Fence us in, give us the vote and watch the left turns

Today we will catch up on our newcomer questions, which is always a rich and rewarding experience. Why is it that half the drivers can no longer make turns correctly? Left hand turns often end up in the middle or right lane instead of left. Same for right hand turns. What gives?

I don’t know.

The heads of state and city law enforcement agencies are appointed, so why is the head of the county law enforcement agency, the sheriff, elected?

Way back when, the people who wrote our state Constitution were a reform-minded bunch.

They didn’t want big mining interests or big ranching business to be in a position to run things. So they left it up to the voters to decide who would hold a lot of various offices rather than leave it up to the governor or Legislature and assorted cronies.

That’s why you get to vote for a position so seemingly arcane as the state mining inspector.

I just moved to Phoenix from Minneapolis and note that most, probably 99 percent, of homes have walled in or solidly fenced-in back yards. This is not the case in Minnesota where you see an occasional white picket fence in the front yard or a chain link fence in the back yard for a dog. Is this a crime issue, a privacy issue or just a Southwest tradition?

Originally, we had fenced yards to keep the pigs or milk cow in and the Apache raiders out.

Today, so many people have swimming pools or just otherwise enjoy their patios and backyards that we value the privacy a block fence provides.