Category Archives: City

Williams Rotary Club Harvest Auction drawing near.

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WILLIAMS—The Williams Rotary club is currently selling tickets for the drawing to be held during their Harvest Auction event on November 2. The auction will be held at Miss Kitty’s Steakhouse at the Mountainside Inn at 642 Route 66 in Williams on the east end of town.

The auction starts at 5 pm with musical entertainment followed by a catered dinner, the auction and a costume contest. Tickets for the auction are $35 per person. The evening will finish with a drawing for cash prizes.

The tickets for the drawing are $20 each and only 1000 are to be sold. While the ticket for the top prize of $5000 has been sold to this author, there are still prizes for $3000, $1000 and ten prizes of $100. The rules for the raffle can be found at the Williams Rotary Club web site. Tickets can be obtained through a Rotary Member.

The Williams Rotary Club meets Thursdays at 12 p.m. at Doc Holliday’s Steakhouse & Saloon at 950 North Grand Canyon Boulevard in Williams. For more information contact Brian Prager at 928-607-4661.

November is national novel writing month

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nanowrimo-crestEvery November is National Novel Writing month in which writers participate in writing a 50,000 word novel in thirty days.

The idea was started in 1999 in San Francisco by Chris Baty [Facebook]. Every year since then the event has grown from 21 writers to over 300,000 in 90 countries.

The center for the activity is the NANOWRIMO web site. There are also various local chapters of the site including one in Flagstaff. There is a little over two-weeks to sign up for the event.

Participants sign up on the NANOWRIMO web site and agree to write a certain amount of words a day totaling 50,000 by the end of the month. The web site also allows authors to communicate with one another and provide encouragement.

The organization does not guarantee a novel sale, of course, and it will probably need a re-write. The web site only encourages the process after which you may have a novel to submit. Or you might choose to self-publish through web sites such as LULU or CreateSpace.

First snow of the season hits.

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20131010-004WILLIAMS—The seven-day forecast from the National Weather Service shows a 100% chance of snow today. They have issued a hazardous weather advisory which indicates that there is a 20131010-003possibility of 2 to 4 inches of accumulation above 6500-feet with 4-6 inches over the Kaibab Plateau.

The danger, of course, is that roadways may be slick and we advise caution in driving. Add extra time to get where you are going and slow down. Begin braking well in advance.

Photographers may want to take this opportunity to stop along Perkinsville Road or Highway 64 to take photographs. Ensure that you find a place where you can pull off of the road completely.

The snow is predicted to stop by tonight and the temperatures should rise and hover around the sixties through Columbus day which will not be observed this year due to the government shutdown.

First snow of the season predicted for Thursday.

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Bill-Williams-20131003 010The seven-day forecast from the National Weather Service predicts that the first snow of this season should be Thursday. Wednesday will bring a 20% chance of thundershowers with a 70% chance of rain likely after 11 am. Snow level on Wednesday will drop from 8900 feet lowering to 7500 feet. On Thursday the snow level will drop to 6800 feet bringing a snow accumulation of less than one-inch for the City of Williams. While it will probably not be enough to construct a significant snowman, it might make for some good photography opportunity as it mixes with the fall colors.

From the Bench: Williams Justice Court Employee spotlight

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krombeem-20130412 009Ruth Alvarado has worked with us at the Williams Justice Court for over seven years now. Ruth is a Justice Court Specialist and her areas of responsibility include the criminal case load for the justice and municipal courts, plus a handful of other tasks as well. Ruth is the clerk who works behind the scenes and in the courtroom to ensure our criminal cases and all motions and activities associated with those cases are properly calendared and scheduled to the Court’s required timelines. That is no easy task considering we typically have over 400 criminal cases a year in both courts and scheduling those cases involves a lot of correspondence with the attorneys and parties involved. Ruth has attended the Coconino County Supervisor Academy so she regularly helps out with managing the court when Court Manager Jennifer Carter is absent. Ruth’s bi-lingual skills come in handy with our court’s Spanish speaking customers. We are thankful Ruth is able to provide those and all the other services she offers our court and customers. We are also very thankful that Ruth and her husband Pascual, along with their one and a half year old son Zuri, have decided and continued to make Williams their home.

Speaking of employees, Williams Justice Court Specialist Carla Dent was recently promoted from Administrative Specialist to Justice Court Specialist. This promotion was the result of the selection process to replace Bonnie Herbert, who is retiring later this month. We are saddened to see Bonnie retire but are excited to see Carla promoted into this position. Carla’s new responsibilities will include being responsible for the Justice Court’s Civil case load and the financial responsibilities and reports for both courts. Please join us in congratulating Carla for her promotion!

The Williams Justice and City Courts have consolidated their phone lines to improve customer service and reduce operational costs. The new number is (928) 679-7698 and the new FAX line is (928) 679-7688.

