Homes on Ft. Huachuca evacuated as precautionary measure due to suspicious letter

Sierra Vista Herald ^ | Wednesday, January 08, 2003 | BY BILL HESS

[SandRat]

FORT HUACHUCA -- As a precaution, a small part of a housing area was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after a resident there received an unsolicited package with anti-government messages.

The package was one of three anti-government mailings received this week by families on post, Fort Huachuca officials said this morning.

The packages did not contain powder or other hazardous materials but did have "unsolicited anti-American government propaganda," said Frank Shirar, the post's deputy public affairs officer.

The fort's emergency response team and the FBI responded around 3:45 p.m., and traffic to the area around Stedman Street was stopped, said Lt. Col. Marian Hansen, the post public affairs officer. Six houses were evacuated, including the home the mail was addressed.

FBI agents determined the package did not contain any hazardous material and the street was reopened around 5 p.m., she said.

Shirar said there were several clippings and other materials in the packages that showed "a dislike for current administration policies," he added.

One item was a doctored photo of President Bush and an Arab with cartoon-like balloon comments, Shirar said. Some of the items "linked the Bush family to Hitler," he said, adding other material listed dislike for the administration immigration policies and other programs.

The bottom line of the material in general is that "our (national) politics suck," he said.

The packages have a return address, listing a person by the name of Stan Jay from Los Angeles. A check by the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review to find a telephone listing for such a person was unsuccessful.

Regarding the other two packages received, one was turned into the Military Police and the other turned over to Maj. Dan Ortega, the fort's director of public safety, Shirar said.

None of the people receiving the packages knew the person whose name was part of the return address, he said.

The packages were sent to the last name of the family and their address at different post housing sites, Shirar said.

No other complaints of such packages have been reported by the Sierra Vista postmaster as being delivered in the civilian community.

[Marie]

Yup! I've got a beautiful view of them right now as I drink my morning coffee! That was what sold us on the house. (Thanks for the pic!)

[HiJinx]

Sorry for the late reply, my work schedule really gets in the way of my FReeping!

The hunting is great! We have seasons for deer, antelope, bear, javalina, dove, quail, rabbit, squirrel, and coyote on post. Elk permits by lottery are available in Northern Arizona, I've drawn and scored 3 times in the last 8 seasons.

We have 2 or 3 good (stocked) trout ponds on post and 2 lakes (Parker Canyon and Patagonia) nearby that also serve up catfich, bass, panfish, and a few Northern Pike.

[HiJinx]

I'm glad you like the views.
For those who haven't had the pleasure of visiting, there are a lot of reasons to love living here in Sierra Vista...one is this picture of a sunrise in April from my front driveway. The yucca plant in the neighbor's yard across the street is a frequent feeding stop for mourning dove. Their early morning song is worth waking up to.

Click the pic for a larger image.

[Gamecock]

Yup, that's them. We lived up on Grierson Road, at the base of Reservoir Hill. We woke up on Thanksgiving morn of 2000 with a flock of wild turkeys in the yard. Has is snowed any on the mountains yet?

[HiJinx]

There's just a dusting of snow on Miller and Scott Peaks, we haven't had much rain or snow since early December.

I lived on Burt Rd., over near the cemetery, with the west ridge of Huachuca Canyon dropping down into my back yard. Along that ridge I often saw deer and javelina. We once heard a mountain lion scream from right behind the house, and had a bear treed two doors down one Christmas.

You just can't beat living in what is essentially a game preserve! We once had a nest of spotted owls in a telephone pole at the foot of our driveway. The post wildlife manager tried to keep the site secret to protect the owls from humans, but cats got all the chicks. Mother Nature is a real b!tch!