2022 Year in Review: Part I

The 2020 Census may have missed more than 1.6 million Americans, about 48,000 of them in Arizona, with the undercount disproportionately falling on minority groups. A report by the Urban Institute showed that no census is ever perfectly accurate and that the 0.5% undercount it estimated for 2020 was better than some feared, given the difficulty of conducting a census during a pandemic and legal challenges that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

HGTV filming was in full swing filming the show Hometown Kickstart in Winslow. “Art cars” were created as part of the public space renovation at the First Street Park, a project that was the brainchild of the Winslow Arts Council.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer signed a resolution approving $557 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for Hardship Assistance to provide direct financial relief for the Navajo people, to help mitigate the devastating effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The funding was to provide $2,000 in hardship assistance for adults and $600 for minors, who are enrolled members of the Navajo Nation. Daily counts of COVID on the Navajo Nation had reached 525 by mid-January.

Holbrook Unified School District was allocated just under $500,000 from the Arizona Department of Education as a partner in the Arizona Rural Schools Association, to bring broadband internet to the Holbrook community through Triad Wireless. The service was expected to provide internet to 50 homes that the district has identified as including students without internet.

The City of Winslow received $3.1 million in funding from the federal government under ARPA with ideas for its use including improvements to Coopertown Park, Triangle Park, Hayden Walton Park and the outdoor pool, a new library or a new water tank. The ARPA funds came with several requirements and guidelines by the federal government and were to be used for infrastructure and COVID-19 relief.

The burden was placed upon school districts to determine the best means to protect students from COVID while providing an education, with discussions on sanitation, mask mandates and in-person vs. online learning.

After years of study and preparation, the skull of Gumby the Phytosaur was placed on display in the Rainbow Forest Museum at Petrified Forest National Park. Gumby is a specimen of phytosaur which is a group of extinct crocodile-like reptiles that lived in Arizona during the Late Triassic. This phytosaur skull was excavated from the park in June of 2008 and it was informally named Gumby when, thanks to an unexpected rainstorm during excavation, the fossil became re-buried in water and mud which made the bones somewhat flexible and bendy.

NPC Friends and Family awarded a total of $49,880 scholarships for the spring semester, that along with the $40,400 awarded in the fall semester came to a total of $90,280 awarded for academic year 2021-2022, making it the largest scholarship year for the organization to date.

The Winslow Levee project was awarded over $65.7 million in federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act work plan from the Army Corps of Engineers to assist in the design and construction of the Winslow Levee Project. This final funding was a monumental step in re-constructing the levee after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) decertified the Winslow Levee in 2008, leaving Winslow unable to fully realize its potential for economic prosperity. The decertification of the levee placed nearly two-thirds of Winslow residents, most of which live below the federal poverty line, into the position of needing to carry flood insurance they cannot afford.

February

The Navajo County Board of Supervisors approved a $21.5 million package allocated to Navajo County for the spending of ARPA funds provided by the federal government. The county was regulated to spend $10 million to address negative economic impacts and lost revenues and $11.5 million for projects responding to the pandemic in the way of outstanding infrastructure needs which could include broadband, water and sewer improvements among others. The county noted the intent to spend $10 million to install broadband fiber, $5 million to support healthy families and continue COVID response, $400,000 to add resources to local business and development coffers, $2.5 million to update public safety communications and $822,000 to improve access to county services including additional web accessibility for payments and other services. Also planned was $1.35 million in community partnerships. Snowflake and Taylor was partnered with to improve their trail systems, Heber/Overgaard received funding to improve its senior center, the Kayenta public safety departments received funding to improve its emergency response times and efficiency, and the Winslow Library received $200,000 toward their improvement projects, which may include the building of a new facility.

The 64th Annual Hashknife Pony Express was held, celebrating the Old West and the culture of northeastern Arizona. The festivities included a parade, dinner and swearing in prior to the ride, which traveled from Holbrook to Scottsdale where riders took part in the Parada del Sol.

Winslow’s Clear Creek Cowboys held their inaugural Territorial Road Pony Express Ride, celebrating the Old West by traveling from the Winslow Post Office to the Holbrook Post Office along Territorial Road.

The City of Holbrook presented community improvements including a fence at the Hunt Park east softball field fence and new dugout roofs. At Barrow Field, bleachers were added as well as at Hunt Park. The city also partnered with Arizona Public Service to add lighting at Barrow Field. City hall and the police department each received a new computer server, as well as two new computers at the wastewater treatment plant and one at the transfer station.

