Flagstaff Today - News and Photos

Department of Public Safety officers seized significant amounts of drugs in one day along Interstate 40 in Northern Arizona.

The first incident happened on Thursday after an officer stopped a 1998 Dodge Mini Van for following too closely in traffic.

The officer received written consent to search the vehicle and found 4 bundles of methamphetamine, totaling 5 pounds, in a constructed compartment in the dashboard.

The driver, 26-year-old Adalberto Castro, was an illegal immigrant from Bakersfield, California.

He was headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico from Phoenix.

abc15.com

Northern Arizona University has released a report that identifies the potential volume of wood resources available from more than 2 million acres of Arizona forests, representing the first major agreement among groups typically at odds over the issue of forest thinning.

The “Wood Supply Analysis” report identifies a potential supply of up to 850 million cubic feet of wood and 8 million tons of biomass from branches and timber residue for such commercial uses as pallets, firewood, poles, lumber, mulch and stove pellets.

A group of 20 stakeholders representing forest wood-product businesses, local government, environmental groups and public land and resource management agencies worked with scientists from NAU to build agreement about the amount and type of wood supply that could be available from the thinning of Arizona’s ponderosa pine forests to promote ecosystem health and reduce the risk of unnaturally severe wildfire.

EurekAlert!

The body of Todd Delage won’t be claimed by relatives anytime soon.

That’s because county officials have decided to leave the body in place. The terrain where the man’s body rests — about 800 feet below the rim of the Little Colorado River gorge — is too treacherous for rescuers to make a safe recovery. At a news media briefing Thursday, Sheriff Bill Pribil and Sgt. Aaron Dick, coordinator of the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue unit, said that the man’s body is on the side of a rock face too steep to allow air-based rescuers to reach their target.

Sending down a rope with a rescuer or mechanical recovery device would entail a risky “blind insertion” and the possibility of entanglement, Dick said.

“Again, this is slightly overhung above the subject,” he said, referring to images taken across the canyon. “So we have rotor clearance, but once we’re overhead, above the scene, we can’t see the scene anymore.”

azdailysun.com

Flagstaff police are recommending charges against a woman who once taught at Flagstaff High School. 29 year old Tawni Wimberley is accused of having sex with multiple teenagers including a 17 year old boy.

Police say their investigation began after hearing rumors of alleged teacher-student sex.

Officers say multiple former students admitted to having sex with their former teacher. Two students were 18 but police say one male student was underage. Wimberley taught at Flagstaff High School for five years. She has not taught this school year. Wimberley has not been arrested or charged but police have sent a report to the Coconino County Attorney recommending one felony charge. Police say she had sex with one of the 18 year old former students at Flagstaff High School during the summer.

The Flagstaff Unified School District says they did a background check on Wimberley before hiring her.

KPNX

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 28, 2008) - David Schlosser, a candidate for
mayor of Flagstaff, Ariz., today announced that he would dedicate most of
the recent raise in the mayor’s salary to local philanthropic causes.

“I opposed increasing the mayor’s salary, and I put my money where my mouth
is,” Schlosser said.  “If elected, I will donate the difference between the
city council and mayor salaries to local charities that help address our
community’s most urgent needs, including affordable housing, workforce and
economic development, public safety, and education.”

(more…)

A Peabody Energy plane carrying some Flagstaff residents skidded off the runway while landing at a Black Mesa mine airstrip Friday afternoon.

Only minor injuries were reported among the 18 passengers and two crew members of the Beechcraft 1900 B190 twin-engine craft, according to a preliminary accident report from the Federal Aviation Administration. Damage to the plane was deemed as “substantial.” The plane was on a daily commuter flight from Flagstaff to the Black Mesa.

azdailysun.com

KINGMAN, Ariz. — Polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs made an initial court appearance on sex offense charges under heavy security and the watch of supporters and news media Wednesday morning.

Jeffs, 52, pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of being an accomplice to incest and sexual conduct with a minor in assigning three underage girls as spiritual brides to male adults.

Jeffs heads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose members subscribe to a multiple-wife lifestyle in the northern Arizona community of Colorado City and the neighboring border town of Hildale, Utah.

The mainstream Mormon church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, renounced polygamy more than a century ago, excommunicates members who engage in the practice and disavows any connection with the FLDS church.

Las Vegas Review Journal

City maintenance crews will be working on fixing potholes on Butler Avenue this week.

