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July
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The Navajo County Board of Supervisors authorized School Superintendent Jalyn Gerlich to hire outside legal counsel to represent the Navajo-Gila County Schools and Libraries Technology Consortium after Cable One filed an appeal for denial of a bid protest with regard to bringing broadband service into the area.
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Dr. Adam Marsh was voted in as the newest member of the Holbrook City Council following the resignation of Vice Mayor Wade Carlisle as he sought the office of state senator.
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With the departure of three officers and an already short-handed staff at the Holbrook Police Department, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office stepped in to lend support with the loan of four deputies that filled in where needed, with some pulling overtime shifts after completing their regular rotation with the Sheriff’s Office.
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The Navajo County Recorder’s Office completed the final verification of signatures on the recall petitions initiated against Holbrook’s Mayor Bobby Tyler and Councilman C.J. Wischmann by Holbrook resident and city employee, Kathleen Smith. The petitions cited unprofessional and unethical conduct on behalf of both Tyler and Wischmann.
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Deb Lopez took over as principal at Winslow High School. Lopez had previously worked for Winslow School District at Winslow Junior High School for four years as an academic coach.
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Joseph City was deluged with rainfall resulting in the closure of Main Street due to heavy flooding as well as the westbound lane of Interstate 40 that crossed over the flooded wash in Joseph City. The Joseph City Fire Department became an emergency shelter for those in need and provided sand bags for residents who were battling the encroaching waters.
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August
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Holbrook High School freshman Alex Reid, 14, attended a program for outstanding middle school and high school students from across the nation last month as part of the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF): Pathways to STEM, held in Los Angeles, Calif.
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Washington Elementary School in Winslow started the new school year with a new principal. Sal Hernandez took over the position of principal at the school, which serves fifth and sixth graders in the district.
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A new Arizona law that went into effect that prohibits the use of cell phones and other hand-held communication devices for permitted drivers. Permitted drivers are those between the ages of 15 and a half and 18 who have a permit or a graduated license for less than six months. The bill, SB 1080, makes the use of a cell phone while driving a secondary moving violation, which prohibits citation without reasonable cause and another violation occurring. The use includes texting, calling or use of any apps on a phone while driving. The exceptions are emergency situations whereas stopping the vehicle is not possible or to use audible turn-by turn navigation.
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The Winslow Unified School District Governing Board hired two crossing guards for the intersections of Williamson Avenue and Gilmore Street, as well as North Park Drive and Mahoney Avenue.
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The Holbrook Chamber of Commerce honored Yvonne Larson, with SEI Real Estate and Atsuo Sakurai, the owner of Arizona Sake, as Holbrook business leaders of the year. Nelson Nez was chosen as Youth of the Year and Nicole Young was the recipient of the President’s Award for her service to the community. TrinaBops Cakery & Coffee, owned by Katrina Jaime was recognized as Business of the Year and the 2018 Holbrook Junior High School Student Council was recognized as Organization of the Year.
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The City of Holbrook renovated the pilots’ lounge at the Holbrook Municipal Airport to provide a better experience for pilots utilizing the airport.
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The Federal Trade Commission charged Tate’s Auto Group with a range of illegal activities including falsifying consumers’ income and down payment information on vehicle financing applications and misrepresenting important financial terms in advertisements.
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Snowflake Unified School District was completing a bypass at Snowflake Junior High that would ease the daily bottleneck of cars dropping off students and reduce safety concerns.
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Nathan Christensen took over the helm as police chief of Holbrook Police Department. Christensen had begun his law enforcement career with the department in 1994 before moving to the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office in 2006.
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Winslow artist Julian Chavez created his works of art using digital technology and then made them into murals throughout the city including on the old Winslow High School building.
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Holbrook City Clerk Cher Reyes was chosen as interim city manager while the council began the process of hiring a new permanent city manager following the contract expiration of Randy Sullivan in the interim position. Sullivan continued in his capacity as the city finance director.
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Navajo County Community College Governing Board member George Joe resigned from his position. Joe served the Winslow region and had been on the board since 2016.
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Navajo County was seeking support for a proposed jail district to offset the projected loss of income due to the impending closure of the Navajo Generating Station and Cholla Power Plant.
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September
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Six Snowflake-Taylor veterans were honored with Quilts of Valor. They included Stephen Joseph Foster Jr., Tim Towne, Terrill Palmer, Gerald Bartunek, Thomas Meyer Jr. and John C. Sharp.
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The volunteer organization, Friends of Holbrook Animal Shelter, make a dramatic difference in the lives of abandoned or lost animals taken in at the animal shelter by finding homes and helping to reduce the euthanasia rate from 90 percent to 2.4 percent.