An ad-hoc group with Northland Pioneer College was studying baccalaureate degrees that could be made available at the college. Community colleges were allowed to offer bachelor’s degrees in part to recent state legislation. The first bachelor’s degree NPC was exploring was in early educational development.

March

Navajo County Public Health Director Janelle Linn reported that for the first time in a long time COVID numbers were dropping, with only 152 newly reported cases in one week, a decrease of about 120 cases. But even though case counts were decreasing, the Delta variant circulating in the county was causing people to become very sick.

The Holbrook Chamber of Commerce hosted an Awards Recognition Reception honoring the 2021 community award winners including Adrian Padilla, Man of the Year; Sandra Reyes, Woman of the Year; Talyssa Larson, Youth of the Year; Early Bird roofing, Business of the Year; and the Holbrook High School Football Program under the direction of Chris Starkey, Organization of the Year.

The Holbrook City Council approved the renaming of Hidden Cove Park to O’Dell Hidden Cove Park, in honor of beloved local Mike O’Dell, who recently passed.

Holbrook Unified School District Governing Board approved the hiring of Clete Hargrave as the new Holbrook High School principal. Hargrave has been an educator in Arizona for over 14 years, most recently as the current principal at Chinle High School where he has helped the Chinle Wildcats grow and succeed as a high performing school. He replaced Dr. Jeri McKinnon, who retired.

The City of Winslow received 401 responses to a survey to gather input from citizens on the use of $3.1 million ARPA funds in the upcoming fiscal year. The suggestions included appearance of neighborhood and public spaces, physical safety and security, range and cost of available housing, small business development, access to parks and recreation, the number of commercial building vacancies and blight, and community events. According to the survey results, 24% of respondents said they felt strongly about utilizing ARPA funding to update existing parks. The following second and third ranking aspects of importance were water (22%) and police (17%).

Northland Pioneer College President Dr. Chatto Hazelbaker discussed the college’s internet connectivity stating that the college has the most connectivity of community colleges in the state. NPC owns 11 microwave towers and is able to provide great reliable connectivity to campuses utilizing microwave links or leased line connectivity. With the additional broadband improvements coming to the region, including the Arizona Public Service fiber optic line that is going to run from Phoenix to Payson, Joseph City and then south again, an opportunity for even broader access for the college will be created as APS overbuilt to carry far more traffic than needed by the utility so that others can benefit from that infrastructure.

April

The number of signatures required to recall Holbrook Mayor Merrill Young were approved by the Navajo County Recorder’s Office, with 131 of the 152 signatures submitted accepted. The 21 signatures that were not accepted were not signed properly or lacked a physical address to go with the signature. A total of at least 123 were required for a recall.

The Army Corps of Engineers, Navajo County and Winslow officials, civilian contractors and consultants toured the city and the site of the Winslow Levee in order to begin the design phase of the reconstruction of the Winslow Levee on the Little Colorado River. The project was awarded $65 million from the federal government as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2020. That money funds the Army Corps portion of the estimated $100 million project. The City of Winslow will be responsible for funding the remaining $35 million.

Winslow Unified School district approved $100,000 in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds for “Focus Zones” in all three elementary schools beginning in the 2022-23 school year. Funding requires a focus on social/emotional learning to make up for loss of learning due to the pandemic and other factors.

Government officials, city administrators, and college and school officials met at Holbrook High School at the invitation of US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm and Congressman Tom O’Halleran to discuss the impact and opportunities with the closure of area coal fired power plants. There are three plants scheduled to close, along with the Navajo Generating Station owned by SRP that closed in 2019. Those scheduled to close next are Cholla Power Plant in Joseph City owned by APS and PacifiCorp by 2025, the Coronado Generating Station in St. Johns owned by SRP no later than 2032, and the Springerville Generating Station owned by TEP no later than 2032, with the shutdown phases to begin prior to those dates. Navajo County is anticipating a loss of almost $3 million in property tax due to the closures, the loss of about 520 jobs and in Apache County about 650 jobs. Joseph City Unified School District Superintendent Bryan Fields explained that in Joseph City the impact will be significant to both school enrollment and the lack of jobs, as well as the assessed valuation of property. “One thing that is different for us is that we’re unincorporated. Our schools were built in the 1970s when the plant was in full operation and back then schools were funded a bit differently. It was prior to equalization so our district was flush with money. Things changed around 1980, since then our school has operated on overrides and bonds to operate our track, swimming pool and a nice auditorium with a district of about 400 students. Our capacity to out to bond and override is going to be diminished when the power plant goes away.” NPC President Chato Hazelbaker spoke of how Northland Pioneer College stated that the college’s budget includes a $750,000 decrease from the prior year partially from the (Cholla Power Plant) assets coming offline.