According to a press release from the city, the streets division was notified Monday that the city will have access to hot-mix asphalt this week on a limited basis. Hot-mix asphalt is more durable than a cold-mix variety. The pothole repair will take place Wednesday on Butler Avenue from Herold Ranch Road to Sinagua Heights Drive. On Thursday, work will continue on Butler Avenue from Sawmill Road to Lone Tree Road.

azdailysun.com

A wrong-way driver collided with two other vehicles on Interstate 40 Monday afternoon, killing one and seriously injuring another.

According to information from the Department of Public Safety, a westbound car entered the eastbound I-40 at about 2:42 p.m. west of Butler Avenue and about three-quarters of a mile before the Little America exit. The collision snarled traffic, backing it up to the Interstate 17 interchange. Although one lane was moving by 5 p.m., traffic was still moving at a relative crawl as several officers remained at the scene cleaning up.

azdailysun.com

Legislation that would allow people to carry guns on Arizona community-college or public-university campuses advanced Monday, 11 days after a gunman killed five people and himself in an Illinois university lecture hall.

Members of the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee passed the legislation along a party-line 4-3 vote. Democratic senators Ken Cheuvront, Albert Hale and Richard Miranda voted no.

Senate Bill 1214, which would allow concealed-weapons permit holders to carry a gun at community colleges and Arizona’s three public universities, next heads to the Senate Rules Committee.

Arizona Republic

Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi (R) said late Monday that he would not resign from the House, despite being indicted last week by a federal grand jury in Tucson on 35 counts of money laundering, wire fraud, extortion and other charges related to a land-swap scheme and his alleged embezzlement of money from his own company to fund his first House campaign.

“I will not resign and take on the cloak of guilt because I am innocent. My legal team of Reid Weingarten and Kelly Kramer will handle these legal issues while I continue to serve my constituents,” Renzi said in a statement, referring to the two attorneys handling his defense.

After news of Renzi’s indictment broke Friday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said, “I strongly urge Rep. Renzi to seriously consider whether he can continue to effectively represent his constituents under these circumstances.” The GOP leader also said he wants to meet with Renzi “at the earliest possible opportunity to discuss this situation.”

Renzi announced last year that he would not run for reelection in 2008, and a race is already underway to replace him.

Washington Post

It’s a buyers’ market.That was the message at Arizona’s first new-home live auction on Sunday, where first-time home buyers, retirees, families and investors went head to head to snatch up discounted properties in Buckeye and Flagstaff.

The tempo was fast: 37 homes in the Verrado and Flagstaff Ranch communities were sold in less than two hours. The mood? A bit jittery.

For many in a crowded ballroom at the Westin Kierland Resort, it was their first time at a live auction. They arrived looking for a steal, but skeptical. Would they luck out or leave with nothing?

Auctioneer Dean Cullum laid the ground rules and held a practice round of bidding, encouraging the skittish auction newbies to hold up their brightly colored cards.

“You are the marketplace,” Cullum told them. “You are going to determine what the homes are worth.”

Several homes sold for about $100,000 less than the previous asking price. There were good deals but not very many great deals, visitors said.

Arizona Republic

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) _ Pen, nib, brush, paint, ink and paper: In the hands of a skilled calligrapher, these tools become fluid instruments to convey emotion through forms, especially letters.

From the earliest renderings on cave walls to Assyrian etchings on beeswax and Egyptian hieroglyphics on papyrus, calligraphy _ from Greek word kallos, (“beauty”) plus graph (“writing”) _ has gone beyond plain penmanship, as scribes explored the creative possibilities of lettering.

For more than 50 years, Jan Petrucci, a Flagstaff resident since 1988, has been learning the fine art of calligraphy and expounding its virtues to the public.

“I welcome the chance to speak for the calligraphic arts,” Petrucci said. “I love to show the difference between hand-lettering and computer enhanced. It’s about passion and feeling flowing from the end of a tool.”

Petrucci said the warmth of hand-lettering is not as popular as it once was.

KTAR

At least one local reaction Friday to the Renzi indictment reflected the congressman’s ability to bring home the federal bacon.

“He’s always there for us when we needed him and he was always up front to advocate for us, whatever our needs were,” Mayor Joe Donaldson said, even though he acknowledged Flagstaff voters chose Democrats. Since his election in 2002, when the congressional district around Flagstaff was redrawn to represent rural Arizona instead of the Valley, Renzi had been known for bringing roads, transit, school and infrastructure money to Flagstaff and the Navajo Nation.

