SMOKE CONCERNS RESIDENTS

 Topock Marsh - Many residents drove out to the edge of town last Saturday 2/7 to see a tremendous plume of smoke to the west that was visible from almost any point in town. That smoke turned out to be from a controlled burn in the Topock Wildlife Preserve area, which was not advertised to the public. While traffic was delayed in the area due to the extensive smoke, there were no reports of any serious adverse affects from the blaze.

BOBGULLEY.com
At Hooch's This Saturday 7th

POLICE WARN OF NEW SCAM
 Bullhead City - Police are warning residents of a new scam. A white male is going to homes, claiming to be an employee of Mohave Electrical Cooperative and needing to test the electrical outlets for power surges. Once inside, he uses an unknown tool on the outlets, tells the victim that there is a problem and will need money for parts. According to reports, he first tried this at a residence on 6th Street Friday but was turned away by the resident. Then he went to a home on Forest Way, where the elderly home owner allowed him entrance and gave him blank check for the equipment. The suspect returned, apparently looking for more money, but the victim had called family members who tried to stop him before he fled the scene. The suspect is described as 5-feet 9-inches tall, 170-lbs, in his 30s with dark hair. He was last seen wearing a baseball cap turned backwards, blue jeans and a blue jacket and he was driving a newer model white full-size pick-up truck. Police remind everyone not to allow entry into your home or give money to anyone you do not know. Call the sheriff at 758-0700 if you have any information.

FOOD CARE PICKUP

G.S. - Food Care pickup will be Tuesday the 17th. If you placed an order, don't forget to pickup your food boxes at 4:00 p.m. at the church.

WIND COULD BE GOOD THING
Bullhead/Kingman - If you ever traveled toward Los Angeles on I-10, you certainly have seen the fields of wind power propellers. This may be something you see in the coming years in Mohave County. A federal study shows that the Bullhead City and Kingman have constant year-round winds that range from 14-15 mph. One wind turbine can produce about 1.5 megawatts of power or enough energy to provide power to 100 homes each day, as an average home uses about 10 kilowatts a day. Wind turbines have been used in the past throughout the west on farms to produce water. There also is a positive economic impact of the turbines like job creation of constructing, operating and maintenance. There have been no formal presentations to the two communities yet on the findings of the study.

NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR SAFER WATER FUN
Phoenix - Arizona Game and Fish is going high-tech when it comes to stopping impaired boaters. Game and Fish obtained a $20,000 grant to upgrade their intoxylizers. The new model will be able to test at two levels, better identifying operators that have been drinking. The new units will be on Game and Fish boats in time for the summer season.

LOYALTY DAY PARADE
G.S. - VFW 6306 and Auxiliaries are seeking entries for its 19th Loyalty Day Parade to be held Apr. 17 at 11 a.m. Floats, bands, marching and youth groups, decorated vehicles, equestrian groups, service organizations and individuals are wanted to participate. The theme this year is "Old Glory." Awards will be presented to winners of each category - adult and youth. A pit barbecue will follow the parade. There will be raffles, music and vendors. We need ideas and people to help organize the parade, do leg work, and help on parade day. For information and entry forms, contact Lucille "Luke" Boyer at 768-5574, email lukeboy@citlink.net.

ONE YEAR OF SERVICE
- If you haven't noticed, this is the 52nd issue of this weekly news. That means we have put out an uninterrupted one year of weekly issues at no cost to the readers. The Golden Shores eXtra actually started in December of 2001 with a newspaper type publication, but it was so expensive to publish that we were unable to continue. So after a year of testing different types of media, it seemed better to use email. In February of 2003, we began the email issue. Then in September of 2003, the news part had grown so much that the online publication was becoming too big for a lot of people's email, so we went to website only publication with an email notice to all the subscribers.
We want to thank all of you who have stayed with us through the past year. We now have over 1000 readers each week. We still hope someday to go back to a color paper publication, but the revenue is not high enough yet to do that. But to be able to say we have almost 4 times as many readers as The Civic says a lot for this publication that is still so new. Our advertisers have proven that this publication is at least, if not more effective than any other publication in Golden Shores. This publication is for NEWS vs. The Civic being about local clubs and organizations. As always, we are always open to your input and suggestions. Thanks and keep reading.

OPINIONS
Chamber of Comm... What? - It seems that almost daily there are news articles about Chamber of Commerces in the tristate area having and attending conferences about local and state issues. It just seems strange that the local Chamber of Commerce has a day-in-the-park, a Miss G.S. Pageant, give away bicycles to kids at the school and an annual fund raiser; and they do NOTHING for local business - COMMERCE. As far as we know they never attend any conferences with other chambers. They probably don't even know whats going on around the tri-state area. So maybe they're not really a Chamber of "Commerce" at all, but just a little social club for certain business owners that want the town run their way. I won't buy one of their expensive tickets to support this kind of operation and, as a business person, I'll never join the local Chamber as long as it's what it is today.
A local observer.

OPINIONS - are not necessarily the opinion of the Golden Shores eXtra or it's staff. If you have an opinion you would like to put in this publication, please email news@goldenshores.net.