Winter is starting to hit Williams with an overnight heavy rain and hail this morning. The weather cleared about 12:30 with scattered clouds still rolling overhead as of 1 p.m.
There is a 100% chance of snow this afternoon with less than an inch accumulation expected. There is a 50% chance of snow overnight with less than 1/2-inch accumulation expected.
The weather is expected to clear through the Thanksgiving weekend. The days should hover around 50-degrees with the nights dropping down to the lower 20s. The winds are expected to be relatively calm so it should be a beautiful Thanksgiving. The weather will continue to be nice through the weekend for the tree lighting event and parade.
Category Archives: City
2017 pronghorn, elk hunt recommendations to be available for review
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department has scheduled a series of six “open houses” for constituents to review and ask questions about the proposed pronghorn, elk and population management hunt recommendations.
The department annually makes hunt recommendations to the Arizona Game and Fish Commission regarding the management of game species, which establish the seasons, dates, bag limits, open areas and hunt permit-tag allocations based on the framework of the hunt guidelines set by the commission every two years.
The proposed hunt recommendations will be posted Monday, Nov. 21, at www.azgfd.gov/huntguidelines. The open houses will be conducted at the following Game and Fish regional offices:
- Wednesday, Nov. 23: 6-8 p.m., Flagstaff, 3500 S. Lake Mary Road.
- Wednesday, Nov. 23: 3-5 p.m., Yuma, 9140 E. 28th St.
- Monday, Nov. 28: 3-5 p.m., Tucson, 555 N. Greasewood Road.
- Monday, Nov. 28: 3-5 p.m., Pinetop, 2878 E. White Mountain Blvd.
- Tuesday, Nov. 29: 3-5 p.m., Kingman, 5325 N. Stockton Hill Road.
- Wednesday, Nov. 30: 4:30-6:30 p.m., Mesa, 7200 E. University Road.
Constituents who are interested in particular game management units within those regions will be able to review the hunt recommendations and ask questions. No formal presentations are planned.
The proposed hunt recommendations will be presented to the commission for consideration during its Dec. 3 meeting at department headquarters in Phoenix. The agenda will be posted at www.azgfd.gov/commission.
To learn more about the hunt recommendations and hunt guidelines processes, visit www.azgfd.gov/huntguidelines.
Ongoing utility work on SR 260 in Camp Verde for the next five months
CAMP VERDE — In preparation for widening State Route 260 in Camp Verde between Interstate 17 and Thousand Trails Road (mileposts 209 to 218), utility work will be ongoing for the next five months. Crews are relocating utility lines to make room for the four-lane divided roadway that is set to begin construction next spring.
Utility relocation requires intermittent work along shoulders and trucks entering and exiting the roadway. Drivers are encouraged to use extra caution when traveling through work zones between 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
Drivers should proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down and watch for construction equipment and personnel.
ADOT works to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but it’s possible that unscheduled closures or restrictions might occur because of weather or other factors. For the latest highway conditions around the state, visit the ADOT Traveler Information Center at www.az511.gov or call 511, except while driving.
Leftover permit-tags available for 2016 sandhill crane hunts
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department is accepting applications for leftover hunt permit-tags for the 2016 sandhill crane season.
A list of the 96 leftover hunt permit-tags, including 13 for youth hunters, is available online (PDF) at https://www.azgfd.com/Hunting/Draw. Applications are being accepted — by mail only – on a first-come, first-served basis – at the following address: Arizona Game and Fish Department, Attn.: Draw/First Come, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086.
The hunt permit-tag fee is $43 for Arizona residents, $45 for non-residents (each successful applicant will receive three hunt permit-tags). A valid Arizona hunting license is needed to apply. If an applicant is not licensed at the time of application, he or she must purchase a license by completing the license form section and include payment with the application.
The 2016 Arizona Sandhill Crane Regulations are posted online at https://portal.azgfd.stagingaz.gov/PortalImages/files/regs/craneregs.pdf. For more information, call (602) 942-3000.
