WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 • 50 CENTS
ONLINE: www.bensonnews-sun.com
NEWS-SUN
SAN PEDRO VALLEY
BENSON
ST. DAVID
POMERENE
CASCABEL
MESCAL
J-SIX
DRAGOON
THIS WEEK IN SPORTS
ANNUAL PROGRAM: Operation Christmas Child, A5
BOBCATS TRIUMPH IN
HOMECOMING GAME
OPINION: Cochise College President’s column, A4
BRIEFLY: What’s happening in & around the valley, A6
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
El Dorado
development
plan looks at
2016 market
Dana Cole
[email protected]
LINDA LOU LAMB / SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-SUN
Brass section: Ernie Bernal, left, and Frank ‘Chic’ Maldonado perform Friday night with fellow Community
Alumni Band members during the Benson School Centennial celebration which was tied into this week’s
homecoming game.
100th-year anniversary bash a success
Dana Cole
[email protected]
BENSON – The energy was electric
Friday evening as the Benson Bobcats
put on an impressive show during the
2014 Homecoming Game, part of the
Benson Bobcat 100 Year Anniversary
All Year Reunion.
The Bobcats trounced the Tanque
Verde Hawks with a 59-0 win before
a packed stadium, filled with cheering
alumni, faculty, students and loyal
fans.
Festivities kicked off Friday with
pre-homecoming activities, followed
by the high school’s centennial Homecoming Game where Emily Rose
and Miles Choate were crowned the
2014 Homecoming Queen and King
to a cheering stadium of about 2,000
spectators.
“Our stadium holds 1,200 people,
but because of the high school’s 100
year celebration and the number of
alumni that had registered for the
event, the City of Benson brought
some of their bleachers for us to use
for the game,” said Chic Maldonado,
one of the centennial celebration organizers. “Even with the extra seating,
there was an overflow crowd, so I’m
estimating we had between 1,700 and
2,000 spectators. The turnout was just
amazing.”
The three-day itinerary
While the homecoming game and
coronation ceremony represent a big
part of the festivities, a hard-working
group of committee members pulled
together an impressive three-day itin-
See DEVELOPMENT, Page A7
DANA COLE / NEWS-SUN
Despite dire
outlook, city’s
picture not all bad
Dana Cole
Royalty: Miles Choate and Emily Rose are the 2014 Homecoming King
and Queen crowned at Friday’s game.
erary for the community’s enjoyment.
Pre-game festivities started at 4:30 Friday afternoon with a Future Farmers
of America steak dinner along with
activities at the football stadium, leading up to the big homecoming game.
A post-game mixer at the Riverside
the best stimulus is a job. We must
work to improve access to capital
for small business and reduce government regulations on small businesses. We also have to prevent the
feds in Washington from applying a
one-size fits all requirement to businesses in Arizona. I took on the EPA
to protect Cochise County jobs and
ratepayers at the Apache Generating Station outside of Willcox. The
Apache plant supports more than 250
jobs and serves 150,000 customers in
rural southeastern Arizona. Work-
[email protected]
ing together, we found a win-win solution that saved jobs and protected
consumers from unnecessary price
hikes.”
McSally:
One of the pillars of your campaign
is government overreach. If you want
smaller government, who will keep
businesses, such as mining, from
harming the environment?
“Our government plays an important role ensuring our natural re-
BENSON — After sitting through a rather
dismal prediction about the region’s economic outlook at a recent luncheon, when it was
time for Benson City Manager Bill Stephens to
speak, he presented an overview of promising
things to come for Benson.
Cochise County’s gloomy outlook was delivered by Robert Carreira, director of the Cochise
College Center for Economic Research during
an annual luncheon in Benson. But as dismal as
the immediate economic picture appears across
the county, Carreira did mention some hopeful signs for Benson, noting the city’s location
along I-10 as a positive, as well as its proximity
to Tucson. In addition, once Rosemont Copper’s
mining operations start, there are expectations
of jobs for Benson. And a new development
is poised to come to the area, another plus for
Benson and its economy, Carreira said.
“I prefer to look at it as the glass is half full,”
said Stephens when he stepped up to the podium
following Carreira’s presentation. Referencing
some of those positive comments for Benson,
Stephens said, “We’re poised in the right position — location, location, location,” later adding,
“…and the economy is beginning to improve.”
Stephens, a retired Air Force Colonel with
See Q&A Page A8
See STEPHENS, Page A7
Saloon featuring live music by “Back
to Back” drew a huge crowd and rave
reviews from all who attended. There
also was a post-game open house at
the Pomerene LDS Church.
See CENTENNIAL, Page A8
Barber, McSally Q&A responses posted
WILLCOX — U.S. Congress, Arizona District 2 candidates, incumbent
Ron Barber (Democrat) and challenger Martha McSally (Republican), answered questions on various subjects,
each tailored to their own campaigns,
with a 100 word limit on each answer.
Here are their responses.
Barber:
How would you strike a balance
between government regulation and
maintaining a healthy business environment?
“As a small business owner, I know
BENSON — Announcement of a new development slated for Benson came as welcome
news at the Oct. 13 council meeting.
A large crowd gathered at the council chambers where members of the community heard
from Mike Reinbold, representing El Dorado
Holdings, Inc., a future development planned
on property purchased from Ernie Graves of
Whetstone Ranch. Reinbold said El Dorado
Holdings purchased 12,000 acres located along
Highway 90 a few miles south of I-10, extending toward Kartchner Caverns.
“We’ve been involved in many communities
over the years, and feel Benson and the San Pedro Valley are one of the prettiest regions that
we’ve been involved with,” said Reinbold, who
added, “We look forward to working closely
with the community in creating a development
we can all be proud of.”
Reinbold says plans are to work with the city
to actively attract new business opportunities
to Benson while helping local businesses grow
as a result of those combined efforts.
While providing the council with an overview of where the planning process is at this
stage in the property’s development, Reinbold
explained there will be public meetings in the
near future to discuss how the project will proceed. He said the development’s partners envision the Benson region, with its natural beauty
and surrounding attractions as “being the
equivalent of a Sedona of the south.”
Creation of new jobs and business opportunities will come with the development as well,
Reinbold added. “We see the market potential
for a diversified master plan community that
Index
OBITUARIES .............. A3
OPINION .................... A4
BRIEFS ........................ A6
SPORTS ...................... B1
CHURCH DIR. .............
CLASSIFIEDS .............
LEGALS.......................
REAL ESTATE ............
MR.ELECTRIC
B2
B4
B5
B6
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