pay on March 13, the investigation has continued into Ellico by a special investigator from the Mohave County Attorney's Office into concerns raised by members of the public and the board.
As with the March 13 special board meeting, those specific concerns behind the investigation weren't shared by the board.
An update on the status of the investigation was unknown due to the board going into a one hour and 20 minute executive session to discuss the investigation. The only thing clear was the investigation isn't done.
With the Call to the Public removed from the meeting and more time spent by the board in executive session than open meeting, the gathered members of the public used the opportunity to relate to each other.
While it was clear the group wasn't unanimous on their thoughts on the current actions of the board, the public agreed the district needed to work together for the benefit of the students.
With confirmation from board attorney Geraldine Miller that the physical evidence needed for the investigation could be removed before classes began on Tuesday, board member Rick Mauldin asked his peers to return Ellico to his position.
"We're short on money and we'd be paying two administrators simultaneously," Mauldin said.
Board president Laurie Lawson and board member Naomi Barholz did not share Mauldin's opinion.
In a 2-1 vote, the board voted to leave the status of Ellico on administrative leave effective without a 30-day limit suggested by Mauldin.
"I think it's best that we continue on so we can get done as soon as possible," Lawson said.
Ellico was present at the meeting and waived discussing his leave during an executive session.
He described his leave as house arrest and not to the benefit of the students at the school.
"If anybody knows what the kids need starting tomorrow is me and the rest of the staff," Ellico said, "not some guy who has to come in to get his feet wet."
After nearly 40 minutes in executive, the board unanimously voted to place Brown as interim principal/superintendent.
He will receive an $8,000 monthly salary and benefits with an additional $1,000 a month for expenses.
Brown is overseeing operations at Cedar Hills while the investigation continues - however long it takes.
"We'll see how things go," Brown said on Tuesday in a phone interview.
"Everything is operating and the kids are in classes."
This is the third interim superintendent assignment for Brown in approximately 18 months. From a two-week stint to a 16-week stay, Brown served as interim superintendent for Peach Springs and Tuba City unified school districts.
With more than 20 years experience in education, Brown oversaw Mohave Valley Elementary go from 700 students to 2,200 students during his 18 years there. He retired from the position four years ago.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Aaron Royster, Miner Staff Reporter
KINGMAN - After two weeks away from school, students at Cedar Hills returned to classes with a new face in the principal's office.
The change came after the Hackberry School District Governing Board voted Monday at a special board meeting to maintain Principal Brad Ellico on paid non-administrative leave and appointed Emmett Brown interim administrator.
Since the board placed Ellico on non-administrative leave with pay on March 13, the investigation has continued into Ellico by a special investigator from the Mohave County Attorney's Office into concerns raised by members of the public and the board.
As with the March 13 special board meeting, those specific concerns behind the investigation weren't shared by the board.
An update on the status of the investigation was unknown due to the board going into a one hour and 20 minute executive session to discuss the investigation. The only thing clear was the investigation isn't done.
With the Call to the Public removed from the meeting and more time spent by the board in executive session than open meeting, the gathered members of the public used the opportunity to relate to each other.
While it was clear the group wasn't unanimous on their thoughts on the current actions of the board, the public agreed the district needed to work together for the benefit of the students.
With confirmation from board attorney Geraldine Miller that the physical evidence needed for the investigation could be removed before classes began on Tuesday, board member Rick Mauldin asked his peers to return Ellico to his position.
"We're short on money and we'd be paying two administrators simultaneously," Mauldin said.
Board president Laurie Lawson and board member Naomi Barholz did not share Mauldin's opinion.
In a 2-1 vote, the board voted to leave the status of Ellico on administrative leave effective without a 30-day limit suggested by Mauldin.
"I think it's best that we continue on so we can get done as soon as possible," Lawson said.
Ellico was present at the meeting and waived discussing his leave during an executive session.
He described his leave as house arrest and not to the benefit of the students at the school.
"If anybody knows what the kids need starting tomorrow is me and the rest of the staff," Ellico said, "not some guy who has to come in to get his feet wet."