What to do after a non-injury, fender bender collision
PHOENIX — If you’re involved in a freeway fender bender, the misconception that it’s best to stay put can leave you in danger, create hazardous slowing and lane changes for all drivers, and increase risks for emergency responders.
That’s why the Arizona Department of Transportation and Arizona Department of Public Safety need you to know about the practice of Quick Clearance, in which drivers involved in minor crashes that don’t involve injuries get their vehicles out of travel lanes as soon as it’s safe to do so.
No one wants to be in this situation, but with a vehicle crash occurring almost every five minutes in Arizona, everyone should know how best to stay safe following a minor, non-injury collision.
Reasons for practicing Quick Clearance begin with a state law that requires a driver involved in a minor crash without injuries to remove a vehicle from the roadway if it is operable and can be moved safely. Doing this is safer for drivers involved in the crash, fellow motorists and emergency responders.
“Many drivers have been taught not to move their vehicles until law enforcement arrives on scene, but that is not correct,” said DPS Sgt. John Paul Cartier. “Every traffic incident management principle confirms drivers can greatly impact safety, reduce congestion and reduce secondary collisions. Drivers who comply with Quick Clearance state law make a positive difference in many lives.”
Quickly moving your vehicle out of travel lanes provides a safer environment to inspect your car for damage. Moving your vehicle to the emergency shoulder, median or exiting the highway also provides a safer environment for first responders and keeps travel lanes clear for other vehicles, reducing the chance of a secondary collision. Of the 29 DPS troopers killed in the line of duty, 11 were struck and killed in secondary crashes on state highways.
ADOT and DPS are promoting Quick Clearance as part of a nationwide effort among transportation, law enforcement and other first responder agencies and organizations as part of National Traffic Incident Management Week (Nov. 13-19). On Wednesday and Thursday, many overhead highway signs statewide will display the following message:
FENDER BENDER?
SAVE YOUR REAR
AND QUICKLY CLEAR
If you are involved in a crash, the first action to take is to make sure you and occupants in your vehicle are OK. Then, if your vehicle is operable, move to the emergency shoulder, median or exit the highway and call 911. Stay out of travel lanes, be alert and watch approaching traffic. Remember: Never leave the scene of a crash.
South Mountain Freeway will have Frank Lloyd Wright influences
PHOENIX — In the late 1920s, modern architect Frank Lloyd Wright arrived in Arizona to design a desert resort planned for the foothills of South Mountain, in what is now Ahwatukee.
To produce drawings for the project, Wright and his colleagues built a temporary settlement, called “Ocatillo,” near what is now 32nd Street and two-thirds of a mile north of what will be the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. The name intentionally misspelled ocotillo, the desert plant that grew in abundance there.
While the stock market crash of 1929 ended Wright’s project, nearly a century later his connection to the area will influence how drivers experience the South Mountain Freeway.
Working with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the Arizona Department of Transportation and its project team are honoring Wright as they design aesthetics for bridges, sound walls and other freeway elements.
“Frank Lloyd Wright had a strong presence at the base of South Mountain before Ahwatukee was even built,” said Joe Salazar, ADOT’s roadside development, project landscape and architecture coordinator. “Frank Lloyd Wright was inspired by Arizona’s desert surroundings, and the South Mountain Freeway will tell that story.”
One of the freeway’s five distinctive aesthetic character areas, between Ahwatukee Foothills and the Interstate 10/Loop 202 Santan Freeway interchange, is named for and influenced by Wright’s Ocatillo settlement. Simple materials in the patterns on architectural features in that freeway segment will celebrate that area’s desert landscape and vegetation.
And preliminary plans for the entire freeway call for using horizontal lines, featured in many of Wright’s designs, in different ways. The wood walls of Wright’s Ocatillo settlement featured bold horizontal lines to echo the desert floor and the area’s long horizons.
