Tree arrives for Mountain Village Holiday

WILLIAMS—The tree that caused the closing of Second Street between Route 66 and Grant Street arrived today. The tree will be decorated and officially lit this Saturday.

Events start with the 9th Annual Holiday Craft show on Saturday to benefit the SAVE-Meant to Rescue organization which rescues animals in Williams. The event will run from 10 am to 5 pm at the Sultana Theater; 301 W. Route 66.

Bearizona Wild Animal drive-through park will be open at 8 am with the last car being admitted at 4:30 pm. This is a great opportunity for kids to see animals roaming free. At the end of your journey you can stretch your legs and see some animals close-up. Plus raptor shows three times a day. Please obey all park rules for a safe journey.

This is also a great time to be part of the Polar Express departing each evening at 5:30 and 7:30 pm. There is a special matinee trip at 3:30.

Finally the Parade of Lights begins at 6:30 with the lighting of the Christmas tree at the completion of the parade.

Of course all shops will be open to purchase those unique Route 66 gifts for friends and family back home. The restaurants will be stocked and read to feed. Twister’s on the east end of Route 66 and the Red Raven right downtown have both been named Top Ten places to eat in Arizona in various years by Arizona Highways magazine.

Lights flashed before truck entered train crossing in crash that killed four veterans, officials say

A parade float filled with wounded veterans that was struck by a freight train had crossed onto the railroad tracks after warning signals were going off, investigators said Saturday.

Four veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan were killed and 16 more people were injured when the train crashed into the flatbed truck in West Texas.

It was the second of two floats carrying veterans in Thursday’s parade in Midland. The first was exiting the tracks when the warning bells and signals were activated, 20 seconds before the accident, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The second float didn’t enter the tracks until several seconds after the warning system went off, the NTSB said. By that time, the guardrail was lowering.

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