Man arrested for beating mother, stabbing her boyfriend by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
A 43-year-old man is facing first-degree attempted murder charges after police say he stabbed his mother’s boyfriend multiple times Thursday night, apparently upset at how the man was treating his mother. Curt Andrew Manning also beat up his 69-year-old mother and destroyed
her home, throwing furniture out of the windows and damaging the interior, said police. Around 7 p.m. Thursday, the woman’s boyfriend stumbled to a home in the 1100 block of North Gila Drive and asked the resident for help, saying he had been stabbed. The homeowner called 911. Officers learned Manning had reportedly stabbed the man a few houses down.
There, officers found Manning’s mother beat up, but no sign of Manning. As officers looked for him, detectives learned Manning did not like the way his mother’s boyfriend had been treating her, said Chief Don Engler. Manning and his mother’s boyfriend had a verbal altercation earlier in the day. Manning went to his mother’s home later that night uninvited and a fight ensued. Manning reportedly
stabbed the man multiple times with a hunting knife and punched his mother and then kicked her, said Engler. He fled, but later had a friend drop him off at the Gila County Sheriff’s Office where he turned himself in. Manning’s mother was taken to Banner Payson Medical Center and later released. Her boyfriend was flown to the Valley in stable condition, Engler said.
Manning was arrested on charges of attempted first degree homicide, burglary and criminal damage. It appears alcohol was involved, Engler said. Manning’s criminal history includes convictions for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, DUI, shoplifting, false reporting to law enforcement, assault and misconduct involving weapons, according to online court records.
ARIZONA NEWSPAPERS AND NATIONAL LOCAL MEDIA ASSOCIATIONS’ NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
payson.com
PAYSON ROUNDUP FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 5, 2016 | PAYSON, ARIZONA
Gym said safe
College The art of ponders Hard Riding tuition boost by
Frustrated Pine parents decry exposure of kids to mercury by
Trace amounts of mercury rising from the Pine-Strawberry School gym floor pose absolutely no risk to children, state representatives and experts assured worried parents this week. However, the state experts also agreed to push for additional testing in the face of the persistent concerns expressed by parents. In addition, state officials said they have already determined that two rubberized gym floors in the Payson Unified School District and one in Tonto Basin don’t have the same potential to “off gas” mercury. However, a gym in Young has a floor similar to the one in Pine, although it has not yet been tested for off-gassing.
Michele Nelson
• See College board, page 5A
Film students document Hashknife Pony Express by
Peter Aleshire
roundup editor
roundup staff reporter
The Gila Community College board has a critical decision to make — whether to raise tuition. Across the state, as support from the Legislature continues to wane, community colleges have struggled to raise money. Senior Dean Stephen Cullen said Eastern Arizona College (EAC), the institution that lends its accreditation to GCC, has already adopted different but higher rates for both post-high school graduates and high school students going to community college and high school at the same time. “I went back and talked to the (EAC) financial aid group, (the new tuition) is still under the Pell Grant cap,” he said. In the past, if EAC changed its tuition, GCC followed suit because the board understood that GCC contractually had to have the same tuition as EAC. But board president Jay Spehar talked to EAC and discovered GCC did not have to have the same tuition. “We are not required to be in lockstep,” he said. That creates a conundrum for the GCC board — change, don’t change or adopt a different tuition schedule GCC board member Jan
75 CENTS
“Based on data, there are no health concerns regarding the floor for the students and staff using the gym in Pine Strawberry.”
• See Experts, page 2A
Matt Reach
Arizona Department of Health Services
University by 2018
Alexis Bechman
But unknowns still abound
roundup staff reporter
It wasn’t just cowboys riding on this year’s 58th Hashknife Pony Express mail ride. A group of film students from Los Angeles tagged along, documenting the three-day trip from Holbrook to Scottsdale in both photographs and film. Students rode alongside the riders, shooting from trucks and vans. One student even clipped himself into the back of a truck with climbing gear to document the entire ride from the Rim to Payson. The group not only documented the Hashknife, but took a tour around the state, filming several
by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
Film student Xiao Xu captured the top image of a Hashknife Pony Express rider in the tall grass while Fayrouz Ftouni took this artful picture of a pair of light-colored horses. See more photos on the documentary on page 10A. footage, but then fell in love with the footage from the concert and now, wanted to work on the Hashknife project because it had trumped the other two.
other groups before heading to Holbrook. Students shot a Native American concert in Flagstaff and at a recording studio in the Valley. One student said he initially thought he would focus on editing the recording studio
• See On the trail, page 10A
Definitely. The fall of 2018. For sure. Payson will have a university campus in operation by the fall of 2018, according to Jon Cline, vice president of the Rim Country Educational Alliance (RCEA). “Although I have only been affiliated with this project for a year, I know how many times we have said, ‘Oh it will be on that date’ and then it wasn’t. I am pleased to tell you that I have full confidence at this point that we
are going to have students and a campus on that property in the fall of 2018.” Not much other new information came to light during Cline’s 30-minute speech at the Rim Country Regional Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon Tuesday. Cline repeatedly said he did not know when it came to detailed questions about the project, including whether the project will rely on local contractor, the possible impact the lease of
• See University, page 6A
Five helicopters airlift multiple accident victims to hospitals by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
Five people were airlifted Tuesday night after two vehicles T-boned in the State Route 87 and 188 intersection south of Payson. One of those airlifted was Simone Lake of Payson. The other four airlifted were traveling together with a fifth person in a Buick passenger vehicle with a California plate, said Tonto Basin Fire Chief Steve Holt. Lake was traveling northbound on 87 around 5:45 p.m. when her 2004 Toyota SUV collided with a brown 2002 Buick exiting 188, sending both vehicles into the median north of the stop sign. The driver of the Buick failed to yield at the stop sign and collided with Lake, said Raul Garcia, public information officer with the Arizona Department of Public Safety. DPS cited the Buick driver for failTHE WEATHER
Weekend: Sunny with highs warming to the low 60s, overnight lows climbing to the mid 30s. Details, 8A
ure to yield at a stop sign. Five helicopters from the Globe, Payson and Valley areas airlifted the injured to several hospitals including Banner Payson Medical Center, Scottsdale Osborn and Honor Health North Mountain. Holt used the nearby closed rest area as a landing zone. Lake reportedly suffered injuries to her back and ankle and had a head wound and will spend a few days in the hospital recovering, said a friend of the Lakes. Crews reopened the southbound left turn lane on 87 at 10:20 p.m. that night. A brown and white pit bull that ran from the collision scene has not been located. The Gila County Sheriff’s Office and a U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement officer assisted the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Tonto Basin Fire.
Nollan Blackwell took this picture of a two-car crash on Highway 87 near the junction with Highway 188. Five medical helicopters flew the five people injured to hospitals for treatment.
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. Look for the drop boxes around town, or mail your check to Payson Area Food Drive, P.O. Box 703, Payson, AZ 85547.
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24,000 lbs.
21,000 lbs.
40,368 $ $ 35,000 40,000
18,000 lbs. 15,000 lbs. 17,963 lbs.
12,000 lbs.
6,000 lbs.
9,000 lbs.
3,000 lbs.
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