The City of Flagstaff has released the draft Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP) for a 60-day public comment period. The ATMP will serve as a guide to enhancing walking and biking in Flagstaff. The draft document includes detailed information regarding pedestrian and bicycle accommodation and establishes a series of goals, policies, and strategies to support walking and biking. The draft plan can be read and downloaded online.
The Coconino County court system sponsored an all-day strategic planning forum on September 23, 2021 in a hybrid conference setting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stakeholders attended both in person and virtually to provide input and assistance in determining the types of services the courts should provide by the year 2040.
The strategic planning forum was well attended with approximately 115 people participating (70 in person and 45 virtually), including citizens, judges, members of the Flagstaff City Council and Coconino County Board of Supervisors, court staff, City and County staff, attorneys, law enforcement, educational leaders, and social service organizations. The ideas and input received by attendees will be used by court leadership to develop formal strategies for improved services for court system customers. The Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, Robert Brutinel, opened the event as the Keynote Speaker.
Fourth Street will experience significant traffic impacts and delays due to pavement striping work occurring from the I-40 bridges south to Warm Springs Trail on Tuesday, September 28 and Wednesday, September 29, 2021. Travelers are encouraged to take alternate routes. Fourth Street will remain open but will be reduced to one lane in each direction. Significant traffic impacts and delays are possible.
It’s officially time for one of Flagstaff’s favorite events; the Flagstaff Oktoberfest!
After having to cancel in 2020, The Flagstaff Oktoberfest, will celebrate 12 years on Saturday October 2nd in Wheeler Park, in Downtown Flagstaff.
But the fun doesn’t end with music, food and drinks. As always, we will have all our favorite contests during this event, such as the Hops on Birch Men’s and Women’s Beer Stein Holding Contest, The Frozen T-Shirt Contest, The Vienna Beef Weiner Man Race and Satchmo’s BBQ Brat Eating Contest!
Imagine looking for work and not being able to feel comfortable crafting a cover letter, or even filling out the application.
Imagine the difficulty finding a job to support your family because you didn’t finish high school. Imagine not being able to speak, read and write English well enough to get a job in your field of study, or to fit into your community well.
According to the National Coalition on Adult Basic Education, there are more than 51 million people in the United States with low literacy skills. Additionally, it has been proved time and time again that as literacy skills increase, quality of life for individuals and their families increases.
As Coconino County Diversity Team continue to celebrate, learn, share, and create awareness during Hispanic Heritage Month, we are inviting you to the presentation “Climate Change and Action,’ a panel discussion from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24.
Click here or on image below to join.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sept. 23 approved a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (Comirnaty) in certain populations who received the first two doses of Pfizer vaccine.
The Pfizer vaccine booster dose is approved to be administered at least six months after completion of the primary series of Pfizer (Comirnaty) vaccine in:
persons age 65+ and long-term care facility residents;
persons aged 50-64 years with underlying medical conditions;
persons based on individual benefit and risk who are aged 18-49 years with underlying medical conditions.
Get ready to run the Flagstaff Marathon! We’re just a few weeks away. Proceeds benefit the Coconino Community College Cross Country Team. Go, Comets!
This Saturday, September 25 will mark the 26th annual Condor Release at the Vermilion Cliffs as part of National Public Lands Day.
Due to high Covid-19 transmission levels in counties surrounding the condor release site, and to help prevent further spread of the virus, partners hosting the event are strongly encouraging the public to attend the live stream event online. In 2020, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the team took the celebration online with more than 10,000 viewers of the event. Because of that success, the event will be live streamed again this year.
The programming for the live virtual event will begin at 10:30 am (Arizona time). The release pen will be open at 11 a.m. (Arizona time).
The virtual event can be viewed here on the Peregrine Fund’s YouTube Channel.
All this week, Lumberjacks have shown up to NAU’s test kitchen, masked and ready to chop, wash, roast, bake and box up delectable meals to go to members of the Flagstaff community. The School of Hotel and Restaurant Management collaborated with the Flagstaff Family Food Center, which closed for a week for renovations, to make sure no one went to bed hungry. Community members, faculty, staff and a lot of students—some with kitchen experience, some without—pitched in to make sure people who needed it got a hot meal made special with Lumberjack love.
