WILLIAMS — A blustery wind greeted the crowd of the car show on route 66. Six-blocks of downtown were cordoned off to pack in cars and pedestrians. The car show attracted a number of classic cars. Some of the vehicles are extremely rare such as the Chevy Yeoman station wagon brought in by the American Legion Post #88 in Dolan Springs.
The car show will run through 6 p.m. tonight. More images on our Facebook page.
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department and agencies across the U.S. and Canada will join forces to promote life jacket use and boating safety as part of National Safe Boating Week. 
The annual event begins Saturday, May 21 and ends Friday, May 27. To help mark the occasion, the department’s Boating Safety Education program will hold Life Jacket Exchange events from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the 10-lane boat ramp at Lake Pleasant, the London Bridge Beach at Lake Havasu City and Community Park boat ramp at Bullhead City, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the fisherman’s access in Laughlin, Nev.
During the exchanges, people with old, warn and less-effective life jackets can swap them for a new life vest, while supplies last.
“Boating in Arizona can offer a great experience for everyone on the water, but only if it is done safely and responsibly,” said Josh Hoffman, AZGFD Boating Safety Education coordinator. “While time on the water can be fun, it can quickly turn dangerous if you’re not prepared. National Safe Boating Week serves as a reminder to all boat and watercraft users to always wear their life jacket. It could very well save your life.”
National Safe Boating Week is the launch of the 2016 North American Safe Boating Campaign. This yearlong campaign promotes safe and responsible boating and the value of voluntary, consistent life jacket wear by recreational boaters through the national theme, “Wear It!”
U.S. Coast Guard statistics show that drowning was the reported cause of death in three-fourths of recreational boating fatalities in 2014, and that 84 percent of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets.
“Each year hundreds of people lose their lives, and they may still be alive if they had been wearing a life jacket,” said John Johnson, chief executive officer of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. “You never know when there may be a boating mishap, so it’s important that everyone onboard always wears a life jacket.”
New life jackets are much more comfortable, lightweight and stylish than the bulky orange style most boaters know. There are innovative options, such as inflatable life jackets, allowing mobility and flexibility for activities like boating, fishing, paddling or hunting and are much cooler in the warmer weather.
“It is critical that everyone practice boating safety,” Hoffman said. “Always wear a life jacket, boat sober, follow proper navigational rules and have a proper lookout. By doing so, you’re ensuring everyone goes home safely.”
For more information on boating in Arizona or to sign up for a free safety course, visit www.azgfd.gov/boating.
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department is grateful for the support of Governor Doug Ducey and the state Legislature in passing Senate Bill 1361, and helping to preserve Arizona’s 16 Heritage Fund properties that are essential to the state’s native wildlife and important habitats.
Sponsored by Senator Gail Griffin, Senate Bill 1361 grants the Arizona Game and Fish Commission the ability to spend a portion of the Heritage Fund monies that are allocated to the department on the operation and maintenance (O&M) of properties that have been, or will be, purchased to support endangered, threatened and sensitive wildlife species.
“Because passive property management is never a sound management approach, it was absolutely critical that the department be given the flexibility to use some of the Heritage Fund monies for operation and maintenance of the 16 properties purchased over the years, and those that will be acquired in the future,” said Commission Chairman Kurt R. Davis. “The cost for operating and maintaining the properties is already in excess of $1 million and growing rapidly as more properties must be purchased as part of the obligations under the Heritage Fund.”
The Heritage Fund was created in 1990 by Arizona’s voters to support wildlife and habitat by directing up to $10 million each year from lottery ticket sales. The department must use a portion of it to acquire properties that further its mission to protect and recover native wildlife species and their habitats.
The department does not receive any state General Funds and previously has used revenue generated from the sale of tags, permits, application and license fees, which comprise the majority of the department’s funding, to pay for the O&M obligation of Heritage-acquired properties.
Examples of ongoing and unanticipated O&M costs include preservation of structural assets, refurbishing agricultural wells, septic system replacement, stabilization of wetlands to reduce permeability, construction of flood control levees, replacement of culverts, removal of exotic vegetation, and control of dangerous fire fuels.
For more information about the department’s Heritage Fund, visit www.azgfd.gov/heritage.
TUSAYAN — The first public information workshop for the master plan study for the Grand Canyon National Park Airport, owned and operated by the Arizona Department of Transportation, will take place on May 25 in Tusayan.
The public will be able to review data collected by the study team regarding aviation forecasts and how it relates to current airport facility capabilities. Members of the community will also be able to provide comments and input on the study.
The meeting will be held from 5:30-7 p.m. at Tusayan Town Hall, 845 Mustang Drive.
Airport master plans are required by the Federal Aviation Administration. The update for Grand Canyon National Park Airport will evaluate the facility’s capabilities and role, forecast future aviation demand and plan facility improvements to meet that demand over the next 20 years.
