Pile burns planned (for Jan. 31) on Coconino National Forest

FLAGSTAFF — The Coconino National Forest will conduct pile burns in two different locations (for Jan. 31).

The Flagstaff Ranger District (FRD) will burn 1,320 acres of piles located at Willard Springs, 5 miles north of Munds Park.

Smoke impact is anticipated to be minimal but may briefly affect Interstate 17.

The Mogollon Rim Ranger District (MRRD) will burn 2 acres of piles located at Bly Pit, 14 miles northeast of Clints Well.

There are no anticipated road or trail closures due to any of the pile burn projects. Please refrain from calling dispatch lines if you see smoke from these pile burns so lines can remain open for any emergencies.

Theatrikos Theatre Co. — February Newsletter – Charming comedy Harvey playing now through Feb. 11

“Harvey is the first show of our 2024 season,” said Theatrikos executive director Chris Verrill. 2024 season tickets are now available. “Theatrikos has an amazing season of shows lined up for 2024. A season that includes two major musicals, Annie and Elf, plus Men on Boats, a show about JW Powell’s first trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.”
Harvey—February
Gods of Comedy—April
Men on Boats—June
Annie—August
Book of Will—October
Elf—December

Arizona Early Intervention Program (AzEIP) Newsletter January Edition

In this edition

• Happy 2024 New Year
• Important Information about AHCCCS
• Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education Summit for Parents and Professionals. • • • Scholarships available
• Spotlight : Alissa Jones – Community Connector
• Learning Through Play – Educational Experts Video
• Upcoming Training Opportunities for Parents
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Resources

Sedona Arts Center — LAST CALL TO ARTISTS – Apply Now!

On behalf of Sedona Arts Center, we would like to invite you to participate in this historical exhibit: Celebrating 65 Years in Ceramics.  The exhibit will be held in the Special Exhibitions Gallery at Sedona Arts Center from April 3-26, 2024.

The People’s Choice Award will be awarded at the end of the exhibit with a cash prize of $1,000.

DEADLINE for submission: February 2, 2024

Sedona Arts Center — Sign up for these creative art classes today!

Painting the Southwest Desert
with Gretchen Lopez
February 3 : Saturday, 10am to 4:30pm

Not only is life abundant in our great Southwest Desert, but as an artist, I can see wonderful textures, nuances in color and the way light influences the way we see it in the morning and in the late afternoon!

Working from photo references, learn to capture the drama and beauty of our great Southwest. Find out how your brush strokes can create marvelous areas of interesting texture, along with experimenting with color and composition!

Previous drawing skills are a must!

The NAU Review — Class in the Grand Canyon, fighting for women in tech and getting to know Lumberjack mainstay Christy Farley

Find out in the Grand Canyon Semester, one of the longest-running honors semesters in the country. Available to all undergraduate students, the unique course touches on the Grand Canyon’s geology, the environmental concerns that threaten it and the Indigenous people who have called it home for centuries. Uniquely, class discussions often take place on the trail, on the Colorado River or over the campfire. Professor Ted Martinez wants students to learn how to think critically and solve problems in less-than-ideal circumstances. But mostly, he wants them to leave having learned to trust themselves.

Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona (ECoNA) — The Home Rental Landscape in Flagstaff

According to statistics from the Northern Arizona Association of Realtors, the surge in home prices in Flagstaff slowed down dramatically in 2023. After increases of 11.8% in 2020, 25.2% in 2021, and 13.6% in 2022, the median sales price for a residential home grew 1.3% in the past year – from $618,697 in 2022 to $626,500 last year.

Although the latest figures may indicate that the price to buy a home has reached a plateau, rental property prices are still climbing.