Both courts will be closed on October 25th, 2013, for our annual staff retreat. The retreat is an opportunity we look forward to for our staff to discuss plans for the future, ideas, and changes relevant to the administration of our courts. Information and instructions will be available and posted at the court for customers appearing for emergency orders and any other critical services that are needed that day.

Two neighborhood watch meetings scheduled for this week

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Flagstaff––Coconino County Sheriff, Bill Pribil and Coconino County Supervisor Liz Archuleta invite residents of the Timberline and Fernwood communities to the monthly Neighborhood Watch meeting on Tuesday, October 1, 2013. The meeting will be held from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at Summit Fire Station 33, located at 6050 Firehouse Lane, off of North Highway 89.

Judy Weiss who is the Director of the Coconino County Parks and Recreation Department will give an update on Peaks View Park. Dave Ramos, Public Safety and Health Department Chairperson and Gayle Benton, Director of Human Resources for Coconino Community College will give an update on recent programs.

District 4 Supervisor Mandy Metzger will join Sheriff Pribil to speak to residents of the Doney Park community to attend the monthly Neighborhood Watch meeting on Thursday, October 3, 2013. The meeting will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Cromer School, located at 7150 E. Silver Saddle Road.

Coconino County Sheriff Bill Pribil will be at the meeting to encourage continued neighborhood participation and to share information. Doney Park Community Deputies will be available to answer questions and provide support to this partnership between law abiding citizens, law enforcement and county government. District 4 Supervisor Mandy Metzger will be present to share information from Coconino County Government.

At the request of Neighborhood Watch participants, Shelly Shepherd who is the Information and Education Program Manager for the Arizona Game and Fish Department will speak about laws pertaining to hunting and will also talk about the dangers of interacting with wild animals in their natural habitat.

North County Health Care Health Fair and Open House this Saturday

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WILLIAMS—The North County HealthCare clinic in Williams will hold a Health Fair and Open House this Saturday the 29th between 8 am and 12 pm. The clinic is located at 301 South 7th Street. The event includes a tour of the clinic, a raffle, health information and more.

There will be a cholesterol screening (if you fast for 10 hours prior), blood pressure and glucose checks and cancer screening programs.

Community agencies will be represented for information and assistance. You can call 928-635-4441 for more information.

Arizona Firearms and Collectibles gun show this weekend

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FLAGSTAFF—The Arizona Collectibles and Firearms gun show will be held this Saturday and Sunday the 21st and 22nd at the Coconino County Fairgrounds on Ft. Tuthill loop. The show times are from 9 am to 5 pm and 9 am to 4 pm respectively. The cost to enter the show is $7 for one day and $10 for both days. Look for a $2 discount coupon. Gun show dealers and purchasers are reminded that they are obligated to follow all applicable laws.

Man Seriously Injured By Rock Slide

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rock-slide-01

Photos courtesy of Coconino County Sheriff

FLAGSTAFF—A twenty seven year-old man of the Phoenix area was crushed and trapped by a large boulder weighing more than thirty tons that slid down the mountain side. He was standing on Elden Lookout Road attempting to move another large boulder that had previously fallen into the road.

On Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at about 7:23 am the Coconino County Sheriff’ Office received the report of a man that was crushed by a rock slide on the Mount Elden Lookout Road located approximately 3.3 miles up from the bottom of the mountain. Dispatch immediately sent first responders from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, the Summit Fire Department and Guardian Medical Transport. The Arizona Department of Public Safety Air Rescue Helicopter was placed on a standby status pending the arrival of emergency personnel who would assess the conditions and determine if a safe landing zone was available.

rock-slide-02The first to arrive were a Sheriff’s Office patrol Sergeant and Corporal. They observed two very large boulders blocking the road and learned that the four men the victim was traveling with removed him from underneath the boulder. The victim’s legs and pelvic area appeared to have been crushed and severely injured by the weight of the boulder. Due to the condition of the road the responding ambulance and fire truck were not able to drive to the victim’s location. A Sheriff’s Sergeant and a Guardian Battalion Chief who were both operating four wheel drive vehicles were able to drive additional rescue personnel to the scene. A Search and Rescue Coordinator was not able to identify a safe landing zone for air transportation. The victim was prepared for transport and placed in the rear of a Sheriff’s Commander’s assigned SUV and driven to the waiting ambulance, at which point the patient was transferred to the ambulance and transported to the Flagstaff Medical Center.

Investigators learned that the men were from the Phoenix area and were headed up the mountain with the intent of working on one of the radio towers.

The Coconino National Forest has closed Elden Lookout Road and may be temporarily closing other trails and areas affected by the recent rains. Current conditions can be found on their website at www.fs.usda.gov/coconino.

Rainy days ahead

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The long-range forecast shows rain through Wednesday for the Williams area.

Rain is expected through tonight with an 80% chance for rain tomorrow. It drops to 60% Tuesday dropping again to 50% on Wednesday. While this is likely to change, Thursday through next weekend the weather service shows a chance of thundershowers.

Please make sure that you take appropriate precautions such as reducing speed and adding extra time to get where you are going.