Category Archives: News

Kiwanis Club does it again

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Santa visits Williams Kiwanis Club holiday dinner at Doc Holiday's.

Williams, December 11, 2011—Santa had a busy schedule this weekend in Williams with a visit to the Recreation Center on Saturday followed by an appearance at the annual Kiwanis holiday dinner on Sunday. Volunteers from the Lion’s Club and the Rotary Club “stepped up to the plates” to serve turkey and ham with all the trimmings.

Kiwanis dinner draws a crowd.

Mayor John Moore displayed his “culinary skills” by serving buns at the end of the line.

Santa brought some preview toys as prizes for a drawing. Some say Santa’s Elves who helped bring these toys include some of the businesses and residence of Williams.

The Kiwanis buffet-style holiday dinner at Doc Holiday’s at the Holiday Inn in Williams started several years ago in December and has grown in popularity over the years. The volunteers even deliver a variety of non-alcoholic beverages right to your table.

Special thanks to all of the volunteers that make this a special event for Williams.

Road Maintenance Underway in Kaibab Forest Acres near Parks

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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Coconino County Public Works Department is performing routine road maintenance in the Kaibab Forest Acres area located between Old Route 66 and Interstate 40 just west of Parks. The project began late last month and is scheduled to be completed during the first week of January, weather permitting.

Maintenance crews are clearing drainage ditches and pipes, maintaining the right of way and performing resurfacing work along North, South, East and West Park roads in Kaibab Forest Acres. Although no traffic closures or standing restrictions are anticipated for this project, crews and equipment may be present along these roads between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday until early January. For both personal and worker safety, residents are asked to drive slowly through this area for the duration of this project.

Lowe’s defends pulling ads from Muslim TV show

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By Edith Honan
NEW YORK | Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:05pm EST

(Reuters) – U.S. home improvement chain Lowe’s Monday defended its decision to pull advertising from reality TV show “All-American Muslim” amid charges the company had given in to bigotry.

“All-American Muslim,” which airs on TLC, follows several Muslim families in and around the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, which is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States and its largest mosque.

It has been accused by one Florida group to be propaganda. But the decision by Lowe’s sparked an outcry by defenders of the show.

Lowe’s employed its Facebook page to defend itself and called “All-American Muslim,” a “lightning rod” for “strong political and societal views.”

Read more at Reuters

Parks Chief Blocked Plan for Grand Canyon Bottle Ban

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Photo courtesy of Marvelous Marv

Weary of plastic litter, Grand Canyon National Park officials were in the final stages of imposing a ban on the sale of disposable water bottles in the Grand Canyon late last year when the nation’s parks chief abruptly blocked the plan after conversations with Coca-Cola, a major donor to the National Park Foundation.

Stephen P. Martin, the architect of the plan and the top parks official at the Grand Canyon, said his superiors told him two weeks before its Jan. 1 start date that Coca-Cola, which distributes water under the Dasani brand and has donated more than $13 million to the parks, had registered its concerns about the bottle ban through the foundation, and that the project was being tabled. His account was confirmed by park, foundation and company officials.

A spokesman for the National Park Service, David Barna, said it was Jon Jarvis, the top federal parks official, who made the “decision to put it on hold until we can get more information.” He added that “reducing and eliminating disposable plastic bottles is one element of our green plan. This is a process, and we are at the beginning of it.”

Read more at New York Times

Hazardous Weather Outlook for Northern Arizona

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Chances of snow and cooler temperatures are the outlook starting Monday and running through the day Wednesday. The forecast predicts 90% chance of snow Tuesday with a high of 36 falling to 22 in the eventing.

A hazardous weather outlook was issued for the northern Arizona area which follows:

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL ARIZONA…NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA…NORTHEAST ARIZONA AND WEST CENTRAL ARIZONA.

.DAY ONE…THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

NO WEATHER HAZARDS ARE EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL AFFECT NORTHERN ARIZONA EARLY NEXT WEEK. LIGHT SNOW MAY START AS EARLY AS MONDAY MORNING…WITH HEAVIER SNOW LIKELY TO ARRIVE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY…CREATING HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS. SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS ARE LIKELY ABOVE 6000 FEET…WITH LIGHT AMOUNTS AS LOW AS 5000 FEET. THE HEAVIEST SNOW IS EXPECTED FROM THE MOGOLLON RIM AND WHITE MOUNTAINS SOUTHWARD INTO THE YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS. PEOPLE WITH TRAVEL OR OTHER OUTDOOR PLANS SHOULD STAY TUNED FOR THE LATEST UPDATES OVER THE COMING DAYS.

