Category Archives: City

Somebody Waiting for Santa?

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640-santa8WILLIAMS – Is someone waiting for Santa? He will return to the Spoiled Rotten Pet Boutique and Supplies at 517 E. Route 66 in Williams on Sunday, December 14. Santa will be available for pet photos and to get their wishes for Christmas.

Santa will be at Spoiled Rotten from noon to 5 p.m. Printed photos are $10 or $7 to have photo emailed to you. Christmas tree ornaments will be available for $15.

While you are there you can poke around the toys, clothing, line of Science Diet food, treats and other pet supplies.

The proceeds from the event benefit the Animals in Needs fund at the Williams Veterinary Clinic. This fund is set up to take care of animal emergencies for those who cannot afford them.

Williams dog needs new home

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This notice from Spoiled Rotten Facebook page:

echo

This dog needs an excellent home! She’s a great dog!
Hi all my dog loving friends.this is Echo a remarkable girl that I babysit a lot she is super special and smart. She needs a new forever home and it breaks my heart that I can’t give this to her. She is available for adoption now.

Contact Spoiled Rotten Pet Boutique at (928)635-2172 if you can help.

Forest service announces job fair in Flagstaff

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forest-01FLAGSTAFF – The Coconino and Kaibab National Forests are hosting two Job Information Sessions to provide information on employment and career opportunities with the Forest Service.

The first session is scheduled for Dec. 12 from 1 to 6 p.m. The second session is Dec. 13 from 9 a.m. to noon. Both sessions will be held at the Flagstaff YMCA, 1001 N. Turquoise Dr., Flagstaff.

Snow on the peaks with mild weather ahead

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640-sfp-141207-20WILLIAMS – The long range weather forecast starts of with patchy fog tomorrow after 11 a.m. Otherwise it will be mostly sunny with a high around 57.

Monday night temperatures are predicted to drop to 32-degrees and stay around that temperature at night through Thursday. Temperatures during the day are predicted to be just above 50-degrees through Thursday with light winds.

There is a chance that the riders of the Polar Express will enjoy snow starting Friday night. There is a prediction of a chance of rain Friday with a high near 47. There is a chance of snow through the weekend until Sunday.

Temperatures over the weekend are not predicted to break 50-degrees with a low of 30 Friday night and 25 Saturday night.

Sheriff’s Deputies Arrest Kidnapping Suspect

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Bertrand Eugene/Sheriff Photo

Bertrand Eugene/Sheriff Photo

FLAGSTAFF – On Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at approximately 8:30 a.m. Coconino County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the emergency department of the Flagstaff Medical Center on the report of the kidnapping of an eight year old boy. Deputies spoke with a man who identified himself as the grandfather and legal guardian of the victim and his ten year old brother.

According to the victim’s grandfather a family friend—who was identified as 51 year old Bertrand Eugene of Flagstaff—came to his home located off of Leupp Road on Wednesday at about 4:30 a.m. The two men spoke while standing in the front yard of the residence. According to the victim’s grandfather Bertrand Eugene said he wanted to take the eight year old victim to Alabama with him. The grandfather said no, ended the conversation and went back into his home. The grandfather said Eugene remained in the area of the front yard.

At about 6:30 a.m. the grandfather left the residence leaving the two boys with their grandmother. According to the eight year old victim he heard a knock at the front door and when he opened it he heard Eugene calling for him to come outside. As the victim exited the house the suspect grabbed him and forced him into the cab of Eugene’s vehicle.

The ten year old boy watched as this occurred and as the vehicle began to move he ran in front of it and Eugene swerved the vehicle around him. As the vehicle passed the boy he jumped onto the rear of the truck bed but quickly fell to the road surface resulting in minor injuries. The eight year old victim climbed out of the rear sliding window of the truck cab and jumped from the moving vehicle onto the road surface receiving minor injuries.

The suspect fled the area in his vehicle.

Deputies and Detectives began an active search for Eugene. Area law enforcement agencies were quickly advised of the occurrence and of the description of the suspect and his vehicle. Detectives also contacted law enforcement authorities in Alabama and advised them that Eugene may be on his way to that state.

On Thursday, December 4, 2014 Deputies responded to the area of Townsend Winona Road and Hidden Hills Road on the report of a suspicious vehicle. Upon their arrival they made contact with one of the occupants of the truck and identified him as Bertrand Eugene.

Eugene was arrested on the charges of Kidnaping, Aggravated Assault and Endangerment. He is currently being held in the Coconino County Detention Facility. This case was submitted to the Coconino County Attorney’s Office for review and additional felony charges are anticipated.

St. John’s Advent Concert: Traditional Lessons and Carols

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300px-adventThe St. John’s Episcopal-Lutheran Church Advent concert series continues this Sunday at 4 p.m.

On Sunday, December 7 the concert features lectors and the music of the Choristers of St. John’s Church.

Sweat Lodge Provides Inmates Access to Traditional Ceremonies

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SweatlodgeFLAGSTAFF – The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office has several programs to address the traditional needs of our inmate population. One of these programs is the provision of a sweat lodge ceremony, and recently our facility conducted two Sweat Lodge Ceremonies for inmates.

For some Native American cultures the Sweat Lodge Ceremony provides purification and balance of body, mind, spirit and emotions and can serve as a Prayer Circle, or a Healing Circle transforming the Old Self into the New Self. Rocks are heated in a fire pit outside the structure and then brought inside and placed in a small hole in the ground; there is no fire inside the structure. The ceremony is conducted in four parts and might last as long as three hours with breaks. A traditional Messenger helps perform the ceremony. We plan to make Sweat Lodge Ceremonies available to the inmate population on a monthly schedule.
sweatcrow2
This is one of many programs our facility and staff offer to help inmates initiate positive life changes. The programs include opportunities for life changes supported by spiritual, religious, educational, health, and substance abuse treatment approaches. While the Sheriff’s Office strives to make available recognized religious, recovery and a variety of self-improvement programs to the diverse cultures representing in the inmate population, we also recognize that approximately 50% of the people in our custody are of Native American descent. For this reason our programs include Sweat Lodge and a Hogan which may be unique compared to programs offered at facilities elsewhere in U.S. detention facilities. Partnership with the Navajo Behavioral Health Services has been vital to the success of many of these programs.

At the Coconino County Detention Facility we believe that time spent incarcerated can be turned into productive time, and inmates can leave our facility with improved life skills and a determination to make positive changes in their lives. Many of the programs provided to inmates are funded by the Inmate Welfare Fund which comes from commissary and phone usage fees. We are committed to enhancing inmate programs which benefit not only the inmates in custody but also can have broader reaching effects on our community as a whole.

Toolkit for Conducting Electronic Waste Recycling Events Now Available for Use by Border Region Communities

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ADEQ-2PHOENIX – Arizona Department of Environmental Quality officials announced today that free toolkits for conducting free electronic waste (e-waste) recycling events in Arizona municipalities in the border region are now available.

A total of $115,150 is being utilized from a collaboration of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Border 2020 Program, the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission (BECC) and ADEQ to produce educational materials and conduct nine free e-waste recycling events in the southern Arizona communities. As part of the grant, ADEQ entered into a technical assistance agreement with BECC.

The recycling events will be held in Nogales, San Luis, Somerton, Wellton, Sahuarita, Patagonia, Douglas, Sierra Vista and Bisbee beginning early next year through the end of August 2015. ADEQ has retained a certified recycler that adheres to best practices to safely manage e-waste and protect public health and the environment.

The goal of the grant is to recycle, rather than send to a landfill, 100,000 pounds of e-waste in the border region and to have each of the communities develop capacity to hold annual e-waste recycling events.

“ADEQ has had a very successful free electronic waste recycling program focusing on central and northern Arizona the past five years,” ADEQ Director Henry Darwin said. “We are excited now to be offering these free opportunities to border region residents. This is a great opportunity for people to dispose of all the unwanted electronics they have collected over the years while at the same time ensuring that this potentially toxic stream of waste is disposed of responsibly and doesn’t take up valuable landfill space.”

ADEQ and the non-profit group Keep Arizona Beautiful will be conducting workshops in how to conduct the e-waste events during December throughout southern Arizona.

The toolkit, available in both English and Spanish, contains templates of media releases and flyers, options for selecting e-waste recycling companies, a how-to guide in conducting an e-waste event, educational materials, and volunteer sign-off forms. The toolkit will also be available in Spanish to facilitate these events in the border, ultimately benefitting the broadest communities.

“Every year, households in the U.S. discard more than two million tons of obsolete electronic products such as computers, cell phones and televisions,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “The goal of this toolkit is to educate communities on proper electronic recycling and prevent valuable materials from being thrown away.”

