In the face of Covid-19, we are uncertain about whether putting on the 25th Annual Mountain Spelling Bee makes sense. We are planning to host the event on April 23rd, 2022 at the High Country Conference Center.
In order to determine the comfort level from the community about whether the bee would achieve the attendance needed to make the event planning worth it, we have created a short survey designed to gather which measures Covid-19 safety measures we can implement to raise attendance.
Coconino County Parks & Recreation celebrated the completion of the first permanent, publicly accessible, year-round restroom at Fort Tuthill County Park on Wednesday, October 21, with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The restroom is located east of the Fort Tuthill Bike Park, in the north parking lot of Fort Tuthill County Park. County Supervisors and representatives from Kinney Construction Services, Peak Engineering, RJA-Architecture, and Arizona State Parks attended the celebration.
And the Winners are…
17th Annual Sedona Plein Air Festival
Festival Award Winners
Judge: Michele Usibelli
Best of Show: Gretchen Lopez
First place: Peggy Immel
Second place: Ellie Wilson
Third place: Manon Sander
Artists Choice: Margaret Larlham
Collectors Choice: Michelle Held
Honorable Mention: Bill Cramer, Margaret Larlham, James McGrew, Kari Ganoung Ruiz, Hadley Rampton, Krystal Brown
The prescribed burn at the Rogers Lake Natural Area that was previously approved for Wednesday, November 3 has been cancelled.
Additional prescribed burns could take place through the rest of the week, depending on weather conditions. More details will be provided as they become available.
October is a month steeped in the celebration of our ancestral traditions. From closing out Hispanic Heritage Month, to the beginning of Día de Los Muertos, it is a time to reflect on the legacy we carry, and the antepasados that started it all. Some questions to consider exploring as a family to honor this special time could include:
What legacy would we like to see our family continue?
What traditions remind us of our time spent with family?
To learn more about Día de Los Muertos, make sure to visit our blog, where our Communications Coordinator, Amy Dominguez wrote about how her family has celebrated Día de Los Muertos.
Every November, the NACC joins with the Office of Indigenous Student Success to celebrate Native American Heritage Month alongside Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, First Nation and Aboriginal students who have found a new home at NAU. Located near the Navajo and Hopi reservations, NAU offers a variety of events to help students, staff and faculty celebrate and foster awareness of Indigenous cultures and contributions during the month of November and throughout the year.
The Flagstaff Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) plans to conduct a prescribed burn of approximately 72 acres on Observatory Mesa tomorrow, Tuesday, November 2, 2021.
With light winds from the west forecasted, smoke may impact central Flagstaff during the day and settle overnight into the downtown, Southside, Railroad Springs and Northern Arizona University campus areas. For more information on smoke and air quality, please visit http://www.azdeq.gov/WildfireForecast or https://legacy.azdeq.gov/environ/air/smoke/.
The Arizona Chapter of the Arizona Planning Association (APA-AZ) held a virtual awards ceremony on September 5 recognizing Coconino County Planning and Zoning Commissioner John F. Ruggles as Distinguished Citizen Planner.
The Association’s awards recognize notable planning pursuits that exemplify planning principles and foster positive impacts on Arizona and its communities. Mr. Ruggles was recognized as the “Distinguished Citizen Planner” following nomination by the Coconino County Community Development Department.
Online learning opportunities are perfect for students who are interested in taking one of our educational opportunities, but prefer to work at home. These learning opportunities provide a well-rounded experience in various visual art mediums.
Our workshops are live online learning experiences with one-on-one interaction between student and instructor. Click here to see all our online learning opportunities
Open enrollment for Medicare has begun and will run until December 7, 2021!
The Medicare open enrollment period is your opportunity to re-evaluate your current Medicare health and prescription drug plans and make any changes that may better fit your needs for the coming year.
If you’re happy with your coverage, you don’t need to take any action; your existing plan will continue uninterrupted in 2022.
Coconino County’s annual Winter Parking Ordinance will go into effect Monday, November 1, 2021. The ordinance requires parking restrictions on County-maintained roads during snow season.
Between November 1 and April 1 of each year, motor vehicles must be kept clear of County-maintained highways and roads. Any vehicle parked in prohibited areas reserve the right to be cited or towed at the owner’s expense (not less than $200.00) due to the possibility of threatening the health or welfare of County residents. Penalties are applicable where violations take place and where signed.
The last day of 2021 operations for the Willard Springs Green Waste Station was Saturday, October 30.
The station will be closed throughout the upcoming winter season, which runs each year from November 1 to March 31. Coconino County can reopen Willard Springs for green waste-only disposal on Friday, April 1, 2022. It will then be open for the summer season on Fridays and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. until Saturday, October 29, 2022.
Celebraciones de la Gente, the annual Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead celebration, returned to the Museum of Northern Arizona on Oct. 23-24 with an appreciative crowd who strolled around the historic Jaime Golightly Courtyard to view family ofrendas / altars, view workshops on creating ofrendas, a presentation honoring the more than 400 people who died due to COVID-19 in Coconino County, dance performances by Ballet Folklorico de Colores — Flagstaff and music by Mariachi Tradición de México from Tucson and Los Alambrados Flagstaff.
The 18th annual event, which was hosted by the Museum of Northern Arizona, in partnership with Flagstaff Nuestras Raíces, was presented virtually in 2020 due the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Work to implement a pilot project installing separated bike lanes on Beaver Street and Butler Avenue originally scheduled to begin next week has been postponed one week due to a delay in the delivery of essential hardware.
Work on Beaver Street will now begin on Monday, November 8, 2021 and end on Friday, November 19, 2021. The project limits are Beaver Street, from Forest Avenue to Butler Avenue.
