LOCAL DUI ARREST
 G.S. - Mohave County Sheriff's deputies arrested Quaintance Ann Clark, 44, of Golden Shores, for Driving Under the Influence. On Sunday (11/9) around midnight deputies stopped Clark for a traffic violation at Cerro Colorado. Deputies smelled a strong odor of alcohol. Following field sobriety test Clark was taken into custody and transported to the Mohave County Substation District II where an analysis revealed her blood alcohol concentration to be over the legal limit. Clark was booked into the jail without incident.

BOBGULLEY.com

JOHNSON WINS FOR MOHAVE
 Phoenix - Buster Johnson's assistant was at the Golden Shores Civic general meeting Wednesday evening. She announced that Buster was in Phoenix testifying at a hearing. The hearing was on whether or not the State Commerce Department should continue to exist. She said in the end it was decided that the Commerce Department was renewed for another 10 years. The Commerce Department is responsible for bringing a lot of business to Mohave County, one of which has generated over 600 jobs.

HOME REPAIR ASSISTANCE FOR G.S.
 G.S. - If you are willing to go thru a little red tape and get on the waiting list, you could get some money to fix up your home and NOT have to pay it back.
Representatives from the Mohave County Community Development were at the Golden Shores Civic general meeting on Wednesday. They made a video presentation on the Owner Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program. This program provides funding thru the Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to assist low and moderate income home owners with needed health and safety repairs. Under this program, recipients will not be required to repay the cost of the repairs. Elderly and disabled home owners will be given first priority for assistance.
Golden Shores is one of the specific areas targeted by this program.
Applications can be picked up at Mohave County Community Development Department, 1355 Ramar Rd., Suite 9, Bullhead City. Call 758-0702 for more information.

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S P O R T S * S P E C I A L

TOPOCK INVITATIONAL
G.S. - On Thursday October 23rd, Topock School hosted the season-ending Topock Invitational Cross Country race. Schools from across Mohave county participated, including Kingman Junior High, Kingman Academy of Learning, EAGLE Academy, Mohave Accelerated, Thunderbolt Middle School, Daytona Middle School, and host Topock Elementary School. Over 70 runners from the various schools competed. "The race has gotten bigger over the last few years. Our school staff and team parents helped to make it a great race. We received a lot of accolades from coaches and parents’ alike. The Golden Shores Off-Roaders allowed us to use their BBQ and cooked for us so we had a tremendous feast after the race. JB’s Restaurant in Mohave Valley donated the food. We had a lot of help making this race a success," stated Topock Athletic Director John Warren.
The course covered 2 miles of sand hills and washes. "Our course is really rugged and tough," stated Warren. "Any runner who completes it without stopping deserves a pat on the back." The race was divided into two grade levels with 5th and 6th graders competing against each other followed by 7th and 8th graders.
Taking 1st place honors in the 5th and 6th grade girls race was Raquel Cooke of Lake Havasu with a time of 16:23. The next three runners Debora Truncali, Kira Sherwood, and Mayla Truncali are from Mohave Accelerated. "The Truncali sisters are in 3rd or 4th grade! They are incredibly tough. Their Coach, Jesse Oviatt is doing a great job with his program and it’s neat to see the younger kids out there working hard and having a great time," stated Warren. Kaylee King from Topock rounded out the top five. "Kaylee had an up and down season this year" according to Warren. "I’m expecting great things from her next year. She’s tough as nails." Jackie Haidle placed 11th. Topock 5th graders Kiana McCollum, Adrienne Sandoval, Amanda Gragg and Samantha all had personal best times and placed 7th, 8th, 10th, and 12th place respectively. "My 5th graders were a lot of fun this season. Their enthusiasm was contagious and they put a smile on everybody’s face. If they decide to stick with running they all have great futures ahead of them," said Warren.
In the 5th and 6th grade boys’ race Topock runner Robbie Ford earned 3rd place honors behind Chris Lewis of Mohave Accelerated. "Robbie had a great year running," according to Warren, "He’s a machine."
Tess Berryman of Topock placed 8th in the junior high girls’ race. "Tess was sick the last couple weeks of the season and it affected her training and race performance. I look for her to have a good track season in the Spring." Fellow 7th grader Jenae Wolf ran to a personal best and earned 13th place. "Tess and Jenae are great kids and set a good example for the younger girls. Their both great students and citizens. It’s nice to have them on the team."
In the boys’ junior high race, Deven Beitel from Mohave Accelerated ran the course in a blistering time of 13:29. "Deven and Cody Nutt from Kingman were neck and neck for a mile and a half and then Deven slowly increased his lead to win by 10 seconds," according to Warren. Michael Kennedy from Mohave Accelerated placed 3rd, followed by Malachy Ryan from Lake Havasu in 4th, and Tyler Valdez from Mohave Accelerated in 5th place. "There were some thoroughbreds in that race! The top 12 finishers were only 2 minutes apart. It was great competition!" emphasized Warren. Scotty Walker from Topock finished in 12th place. "Scotty ran well. This year has been a good learning experience for him. I think he’s gotten the running bug and will have a successful track season."

LOWER TAXES?
Kingman - County Supervisor Buster Johnson said he wants to look into property taxes at the next budget session. Currently the property assessments have been much higher than in previous years and his idea is to offset this problem with a tax break. Johnson said the idea is that the assessments have gone up considerably and the property taxes could be doubled by next year or a percentage quite a bit higher. So if the county doesn't need the money for basic services, then the taxes should be lowered.
Mr. Johnson also said, according to his figures, a decrease wouldn't affect the operations of the county. The county only charges $1.75 per $100. So in a $1000 tax bill that you get, $175 belongs to the county. The next budget session won't be held until early 2004.

FIREFIGHTERS RETURN
Needles - Four San Bernardino County firefighters are back home after leaving to fight the wildfires near Big Bear Lake on October 28. The task force was sent for structure protection for the city of Big Bear armed with three fire engines and two water tenders. The firefighter crew included Captain Bob Lyons, Lieutenant Jack Yeagar, Lieutenant Robert Derichsweiler and firefighter Javier Lopez. They were released from duty after snowfall helped to diminish the fire.