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In the Arizona Primary Election Snowflake Mayor Michael “Lynn” Johnson retained his seat as mayor. Hunter Lewis retained his council seat, as did Greg Brimhall and Cory Johnson.
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The annual Pedal the Petrified had 225 bicyclists participate, earning over $30,000 in scholarships for students attending Northland Pioneer College.
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The Retired or Senior Volunteer Program was taking hold in Winslow, allowing older residents to serve others, be active and become invaluable members of their community.
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Area helium leases were awarded to the Desert Mountain Energy Corporation for 2,400 acres south of Woodruff and another 640 acres on the northeastern border of the Petrified Forest National Park in Apache County. The company labeled the project “Heliopolois” but residents expressed concerns over the potential impact to water, land and air quality.
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According to Navajo County Recorder Doris Clark, more people voted in the August primary election than any other primary election. Navajo County had a 34 percent turnout, which totaled nearly 21,000 voters.
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October
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Two suspects, Margaret “Peggy” Rogers and her husband Russell Rogers, were indicted for their involvement in the theft of $828,400 from the Silver Creek Irrigation District.
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Artist Richard Gorman of Holbrook was featured for his beautiful works of art including paintings, drawings and sculptures representing the culture of the Hopi Tribe and his upbringing within that tribe.
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The Town of Taylor approved the purchase of a $678,465 million gallon water tank to replace an existing tank that would require costly removal as it was painted with lead-based paint.
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It was standing room only at the Snowflake Town Council meeting as residents came out in opposition to a rezoning request submitted by Abacaxi, LLC, that would have allowed multi-family housing and commercial development adjacent to Putter’s Paradise on the west side of Snowflake.
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All schools within the Snowflake Unified School District receive “A” ratings from the Arizona State Board of Education for the 2017-18 school year, with Superintendent Hollis Merrill congratulating all the staff and students who worked so hard to make that happen.
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Cities and towns were speaking out in opposition to Proposition 127, a measure proposed by California billionaire Tom Steyers, that would modify Arizona’s constitution to mandate that most of Arizona’s utilities generate 50 percent of their energy from renewable resources such as wind and solar by 2030. The concern was that utility bills would double, costing residents a considerable amount of money not only on their utility bills but by virtue of the impact on business costs that would trickle down to the consumer.
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Dr. Kevin Gibson, a British mining engineer, spoke out at the Navajo County Board of Supervisors meeting against the proposed helium exploration to be done by Desert Mountain Energy Corporation. He outlined his concerns of the impact of fracking on the water table and other environmental concerns.
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Winslow’s Sweetland Community Garden was a tremendous success after just a year in operation. The group consisted of 20 to 30 people that worked hard on the garden, with donations from The Medicine Room of planter boxes and soil.
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Northland Pioneer College added a new anatomy visualization technology to their anatomy classes that allowed students to see 3D composite of the human body with a dissection table.
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Irwin Olian, the CEO and founder of Desert Mountain Energy Corporation, sought to alleviate concerns regarding his helium exploration project. Olian stated that there would likely be no fracking in his operation and that his company would seek to restore vegetation to the area that was lost to overgrazing and drought.
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The Navajo County Community Health Assessment revealed some serious statistics regarding obesity, sexually transmitted disease (STD), and alcohol and drug abuse within the county. The county ranked higher than the state average in all categories and ranked second in the state for the highest rate of STDs.
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November
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The City of Winslow announced the hiring of John Barkley as city manager with the retirement of Steve Pauken. Barkley came to the city from Ruckersville, Va., where he worked as a county administrator in Greene County, Va.
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A natural gas leak was discovered at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Winslow, leaving the complex without heat, hot water or gas stoves. Due to the age and condition of the gas lines, the entire underground line would need to be replaced. This meant relocating some prisoners to other complexes, and bringing in portable showers and a mobile kitchen that operated on propane gas for the remaining prisoners.
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The City of Holbrook and the Town of Taylor faced backlash for making formal resolutions in opposition to the Next Gen Climate Action ballot measure. A democratic lawmaker in Phoenix asked the Arizona Attorney General to investigate whether these towns, as well as Pinetop, and Navajo, Greenlee and Gila counties violated state statute by approving resolutions that may have influenced voters.
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The Petrified Forest National Park was given International Dark Sky designation, called Dark Skies over the Petrified Forest due to its clear skies and excellent night viewing free of interfering ground lights.