HUSD was awarded Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Release III grant in the amount of $6.8 million for fiscal years 2022-2024 to be distributed throughout the school district. Eighty percent of these funds are to be designated for “Safe Return to School,” which involves improving the physical spaces within the school, with the remaining 20% for “Learning Loss,” to compensate for the disruption of schooling during the pandemic.

Holbrook Postmaster Nancy Tom was sworn into office by Post Office Operations Manager Joshua Garret. Those in attendance included Hashknife Posse Captain Mark Reynolds, District II Supervisor Alberto Peshlakai and Hashknife member Steve Reynolds.

Navajo County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Brian Swanty reported that in 2021, Major Crimes Apprehension Team had seized approximately 209,000 fentanyl pills and that between January and April of 2022, MCAT had seized over 600,000. Swanty stated, “It’s almost an epidemic, I would say. We have had overdoses in young kids as young as 18 and all the way up.”

Northland Pioneer College President Dr. Hazelbaker reported that the college continued to see significant decline in enrollment. He noted that the resurgence of COVID-19 during December and January hit the college particularly hard as the college transitioned more classes back to in-person learning. According to NPC, enrollment changes from Spring 2021 to Spring 2022 showed a 12.5% headcount decrease, from 2,482 to 2,400.

Measures for improvement include assigning a key contact for each prospective student, debt forgiveness and outreach, expanding FAFSA outreach, and faculty and staff recruitment incentives that would allow each faculty and staff member to offer a one-class tuition waiver to the student of their choice.

The Arizona Farm and Ranch Experience Hall of Fame inducted two local ranch families, the Jeffers family and the Reidhead family. Honorees represent farming and ranching families, educators, members of the agribusiness community and members of the scientific community; all of whom have created a significant and enduring legacy for future generations. The Jeffers family has been in the Holbrook area since 1940 when they established their cattle ranch. Before coming to Arizona, they had ranches in New Mexico, Mexico and Texas. The Reidhead family has a long and rich history in the farming and ranching community of Navajo County.

The Winslow Historic Preservation Commission headed a project to move a part of history, known as the Birthplace Cabin, into the downtown area from Brigham City on LaPrade Lane. The Birthplace Cabin is believed to be one of the first two cabins built in the Winslow community. The cabin sat at the center of Williamson Avenue and Third Street in what is now the Bank of the West parking lot for over a half of a century. The cabin marked one of a few scarce homesteads in the Middle Little Colorado River Valley before the arrival of the Atlantic Pacific Railroad.

May

Hundreds of Joseph City residents turned out to a town hall hosted by the Arizona Corporation Commission regarding the closure of the Cholla Power Plant, which is projected to occur in 2025. The ACC represents the ratepayers and all requests by coal impacted communities and APS for compensation must be approved by the commission as the power plant closes. The commission was investigating how the commission and other entities can assist impacted communities in their transition following the planned plant closures. The commission is partially interested in transitional funding, repurposing of plants of facilities, and the benefits and impacts to rate payers.

The Navajo County Board of Supervisors approved the receipt of National Forest Funds in the amount of $907,510 for the benefit of public schools and public roads. The allocation provides $25,000 to public roads, $832,093 to public schools and $50,417 to the Emergency Management Firewise program. These funds come from National Forest fees collected over the fiscal year. The schools receiving the distribution of forest fees monies include Snowflake, Heber/Overgaard, Show Low and Blue Ridge school districts. The funds come from a decision in 2021 to release over $193 million in 2020 Secure Rural Schools payments distributed to 41 states and will be paid to 700 counties across the country. SRS is a federal revenue share program providing relief to counties and school districts directly affected by the decline in revenue from the logging industry.

A housing shortage was reported that continues to impact communities across the state with a need to bridge a gap between cheap, dilapidated housing units and very expensive single-family housing. The shortage impacts the hiring of teachers at all levels, senior staff members, police officers and hospital workers of all kinds. The ability to attract new residents and limits the appeal of an area by industry developers.