The South Mountain Freeway’s sound walls and retaining walls will have horizontal lines, in contrast with the vertical lines used along other Valley freeways.
“These horizontal lines evoke a sense of motion, a perfect complement to the energy of a freeway,” said architect Victor Sidy, who is working with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation on the project. “As one travels through the length of the freeway, these lines will serve as a connective thread that will narrate a story of transition from the city to the natural desert and back to the city.”
Aesthetics are an essential part of any ADOT design project, creating looks that complement the surroundings, help tell an area’s story and create a more appealing environment for drivers.
In addition to Ocatillo Settlement, the South Mountain Freeway’s distinctive aesthetic character areas will be: Cholla Ocotillo between Elliott Road and east of Desert Foothills Parkway; River Bank between the Salt River Bridge and Elliot Road; Leaf Portal between Roosevelt Avenue and the Salt River Bridge; and Mountain Urban Link between the I-10 (Papago Freeway)/Loop 202 interchange and Roosevelt Avenue.
There will be five associated landscape character areas – Ahwatukee Neighborhood, Ahwatukee Foothills, Laveen Village, Estrella Village and Interstate 10 Traffic Interchange – with specific plants, color accents, ground treatments and other elements.
Together, these character areas will tell stories by highlighting land use, land forms and history. The Ahwatukee Foothills/Cholla Ocotillo segment, for example, will feature desert plants and simple shapes based on the forms of native cholla and ocotillo cactuses, while aesthetics and landscaping in the Laveen Village/River Bank segment will speak to that area’s agricultural heritage.
In early November, plans to incorporate Wright’s influences brought ADOT’s landscape and aesthetics team, along with representatives of Connect 202 Partners, the development group designing and building the South Mountain Freeway, to Taliesin West in Scottsdale. The national historic landmark, Wright’s winter home until his death in 1959, is home to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.
With representatives of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, participants refined design plans for sound walls, bridges and other structures and drew further inspiration from Wright’s work. The refinements will be reflected in a landscape architecture and aesthetics design concept report developed with input from ADOT, Federal Highway Administration, city of Phoenix and Maricopa Association of Governments, the regional transportation planning agency.
Wright’s influence will be evident in other ways. In the Mountain Urban Link character area, for example, interlocking L-shapes planned for design elements are inspired by the work of both Wright and Paolo Soleri, the renowned modern architect behind Arcosanti and Cosanti in Arizona.
ADOT’s Salazar called the South Mountain Freeway a rare opportunity to create aesthetics and landscaping for an entire freeway corridor at once rather than in stages. That opportunity also creates a challenge that requires additional thought and consideration, Salazar added.
“We are thankful for the collaboration with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and others, including the Cosanti Foundation, to develop a freeway corridor that will tell stories as it enhances the quality of life in this region,” Salazar said.
The 22-mile freeway, expected to open by late 2019, will provide a long-planned direct link between the East Valley and West Valley and a much-needed alternative to I-10 through downtown Phoenix. Approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985 and again in 2004 as part of a comprehensive regional transportation plan, the South Mountain Freeway will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system in the Valley.
AZ Livestock Loss Board approves compensation for Mexican wolf depredation
PHOENIX — The Arizona Livestock Loss Board recently approved an interim policy that allows ranchers to receive compensation for cattle taken by a Mexican wolf.
While conservation efforts are helping to re-establish the Mexican wolf population within their historical range in Arizona, this program has resulted in the loss of some commercial cattle.
The board’s unanimous vote Nov. 3 allows ranchers to be compensated for a wolf depredation incident after it is investigated and confirmed by a U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services field representative.
“The Mexican wolf reintroduction program has been a significant burden to ranchers in Mexican wolf range,” said Arizona Livestock Loss Board Chairman and Arizona Game and Fish Department Director Larry Voyles. “We had one rancher testify that he had suffered 13 depredations just this year alone. Few family owned businesses can survive losses at this level.”