After nearly 40 minutes in executive, the board unanimously voted to place Brown as interim principal/superintendent.
He will receive an $8,000 monthly salary and benefits with an additional $1,000 a month for expenses.
Brown is overseeing operations at Cedar Hills while the investigation continues - however long it takes.
"We'll see how things go," Brown said on Tuesday in a phone interview.
"Everything is operating and the kids are in classes."
This is the third interim superintendent assignment for Brown in approximately 18 months. From a two-week stint to a 16-week stay, Brown served as interim superintendent for Peach Springs and Tuba City unified school districts.
With more than 20 years experience in education, Brown oversaw Mohave Valley Elementary go from 700 students to 2,200 students during his 18 years there. He retired from the position four years ago.
Art imitates life with 'Stone Soup'
Miner readers overwhelmingly vote to add family comic strip
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Aaron Royster, Miner Staff Reporter
KINGMAN - For "Stone Soup" creator Jan Eliot, the art of the comic strip imitates her life and the world around her.
The former single working mother with two daughters used "Stone Soup," which begins running full time in the Miner today, as an outlet for her creativity.
The initial characters - the Stone family - were based on Eliot's life. The story is centered on 39-year-old widow Val, her children, 13-year-old Holly and 10-year-old Alix, her sister, Joan, her nephew, Alix, and her mother, Evie.
Eliot began cartooning later in life after a friend suggested she try it to showcase her humor, she said.
"I always thought of myself as being a closet comic," Eliot said. "But I never had the desire to be on stage."
She had always been interested in art in different formats, from decorating yearbooks in high school to studying art in college.
"I hadn't ever done or thought about doing a cartoon," Eliot said.
She used her art background to work full time as a graphic designer and copywriter before creating her first comic strip, "Patience and Sarah." The weekly strip ran for five years and focused on a single mom, Patience, and her daughter, Sarah.
"It was a bit challenging in the beginning," Eliot said of working full time, raising two daughters and writing a comic strip.
Eliot then moved onto a second strip called "Sister City," which ran weekly in the Eugene Register-Guard for five years. In 1995, the strip was renamed "Stone Soup" and became nationally syndicated.
That was when she decided to quit her day job and become a full-time cartoonist.
After becoming syndicated, Eliot added the characters to the strip: future husband of Joan, Wally; Holly and Alix's dog, Biscuit; Val's love interest, Officer Phil Jackson; Wally's nephew, Andy; and Joan and Wally's daughter, Luci.
With so many main characters and secondary characters, Eliot said she doesn't plan on expanding the cast any time soon.
Now living in Oregon with her two daughters grown, Eliot said she turns to the world around her for inspiration. Even so, she still has the basic framework for the comic.
"You never forget the emotion that comes with being a single parent," Eliot said.
Eliot makes sure to get permission from friends when she draws them for the strip, especially on touchy subjects.
"With my daughters, if it was embarrassing, I always waited a few years," Eliot said.
It also helped that her children were already past the age of her characters when she created the strip.
"I decided to pick ages that were just the easiest to write about," she added.
From friends to strangers, Eliot even draws inspiration from the current news. She said she plans to bring up economic struggles for Wally and Joan in future strips.
"It is dangerous to do too many pop culture references," Eliot said. "It's also dangerous to write about technology. Making a cell phone joke today could be a dinosaur tomorrow."
She even looks back on her own strips and finds computer references are usually outdated.
"The goal is trying to come up with something that seems timeless," Eliot said. "I think 'Peanuts' did that really well and 'Calvin and Hobbes' did as well."
Having to create Sunday strips six weeks out and daily strips four weeks out also puts a hamper on pop culture references.
The creative process for each strip begins at the start of the week for Eliot. She spends the better part of Monday writing, and then the next day she starts drawing.
Moving from a weekly deadline to daily deadlines was an easy adjustment for Eliot
"Doing it everyday, you actually build a muscle," she said. "It's actually just got easier over the years to meet a deadline."
Even with practice, creating a comic strip is not always a walk in the park.