The Navajo County Community College Governing Board approved the 2022-2023 primary property tax rate of $1.7505 in a 4-1 vote, which was expected to generate a tax levy of nearly $16.1 million.

Hundreds of veterans and supporters of veterans were welcomed in Holbrook as part of the Run for the Wall. This annual motorcycle caravan includes riders from around the world traveling to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., to promote healing among all veterans, as well as their families and friends. This endeavor is to call for an accounting of all prisoners of war and those missing in action, to honor the memory of those killed in action from all wars, and to support military personnel all over the world.

Holbrook Police Officer Fernando Alvarado was presented the Lifesaving Award after he responded to a report of an unresponsive 3-week-old baby after all efforts to resuscitate the child by the parents were unsuccessful. Alvarado immediately began life saving efforts after checking for signs of life he administered four blows to the child’s back, the final blow dislodging whatever was blocking the child’s airway and saving his life.

June

The Holbrook City Council passed a budget of nearly $14.6 million, which was an increase from the previous fiscal year’s budget of $12 million. The employees received raises and the unfunded liability of the PSPRS Public Safety Personnel Retirement System was reduced.

Holbrook resident Nicole Young was awarded the Impact Award by Vitalant Southwest Division. This award is given to coordinators and organizations that work above and beyond to encourage participation in their blood drives. Young volunteers her time, hosting five blood drives each year in Holbrook for a total of 18 blood drives.

The number of children born in Arizona in 2021 rose for the first time in seven years, stumping experts who had expected a baby bust to worsen through the pandemic.

But Arizona Department of Health Services data showed that 77,735 children were born in the state last year, a 1.2% increase from the 76,781 born a year earlier, reversing six years of steady declines. Experts were not sure what was behind the increase in “pandemic babies” but said there could be several reasons, including overall population increases, changes in people’s attitudes toward having children, the pandemic itself or just pure boredom.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez was awarded the 2022 Casey Excellence for Children Awards. As the leader of the largest tribal nation, he worked closely with public health experts on an aggressive response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to the Navajo people having one of the highest vaccination rates in the world at approximately 75%. He was also instrumental in using federal funding to support once-in-a-lifetime investments in critical infrastructure developments to improve the well-being of the Navajo people now and for future generations.

Two candidates vied for the position of mayor of the City of Holbrook. A recall petition issued earlier in the year for mayor Merrill Young resulted in a recall election to be part of the regular election. Young sought to retain his seat and was going up against longtime Holbrook resident Kathleen Smith. Candidates for council seats included Robert Black, Barbara Blythe, Arcenia Pacheco, Karina Pack and Kristi Patterson, in addition to incumbent Adam Marsh who were vying for three vacancies.

The Winslow Council approved the budget for fiscal year 2022-23 of $48.82 million, up nearly $25.8 million from last fiscal year because of a large increase in federal grant monies coming into the city including over $23 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. The one-year capital improvements plan totaled over $13.4 million and would complete 77 improvement projects. The largest of which was the first phase of a new library facility, slated to cost $400,000. The city also planned to begin upgrading city hall on a five-year plan and replacing the rooftop air conditioning unit at the Animal Control Facility. In addition, McHood Park at Clear Creek would see improvements, including a kayak launch, a new dock and ramada repairs. The long-term plan will cost approximately $120,000. The city also planned to aggressively address the blight conditions that continued to hinder the city’s ability to attract quality residential and commercial development and tourism.

The Navajo County Board of Supervisors approved the fiscal year 2022-23 $211.7 million budget which focused on the county’s ability to improve access to services and response to increases in demand without an increase to the primary property tax rate. The primary property tax levy included in that amount was just under $7.5 million, a decrease of approximately $300,000 over last fiscal year, as well as a secondary property tax levy of $5.8 million, a slight decrease of approximately $90,000 from last fiscal year. Highway User Revenue funds increased to $11.2 million, up from $9.8 million the previous year. There were no capital projects outlined.

The State of Arizona is in a decades-long drought with studies showing that the American Southwest has been experiencing what is called a “megadrought,” for the last 22 years. Navajo County experienced the 10th driest May on record in 128 years. Rainfall in 2022 for the county is down .43 inches from normal as well. Monsoon season hit Navajo County with heavy rainfall, which resulted in floods and a near breach of the Winslow Levee. According to U.S. Drought Monitor, the season’s rainfall totals surpassed the previous two seasons combined. However, although the drought was lower than the previous year, the area was not out of drought conditions or fire danger.