Border 2020 is a bi-national collaborative effort with a mission to protect human health and the environment along the U.S.–Mexico border. For more information on the Border 2020 Program, please visit www.epa.gov/border2020.

Missing Person Thomas Lang Found Deceased

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thomas langFLAGSTAFF – Sadly, searchers believe they have located the skeletal remains of 22 year old Thomas Lang who was originally reported as an overdue hiker on December 18, 2013. His parents have spent many weekends since the formal search was suspended, hiking areas where they believe their son might be located.

On Saturday, November 29, 2014 Thomas’s parents were searching for their son in the Secret Canyon area located within Yavapai County. Thomas’ mother, called the Coconino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue advising she believed she found a jacket and shoes that possibly belonged to her son.

Yavapai and Coconino County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue units coordinated a further search effort. The Arizona Department of Public Safety launched one of their Air Rescue Helicopters with a Coconino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteer on board to conduct overflights of the area where the items were located. During the flight two additional items consistent with what Lang was believed to have taken with him on his backpacking trip were located from the air.

640px-LANG1On Sunday morning a multi-agency intensive ground search was commenced. Agencies who assisted with the search included Coconino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Unit, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team, Yavapai County Sheriff’s helicopter and Thomas Lang’s parents. At about 10:00 am the crew aboard the Yavapai Sheriff’s helicopter confirmed that the items spotted the previous day were a backpack, tarp, and a guitar. Teams from Coconino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, including two search dogs, and Yavapai Sheriff’s Search and Rescue hiked in very rough and steep terrain reaching the items spotted from the air at approximately noon. At 12:45 pm the team located what they believed to be the remains of Thomas Lang.

The remains have not been positively identified and have been released to the Yavapai County Medical Examiner. The Yavapai County and Coconino County Medical Examiners are working together in an effort to identify the remains and determine the cause and manner of death.

The initial search was started after Lang’s father dropped him off at the Manzanita Campground on December 18, 2013 at about 11:00 am. It was Lang’s intention to hike in the area and return on December 22, 2013. When Lang did not return his family members called the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and reported him as a missing person. It was at this point that a multi-agency, intensive ground and air search was commenced.

Agencies and resources that were involved with the initial search efforts in 2013 included the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO), the YCSO Search and Rescue Unit, the YCSO helicopter, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), the CCSO Search and Rescue Unit, Lang’s parents, the Civil Air Patrol, the Maricopa County Search and Rescue Unit, the Mojave County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team and the Arizona Department of Public Safety Air Rescue Unit. The formal search was suspended on December 27, 2013 after an extensive five day search.

In addition to the initial search effort, the Civil Air Patrol flew over the search area and took photographs utilizing a high resolution camera in April 2014. On several different dates hikers reported seeing items that they believe might belong to the missing person. In response to these reports the YCSO helicopter flew multiple missions.

Until the recent discovery of items by Lang’s mother, all of the previously reported items were determined not to belong to Lang. Throughout 2014, both the YCSO and the CCSO Search and Rescue Units conducted numerous training missions in the area where Lang went missing with the dual purpose of training as well as possibly uncovering more clues about his disappearance. It is common to conduct training missions in areas where outstanding missing persons are believed to be.

Cromer School Burglarized Twice

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FLAGSTAFF – Coconino County Sheriff’s Deputies and Detectives are investigating two burglaries that have recently occurred at Cromer School and are requesting assistance from the community in identifying and locating potential suspects.

The first burglary occurred sometime between the evening of Wednesday, November 19, 2014 and the morning of Thursday, November 20, 2014. The second burglary occurred sometime between the evening of Friday, November 21, 2014 and the morning of Monday, November 24, 2014. Both burglaries occurred in the FACTS building which houses Cromer’s after school program. The FACTS building is a structure that is separate from the main school building. During the first burglary not only did the suspect or suspects take valuable equipment but also vandalized the interior of the structure.

Items taken during these two crimes include a portable blue ray player, a 42” LG flat screen television set, a Dell Computer, 5 Bantam Portable Radios, 4 Cobra portable radios, and cash in excess of $300.00. Several of the stolen items to include the LG television set had been purchased with funds raised by the students.

Anyone with information about these burglaries is urged to call the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office at (928) 774-4523 or toll free at (800) 338-7888 or Coconino County Silent Witness at (928) 774-6111. We need your information not your name. Your information could help solve these cases.