The Coconino County Elections Office would like to remind voters residing in the Williams Unified School District #2 that they have until 7:00 p.m. on Election Day —Tuesday, November 2 — to return their voted ballots. As of Thursday, October 28, the Elections Office had received 1,003 voted ballots. A total of 4,069 ballots mailed were mail to district voters.
Voters are reminded that this election is a ballot-by-mail election and there will be no polling places on Election Day. If a voter believes they are eligible to vote in this election and did not receive a ballot in the mail, the voter should call the Elections Office at (928) 679-7860 or toll free (800) 793-6181.
Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton in the West
Oct. 30, 1 pm
Attend in person at MNA, or watch on Facebook
Alan Peterson, MNA’s Fine Art Curator, will discuss Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton’s early life and education in Philadelphia, her first trips to the West as a young artist, how she met Harold Colton, their honeymoon trip, and their subsequent trips to Flagstaff before moving here in 1926.
Friday, October 29
Awards Night and Party! 5-8pm
Held at Sedona Arts Center’s Special Exhibition Gallery and Theatre Studio in the Historic Art Barn. Fine wine, fine hors d’oeuvres and fine art. This is the big event! Artist’s awards are presented throughout the evening recognizing the best work created during the week including Best of Show and merit awards by Festival Judge Michele Usibelli, Artist’s Choice Award, Collectors Choice by ballot and Sedona Arts Center Awards.
As part of the Flagstaff Prescribed Fire Training Exchange, prescribed burns are tentatively planned for the week of November 1, depending on weather conditions.
Prescribed burns help to restore forests to healthier conditions and improve the safety of the communities around them. Frequent, low-intensity fire removes accumulated smaller fuels and recycles nutrients in the soils to promote healthy vegetation and wildlife habitat.
In this Views from NAU, Karen Schairer, associate professor in the Department of Global Languages and Culture, writes about how Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is first and foremost a celebration and a reminder that life and death are both part of the same experience. Neither is to be feared and both are to be celebrated with joy and laughter, music and dancing and a heartfelt appreciation of family and all who came before us.
As one of the nation’s premier humanitarian organizations, the American Red Cross is dedicated to helping people in need throughout the United States and, in association with other Red Cross networks, throughout the world. We depend on the many generous contributions of time, blood, and money from the American public to support our lifesaving services and programs.
At the Red Cross, there is no such thing as a small disaster. In every single case it is the Red Cross’ mission to help people affected by disaster meet their emergency needs that include shelter, food, clothing, and health and mental health services. As a paid staff member, you will support our loyal Red Cross disaster volunteers who serve selflessly to provide a bridge of assistance until individuals and families can resume a normal life.
On Monday, November 1, Coconino County Health and Human services will be holding two COVID-19 and flu vaccine events in the community. Similar to previous events, no registration is required ahead of time.
Tusayan (behind the IMAX Theater) from 12:00 p.m.-2 p.m. (flyer here)
Grand Canyon Recreation Center Ramada from 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. (full flyer here)
Coconino Coalition for Children and Youth (www.coconinokids.org) is working hard to better understand root causes of trauma and promoting tools for resiliency. We know that social connection is a key protective factor for both youth and families.
During Covid, we began a virtual youth open mic. The purpose is to provide a safe space for youth to express themselves through music, art, poetry, theater, dance, photography, or cultural sharing. The event takes place the first Sunday of each month at 4pm. The next event is scheduled for Sunday November 7th.
We realize many of our community’s youth may be “Zoomed out”. So, we are also looking for youth voice to brainstorm suggestions for community-based youth connection opportunities. We would appreciate you asking the youth you serve, “What youth events would you like to see in your community?” We are also available to speak with your youth group to facilitate that conversation.
The land of Coconino County is rich in geological stories and steeped in a sacred importance to all of us who live here. Coconino Community College is located in the middle of the land’s magnificence. More than 20 percent of our students at the college are Native American, and because CCC is dedicated to creating a welcoming and inclusive learning environment, the perspective of our Native American students is vitally important to our identity. To that end, when students from the college’s Indigenous Student Association developed a Land Acknowledgement Statement, the college community acted universally to make it a part of CCC’s culture.
Winter parking restrictions will begin on November 1 and will remain in effect until April 1. During this time, parking on city streets and alleyways is prohibited from midnight to 7 a.m.
The parking restriction allows the City to thoroughly plow the streets during snow events and remains in effect even if it is not snowing to aid in street sweeping. This ordinance is enforced by the Flagstaff Police Department. Cars that are parked in violation of the ordinance when it is not snowing will receive a ticket and those parked in violation during inclement weather will receive a ticket and could be towed.
Fires in the West have been getting more severe and threatening more communities in the last 30 years. A team, including ecologists and economists from NAU, received a grant from the National Science Foundation to study how communities can use fuel treatments to keep themselves safe and preserve their relationship to the forests they love.
For the first time, fire managers from nine agencies and partners are gathering in northern Arizona to learn about and train in prescribed fire through a formal training exchange (TREX). Hosted by the Flagstaff Fire Department and Summit Fire and Medical District and sponsored by the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the Fire Learning Network, this Prescribed Fire Training Exchange is a unique opportunity for fire personnel from across the county to learn about prescribed fire, land management, the wildland urban interface, smoke management, and much more.
“This Prescribed Fire Training Exchange is designed to provide experiential training that builds local capacity for fire management while offering professional fire practitioners a more holistic perspective” said Neil Chapman, Wildland Forest Health Supervisor with the Flagstaff Fire Department.
Mariachi music and Folklorico dancing, colorful and elaborate ofrendas (altars), insightful heritage programs, and Day of the Dead inspired crafts for the kids. 10 a.m.
