Payson’s economy: P3 • Wrestlers grapple: P9 • Rescue: P16 ARIZONA NEWSPAPERS AND NATIONAL LOCAL MEDIA ASSOCIATIONS’ NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
PAYSON ROUNDUP T u esday | J an u ary 3 1 , 2 0 1 7 | P A Y S O N , A R I Z O N A
payson.com
Fatal blaze by
75 CENTS
Drone to the rescue!
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
It was a bittersweet day for PineStrawberry firefighters Friday. A 70-year-old man died in a house fire despite firefighters gallant efforts to save him. Later, firefighters rescued a woman who had flipped her vehicle and was trapped inside. About 2:20 p.m. Jan. 27, firefighters were called out to a mobile home on fire in the 3500 block of North Highway 87, less than half a mile from the fire station off Hardscrabble Road. Dense smoke was coming from the 10-foot-by-30-foot trailer when they arrived. Firefighters knew the home well as they had visited it several times before when the homeowner called for medical help. Firefighter Coty Chester immediately entered the home while other firefighters stretched a hose to the front door, said Fire Chief Gary Morris. He found a 70-year-old man inside unconscious and pulled him out of the home. The man was in cardiac arrest so
Photos courtesy of Aaron Witte, DJI Drones
Tonto Rim Search and Rescue used a drone (below right) provided by DJI Drones, to deliver medicine across flooded Tonto Creek. The drone took the photo above. On Friday, Tonto Creek was flowing at 1,000 cubic feet per second, compared to a normal flow of 35 cubic feet per second.
Search and Rescue teams use drone to cross flooded Tonto Creek
• See Fatal fire, page 2
by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
With the water in Tonto Creek too high for many east side residents to safely cross and prescriptions running low in Tonto Basin, residents called on Gila County for help. On Wednesday, the Gila County Office of Emergency Management sent medication across using a new piece of equipment never deployed there before — a drone. With help from Aaron Witte of DJI Drones, medication was put into an empty bottle, attached with rope to the drone and flown across the swollen creek. Sgt. Dennis Newman, with the Gila County Sheriff’s Office,
Fire code Aspire celebrates standout students change by
• See Drone delivers, page 10
Michele Nelson
roundup staff reporter
by
Alexis Bechman
More than 50 students poured into The Rim Club dining room to celebrate a successful first semester of dual credit classes between Payson High School and Gila Community College funded by Aspire Arizona Foundation. The 50 students had received an A in their college level class. As the students marveled at the fancy pastry decorating the yogurt parfaits and piled muffins onto their plates, AAF board member Charlie Beier emceed the event that brought together donors, teachers, administrators, Payson Unified School District board members and MHA Foundation staff to mingle with the students and celebrate their successes. “I’m real proud of you guys and a lot here are proud of you,” said Beier to the students. To the donors he said, “You that donated to Aspire are very, very special — not only do you have an ability to make the donation, but you made the choice to make the donation.” Janet Vidnovic, vice president and treasurer of Aspire said AAF spent $15,150 this first semester to provide 99 students with $200 each to pay for a dual credit course. Dual credit courses offer students a chance to take a class on the PHS campus and receive both credit for high school and college. This year, the dual credit courses included calculus, statistics, English and chemistry.
roundup staff reporter
The fire danger posed by the thick forest surrounding Payson has prompted the town to consider adopting a fire code that addresses vegetation management and the use of fire-resistant building materials. For residents, the advantages are twofold, it will help firefighters protect their homes in the event of a wildfire and it may mean a discount in homeowner’s insurance. As devastating wildfires continue to hit across the country, insurance companies are looking at ways to minimize their losses. Many are now requiring homeowners to Firewise their property. Firewise guidelines aim to reduce flammable vegetation around a home and prepare it to resist a fire. This includes removing flammable vegetation and replacing it with fire-resistant plants, spacing plants apart, clearing away dead leaves and needles and any branches overhanging a home. Read more about Firewise at www.firewise. org. Last week, the Payson Town Council gave the go-ahead for town staff to prepare the documents needed for the town to adopt the WildlandUrban Interface (WUI) fire code. In our coverage in Friday’s paper, we looked at some of the reasons the town wants to adopt the code. While Payson has not seen a devastating wildfire, many of the communities in Arizona have and experts say it is not a question of if, but when Rim Country will see its next wildfire. A wildfire burning through brush that hadn’t burned in 50 years near Yarnell, trapped and killed 19 wildland firefighters trying to move through brush-choked areas to help defend the town. Much of Yarnell was destroyed in the fire, except for the handful of lots thinned and upgraded to meet Firewise standards. When a fire hits, fire officials say by Evan Wyloge it won’t be a massive flame front that arizona center for investigative reporting overtakes the town, but embers from A top staffer at the Arizona secrethe fire will float, sometimes from a tary of state’s office denied accusations made by county recorders earlier this See Fire code, page 2 week that the office ordered voter reg-
Michele Nelson/Roundup
The students, teachers and administrators attending the Aspire Arizona Foundation breakfast goof off for the camera. They have completed the first semester of dual credit classes. PHS Principal Brian Mabb said in talks with Aspire, the high school plans to expand those offerings to include American literature, public speaking and criminology next year. Vidnovic said she understands that GCC Dean Pam Butterfield and Mabb hope to capture the junior students who have taken courses to continue them on their path toward college.
At the breakfast, Butterfield explained to students that if they applied themselves, they could graduate with a certificate that indicates completion of the Arizona general education curriculum required to graduate from college. “It gives you 35 credits in math, humanities and English,” said Butter field. “It will give you a certificate that
is an agreement between the universities and community colleges. With completion, you are guaranteed admission into one of the state universities.” Butterfield said that she’s had numerous parents come to her to tell her that their children have been able to shave off a year of college just by tak-
• See AAF celebrates, page 2
Arizona voter purge spurs election furor Gila County officials question dropping of 30,000 voters
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THE WEATHER
volume 27, no. 9
Outlook: Sunny with highs in the low 60s, overnight lows in the low 30s. The pollen range is medium-high with juniper being the predominant allergen. Details, 10
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istrations to be canceled without proper documentation. In a letter delivered Jan. 23, the county recorders described their relationship with the secretary of state’s office as “dire,” singling out “verbal abuse,” neglected duties and demands to cancel voters came without proper documentation. Secretary of State Michele Reagan asked for an internal accounting of the accusation that her office improperly sought to have some voters removed from the rolls. In a written explanation to Reagan, Election Director Eric Spencer said Jan. 26 that the secretary of state’s office received a letter from another state on Sept. 23, 2016, requesting additional information about a list of voters.
“The letter is seeking Arizona’s assistance to help the other state clean up its voter registration rolls,” Spencer explained in response to the accusations. Spencer wrote that he and his staff then made physical copies of the letter and list, then mailed the copies to the recorders of seven counties that the secretary of state’s office determined were the home of the voters on the list. However, Spencer wrote that he and his staff cannot find the original letter now, which means the office cannot say which state requested additional information on Arizona voters. He said his staff likewise could not locate that letter in October, when Gila County Recorder Sadie Jo Bingham requested additional information. Spencer and his
staff even went to the counties they originally mailed the letter and list to, asking them for a new copy for the secretary of state’s office. None of the seven counties the secretary of state sent the letter to could find the letter either, Spencer explained. Bingham said she attempted three times to get clarification on the list of voters that she said came with no supporting documentation. Spencer also described three instances of the office trying to find the original letter. But Bingham said she spoke to Spencer on the phone on two occasions, which Spencer denied. The secretary of state’s office canceled about 30,000 voter registrations between the 2016 primary and general elections, Spencer said.