Category Archives: Grand Canyon

Weather may not cooperate this Easter weekend.

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Williams Easter Egg Hunt 2012WILLIAMS – While there will be a lot to do this Easter weekend, many activities may have to move indoors because of the weekend weather. The Weather Service predicts rain Friday and Saturday clearing by Sunday.

The weather service predicts a 40% chance of rain Friday with gusts of wind possible up to 29 mph after 11 am. The chance decreases to 30% Friday night and Saturday after 11 am. Thunderstorms are possible both days. The last two predictions of rain brought very little wet weather into the area, however.

The weekend begins with Friday Good Friday service is at the church at the First Baptist Church and Saint Joseph Catholic Church.

On Saturday Williams Parks and Recreation will host the annual city Easter egg hunt at the Youth Center. The event will run from 11 am to 2 pm. In addition, the Grand Canyon National Park entry is free this Saturday the 19th.

Sunday of course Churches will probably host Easter egg hunts of their own after services.

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.

Election Results 2013

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WILLIAMS—As of 10:30 pm a little over 25.5% of the voters voted in the elections held in Coconino County.

With only one precinct left to report, the Coconino Community College Question appears to have failed. As of this writing 54.76% voted no on assessing a secondary property tax to raise $4.5 million for the college. 45.24% voted yes.

Williams voted to continue the tax for the Williams Health Clinic. The vote is 56.08% for with 43.92% voting against.

Both the Grand Canyon Unified and Sedona-Oak Creek Joint Unified school districts voted to approve additional property taxes for the schools. The vote on the Grand Canyon Question was approved by a vote of 75%. The vote for the Sedona-Oak Creek Joint Unified school district was 52.10% for and 47.9% against, but not all of the votes have been counted at this point.

These are unofficial results until after the canvas process is complete.

In the closely watched and hotly contested race in Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe appears to have won the race for governor with 47.39% of the vote with 99.5% of the precincts reporting. Republican Ken Cuccinelli received 45.8% of the vote with the Libertarian challenger Robert Sarvis receiving 6.66%. Democrat Ralph Northam won the race for Lieutenant Governor.

Republican Mark Obenshain is barely winning the race for Attorney General against Democrat challenger Mark Herring. The vote is currently 50.27% to 49.52%.

Chevron in Williams now takes Safeway points

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WILLIAMS—Have you built up those Safeway gas points and cannot wait to find a Safeway gas station in which to redeem them? The Chevron station in Williams on the end of Grand Canyon Blvd. has made a deal with Safeway to allow you to redeem them by swiping your Safeway card. You can save up to a dollar a gallon. Check with the clerk at the station for more details.

Flagstaff Echoes this Friday

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FLAGSTAFF—A group of Northern Arizona University students will perform Echoes of Flagstaff this Friday, July 27th at 6 p.m. at Heritage Square in Flagstaff.

The play is an off-shoot of a play from May by the NAU College of Arts and Letters. Actors will recreate interviews and stories of some of Flagstaff’s former residents.

The performance is free.

Jarvis allows water bottle ban for State parks

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GRAND CANYON—The National Parks Traveler is reporting that National Parks Service director Jarvis is allowing parks to ban plastic water bottles after allegations that Coca-Cola company pressured a reversal of the decision for the Grand Canyon.

Coca-Cola manufactures the Dasani® water product. The Dasani® water web site begins with a commercial on their eco-friendly bottle.

The decision to ban water bottles at the Grand Canyon and subsequent reversal seems to have caused such a flurry that it led to this new decision. The new decision allows park superintendents to ban water bottles after severe considerations.
Continue reading →

Parks Chief Blocked Plan for Grand Canyon Bottle Ban

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Photo courtesy of Marvelous Marv

Weary of plastic litter, Grand Canyon National Park officials were in the final stages of imposing a ban on the sale of disposable water bottles in the Grand Canyon late last year when the nation’s parks chief abruptly blocked the plan after conversations with Coca-Cola, a major donor to the National Park Foundation.

Stephen P. Martin, the architect of the plan and the top parks official at the Grand Canyon, said his superiors told him two weeks before its Jan. 1 start date that Coca-Cola, which distributes water under the Dasani brand and has donated more than $13 million to the parks, had registered its concerns about the bottle ban through the foundation, and that the project was being tabled. His account was confirmed by park, foundation and company officials.

A spokesman for the National Park Service, David Barna, said it was Jon Jarvis, the top federal parks official, who made the “decision to put it on hold until we can get more information.” He added that “reducing and eliminating disposable plastic bottles is one element of our green plan. This is a process, and we are at the beginning of it.”

Read more at New York Times