District 1 Supervisor Patrice Horstman — December 2023 / January 2024 District 1 Newsletter

Hello District 1 Residents,
It’s a new year, filled with hope and promise. It’s a good time to
reflect on where we’ve been and look forward to where the new
year will take us. I hope you enjoy this look back at some of the
highlights for District 1. Hopefully, you have had an opportunity
to reflect on your own highlights for 2023.
As we move into 2024, I look forward to working together to
create a Coconino County that serves our large and diverse
District. Wishing you a year of renewal, resilience, optimism,
strength, grace, and peace in 2024.
Onward together.
Patrice

City of Flagstaff Program Year 2024 CDBG Notice of Funding Availability

FLAGSTAFF — The City of Flagstaff is proud to announce the availability of Community Development Block Grant Funds for the 2024 Program Year (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025). Please see below for more information about the development of the City’s Annual Action Plan and Public Participation Process

Organizations interested in applying for CDBG funding can find the Notice of Funding Availability attached or at the City of Flagstaff webpage at: https://www.flagstaff.az.gov/626/Community-Development-Block-Grants

Indigenous language interpreters needed for Coconino County courts

COCONINO COUNTY — Are you a fluent speaker of an Indigenous language spoken in Coconino County?

The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council is recruiting Indigenous language interpreters for Coconino County courts!

If you are interested in developing skills for freelance court interpreting for these or other Indigenous Languages of Arizona, please contact the office of the court interpreter for more information.

Culture Connection AZ is proud to present the 3rd Annual Day of Love and Friendship Artist Market Saturday, Feb. 10

FLAGSTAFF — This special event celebrating local artists will take place just before Valentine’s Day, on Saturday, February 10th from 11am-3pm, and will feature over 15 local artists and artisans displaying and selling their art and artisan crafts. Culture Connection AZ is proud to host a diverse group of artists, including Indigenous and Native American artists, artists from the LGBTQ+ community, Hispanic artists, and more.

During the event, Culture Connection AZ will also be a participant in downtown Flagstaff’s Annual Chocolate Walk and will host a free Valentine-making table for attendees to create their own special Valentine for a loved one. Those new to Flagstaff and those born outside the US are especially encouraged to attend and gain meaningful connections to our community.

The NAU Review — American AI + Korean slang, getting to know Robert Wallace and register now for Amplifying Voices of Disability

Does American AI understand Korean slang?   

If I posted that a movie was “fire,” most American English speakers would understand the meaning—I liked the movie. But what if a bot, untrained on the intricacies of slang, read it? Would the AI assume the movie was on fire? Or was about fire? Or that the movie theater was on fire? Can an AI tool, trained in one language, accurately interpret the cultural and linguistic nuances of other languages? That’s an important consideration for the U.S. Department of Defense, which is funding linguistics professor Scott Jarvis’ research into the practical use of AI in information-gathering. 

Grand Canyon Weekly Wrap-up: January 22-26, 2024

This week, the National Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate (NRSS) published a scientific report on historical and future climate change effects for Grand Canyon National Park and the surrounding landscape. This report has been a long time in the making and we are thankful to the staff within our Science and Resource Management Division who greatly assisted in this research.

If you don’t have time to read the entire report, here are some key takeaways on observed changes attributed to climate change for the Grand Canyon region:

Early Childhood Day at the Capitol Advocates for Gov. Hobbs’ $100 Million Proposal

The Arizona Early Childhood Alliance (AZECA) hosted its 8th annual Day at the Capitol for parents, advocates, and legislators to raise awareness of the importance of a child’s earliest years.  Children’s Action Alliance is a member of the alliance.  This year’s event focus was centered around the Governor’s budget proposal of $100 million in child care assistance to stave off a looming funding cliff facing child care providers and parents in Arizona. 

Coconino Coalition for Children & Youth — Join us for our next Prevention Council meeting to share your story

Please join CCC&Y for its next Prevention Council Zoom meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 1. Our meetings provide our coalition partners with the opportunity to share the latest news about their projects that support children, youth and their families in Northern Arizona.

The CCC&Y Prevention Council has its roots in our long history of child abuse prevention, our most recent work with substance misuse prevention and our overall commitment to understanding the protective factors, resiliency research and assets our community needs to thrive.

