Monthly Archives: February 2014

Great weather for Grand Canyon “free” days.

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Grand_Canyon
Grand Canyon – While northern Arizona is suffering a dangerously mild winter, it will make the entrance free days this President’s Day weekend a delight. It is also the off-season so the traffic should be light. Temperatures are expected to be 67 tomorrow dropping to 62 on Sunday and 59-degrees on Washington’s Birthday. Entry into the Canyon will be free February 15 through Monday the 17th.

The problem with the weather is that if northern Arizona does not get significant snowfall the rest of this winter, we could have a dangerously dry summer causing closures of camping areas and cutting into the tourist trade.

Intersection of White Spar and Copper Basin roads a four-way stop next week

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The traffic signals at the intersection of State Route 89 (White Spar Road) and Copper Basin Road will be deactivated between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 18 and Wednesday, Feb. 19 to allow for work to be safely done in, and around, the intersection.

During work hours, the intersection will be a four-way stop and drivers will be guided through the work zone by flaggers. Minimal delays are expected.

The intersection work next week is part of the SR 89 (White Spar Road) improvement project, which includes sidewalks, curb and gutter, and drainage improvements between Cherry Street and Copper Basin Road. Over the next six weeks there will be shoulder closures and limited access onto side streets as work continues.

The speed limit will be reduced to 25 mph through the work zone, please proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down, and be alert for construction equipment and personnel. The work zone will be clearly marked by temporary barricades and signage.

Blasting overnight on I-17 south of Camp Verde ends next week

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One-hour closure expected in both directions next week between 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.

The last overnight closure for blasting on Interstate 17, south of Camp Verde, takes place Tuesday night.

I-17 will be closed in both directions between 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, and 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb.19, for the final blasting operation for the climbing lane project on Interstate 17.

ADOT advises drivers to allow additional time to reach their destinations and to proceed through the work zone with caution, comply with the reduced speed limit, and be alert for construction equipment and personnel.

Once blasting is completed, work will then take place behind the concrete barrier currently in place along the highway, and no further full highway closures are expected.

Parade route for Gold Rush Days in Wickenburg requires closure of US 60 on Saturday

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Due to this weekend’s 66th annual Gold Rush Days celebration, US 60 in downtown Wickenburg (mileposts 107-110) will be closed in both directions on Saturday, Feb. 15 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Drivers should expect delays or adjust travel plans accordingly. Traffic will be rerouted through a clearly marked detour.

Eastbound traffic on US 60 will be detoured to Vulture Mine Road to US 93 and US 93 southbound to reconnect to US 60.

Westbound traffic on US 60 will be rerouted to the US 93 bypass northbound, US 93 to Vulture Mine Road and Vulture Mine Road back to US 60.

Moon with a view.

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640px-earthriseOn December 24, 1968 at about 4:38 pm—just before we took one giant leap—Apollo 8 orbited the moon snapping photos and taking reconnaissance. The small capsule held astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders.

As they orbited, they made a significant turn which brought into view the earth rising over the moon. They snapped a picture that would appear on the front cover of TIME and become an icon of the environmental movement. It was listed in LIFE magazine’s 100 photos that changed the world.

According to Business Insider, William Anders described the event in a television interview:

I don’t know who said it, maybe all of us said, ‘Oh my God. Look at that!’ and up came the Earth. We had had no discussion on the ground, no briefing, no instructions on what to do. I jokingly said, ‘well it’s not on the flight plan,’ and the other two guys were yelling at me to give them cameras. I had the only color camera with a long lens. So I floated a black and white over to Borman. I can’t remember what Lovell got. There were all yelling for cameras, and we started snapping away.

To commemorate the 45th anniversary of the event, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center created a video showing the events surrounding the historic photo. They released the video on December 20th of last year.

The video combines the photos of the moon being taken at the time, the records of the flight and the photos taken of the moon to create a simulation showing the sequence of events.

You can help connect the dots for the DOTs on Interstate 11

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freewayArizona and Nevada announce opportunity to provide feedback on the Interstate 11 and Intermountain West Corridor Study (PDF MAP)
Public can comment online in February about Level 2 Analysis

The Arizona and Nevada departments of transportation are hosting an online opportunity through the month of February for anyone interested in providing feedback on the latest Interstate 11 and Intermountain West Corridor Study results.

Today a public feedback period is being launched at www.i11study.com to provide an opportunity to comment on the Level 2 Analysis, which was recently completed by the study team. Those interested in providing input will be able to view a narrated presentation about the current status of the study and then submit comments online.

The two transportation departments have been working together since the summer of 2012 on the Interstate 11 and Intermountain West Corridor Study, which includes detailed corridor planning of a possible interstate link between the Phoenix and Las Vegas metropolitan areas, along with high-level visioning for potentially extending the corridor north to Canada and south to Mexico. Congress designated the future I-11 corridor between Phoenix and Las Vegas as part of the latest surface transportation bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).