In addition to public meetings, comments and questions can be provided to the study team online atazdot.gov/gcnairportmasterplan, by phone at 1-800-574-6334 or by mail to Grand Canyon Airport Master Plan Study, c/o Coffman Associates, 4835 E. Cactus Road, Ste. 235, Scottsdale, AZ 85254.
For more information on the Grand Canyon Airport and the master plan study, please visitazdot.gov/gcnairportmasterplan.
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department now is accepting online applications for 2016 hunt permit-tags issued through the draw process for deer, fall turkey, fall javelina, bighorn sheep, fall bison and pheasant.
To apply online, visit https://draw.azgfd.gov/ and scroll down to “Apply for a Draw.” The deadline by which the department must receive all applications – online or paper — is 11:59 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, June 14. Postmarks do not count. Paper applications can be mailed to: Arizona Game and Fish Department, Attn.: Drawing Section, P.O. Box 74020, Phoenix, AZ 85087-1052, or dropped off at department offices statewide.
The department is announcing an exciting, innovative program beginning with the 2016 fall hunt application period. “PointGuard,” the newest benefit for AZGFD Portal customers, ensures that if a successful applicant is unable to participate in a hunt for any reason, the accumulated bonus points that were expended to draw that hunt permit-tag will be reinstated.
PointGuard is available to applicants who apply online for a hunt permit-tag. All applicants must sign up for a free AZGFD Portal account to purchase PointGuard (visit www.azgfd.gov, click on the “Sign in to Account” button in the upper right-hand corner of the home page, then select the “Create an Account” option). PointGuard is $5 per species, per applicant, purchased at the time of completing the online application, or prior to the application period deadline.
Applicants who encounter issues related to PointGuard are encouraged to call the department at (602) 942-3000 beginning June 1 through June 14.
For more information about PointGuard, visit https://www.azgfd.com/hunting/pointguard.
As a reminder, applicants must possess a valid Arizona hunting license to apply for a hunt permit-tag. That license must be valid on the last day of the application period (June 14). Licenses are available online and at department offices and license dealers (PDF) statewide.
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department, together with boating professionals and enthusiasts nationwide, will demonstrate the importance of remaining safe on the water by participating in Wear Your Life Jacket to Work Day, Friday, May 20.
The annual event, hosted by the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC) serves as a fun, educational element ahead of National Safe Boating Week, which runs from May 21 to 27. The event helps to raise awareness of different life jacket types, while demonstrating their comfort and versatility by wearing them to work.
“The life jackets of today are simply more comfortable and less bulky than those of the recent past, and Wear Your Life Jacket to Work Day helps to demonstrate just that,” said Josh Hoffman, AZGFD Boating Safety Education coordinator. “Another family-fun boating season has returned and many Arizonans are heading out on the water. Wearing a life jacket should just be another part of putting the boat in the water – it’s literally the simplest thing you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones from drowning.”
U.S. Coast Guard statistics show that drowning was the reported cause of death in approximately 68% of recreational boating fatalities in 2014, and that approximately 84 percent of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets.
Wear Your Life Jacket to Work Day coincides with the official launch of the 2016 North American Safe Boating Campaign, which focuses on educating the boating public about the safety and comfort of life jackets.
AZGFD and the National Safe Boating Council each ask participants to take a picture of themselves in their life jacket while at work and post it to the Ready, Set, Wear It! Facebook page (facebook.com/readysetwearit) or submit directly to the NSBC at outreach@safeboatingcouncil.org. Participants are also encouraged to tweet their picture using #readysetwearit.
Members of the boating public as well as those interested in showing the wear-ability of life jackets are encouraged to participate. More information about the event and safe boating is available at facebook.com/readysetwearit.
For more information on boating in Arizona or to sign up for a free safety course, visit www.azgfd.gov/boating.
