Daily Archives: April 3, 2013

Zip Line ride proposed for Williams

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WILLIAMS—At the City Council meeting March 28th, Mike Brown of Western Destinations proposed the instillation of a ride called Zip Line perhaps in the area of Cureton Park. The proposed cost of rides would be approximately $39 with a re-ride costing half of that. Williams residents would get a discounted price.

The ride, Mr. Brown indicated, could provide as many as forty jobs in Williams. Local residents would be trained to conduct the ride safely and the ride would be insured for $5 million.

Councilman Don Dent considered what affect such a ride would have on the Route 66 image that Williams has built up. Joplin Missouri and Branson Missouri have theme parks along, or in the area of, Route 66 both trading off on the Route 66 name. Knight’s Action Park operates in Springfield, Illinois along the Mother Road.

Blog BatesLine by Michael Bates of Tulsa Okalahoma asked: Wouldn’t it be cool to restore Crystal City on Historic Route 66 as an amusement park, right next to a restored Red Fork Main Street?

Dwayne the canoe guy commented:

This is great news. There is a small amusement ‘park’ on Route 66 in Joplin but it would be great to have a good sized park like Bell’s rockin & rollin on the Mother Road. Especially with a minigolf with 66 icons (wigwam motel, round barn, gemini giant, cadillac ranch)

Right here in Williams, Napolitano approved a special taxing district for a theme park in Williams that never developed. That action even caused the County Board of Supervisors to raise property taxes for a short time. So you now know what a “special taxing district” is.

Flagstaff operates a smaller version of the Zip Line ride at their Extreme Adventure Course near the fairgrounds as seen in the following video.

There are currently Zip Line rides in Indianapolis, Las Vegas and Hawaii. For the longest and fastest Zip Line in the world, you will need a ticket to South Africa.

Mr. Brown indicated that the ride would be “low impact” meaning that it could be easily removed leaving no marks if it did not do well. However, the engineering in the videos presented does not appear to bear that out. It appears that Williams would have to build a large tower to make the ride. It is also unclear how the project would impact softball and little league games at the park.

While the project does not seem appropriate in the indicated area, it could be an interesting compliment to the Bearizona drive through wildlife park. Another area of possible interest might be the Williams snow play area.

Homeland agents failed to stop ATF, Fast & Furious guns from crossing border

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Fifteen months before the Fast & Furious gun scandal was unmasked in public, Homeland Security agents along the Arizona border recognized that their colleagues at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were allowing illegal guns to flow across the border to Mexican drug gangs in violation of federal policy.

The agents working for Homeland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raised objections internally to their bosses and to their ATF colleagues in late 2009 without success, but did not escalate their concerns to superiors in Washington, according to a new Homeland Security inspector general report that uncovered yet another missed opportunity inside government to stop the bungled gun trafficking investigation.

“Most Homeland Security Investigations personnel in Arizona who received information about the investigation recognized that the task force was using a flawed methodology, which was contrary to ICE policy and practices for weapons smuggling investigations,” the inspector general concluded in a little-noticed report issued late last month.

And the special agent in charge in the case for Homeland failed to appreciate that the flawed tactics in the investigation – allowing weapons to “walk” across the border – violated ICE policies, the report added.

Read more at The Washington Times

Ft. Hood soldier claims police violated his gun rights

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kcentv.com – KCEN HD – Waco, Temple, and Killeen
A Fort Hood soldier is fighting charges after he says police violated his gun rights, and he says they’re still being violated weeks later.

Army Master Sergeant and well known blogger CJ Grisham says he never should have been arrested and his guns never should have been taken away.

On March 16, Grisham was on a Boy Scout hike with his son on a country road in west Temple.

He had a loaded assault style rifle strapped across his chest.

It was legal for him to carry, but a concerned citizen called police.

His Lawyer Kurt Glass says, “This was not a populated area. SGT Grisham was not threatening anyone.”

Police say when their officer arrived, he tried to take Grisham’s gun for the course of the investigation, but that Grisham refused.

More at KCENTV.com

Exxon pipline breaks in Arkansas

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ARKANSAS—Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has asked Exxon to preserve all documents relating to the oil spill in Mayflower, Arkansas last Friday the 31st. The rupture of the pipeline caused evacuation of families from the affected neighborhood. This accident comes on the heels of the accident at the Arkansas One nuclear power plant. That accident release no harmful material into the atmosphere.

The spill covered lawns and streets and may have an affect Lake Conway. The 6700-acre lake is the largest man-made fishing reservoir in the U.S.

One resident documented the event in the following video.

The spill occurred from a burst in the 65-year old, 848-mile Pegasus line which routes crude oil from Canada to Texas. This calls into question the safety of a proposed Keystone XL pipeline project which would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

More at Reuters

The Friends of the Williams Aquatic Center need more board

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The kids of Civitan made this poster for the Duck Race.

The kids of Civitan made this poster for the Duck Race.

WILLIAMS—The Friends of the Williams Aquatic Center and the Williams Lions Club are conducting a Duck Egg Race on Fairway Drive at the Highland Meadows North subdivision this Saturday April 6. The first place cash prize is $100, second place $50 with third at $25. Eggs are $5 each or five eggs for $20.

The members of the Friends of the Williams Aquatic Center also seek to fill two openings for the nine-member board. The volunteers would be required to attend 8 to 20 meetings a year and help in the events that they plan. The Friends of the Williams Aquatic Center finds ways to raise money to help keep the WAC open and provides help with swimming lessons and programs for children.

The current board members are Mike Dulay, Clare Hydock, Tom Hooker, Kris Vasquez, Bobby Patriccia, Beth Michelson and Edie Phillips. You can contact one of them or email friends_at_williamsaquaticcenter.org (remove the underscores and add the @ sign).

They are looking for five people to assist in setting up, serving and clean up for the Fourth Annual Golf Tournament scheduled for Saturday, June 8 beginning at 7:30 am. There will be a deep-pit barbeque of beef, pork and side dishes after the golf tournament that is open to golfers and non-golfers. The volunteers would be required from about 12:30 to 3:30 pm. If you cannot donate time, they are looking for desert items such as pies, cakes, cookies and the like.

If you would be available June 8 to assist for 2-3 hours, please contact Edie by e-mail (ehpoh_at_aol.com), in person, or by phone (635-4784).