
Flagstaff Star Party, Buffalo Park. Meet the Stars! Flagstaff shares its world-famous starry skies with the world. 6 p.m.; free.

A COVID and flu shot vaccination event will be held next Monday, October 4th from 3-5 p.m. at the Grand Canyon Rec Center Ramada. If there is inclement weather, the event will be held inside the Rec Center in the Piano Room. Please bring your vaccination card if you are seeking a second or third dose of the COVID vaccine. More information on this event can be found in the attached flyer.
A follow-up vaccination event will be held on Monday, November 1, for those individuals getting their first shot at the October vaccination event who need a second shot for full vaccination. The November 1 vaccination event will also take place from 3-5 p.m. at the Rec Center.
There are no updates on a North Rim vaccination event at this time.

Coconino County Health and Human Services (CCHHS) officials have confirmed several skunks found in the Greenlaw and Coconino Estates areas of Flagstaff have tested positive for rabies. One human exposure has been reported and the individual is receiving Postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) treatment.
CCHHS and City of Flagstaff Animal Control urge individuals to use caution to protect against rabies exposure when hiking, camping or in situation where wildlife may be present. The following precautions are recommended to protect against rabies:
Avoid wildlife, especially those exhibiting unusual wildlife behaviors which can include; showing no fear of humans, aggressive behavior, staggering and/or acting sickly, and nocturnal mammals active during daytime.
The City of Flagstaff Housing Section is asking for public input on its draft 10-Year Housing Plan. Flagstaff residents can read the draft 10-Year Housing Plan online and can provide feedback by taking the Policy Initiative and Strategy Prioritization Survey. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and feedback will be used to help City staff prioritize housing initiatives and strategies. The public comment period ends on November 5, 2021.

As Coconino County Diversity Team continue to celebrate, learn, share, and create awareness during Hispanic Heritage Month, we are inviting you to the Book Club “Clap When You Land” discussion from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29.
Click here or on image below to join.
Please join us, and share with your departments, social media networks, family, and friends as we come together to Engage, Celebrate, Reflect, Embrace, our Cultural Differences while Empowering each other.

The 2021 Flagstaff Festival of Science’s “The Science of Childhood Trauma and Why We Should Care” presentation by
CCC&Y is now available online.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have a large and costly impact on society. Fortunately, with all that we know about trauma and resilience, including the 50-year longitudinal study in Kauai and the groundbreaking ACEs study, we know there is much we can all do. Community awareness and knowledge are important to begin healing.
Join us for this Flagstaff Festival of Science event sponsored by the Coalition for Children & Youth.
Trainer: Virginia Watahomigie, M.ADM Executive Director of the Coconino Coalition for Children & Youth
Click here to view the presentation.

The United States has experienced an unparalleled epidemic of incarceration in the past 40 years, and the effects of that trend have been far-reaching, complex and long-term. Health equity researcher Ricky Camplain, who this year became the first NAU researcher to win a Career Development Award from the NIH’s National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, is studying one critical piece of this. Her research examines the high rates of anxiety, high blood pressure and poor sleep quality among inmates and looks for simple solutions to reduce those adverse health effects. The answer? Physical activity.
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.

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.

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.

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.
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.

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!