Renzi sent more than $300 million to the Navajo Nation, at last count.

He brought $7.2 million in funds to the Mountain Line transit system in Flagstaff and Sedona, according to the director.

The city frequently asks his help in lobbying for money to improve the flood-control channel of the Rio de Flag, a multimillion-dollar project, among other items.

Donaldson, who has supported Renzi in each election, called the congressman on his cell phone in the spring of 2007, when the FBI raided a Renzi family business amid an ongoing federal investigation that lead to the recent indictment on charges of money-laundering, wire fraud and extortion.

azdailysun.com

German car manufacturer Volkswagen is coming back to Flagstaff. Community Investment Director Michael Kerski confirmed today that the Findlay Automotive Group is bringing a VW dealership to the city’s auto mall by mid-2009. Kerski said there is more than 1,000 VWs in Flagstaff and that brand is the top request from residents for new dealerships. VW had a presence in Flagstaff up until 2001, when the state Motor Vehicle Division served a ‘cease and desist’ notice on the Joe Florek Volkswagen and Audi…

Silobreaker

Fred Solop, professor of political science at Northern Arizona University, said state law creates two possible scenarios.

If Renzi resigns before early May — more than six months from the Nov. 3 general election — a special election process will be triggered. The primary election has to be held between 75 and 105 days of resignation. Then, a general election must take place 35 to 45 days after the primary. The process would play out in about four to five months.

If Renzi resigns within six months of Nov. 3, his seat will remain open and will not be filled, according to Solop’s reading of state law. The governor would not appoint someone to fill that seat, as would be the case for a U.S. senator.

azdailysun.com

Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) used his position in Congress to influence a federal land-exchange deal, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in payoffs, according to an indictment released yesterday.

The 35-count indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Tucson also accuses Renzi of separately embezzling corporate funds to bankroll his first House campaign.

The indictment makes Renzi the fourth sitting lawmaker to face federal charges since 2005 in the Justice Department’s continuing crackdown on public corruption, and it represents a fresh blow to congressional Republicans struggling with numerous allegations of ethical wrongdoing in their ranks.

Renzi joins as targets of Justice Department prosecution convicted GOP Reps. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (Calif.) and Robert W. Ney (Ohio), as well as Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson (La.), who is awaiting trial on bribery charges.

Renzi, who was indicted along with two alleged co-conspirators after a federal investigation that took at least 16 months, is accused of conspiracy, money laundering and other crimes.

The Washington Post

Friday’s winter storm exits east by Saturday morning making way for a wonderful weekend. Look for more sunshine and warmer temperatures statewide.

On Friday, a winter storm sprinkled light rainfall across the Valley and dumped several inches of snowfall in the high country(5″ in Flagstaff). That storm will be long gone by Saturday. Skies on Saturday will be mostly sunny in the Valley, partly cloudy in the high country. Valley temperatures warm to the upper 60s on Saturday, increasing to the mid 70s by Sunday. High country temps will get to the mid 40s on Saturday and the low 50s on Sunday, making it yet another perfect weekend to hit the ski slopes at Sunrise and Snowbowl.

KPNX

The city will not lay off employees this year, bucking a trend among other Arizona municipalities and counties that have announced jobs cuts to address budget shortfalls.

City officials told the Flagstaff City Council Thursday that revenues have kept pace with expenses in part of a surge in commercial construction and conservative budgeting. Those factors have offset a decline in residential construction and slower retail activity at some stores. The Flagstaff Mall extension, the High Country Conference Center and the city’s Aquaplex are among the projects that generated enough tax revenues to offset a nearly 60 percent decline in residential construction so far this fiscal year, which will end June 30.

azdailysun.com

The Northern Arizona Street Crimes Task Force (METRO) served two search warrants today following an investigation into marijuana cultivation operations. The task force is comprised of Flagstaff Police Department officers, DPS officers and Sheriff’s Dept. Deputies. Drug Enforcement Agency agents, DEA, assisted during the investigation and the service of warrants.

At about 07:00 AM agents from the team served warrants on two separate residences. The first being in Mountainaire at the 300 block of Commanche and the second one in Parks off of Government Prairie Road. The unit discovered advanced marijuana growing operations in each. The operations included artificial lighting, progressive fertilizing systems and harvesting/packaging layouts.

azfamily.com