Under the interim policy, a commercial producer/operator can apply for reimbursement for damages incurred up to $2,500.
The board will consider claims for incidents that occurred after Sept. 1, 2015, until available funds are exhausted. Claims approved after funds have been exhausted will be paid when and if additional funding becomes available.
The policy is meant to serve as an interim remedy until the board develops and adopts permanent rules outlining eligibility requirements and compensation for the loss of livestock due to wolf depredations.
“In voting unanimously, the board is trying to compensate the ranchers who are directly impacted by the Mexican wolf re-introduction program and who earn their living off the land,” Voyles said. “The success of any conservation effort requires the tolerance and support of the people that are closest to the effort. Bottom line: Mexican wolf conservation ultimately has to occur on a variety of landscapes.”
Also during the meeting the board unanimously passed:
- A letter to the Arizona Congressional Delegation requesting funding to address the issues associated with the Mexican wolf re-introduction program;
- Draft legislation asking the Arizona Legislature for funding to meet its statutory obligations;
- A letter to the Arizona Attorney General asking for a formal opinion on the applicability of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to wolf depredation of livestock;
- A letter to Gov. Doug Ducey to request a rule-making moratorium exception to authorizing rule-making;
- A letter of agreement with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation;
- Elected Ken Van De Graaff as the new chairman, replacing Director Voyles.
The board was established by law in 2015 to address depredation by Mexican wolves on livestock operations within Arizona. The program is designed to provide compensation to livestock producers who incur costs to their operations from Mexican wolves with the goal of increased tolerance for the presence of this subspecies on working landscapes.
For more information about the program, visit https://www.azgfd.com/Agency/LiveStockBoard.
2017 spring draw results available for Portal account holders
PHOENIX — Hunters who have an AZGFD Customer Portal account now can view their draw results for the 2017 spring turkey, javelina, bison and bear seasons. Simply log into your account, and you will be taken to your personal ‘My AZ Outdoors” page.
Portal account holders have the benefit of being able to view their draw results a day or two before the results officially are released. It’s quick, easy and free to create a Portal account. Just click on the “Sign in to Account” button in the upper right-hand corner of the www.azgfd.gov home page and then select the “Create an Account” option, filling in the requested information.
Portal accounts are mobile-friendly, so customers can view their information on their smartphones.
Meanwhile, the department will post an announcement on its website when results officially are released. All permit-tags are anticipated to be mailed by Dec. 14; all refund warrants by Nov. 30.
For more information, call the department at (602) 942-3000.
Two Deaths Being Investigated as Murder Suicide
On November 16, 2016 around 11:00 AM, Sheriff’s Office Dispatch received a request for a welfare check at a residence south of Twin Arrows. The reporting party advised dispatch that her co-worker had not shown up for work and was not answering the door.
Deputies responded and made forced entry. They located 55-year-old Mary Smeal and 57-year-old Jeffery Jones both deceased from apparent gunshot wounds. Information was not immediately released until next of kin could be notified. The case is being investigated as a murder-suicide.
The two deceased were in a domestic relationship. The reporting party had driven to the residence and found both Ms. Smeal’s and Mr. Jones’ vehicles in the driveway. She was unable to get anyone to answer the phone or the door. Evidence from the scene indicates that Mr. Jones shot Ms. Smeal and then shot himself.
No further details are available at this time; the case is still under investigation by the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.
Prepare for cold night tonight
Clouds blank out the sun in Williams.
In Williams the temperature is expected to drop to 25 tonight and as low as 16 tomorrow night. The wind chill might make the temperatures seem much lower. There is a 10% chance of snow Thursday morning. The high tomorrow is expected to be around 46. Friday, Saturday and Sunday will warm up with cooler temperatures and chance of showers returning Monday. The weather in Flagstaff is expected to be about the same with slightly higher temperatures.