A Cottonwood man won’t be allowed at Grand Canyon National Park for 1 year. Forty-two year old Brian Thompson was arrested after he received payment to guide a multi-day backpacking trip from a grand canyon park ranger posing as a tourist. Last week, Thompson pleaded guilty in Arizona District Court to engaging in business without a permit. Spokeswoman Shannon Marcak explains why these permits are necessary. Marcak adds the National Park Service routinely monitors back country use and permitting. In addition to the 1 year probation, Thompson has also been ordered to pay a 200 dollar fine.

Prescott’s General Plan Committee will be hitting the road. As part of its meeting at 4 Wednesday afternoon, the Committee will meet at City Hall before heading to Constellation Trail, which winds through the Granite Dells area. The next stop is the 35 acre Granite Gardens Hazelwood parcel, which is also in the Granite Dells and was purchased by the City in 2008 for 3 million dollars. From there, the Committee will tour the 18 acre Community Nature Center on Williamson Valley Road. This open space preserve was purchased by the City in 2006 and it provides picnicking and hiking opportunities for visitors. The last stop is the new Centennial Trail, which opened off Iron Springs Road in May. You can join the Committee on the tour, but you’ll have to provide your own transportation.

If you have questions about the 9 propositions on the November ballot, the Secretary of State’s office may be able to help. Secretary of State Ken Bennett has announced his office will hold 25 Community Town Halls across the state starting October 2nd. These Town Halls are free of charge and will provide an opportunity for attendees to learn about the ballot propositions and to ask questions of staff members. A Sedona event is scheduled for noon on Thursday, October 11th at City Hall on Roadrunner Drive. The following day, Prescott area voters will get their chance to ask questions at 3 at Las Fuentes Resort Village on Scott Drive. At 7 that night, the Yavapai County Town Halls wrap up in Chino Valley in Council chambers on north Highway 89. For more information, go online to azsos.gov.

After a 2 week delay, the Prescott City Council is expected to make a decision on an analysis of the Antelope Hills Golf Course. On September 11th, Council decided to hold off on a vote on the analysis, citing a need for the National Golf Foundation to focus on the economic impact of the course, rather than operations. Councilman Len Scamardo explains why he supports this action. The revised study cuts the cost to $18K. $16,000 of that will be used to complete the tasks necessary for the analysis and final report. Two thousand dollars will be billed to the City if National Golf Foundation representatives present their findings at a Council meeting. This item will be considered during Council’s voting session, which starts at 3 tomorrow afternoon at City Hall, located on South Cortez Street.

The Better Business Bureau will be offering tips on how you can prevent bad things from happening to your good name. Mary Hawkes, Director of the Bureau’s Yavapai County office says a free program on identity theft will be offered at 1 tomorrow afternoon. Hawkes explains there was a good response to a similar program held earlier this year in Prescott. The program will be held at the Adult Center, located on East Rosser Street.

Cottonwood Police are receiving training on the provisions of Senate Bill 1070. According to Sergeant Gareth Braxton, the department has looked at elements of this law, which went into effect earlier this month, for the past 2 years. Police have developed plans and revised policy to provide guidance and ensure adherence not only to the law itself, but to clear up any misconceptions. Braxton adds there are a number of variables and facts that need to be considered in order to make a determination of whether or not suspicion of illegal immigration status has been met. If there is reasonable suspicion that a person is in the United States illegally, police officers are required to look into that person’s immigration status. From there, local law enforcement officers will be given guidance from appropriate agencies as to what further action should be taken. The Cottonwood Police Department has always had a policy in place regarding biased based profiling.

Four Prescott citizens will be Germany bound tomorrow. The mayor of Zeitz, Germany has visited Prescott twice, once in February to help celebrate Arizona’s centennial and again in June as a guest of honor at the World’s Oldest Rodeo. Councilman Chris Kuknyo, who is leading the Prescott delegation along with Arizona Sister Cities President Bob Greninger, says they will have a full schedule. Kuknyo describes what the purpose of this trip is. Joining Kuknyo and Greninger on the trip will be Margo Christensen, Vice President of Ponderosa Hotel Management Services and Al Hoeger, a Berlin native who will serve as translator.

Efforts are underway to establish a 3rd Sister City with the city of Prescott. A number of meetings have been held over the past year for discussion on a Sister City relationship with Zeitz, Germany. Councilman Chris Kuknyo and others will be leaving for that city and other areas tomorrow. Kuknyo says this trip follows 2 visits to Prescott by the Mayor of Zeitz earlier this year. Other stops include Berlin, Dresden and Munich. Kuknyo explains this won’t be his first visit to Germany. Joining Kuknyo on the trip will be Bob Greninger, President of Arizona Sister Cities; Margo Christiansen, Vice President of Ponderosa Hotel Management Services and Al Hoeger, a Berlin native who will serve as translator. Prescott has Sister City relationships with Caborca, Sonora, Mexico and Suchitoto, El Salvador.