Margaret Hodgkins Mason
© Imagine
Magnificent Maggie is partner in the Marvelous Marv’s Private Grand Canyon Tour team in Williams, Arizona. (Facebook)
I’ve always been interested in old cars and old men. Williams, AZ and the Grand Canyon National Park are the perfect places to pursue my passions. In attending public lectures concerning heritage tourism, I became aware of a local mystery. This mystery is tied to the Indian Detours program that operated nearly one hundred years ago. Sometime after 1987, a vintage 1929 Cadillac 341-B six passenger touring car was purchased by Amfac, now Xanterra, successor corporations to the Fred Harvey Company at Grand Canyon. This piqued my interest in finding the old vehicle, and maybe some old man to tell tall tales about the vehicle
Fred Harvey’s Indian Detours, operated between May 15, 1926 and 1931. The Indian Detours excursion began as the guest disembarked the ATSF’s westbound California Limited at Las Vegas, New Mexico for a three day excursion in Indian country. The cost of the tour with meals and lodging was 45 dollars. The tour left the Castaneda Hotel and stopped at historic and prehistoric sights in the area. The itinerary included an overnight La Fonda in Santa Fe for the first night. The second day included Tesuque, Santa Clara and San Juan Pueblos and then Puye cliff dwellings. Returning to Santa Fe for the second overnight, the third day’s events included descending La Bajada Hill to Santo Domingo Pueblo before traveling to the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque to re board the westbound California Limited. (Eastbound guests had similar itineraries.) Longer detours could be arranged to include, Mesa Verde in Colorado, Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico or the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
This vehicle is presently located in Williams in the GCR Locomotive Shop in Williams, AZ. Harold Stacy’s grandfather, Jack Stacy, and grandmother, Lucille (Ridout) Stacy, Indian Detour driver and Courier, respectively, bought the car and kept it in the family for many years. It was last registered in 1989. What a beautiful relic of a bygone era.
What was it like to ride in the open touring car on the dirt roads of Desert View Drive and Hermit Road in the late 20s? Betty Kent Meyer reveals a personal glimpse in Pioneer Footprints “Memories of Life at the Grand Canyon in the 1920s and 1930s”. (1) What if the weather was adverse, hot or windy? What if the vehicle breaks down? At one time the Fred Harvey Company at Grand Canyon used homing pigeons to send word back that a vehicle had trouble (2). Just imagine.
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PHOENIX – The Arizona Game and Fish Department will be adjusting trout stockings in some high country lakes to enhance opportunities for fishing adventures and to protect wild trout populations and important trout fishing resources.
AZGFD is adjusting some trout stockings due to a few of Arizona’s state and federal fish hatcheries having tested positive for Bacteria Kidney Disease. The Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD) pathogen is specific to trout and salmon, and in some cases can be lethal to trout and salmon. BKD does not affect humans.
Although it can be easily passed from one trout to another, the pathogen can lie dormant and not cause any sickness. BKD-positive trout are still edible and good quality. The Department always recommends anglers cook all fish to the proper temperature to ensure safe consumption.
Due to the BKD-positive findings, the AZGFD this year will not be stocking trout into waters where the pathogen could be transmitted to wild trout populations, or into stocked trout-dependent fisheries.
What does this mean for anglers?
The biggest impact will be at Sheeps Crossing on the West Fork of the Little Colorado River, which will not be stocked with Apache trout and will not get any hatchery-stocked trout this year.
As the AZGFD protects long-term trout fishing opportunities in Arizona, trout fishing opportunities throughout the summer will remain abundant. In fact, waters such as the East Fork of the Black River, the Little Colorado River in Greer, and Silver Creek, will be supplemented with rainbow trout to ensure level numbers of stocked trout.
Great opportunities for anglers remain at:
PHOENIX — State Route 67, the winding 40-mile highway from Jacob Lake to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, will reopen for the summer this Sunday, May 15.
The road, which connects with US 89A, has been closed since Dec. 1. The Arizona Department of Transportation doesn’t clear snow from SR 67 during the winter because visitor accommodations at the North Rim are closed.
The lodge and visitor center at the North Rim also reopen for the summer on Sunday.
To reach the North Rim from Flagstaff, take US 89 north about 110 miles to Bitter Springs, head west on US 89A for about 60 miles to Jacob Lake and then go south on SR 67.
WILLIAMS — Previous serious accidents underscore the need to help graduating seniors to finance their safe alternative graduation night. Parents Who Care was formed to take donations to fund a safe alternative to drinking and driving.
In that effort the Seniors have planned a car wash tomorrow at the Car Wash on Route 66 across from the police station. There is also a donation tub at Anna’s Grand Canyon Coffee and Cafe in the Red Garter Inn.
According to a press release by the Arizona Department of Transportation:
If historical trends hold, the square covers tossed in the air at commencement ceremonies could be the last caps worn by some recent graduates.
That’s because alcohol-related crashes involving drivers ages 16-24 spike in May, making it one of the most dangerous months for young drivers. Since 2010, during the sober month of May there have been 50 alcohol-related fatal crashes involving young drivers on Arizona roadways, according to data collected by the Arizona Department of Transportation.
Crashes of all kinds involving young drivers typically peak in October and November. But the largest totals of alcohol-related crashes involving young drivers are in March and May. Many variables contribute to this, but spring break and end-of-the-school-year celebrations are obvious factors. Impaired driving crashes involving young drivers occur at higher-than-average rates during the months of June and July, too.
Everyone with a diploma knows the solution: don’t drink and drive. Designate a driver. Call a cab or rideshare service. Besides being life-threatening to drivers, passengers and innocents that share the road, a DUI is a terrible graduation gift.