View this email in your browser Provide Input on Flagstaff’s Active Transportation Master Plan Help guide the City to improve the pedestrian and bicycle environment in Flagstaff The City of Flagstaff has released the draft Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP)…
There are many companies and organizations that enable United Way of Northern Arizona to do the work it does to Step Up for Our Community. From large entities like W.L. Gore & Associates and local governments to businesses with much smaller staffs, each is essential to our mission and we are grateful to all of them.
In the history of the Summit Society, and the creation of UWNA as a whole, Lowell Observatory holds a special place, however. In fact, it was the wife of a Lowell astronomer who helped found the United Way in Flagstaff more than 50 years ago.
The 2021 Flagstaff Festival of Science kicked off this past Friday with the W. L. Gore Keynote Presentation: “When Stones Speak: Decoding the Messages Embedded in Ancient Maya Monuments” with Dr. Jaime Awe of Northern Arizona University.
That event was followed Snook’s Science in the Park, which featured local science and technology organizations with science experiments and demonstrations at Wheeler Park in downtown Flagstaff. The festival continues through Sunday, Sept. 26.
During the park event, youth had the opportunity to explore life-saving medical devices with innovators and engineers under the W. L. Gore & Associates tents, view the talented athletes from Momentum Aerial as they leap and spin above the ground, with young people exploring the world of magnets at the Coconino Coalition for Children & Youth tent.
The 10-day festival features a mix of in-person activities, live streamed webinars and pre-recorded videos. A full listing of events is available by going to scifest.org and clicking on the 2021 digital passport. Events that require a reservation are denoted on the passport. Tickets for most of the events requiring a reservation can be found at flgscifest.eventbrite.com. The EventBrite page also provides a means to register for the live webinars.
Below is the schedule of upcoming Goodwill Workshops! For details on signing up, please call 928-556-5096 or come in the Career Center to register. Note that our classes and workshops will be offered only Virtually until further notice, and space is limited.
The presentation on the Lone Tree Overpass Project that was scheduled for discussion at the September 21, 2021City Council meeting has been postponed. It will be rescheduled for Council discussion at the earliest opportunity.
There is a virtual Lone Tree Overpass Project Community Meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 30, 2021 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. This Community Meeting will go ahead as planned. The City of Flagstaff encourages the public to participate in both online and by phone to provide input on this important project.
What’s the best way to encourage Native American students to go into STEM fields, including scientific computing? Give them opportunities for hands-on learning and mentoring well before they hit college. That’s the goal of a collaborative program, which will send NAU researchers into K-12 schools throughout the Southwest to create awareness of diverse career opportunities in scientific computing, introduce students to state-of-the-art scientific computing software, allow them to ask questions and gain experience, then bring them to NAU’s campus, helping students see college and STEM careers in their future. The program also centers Native American researchers, giving students mentors who come from the same background and understand their experiences.
The City of Flagstaff is hosting a Special Council Work Session on Friday, September 24th between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. to discuss an alternate response care center. A care center is a proposed component of the City’s Public Safety Alternate Response Model. The purpose of the Model is to engage those in need with the most appropriate services and keep them safe while reducing the amount of contact with the justice system and emergency room, when possible.
As Coconino County Diversity Team continue to celebrate, learn, share, and create awareness during Hispanic Heritage Month, we are inviting you to the presentation “Clap When You Land” by Elizabeth Acevedo from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22.
As Coconino County Diversity Team continue to celebrate, learn, share, and create awareness during Hispanic Heritage Month, we are inviting you to “My Life in Peru” with Patricia “Pati” Wilcox from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 20.
Click here or on image below to join.
Join us this fall for the return of concerts & events at the Coconino Center for the Arts! Event details are listed below with a link to purchase tickets online.
As Coconino County Diversity Team continue to celebrate, learn, share, and create awareness during Hispanic Heritage Month, we are inviting you to our Show N Tell with Keillynée Méndez on Puerto Rico’s culture and customs from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17.
Click here or on image below to join.
The Sunnyside Neighborhood Association will host 18th annual “Fiesta de Independencia” from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19 at the Market of Dreams / Mercado de los Sueños, 2532 E. 7th Ave., Flagstaff.
FREE EVENT! Featuring live music from Los Alambrados, Alena Chavez, and DJ Classik! There will be a piñata for the kids. Come and celebrate Independence! There will be food for purchase at the event.
The Mexican Consulate of Phoenix, AZ will perform the historic “El Grito” at 4:30 p.m.