Since last fall, the study team has explored the universe of alternatives for potential routes from Mexico to northern Nevada. That broad range of possible corridor alternatives underwent an initial evaluation and screening process by the study team in October. An additional level of analysis — the Level 2 Analysis — was recently conducted for the congressionally designated portion of the corridor that would connect Phoenix and Las Vegas. This month’s online feedback opportunity will allow the public to view the results of this recent analysis and provide feedback prior to the study moving forward. Those interested in participating should visit the project website at www.i11study.com.

Online feedback for this phase of the study is being accepted through the end of February. However, comments about the I-11 study can be submitted at any time via the project website on the “Get Involved” page.

The Interstate 11 and Intermountain West Corridor Study is a two‐year, multiphase, high‐level study examining the feasibility, benefits, opportunities and constraints of a proposed new interstate highway corridor. This initial study is expected to be completed later this year. Funding to construct a potential corridor has not been identified. In addition to the Arizona and Nevada departments of transportation, the Maricopa Association of Governments, Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, Federal Highway Administration and Federal Railroad Administration are partners in this study.

There is an Interstate 11 coalition with a difficult to read web site supporting the proposed freeway extensions.

The Las Vegas Sun reported two years ago:

If it seems like there’s a hidden catch to this positive news, however, now would be a good time to recite your favorite saying about some things being too good to be true.

None of this gets done without hundreds of millions of dollars that the RTC doesn’t have. That means Southern Nevadans would be on the hook for the bulk of the $350 million Boulder City Bypass tab in the form of higher county gas taxes.

The RTC has entrusted its fortunes to the Clark County Commission, the seven-member body that will likely vote next month on whether to tie the gas tax to inflation. Such a move would increase the gas tax by about 3 cents a year, resulting in the average motorist paying about $16 more for gasoline every year until 2016, when voters can decide to freeze the tax or maintain its link to inflation.

First Native American Arizona Senator dies at age 102.

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Art_HubbardPHOENIX – Arthur Hubbard, Sr., American Navajo Code Talker and Arizona’s first Arizona State Senator, was laid to rest in Phoenix after a service at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale at 102-years old.

Mr. Hubbard was born in January of 1912 in Topawa on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, but was raised on the Navajo reservation with Christian, Navajo and O’odham traditions.

He joined the Marines and during World War II trained Navajo code talkers who were instrumental in success in the war in the Pacific. They used their native language to describe various Japanese military equipment and movements in their own native language which became the code the Japanese could not break.

Other Native American code talkers were deployed by the United States Army during World War II, including Cherokee, Choctaw, Lakota, Meskwaki, and Comanche soldiers. Soldiers of Basque ancestry were used for code talking by the U.S. Marines during World War II in areas where other Basque speakers were not expected to be operating.

FOX 10 News | myfoxphoenix.com

According to Indian Country, Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly said

“The Navajo Code Talkers are living treasures of the Navajo Nation. With the passing of Arthur Hubbard, Sr., we have lost a true American hero. The Nation offers our heartfelt condolences to the family during this time.”

In 1972 he became the first Native American Arizona Senator and served six terms.

Shirley Temple Black, iconic child star, dies at 85

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Shirley-temple-ca-1936-everettShirley Temple Black, who as the most popular child movie star of all time lifted a filmgoing nation’s spirits during the Depression and then grew up to be a diplomat, has died. She was 85.

Black died late Monday at her home in Woodside, Calif., according to publicist Cheryl J. Kagan. No cause was given.

From 1935 through 1938, the curly-haired moppet billed as Shirley Temple was the top box-office draw in the nation. She saved what became 20th Century Fox studios from bankruptcy and made more than 40 movies before she turned 12.

Read more at The LA Times

Secret Location of ‘King David’s Castle’ to be Revealed

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A major archaeological find points to a Davidic royal castle in Nahal Refaim. Location was secret, until now.

img472277The location of a major archaeological find that was kept secret until now will be revealed to the public on Friday, next week. The find is being touted as a royal castle that could have belonged to Israel’s most celebrated king – the Bible’s King David.

The find is a decorated carved stone known as “a proto-aeolic capital” that is connected to a column. Only 30 such capitals have been found in Israel so far, and only five of them were found in areas in which Biblical-era kings lived.

Unlike all of the other proto-aeolic capitals found in Israel – this one is not separate from the column but connected to it. The weight of the column and capital are estimated to be about five tons.

“For reasons that are not completely clear,” wrote newspaper Makor Rishon when the find was first announced, “several authorities in Israel have decided to silence the find, which may mark a breakthrough in the perception of the period of King David and his son, Shlomo [Solomon], and of the entire Judean kingdom.”

Read more at Arutz Sheva 7

PETA wants monument honoring chickens killed in Georgia truck wreck

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GainesvilleChickenMemorialBy Mike Morris

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — We’ve all seen the wooden crosses and other roadside memorials to loved ones killed in automobile accidents. Three years ago, the Georgia Department of Transportation, deeming the makeshift memorials a distraction to drivers and a safety hazard, began offering to place state-approved memorials at the sites of fatal wrecks.

For a $100 fee, GDOT places a white sign with the name of the deceased under the words, “Drive Safely, In Memory.”

Wednesday, a member of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, filed an application with GDOT to have a memorial placed at the Hall County site where a truck hauling live chickens overturned on Jan. 27.

Read more at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution