Your News Source for Northern Arizona and Southern Utah

(05/02/2013)

Remember when Burl Ives sang "Silver and Gold" in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Well, on Tuesday, the Arizona Senate voted to approve a measure to make silver and gold legal currency in the state. It cleared the Republican-controlled Senate by an 18-10 vote. It now goes to Governor Jan Brewer, who has not indicated whether or not she will sign. If signed, Arizona would become the second state to approve the precious metals. Utah approved the currency in 2011. The use of silver and gold as currency would be totally voluntary. The push to establish the additional currency standards has become increasingly popular among some hardline fiscal conservatives.

(05/02/2013)

Arizona children’s advocates went to the State Capitol on Tuesday, urging lawmakers to fully fund Governor Brewer’s 77-million-dollar budget request for Child Protective Services. The money would pay for additional C-P-S staff and childcare for abused and neglected children, among other things. Already, Children’s Action Alliance President Dana Naimark says nearly half the cases assigned for investigation by C-P-S in the last nine months remain open. Without this funding, she predicts it’ll just get worse,

"More children will sleep in CPS offices rather than with loving families; more children will wait too long for foster care. More investigations will remain open for months without a safe resolution, and 4,000 children will be kicked out of childcare assistance."

Naimark says the C-P-S staff responsible for the safety of children in foster care currently have caseloads of 36 children, more than double the recommended number.

(05/02/2013)

Did somebody hang out the 'gone fishing' sign? In celebration of the Ultimate Bass Tourney this weekend, and hello and good luck to all you fisher-type folk, we thought we would spread the word about all the great fishing going on at the lake. According to our local fish expert at wayneswords.com, it's Spring Fishing Peak and that means now is the time to catch any of the Big Six sport fish in Lake Powell: Catfish, Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Striped Bass, and Walleye.

Happy Fishin'!

(05/01/2013)

On Monday, the Navajo Nation Council approved, 20 to 1, the lease extension agreement for the Navajo Generating Station. According to Erny Zah, Communications Director for Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly,

"In Navajo Nation, we have a three-branch government, so what happened was essentially...would be similar as Congress passing a bill that would need President Obama's signature, basically the equivalent.  The Navajo Nation Council passed the NGS lease extension in a vote of 20 to 1.  However, some of the things that we are concerned with right now are some of the amendments that were passed with the lease itself.

In our negotians with Salt River Project and the other NGS owners, we finalized our negotiations toward the end of 2012, and for all vested parties that was a finalized document, however council wanted to make amendments to it. Last week we had a meeting with SRP and some of the representatives from the Power Plant to discuss some of the options that were available for some of the amendments coucil wanted to make.  So the doument that was passed has some areas that we are still waiting confirmation from SRP as to whether or not those amendments are acceptable to the NGS owners."

President Shelly has previously expressed support for the lease and is expected to sign. The lease extension is for the period of 2019 through 2044 and is worth billions of dollars to the Navajo Nation.

(05/01/2013)

Coconino Community College's review panel will be presenting their recommendations at the open house scheduled for this Thursday, but there is another event that is fast approaching, according to Campus Director, Jim Hunter,

(05/01/2013)

The Tourism Board on Monday followed up on their plan to further discuss the possible candidates being considered for the open Tourism Director position. Candidate interviews and further evaluation regarding the applicants continues as does further private board discussion. City Council had tabled the issue at it's last session and requested more follow-up from the Tourism Board who are expected to make a recommendation at the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting on Wednesday, May 8, 2013.

(05/01/2013)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on Monday that the application for health coverage has been simplified and significantly shortened. The application for individuals without health insurance has been reduced from twenty-one to three pages, and the application for families is reduce by two-thirds. The consumer friendly forms are much shorter than industry standards for health insurance applications today. Consumers can apply online, by phone or paper when open enrollment begins October 1, 2013. For more information now about the Health Insurance Marketplace, visit: www.HealthCare.gov

(05/01/2013)

And they just keep falling.....talking about gas prices! The U.S. average retail price for regular gasoline fell to $3.52 a gallon on Monday. That's down 1.6 cents from last week, based on the weekly price survey by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, while diesel fuel prices are down by 3.6 cents. Arizona is currently averaging just under $3.43 per gallon statewide.

(04/30/2013)

It was a grand opening over the weekend for a new Page business.  Into the Grand is a guided interactive exhibit on the history of river rafting on the Colorado River. Into The Grand features the largest mural in Arizona depicting different river outfitting companies that pioneered rafting in the Grand Canyon. The Page/Lake Powell Chamber of Commerce enjoyed a sneak peak of Into The Grand on Friday night with a special Chamber event, followed by the general public grand opening on Saturday. There are plans to expand the business in the future. Into The Grand is located at 148 6th Avenue in Page, AZ.

(04/30/2013)

There was a power outage Monday morning in Page. Although, it was a short-lived outage - only about 40 minutes - it caused some delay for folks trying to get their Monday and work week underway. Bryan Hill of Page Electric Utility explains what happened,