Some examples include:
​​​​​​​
• Planning for previous Child Abuse Prevention Conferences
• Engaging in multiple projects with International Child Welfare expert, Kevin Campbell
• Developing a library of recorded webinars
• Initiating the PAWS community arts and education project​​​​​​​

The NAU Review — Hope for redwood resilience, winter stargazing tips and a Q&A with Diamond Bracey

After a catastrophic fire hit California’s Big Basin State Park in 2020, thousands of acres of redwoods that had been burned appeared dead. New research from NAU shows that many of these ancient trees have survived, drawing on massive carbon reserves to fuel new growth. The research team’s models indicate the sprouting trees are using carbon they captured 50 to 100 years ago—some of the oldest carbon reserves ever measured. 

Sedona Arts Center — Don’t miss these art classes and workshops!

THIS FRIDAY!
ONLINE: Painting the Beauty of the Sedona Landscape
with Gretchen Lopez
January 26 : 9:30am to 2:30pm, AZ Time

Experience the beauty and magic of Sedona, as we learn to navigate through some of the iconic formations which make Sedona the world’s most desired place to visit.

Discover the special palette of color used to create the vivid reds  in the Rod Rocks and why toning is very important in the beginning!

City of Flagstaff — Volunteers needed for Point in Time Count starting Jan. 24

FLAGSTAFF — The annual Point in Time Count (PIT) willtake place starting Jan. 24 throughout the City of Flagstaff.This count documents the number of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness at a single point in time and isconducted across the country.

Local data collected during the annual PIT Count measuresprogress at local and national levels related to preventingand ending homelessness. Information gathered from thesurveys can help raise awareness about the challengesfaced by people who are experiencing homeless in thecommunity. Data is also shared at the local, state andnational level to determine funding for homeless servicesthroughout Coconino County. This count is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

United Way of Northern Arizona — Chamber Radio Program Features UWNA

I recently had the honor of being a guest on the Greater Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce’s radio show Bizz Buzz to talk about the United Way of Northern Arizona and our efforts to step up for our youth.

UWNA has been a proud Chamber member for many years. It was wonderful talking with Chamber President & CEO Julie Pastrick and sharing with her audience how we are expanding our efforts in positive youth development.

The NAU Review — Documenting conflict in the Balkans, favorite Flagstaff walks, new master’s degree in nursing

As a young person, Bill Carter went to the Balkans with $200 in his pocket and a yearning to do good. Decades later, that youthful impulse is still paying dividends: The NAU professor of practice recently collaborated with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and the band U2 on the documentary film “Kiss the Future,” about the bloody Siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s and U2’s efforts to raise awareness of the conflict. A free, public pre-screening and discussion of the film will take place on campus on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

Grand Canyon Weekly Wrap-up: Jan. 15-19, 2024

Did you catch the pink glow the morning of January 17?

Hello, atmospheric optics! The sun emits white light, however, as the sunlight passes through the atmosphere during sunrise or sunset times, long-wavelength (red) light is scattered less than short-wavelength (blue) light. Therefore, red-ish colored light reaches the observer’s eyes and clouds aid to the pink color that could be observed.

Coconino Coalition for Children & Youth update for Jan. 17, 2024 — CCC&Y works with officials to meet goals of ‘The Reimagine Community Project’

CCC&Y, Coconino County and the City of Flagstaff continue to make progress meeting the goals of “The Reimagine Community Project,” a mental model change program ensuring trauma-informed and resilience information is understood at the City and County levels and enacted as policy change.

CCC&Y was one of four organizations in Arizona to be selected in April 2023 for the Vitalyst Health Foundation’s System Change Grant. The goal of the project is to improve patient engagement, treatment adherence, health outcomes and provider and staff wellness.

During a Zoom presentation in December 2023, CCC&Y Executive Director Virginia Watahomigie presented a draft webinar presentation for city leaders to receive feedback.

The webinar included an overview of “The 10 ACES,” (Adverse Childhood Experiences),” and how the effects of childhood trauma adversely affects individuals in their adult lives. Those 10 ACES include — physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, mental illness, divorce, substance abuse, violence against mother, having a relative who has been sent to jail or prison.

By understanding how both ACES and ongoing stress affect individuals, including oneself, the training is expected to improve customer service for community members and self-care and support to County and City employees.​​​​​​​