Mystery of Cathedral Rock: 10A
Here’s to your health: 7A
Ready, set, GO! 1B
ARIZONA NEWSPAPERS AND NATIONAL LOCAL MEDIA ASSOCIATIONS’ NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
payson.com
PAYSON ROUNDUP TUESDAY | MARCH 1, 2016 | PAYSON, ARIZONA
75 CENTS
‘We’re all accountable’
Grieving family calls for action on drugs Alexis Bechman
say, we are not going to take this anymore! We are going to do all we can to fight this drug culture and what it is doing in our Grieving family and friends on Saturday families and our community.” recalled with tears and joy, regret and Tatum is angry. aching grief the short, troubled life of a Angry that police couldn’t get the dealers Payson man who struggled with addiction off the streets. for years before a still Angry that friends, unexplained death. who didn’t speak out Those mourning the “The great good that can come for fear they’d be called loss of Tanner Conway, of our loss ... is that we will a “narc” or someone 20, filled Mountain who tells police about finally say, we are not going Bible Church to overuse. to take this anymore! We are drug flowing. Angry that the court Ted Tatum, going to do all we can to fight system doesn’t require Conway’s grandfather, this drug culture and what it drug offenders to stay not only remembered in treatment longer; Conway as “the light is doing in our families and that prosecutors give of my life” and “best our community.” lenient plea bargains friend,” but used the Ted Tatum and that judges continopportunity to plead PUSD teacher; grieving grandfather ue to give repeat drug with the community to offenders chance after fix a system that perchance. petuates addiction and dependency. Angry that drug rehabilitation programs “The great good that can come out of are not more readily available and that the our loss of Tanner is that his shared wish state does not provide enough funding for that by sharing what has happened in his these programs. life will help others, that through his story, Angry that families live in denial and someone’s life will be changed,” he wrote in choose to cover up and deny. a letter to the Roundup, published on page See Mourners, page 2A 4 of today’s edition. “That we will finally by
roundup staff reporter
Peter Aleshire/Roundup
Starting May 1 you’ll need a $6 permit and a reservation to visit Fossil Creek, including the popular waterfall. The U.S. Forest Service imposed the new system to protect the water quality and endangered species from the impact of a tide of visitors that has topped 75,000 annually, mostly in the summer.
New limit on Fossil Creek visits
Forest Service will now allow just 148 cars per day by
Peter Aleshire
roundup editor
The Forest Service will impose a $6 entrance fee and require advanced reservations to visit Fossil Creek starting May 1. In future years, the reservation system will run from April 1 through Oct. 1, an effort to protect the pristine waters of the creek and a host of threatened and endangered species there from the impact of a tidal wave of visitors. The Coconino and Tonto national forests this week signed a decision that puts the reservation system into place, in hopes it will reduce the frustration of a system that
relies on simply closing off the road into the creek when the number of cars exceeds the number of parking spaces along the creek. Visitors can access the reservation system online at www.recreation.gov on March 1. The $6 permit provides a single-day parking pass. Visitors can also make a reservation by calling 877-444-6777. Visitors will need a pass from May 1 to Oct. 1 in 2016 and from April 1 to Oct. 1 in the following years. No permit is required during the rest of the year. The 148 designated parking spaces within the permit
• See Permit required, page 2A
School makes tech torch handover by
Michele Nelson
roundup staff reporter
After 17 years with Payson Unified School District, Director of Technology Joni deSzendeffy has retired and passed the reins to Vicky Andrews, a highly qualified education techie herself. The technology world of servers, bandwidth, computers and Chromebooks in education is small. The people who work there describe it more of a calling than a profitable career choice. Both deSzendeffy and Andrews love first kids, then education, then their Michele Nelson/Roundup techie careers. Retired Payson Schools Director of Technology Joni deSzendeffy Each could have has handed the reins over to Vicky Andrews. worked for a large corporation running multi-million dollar systems, but instead use their formidable talents to help teachers teach kids. Late last year, however, deSzendeffy decided Four Forest Restoration Initiative it was time to help her husband with their home by Peter Aleshire from October 2013 until June 2015, building business and finally knock off many of roundup editor before pulling out of its contract those projects on her long to-do list, but it wasn’t The contractor charged with with Good Earth Power. an easy decision. the largest forest restoration projCampbell Global then sued “I was really torn,” she said. “I had the full ect in history has both trumpet- Good Earth for $3 million for ed its progress — and suffered alleged breach of contract. The See Director, page 5A another setback. $525,000 represents the “undisGood Earth Power AZ released puted” part of the contract and the THE WEATHER its February report insisting that lawsuit will continue on the balOutlook: Sunny although it has thinned just 6,000 ance of Campbell Global’s claim. with highs in the acres in the past two years, it still mid 70s; overnight lows in Good Earth Power meanwhile the upper 30s. Details, 9A expects to complete 300,000 acres filed a counter-claim, asserting See our ad in the next seven years. Campbell Global did not perform Meanwhile, an Oregon District under the contract and actualand Court has ruled that Good Earth ly delayed and hindered Good upcoming owes Campbell Global $525,000 Earth’s own thinning operations. for work that company did when events on Meanwhile, the February operit had a contract to manage the ations report from Good Earth page 6B thinning project in Arizona. See Forest, page 9A volume 26, no. 20 Campbell Global managed the
Teaching teachers to use new technology
•
Arrests for heroin sales by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
A man wanted for drug possession led to the arrest of another man Thursday for supplying drugs to the community, police say. The Payson Police Department had been looking for Joshua Simmons, 25, who was wanted on a felony warrant for possession of narcotic drugs. About 6 p.m. Thursday, a police department employee spotted Simmons in the Bashas’ shopping center and called for help. A detective found Simmons and several others in a vehicle in the shopping center. Officers arrested on heroin-selling charges Simmons and two others, including the vehicle’s driver, Christopher Fowler, 30, said Police Chief Don Engler. Officers found several pre-packaged bundles of heroin concealed on Fowler, who admitted to officers he’d already sold half a gram of heroin in Payson. Officers found another gram of heroin hidden in the driver’s seat. They also found a scale and cash.
They arrested Fowler on charges of possession of a narcotic drug for sale, possession of drug paraphernalia and other drug-related charges. Also in the vehicle, police arrested Kaylee Wells, 19, wanted on a felony arrest warrant for burglary. Earlier this year, Wells reportedly burglarized a Payson home several times while the homeowner was inside. In addition to the warrant, police arrested Wells Thursday for possession of a narcotic drug, possession of a dangerous drug and possession of drug paraphernalia after they found a morphine pill and a usable amount of methamphetamine on her. The Payson Police Department remains committed to eliminating the heroin dependency from the community and the tragedy that so often accompanies it, Engler said in a press release. “We will continue to aggressively pursue those who supply and sell these drugs in our community.” The PPD is in the process of establishing treatment options for those wanting help with addiction.
Logger still struggling
•
•
Peter Aleshire/Roundup
A wet winter has kept big machines like this from operating in the forest, slowing down the Four Forest Restoration Initiative.
E R O M & Locally Owned & Operated
FURNITURE & BEDDING
Located in Safeway Center 928-468-8568
MattressExpertsandmore.com
Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm