It was a decision some in the community painted as motivated purely motivated by greed and would have forever altered the cherished dark skies above the city, the first to be internationally recognized as a dark sky community.

The decision was so important Flagstaff City Council member Karen Cooper, recovering from a recent gall bladder surgery, attended last night’s City Council meeting to cast her vote.

The council decided last night in favor of a fully-shielded lighting system, twice as bright as the previous lighting system at the Thorpe Park softball fields, that was favored by astronomers and dark skies advocates.

Arizona Daily Sun