Payson Roundup 020317

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Storm overwhelmed communications by

Alexis Bechman

roundup staff reporter

As people woke to dark and chilly homes, the calls to 911 started pouring in. Where are the snowplows? What happened to the power? Callers asked dispatchers. The Northern Gila County Regional Dispatch Center, stationed at the Payson Police Department, fielded some 120 calls an hour during the winter storm Jan. 20-22 that knocked out power to more than 10,000 residents at one point. Many remained in the dark for more than 24 hours as crews worked to restore power. Emergency officials knew the storm was coming and were prepared with street plows, plans to open a shelter and snow cats on the ready to reach residents despite

impassable roads. But getting the message out to residents proved more of an afterthought. Not a single agency in Northern Gila County has a public information officer. So officials generally improvise when it comes to getting the word out, with no clear plan in place. Payson needs to do a better job informing the public of what is going on said Fire Chief David Staub at last weekend’s daylong town council retreat. Next week, Staub, Police Chief Don Engler and Todd Whitney, emergency manager with the Gila County Office of Emergency Management, will meet to discuss the storm response. At the Jan. 28 retreat, the council and staff discussed ways to get information

out more quickly, including starting a town Facebook page. Councilors commented that they were happy to get text messages from town staff and each other with updates on the storm’s impacts. For instance, the water department texted the councilors, letting them know generators on the system’s pumps would keep the water flowing. Great news, but no one told residents. Many worried residents repeatedly called 911 for updates, potentially blocking the lines for real emergencies. When Engler saw how many calls dispatchers were getting, he asked Tourism Director Cameron Davis to put information

• See Public out of, page 18

PAYSON ROUNDUP Provided photo

75 CENTS

F r i d a y | F e b r u a r y 3 , 2 0 1 7 | P AY S O N , ARI Z O N A

payson.com

Teacher arrested

Credit Record heat? Really? for Kids critical by

by

A Payson special education teacher has been arrested for reportedly having sexually explicit images of children. Payson Police arrested the teacher at his home Monday morning. It is the Roundup’s policy not to name victims or suspects in sexual crimes. We will name perpetrators of sexual crimes at the time of conviction. Police were tipped off about the images by a monitor of a social media website Thursday, said Chief Don Engler. Detectives received information that

Michele Nelson

​roundup staff reporter

It’s still possible to get a 2016 tax credit for donations to Arizona public schools, a qualifying charity, foster care organization, military families or private school tuition. Nonprofit organizations such as the Deuker Horse Therapy Ranch, Payson Community Kids, Payson Senior Center and the Time Out Shelter, have gone through the process to qualify as an approved nonprofit through the Arizona Department of Revenue. Donors may search for their favorite nonprofit and contribute up to $400 for an individual or $800 for a couple. Foster care organizations, such as the Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation, may receive $500 from an individual and $1,000 from a couple. Public schools and the Military Family Relief Fund may receive $200 from an individual and $400 from a couple. The only private school in Rim Country, the Payson Community Christian School, can receive tuition donations in the amount of $1,087 from an individual and $2,173 from a couple. Donations to the public schools may indicate a preference for which extracurricular activity the donor would like to support — sports, the arts, or school trips. For more information please see: http://hblcpa.com/arizona-charitable-tax-credit-changes-new-increased-limits-2016.

• See Teacher arrested, page 18

Hope House mission

Our cold, wet winter still connected to the warming trend by

Peter Aleshire

roundup editor

Never mind the first wet, cold, gloriously normal winter in years throughout the West. NASA says 2016 ranks as the hottest year globally since record keeping began in the 1880s — followed closely by 2015 and 2014. The news may seem surprising in Arizona, with 90 inches of base at Sunrise Ski Resort in the White Mountains and reservoirs filling rapidly from the runoff. The C.C. Cragin Reservoir in which Payson’s water future depends now has about 12,000 acre-feet of water — compared to about 5,000 acre-feet at the