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In a stunning blow Proposition 419, also known as the Navajo County Jail Tax, failed at the polls. The tax would have gone to support jail services freeing up county funds to continue necessary services and ensure existing jobs with the impending closure of the Navajo Generating Station and Cholla Power Plant.
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The outcome of Holbrook’s recall election ousted Mayor Bobby Tyler and Councilman CJ Wischmann as voters chose Phil Cobb as mayor and Mike Nilsson as councilman.
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Winslow became divided over a city ordinance that was meant to insure that members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community were afforded equal rights. Religious members of the community had concerns that the ordinance would place demands on whom they employed at their businesses and LGBTQ supporters felt the ordinance was an important aspect of inclusion for the community.
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The City of Winslow modified fee services to include adding a fee for use of McHood Park in order to cover the cost of maintaining the park, as well as an increase in residential garbage pick up.
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Phil Cobb was sworn in as Holbrook’s new mayor following a recall election where he garnered the most votes against former mayor Bobby Tyler. Cobb will serve in the position until the spring election.
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Navajo County Supervisor Jason Whiting was selected to serve as Third Vice President of the County Supervisors Association. Whiting represents District III, which encompasses Snowflake, Taylor, Holbrook, Woodruff, Joseph City, Shumway, Silver Lake Estates and White Mountain Lakes.
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December
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Navajo County Sheriff KC Clark announced his intention to retire as of February. Clark served the sheriff’s department for 32 years, with 10 of those as sheriff. With his departure he recommended Sergeant David Clouse be appointed in his place, with that decision to come from the Navajo County Board of Supervisors in February.
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Navajo County resident Jesse Valencia was talking with legislature regarding the redrawing of county lines. Valencia proposed splitting the counties of Apache and Navajo into three separate counties, with the inclusion of Sitgreaves County that would include Heber-Overgaard, Snowflake, Taylor, Concho, Round Valley, Alpine, Vernon, Show Low, Blue Ridge, McNary, Whiteriver and parts of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Navajo County would include Winslow, Holbrook, Joseph City and everything north of Navajo County including parts of the Navajo and Hopi reservations. Apache County would include St. Johns and everything north of that district.
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Due to the economic circumstances of the residents in Holbrook, the Holbrook Public Library discontinued late fines for books in order to remove the barrier that may keep young readers from utilizing all the library has to offer.
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The proposed development of Roy Palmer Business Park in Taylor raised the concern of residents who felt that the town had used public funds in the past to purchase the same property and that the town would once again be paying for a failing business park.
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As the Navajo County Historical Society continued to seek funds for a new roof for the Historic Navajo County Courthouse, the rapid deterioration of the roof was raising concerns of potential damage to artifacts housed in the museum within the building.
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Jason Brubaker, Bill Baldwin and Carl Cosper were sworn in as Taylor councilmen and David Smith was re-appointed as mayor.
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Hunter Lewis, Greg Brimhall and Cory Johnson were sworn in as Snowflake councilmen and Lynn Johnson retained his seat as mayor.
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Mike Nilsson was sworn in as a Holbrook councilman after winning the seat in the city’s recall election the month before.
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Navajo County Supervisor Dawnafe Whitesinger was named chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, with Supervisor Jason Whiting as the vice chairman.
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Winslow Elks Lodge No. 536 was able to outfit 59 Winslow children with winter clothing through their annual Operation Clothe a Child project. Each child was able to purchase $100 worth of clothing.
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Individuals who submitted candidate papers for Holbrook council seats and for the mayor’s seat included Merrill Young for the mayor’s seat; incumbent Councilman Adam Marsh and Dwayne Hawk, for the one two-year seat; and councilmembers Francie Payne, Mike Nilsson and Tim Dixon seeking to retain their three four-year seats on the council.
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Holbrook and Winslow unified school districts were the recipients of four new buses each thanks to funds provided to the State of Arizona as a result of the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Environmental Mitigation Trust to fund the Lower-Emission School Bus Program. Each district was allotted approximately $400,000 for the purchases.
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Lieutenant Dustin Cole of the Winslow Fire Department reported that the Winslow Fire Department (WFD) crew had undergone 640 collective hours of training this year. In the last half of 2018 the department responded to 299 fire calls and 432 emergency medical service calls. The fire calls included structure fires, motor vehicle accidents and natural gas leaks. Notable fire calls for this half were the July 1 roll over at the Shell Station on Third Street, a structure fire at Kachina Auto Wrecking on French Road and a structure fire at the 1100 block of West Second Street that damaged several apartments.
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The Holbrook City Council named four finalists in their search for a new city manager. They included Theresa Coleman, Jason Foutz, Glenn Irby and Tedmond Soltis.
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