Williams opens Santa Fe dam for crossing

santa-fe-open-01WILLIAMS—Last month the City of Williams passed an ordinance removing the prohibition of fishing off of the dam and crossing to get to the other side.

Previously one was required to use the road just north of the dam to get to the trail on the other side. The problem with the road is it is difficult to pass for elderly or people with other difficulties.

The ordinance stated that the City of Williams acknowledged the “…recreational value of the Santa Fe Dam and its use as a means of access to other recreational activities.” They declared that the prohibition upon traversing upon the dam to be detrimental to the interest of the City. They might have also noted that the prohibition was largely ignored.

The signs have recently been changed to include a warning about traversing the dam. If you take your kids fishing, you should not allow small children to sit on the edge of the dam facing the water. You should also note that there is no fence or barrier on the other side. People with small children should not fish off of the dam but use the shoreline on either side.

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It should also be noted that during the spring thaw, water flows over the dam swiftly and can cause the dam to be slippery.

What the City of Williams DID NOT approve of was littering and illegal dumping of trash which has been a problem at the Santa Fe dam. Trash and plastic water and glass beer bottles can be found. Some of these dropped by hikers. Fishing line, some including hooks, and used bait containers are left along the shoreline. Even used electronic can be found dumped over the side of the dam and left laying about.

City ordinance does NOT allow this.

City ordinance does NOT allow this.

Illegal dumping activity can be reported to the Williams Police Department by dialing (928) 635-4461. If you have a cell phone, it would help to snap a picture of the vehicle and license plate if you can do it without endangering yourself or those with you.

Election Results 2013

WILLIAMS—As of 10:30 pm a little over 25.5% of the voters voted in the elections held in Coconino County.

With only one precinct left to report, the Coconino Community College Question appears to have failed. As of this writing 54.76% voted no on assessing a secondary property tax to raise $4.5 million for the college. 45.24% voted yes.

Williams voted to continue the tax for the Williams Health Clinic. The vote is 56.08% for with 43.92% voting against.

Both the Grand Canyon Unified and Sedona-Oak Creek Joint Unified school districts voted to approve additional property taxes for the schools. The vote on the Grand Canyon Question was approved by a vote of 75%. The vote for the Sedona-Oak Creek Joint Unified school district was 52.10% for and 47.9% against, but not all of the votes have been counted at this point.

These are unofficial results until after the canvas process is complete.

In the closely watched and hotly contested race in Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe appears to have won the race for governor with 47.39% of the vote with 99.5% of the precincts reporting. Republican Ken Cuccinelli received 45.8% of the vote with the Libertarian challenger Robert Sarvis receiving 6.66%. Democrat Ralph Northam won the race for Lieutenant Governor.

Republican Mark Obenshain is barely winning the race for Attorney General against Democrat challenger Mark Herring. The vote is currently 50.27% to 49.52%.

Williams Rotary Club Harvest Auction drawing near.

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.

First snow of the season hits.

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.

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

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.

North County Health Care Health Fair and Open House this Saturday

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.

Brown Amusements returns to Williams

brown-130904-03WILLIAMS—The Zipline gets company this weekend with the return of the Brown Amusements carnival. The carnival is set up on Railroad Avenue across the street from the Wild West Junction and Rod’s Steakhouse. The carnival will run through Saturday. Tickets for rides and events are generally $1 each with an all-day band costing $20. The band allows you to ride the rides as many times are you desire, but do not allow you to play the games.

Northern AZ Authors group to meet in Williams

The Northern Arizona Authors Association will meet in Williams on Saturday at 10 am. The meeting will be held at Wild West Junction on the east end of Route 66.

They’re Coming: Cool Country Cruise in attracts classics

Cool-Country130809-2WILLIAMS—The Cool Country Cruise In comes to Williams again. The classic car show is an annual event in Williams and cars began to arrive yesterday to sign up for the event. Sign up is at Twister’s on Route 66 which sponsors the event.

The event packs the strip with plenty of cars and spectators, so please watch for pedestrians when using Route 66.

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