• See Record heat, page 2

by

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She said she has always dabbled in writing. There were school projects in creative writing and later, she would have an idea she thought would make a good story, do a chapter or two by hand and then tuck it away in a desk drawer. When computers came into common use, she might get three or four chapters done, but then go on to other things, letting the work languish. Cockrell is a retired Air Force master sergeant and worked in information technology (IT), but said she had no idea about e-books (electronic books) and self-publishing. Then came a visit with her daughter in the fall of 2011. Her daughter had a friend who told her about National Novel Writing Month in November. She was very excited and announced she was going to try it. National Novel Writing Month challenges writers to produce 50,000 words in 30 days, enough to complete a novel. “I asked her how hard that could be? She responded with, ‘If you think it’s so easy, why don’t you do it?’ I accepted the challenge. She lent me a book, ‘Story Engineering’ by Larry Brooks. I read through it quickly as it was already the middle of October. I bought a couple of packages of sticky notes and wrote out a scene for a book

Hope House has served such a vital purpose in providing a refuge and restart for the homeless in Payson that Joe Corrigan and Don Lees have plans to add a new Help Center. “It will be just men’s transitional living,” said Corrigan. The two men realized they had to have a completely separate homeless facility to serve the needs of men and women and children. Originally, Corrigan and Lees had planned on Hope House serving families, but the vision has evolved. So the two men with a mission have decided to put another structure on their property that will not only serve men transitioning into a new life, but also to serve as a shelter for the homeless. So what’s the difference between transitional housing and a homeless shelter? “A shelter is where people can come in to shower and find a bed,” said Corrigan. “They can stay up to 120 days and come and go in 30-day intervals. They don’t have to pay and there is no accountability.” In comparison, with transitional housing people can stay for six months to two years while they get their life turned around so they can find a job and a place to live. Transitional housing coordinators can require residents get clean of alcohol and/or drugs, get a job or take classes in order to stay in the facility. Homeless shelters do not have those requirements.

• See Writer, page 6

• See Hope House, page 6

Photos courtesy of DJ Craig

Three Canada geese gaggle about on a frozen Green Valley Park lake (top photo), apparently unaware the planet had another record-hot year. The frosty fowl above thinks global warming is a myth.

Teresa McQuerrey

roundup staff reporter

Connie Cockrell

Rim Country writer

Connie Cockrell is a writing machine — or so it seems. In five years, she has written 15 books and contributed to three anthologies. She has a website with a blog she regularly updates and includes a new “flash” fiction component every week (www. ConniesRandomThoughts.com). She is also a regular contributor to the Payson Roundup, writing numerous columns about area hikes. Yet when her prolific production is pointed out, she brushes it aside, saying she has a friend who writes so much in such a short time there’s no comparison. In addition to her writing and hiking, she helped launch the Payson Book Festival with the Rim Country Chapter of Arizona Professional Writers in 2015 and is also involved in organizing and presenting the Northern Gila County Fair. Cockrell and her husband, Randy, moved to Payson in 2010 from upstate New York. They had visited the area before to spend time with Randy’s brother in Pine. She said when her husband suggested moving to a warmer climate not long after their retirement, she was a little taken aback. “I’d started getting involved in a lot

WEEKEND: Mostly sunny with highs around 60 and overnight lows in the mid to low 30s. Slight chance for rain Monday evening. See page 7

Contributed photo

Rim author Connie Cockrell has only been writing “formally” for five years, but already has 15 books and contributed to three anthologies.

of different things as a volunteer, making new friends. We’d just put in wood floors in our house. But he was tired of the cold and after three hard winters, was tired of shoveling snow.” So, they packed up and came to Arizona, staying with Randy’s brother until they could find a house they liked in Payson. Making the move from upstate New York to Arizona was a big change for Cockrell, but a bigger change was just a year away.

volume 27, no. 10

Splitting houses between sexes and adding a homeless shelter

PAYSON AREA FOOD DRIVE

GOAL: 30,000 lbs.

Please help us meet our goal of raising 30,000 pounds of food and $50,000 in financial donations for local food banks. Mail your check to Payson Area Food Drive, P.O. Box 703, Payson, AZ 85547 or drop off donations at the library.

27,000 lbs.

See our ad and upcoming events on page 18

Michele Nelson

​roundup staff reporter

A powerhouse – 15 books in five years

On Nov. 1 I began writing and by the end of the month, had the book written. I’ve been hooked ever since.”

Roundup staff

24,000 lbs.

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34,077 $ 30,000

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9,000 lbs. 10,313 lbs.

3,000 lbs.

0 lbs.

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GOAL: 50,000 Feb. 5, 2017 $

45,000

$

40,000

$

35,000

$

$

25,000

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20,000

15,000

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