People who have not been vaccinated are asked to wear masks. Masking in general is encouraged and supported. Social distancing encouraged. Please bring your own chair!
You’ve likely seen them soaring high above canyons and perching in tall pine trees, and now, majestic birds of prey like the Harris Hawk, American Kestrel and Ferruginous Hawk will share Wheeler Park with families as the International Raptor and Falcon Center introduces learners of all ages to these predators of the sky.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 18, Science in the Park will feature live animals, microscopic organisms and prehistoric cultures.
Join us at Wheeler Park!
Build a Puebloan wall, create pictographs, play catch with a robot and safely view the sun!
Explore life-saving medical devices with innovators and engineers under the W. L. Gore & Associates tents and maybe even be a heart surgeon for the day!
And, don’t miss the talented athletes from Momentum Aerial as they leap and spin above the ground! Watch these artists demonstrate the laws of physics that keep them up in the air and their audiences on their toes!
We are excited to announce that long-time United Way supporters Andy Bertelsen and Susan Hilgart will be leading this year’s United Way of Northern Arizona Annual Campaign, which officially kicks off with a virtual event later this month.
Both Andy and Susan are long-time civil servants with impressive resumes in the public sector.
Andy, who recently became the Interim Water Services Director for the City of Flagstaff after five years as Public Works Director, will be the campaign’s spokesman for Coconino County. Andy is a Summit Society member has been involved with UWNA for 15 years, including several years as Treasurer on the Board of Directors before becoming Vice Chair and eventually Chairman of the Board.
Meanwhile, Susan, the Deputy Director of Human Services and Public Health Improvement for Navajo County, will represent Apache and Navajo counties. Although she only came to northern Arizona from Minnesota a few years ago, she has been involved with United Way organizations for more than three decades.
As part of the Coconino Estates Improvements Phase II Project, the Karen Cooper portion of the Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS) will be temporarily closed between Crescent Drive and Lantern Lane while crews install a new sewer main from Crescent into the Rio de Flag sewer main.
A detour will be posted and FUTS traffic will be re-routed down Lantern Lane, near the Ditch Pool, to either the Fort Valley FUTS or along Crescent/Talkington. Re-routed traffic will then link back up with the Karen Cooper FUTS at the Crescent intersection. Please follow the marked signage to get to your destination.
Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the culture and contributions of Americans tracing their roots to Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Spanish-speaking nations of the Caribbean. The observance was born in 1968 when Congress authorized the president to issue an annual proclamation designating National Hispanic Heritage Week. Two decades later, lawmakers expanded it to a monthlong celebration, stretching from September 15 to October 15.
Hispanic Heritage Month — like its shorter precursor — always starts on September 15, a historically significant day marking the independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The designated period is also a nod to those from Mexico and Chile, which celebrate their independence September 16 and September 18, respectively.
On September 9, President Biden issued new Federal COVID vaccine guidance by Executive Order. While we don’t yet know the specifics of implementation, we do know that all federal employees, contractors and partners will be required to be vaccinated. According to the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, “Federal Executive Branch employees must be fully vaccinated, except in limited circumstances where an employee is legally entitled to a reasonable accommodation. Agencies must work expeditiously so that their employees are fully vaccinated as quickly as possible and by no later than November 22, 2021.” The full document can be viewed here.
The purpose of this and related orders are to protect the American public, since COVID-19 continues to be spread in the US primarily by unvaccinated people, and because unfortunately, not enough people have been vaccinated to generate herd immunity to prevent the virus from mutating into new and more dangerous variants such as the Delta variant.
Specific guidance will be coming out soon on implementation of the vaccination requirement.
Carlos Zavala, a student veteran majoring in finance, joined the army as a way to help him achieve his educational goals. “I came to NAU because of the Veteran Success Center. They were really helpful when I was trying to set up my benefits and made me feel really comfortable. That is the environment I wanted to be in,” he said. Through the VSC, Zavala was able to enroll in a class in which other veterans shared their stories of success, inspiring him to dream bigger than he thought possible.
The Coconino County Diversity Team, Coconino County Hispanic Advisory Council (CHAC) and partners recognize Hispanic Heritage Month with a series of programs designed to educate, share and create awareness.
AZ Culture Connect will present “Let’s Speak Spanish!!’ with Audra Travelbee online” from noon to 1 p.m.