"It's just painful when you're sitting there Monday morning with a blank piece of paper," Eliot said.
To help overcome the writer's block, she leaves her home and heads to busy places for ideas. Eliot said she also turns to parenting Web sites to see what issues parents face.
Eliot said she doesn't have any plans to quit creating "Stone Soup" any time soon.
"I'm really attached to my characters," she added. "I feel if I quit the strip, I would divorce a part of myself."
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Aaron Royster, Miner Staff Reporter
KINGMAN - For "Stone Soup" creator Jan Eliot, the art of the comic strip imitates her life and the world around her.
The former single working mother with two daughters used "Stone Soup," which begins running full time in the Miner today, as an outlet for her creativity.
The initial characters - the Stone family - were based on Eliot's life. The story is centered on 39-year-old widow Val, her children, 13-year-old Holly and 10-year-old Alix, her sister, Joan, her nephew, Alix, and her mother, Evie.
Eliot began cartooning later in life after a friend suggested she try it to showcase her humor, she said.
"I always thought of myself as being a closet comic," Eliot said. "But I never had the desire to be on stage."
She had always been interested in art in different formats, from decorating yearbooks in high school to studying art in college.
"I hadn't ever done or thought about doing a cartoon," Eliot said.
She used her art background to work full time as a graphic designer and copywriter before creating her first comic strip, "Patience and Sarah." The weekly strip ran for five years and focused on a single mom, Patience, and her daughter, Sarah.
"It was a bit challenging in the beginning," Eliot said of working full time, raising two daughters and writing a comic strip.
Eliot then moved onto a second strip called "Sister City," which ran weekly in the Eugene Register-Guard for five years. In 1995, the strip was renamed "Stone Soup" and became nationally syndicated.
That was when she decided to quit her day job and become a full-time cartoonist.
After becoming syndicated, Eliot added the characters to the strip: future husband of Joan, Wally; Holly and Alix's dog, Biscuit; Val's love interest, Officer Phil Jackson; Wally's nephew, Andy; and Joan and Wally's daughter, Luci.
With so many main characters and secondary characters, Eliot said she doesn't plan on expanding the cast any time soon.
Now living in Oregon with her two daughters grown, Eliot said she turns to the world around her for inspiration. Even so, she still has the basic framework for the comic.
"You never forget the emotion that comes with being a single parent," Eliot said.
Eliot makes sure to get permission from friends when she draws them for the strip, especially on touchy subjects.
"With my daughters, if it was embarrassing, I always waited a few years," Eliot said.
It also helped that her children were already past the age of her characters when she created the strip.
"I decided to pick ages that were just the easiest to write about," she added.
From friends to strangers, Eliot even draws inspiration from the current news. She said she plans to bring up economic struggles for Wally and Joan in future strips.
"It is dangerous to do too many pop culture references," Eliot said. "It's also dangerous to write about technology. Making a cell phone joke today could be a dinosaur tomorrow."
She even looks back on her own strips and finds computer references are usually outdated.
"The goal is trying to come up with something that seems timeless," Eliot said. "I think 'Peanuts' did that really well and 'Calvin and Hobbes' did as well."
Having to create Sunday strips six weeks out and daily strips four weeks out also puts a hamper on pop culture references.
The creative process for each strip begins at the start of the week for Eliot. She spends the better part of Monday writing, and then the next day she starts drawing.
Moving from a weekly deadline to daily deadlines was an easy adjustment for Eliot
"Doing it everyday, you actually build a muscle," she said. "It's actually just got easier over the years to meet a deadline."
Even with practice, creating a comic strip is not always a walk in the park.
"It's just painful when you're sitting there Monday morning with a blank piece of paper," Eliot said.
To help overcome the writer's block, she leaves her home and heads to busy places for ideas. Eliot said she also turns to parenting Web sites to see what issues parents face.
Eliot said she doesn't have any plans to quit creating "Stone Soup" any time soon.
"I'm really attached to my characters," she added. "I feel if I quit the strip, I would divorce a part of myself."
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