Mohave County moves forward with lawsuit against Arizona

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MOHAVE COUNTY—The Mohave County Board of Supervisors voted today to proceed with hiring legal counsel to move forward with litigation regarding the illegal taking of $1.4 million from Mohave County taxpayers. Also to be included in the lawsuit is the failure of the State to have a balanced budget. The State’s budget has not been balanced since 2006.

A recently released analysis has tagged Arizona as having one of the lowest credit ratings in the country. That would seem to be the result of a variety of poor fiscal policies, not the least of which would be the state not adhering to the constitutional (Article 9, Sections 4 and 5) requirement for a balanced budget.

Mohave County believes that the State has no authority to require mandatory contributions of our taxpayers’ property taxes. The State has shifted millions of dollars from the cities and counties to try to cover their inability to pay their bills. They have used roll-overs, the rainy-day fund and the mortgaging of their assets and still can’t balance the books. They have incurred long term debt, which eats up a good portion of their revenues. They owe our schools over a billion dollars.

Their taking from counties and cities is pushing the limits of local governments to furnish basic necessities.

Supervisor Matt Ryan Testifies Before Washington, D.C. Subcommittee To End Land Boundary Dispute

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hoping to gain federal support to allow several Coconino County residents to retain property they’ve lived on for years, County Supervisor Matt Ryan testified before the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on Friday morning.

Supervisor Ryan urged members of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands to approve H.R. 1038. The resolution, introduced by U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar on March 11, 2011, would allow the U.S. Forest Service to transfer up to 3 acres of federal land inside the Mountainaire Subdivision that was erroneously labeled and settled as private property.

In November 2007, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management completed a land survey in the Mountainaire Subdivision in the Coconino National Forest south of Flagstaff. During the 2007 survey, the BLM determined that an erroneous privately contracted survey of Mountainaire Unit I, which was completed between 1960 and 1961, misidentified several acres of U.S. Forest Service land as private property.

“On some of the developed parcels, the revised boundary goes through portions of the landowner’s residence,” Supervisor Ryan told the Subcommittee. “Furthermore, several of these residents have maintained these parcels and developed them as their own for years, and in some cases decades.”

The legislation authorizes the transfer of the property from the U.S. Forest Service, avoiding a long and costly administrative process. The boundary discrepancy impacts approximately 26 lots and 27 property owners in the subdivision, many of whom have been unable to sell their properties because they are unable to prove land ownership, Supervisor Ryan testified.

Rep. Gosar and U.S. Forest Service Acting Deputy Chief Gregory Smith testified in support of H.R. 1038.

“We believe this is a small price to pay to grant these homeowners the peace of mind of knowing the property they live on is their own,” Supervisor Ryan said. “H.R. 1038 will provide much-needed relief to homeowners of the Mountainaire Subdivision.”

Black Friday ribbon cutting in Williams could cause problems with the military.

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Mayor Moore of Williams came to cut the ribbon.

We all know how hard it is to keep a secret. And the secret base of Area 51 is the biggest unkempt secret in history.

On black Friday in Williams Mayor Moore cut the ribbon on the newest store which may draw the interest of the Men in Black. Luis Ramallo opened his second Alien Beef Jerky store in the small city out of the way of the prying eyes of the military. He opened his first store in Baker, California in 2002. It was such a success that he wholesales his Alien Beef Jerky to other stores.

The opening included a special attraction. The actual DeLorean Motor Car used in the movie. Not the Back to the Future series, but the Fireball Run movies. “Doc” Paul Nigh explained that his car is a replica of the only existing car from the movie series. The others that were used were left in the backlot in various states of disrepair. The proceeds of the Fireball Run event is used to find missing children. Their motto, “The Race to recover Americas missing children.”

There are other items besides beef jerky. They include snacks, a variety of drinks, and hot sauces for the discriminating tea party member. They also have a unique penny souvenir crusher with alien Grand Canyon themes. Mr. Ramallo adds that the stock on hand is not complete. He expects to be fully stocked at the Williams store by the summer.
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The Gazette going through changes

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We originally tried to use b2Evolution for our format which has some nice features. We could set up a blog for various cities around northern Arizona. There were technical problems, however, which makes WordPress easier to use. Therefore, we have moved to that program for this blog.

We can set up blogs for individual cities located in the north-land and may do so in the future. That will depend on a number of factors, such as writing staff, interest and so-forth.

We hope you will enjoy the new format.