Sports: 6A
Health: 3B
Plucky Longhorn baseball team bounces back.
Mystery of the missing meteor: 1B
Preventing falls. How are men like a high-salt diet?
ARIZONA NEWSPAPERS AND NATIONAL LOCAL MEDIA ASSOCIATIONS’ NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
payson.com
PAYSON ROUNDUP TUESDAY | MARCH 15, 2016 | PAYSON, ARIZONA
Woman saves her neighbor
Smoldering Education matters ashes nearly destroy home by
Michele Nelson
roundup staff reporter
Ashes cleaned up by renters caused a fire at a Christopher Creek unit on Saturday, March 12. “It was primarily an exterior fire,” said Christopher-Kohl’s Fire Chief Robert Lockhart. “It was fortunate it was outside. We estimate about $16,000 in damage.” The fire chief said the ashes were left in a bucket on the outside of a metal garage door. The ashes then caught the front of the house on fire. Lockhart said by the time engines arrived, locals were putting water on the fire to contain the damage. He said despite the conscientious act of cleaning up their ashes, the peoAsh Disposal ple did not understand that an old • Eliminate all hot spots “fatigued” bucket with water or letting could have bulges ashes sit for days. that cause holes. The ashes then • Store all ashes in a make contact with fire-resistant (metal) flammable material. container with a tight “If you use a fitting cover/ Weber grill, it’s always that per• NEVER dispose of son who is trying ashes in a plastic garbage bag or can, to clean up and put a cardboard box, or it somewhere that paper grocery bag. causes fires,” said Lockhart. “If you • Place the metal leave it there for container outside the a week and then home, away from clean it up, the coals anything that can have cooled down. burn. It takes forever.” He even said • Do not place ashes the Forest Service next to the firewood has problems with pile, up against the burning brush piles garage, on or under a left after thinning wooden deck. the forest. “A week later the • Let ashes sit in a wind will go through metal container for and reignite it,” he a week before said. disposing of them. Ashes are the reason towns like Gaudette Insurance Agency Payson ban charcoal and wood fires at parks within town limits. Lockhart said propane barbecues and stoves pose less risk. “Let people bring propane and take your grill home,” he said. “If you allow charcoal or wood, they are going to throw it somewhere.” Lockhart did say during the first year he worked as the fire marshal of Payson, he had four or five fires at locals’ homes because of ash clean up. “They always say, ‘I’m going to move it in an hour,’ but they don’t,” he said. The Christopher-Kohl’s fire chief worries about forest fires this year because the early rain encouraged grasses and brush to grow copiously and now it’s dry. “We had a pre-monsoon and early snows, but now the one- and 10-hour fuels are prolific,” said Lockhart, “It is bad this year.” THE WEATHER
Outlook: Sunny with highs in the low 70s, overnight lows in the mid to upper 30s. Details, 7A
volume 26, no. 24
See our ad and upcoming events on page 6B
75 CENTS
by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
Pia Wyer/Roundup
Classes like this computer science class at Payson High School play a key role in boosting the college attendance rate, which is also the goal of the newly formed Aspire Arizona Foundation.
Weak schools = Weak economy by
Peter Aleshire
roundup editor
Expert lauds local effort to boost college attendance
Years of state cutbacks have weakened the educational system on which Arizona’s prosperity depends, according to Evelyn Casuga, with the Center for the Future of Arizona. Casuga made her dramatic presentation before a meeting of Aspire Arizona Foundation, set up to bolster the educational system in Rim Country and reduce the cost to students of attending a hoped-for university in Payson. Casuga’s presentation came at the end of a joint meeting with Payson Unified School District officials and board members of the Friends of Gila Community College, established to provide scholarships to local students. The group met to work out the details of
a plan to pay the cost of tuition of Payson High School students taking dual-credit college classes at the high school. Casuga, a former head of community outreach for Arizona Public Service, lauded the group’s efforts to bring down the cost of a college education, which remains critical to the health of a 21st century economy. Unfortunately, years of state budget cuts have dramatically increased the cost of a college education in Arizona and served to reduce the education level of the state’s workforce, she said. She presented a series of dismaying statistics gathered by the Center, founded by former ASU President Lattie Coor.
• See Prosperity depends, page 8A
Empowering parents to be teachers Talking to toddlers said key to success by
Michele Nelson
roundup staff reporter
The 3-year-old and his mother move down the aisle in Walmart in a staccato rattled of imperatives. “Get down!” she snapped. Then, “Shut up! Stop that!” The burst of commands have little effect. The boy pulls items from the shelf, tugs on the feet of his infant sibling, “Quit it!” she orders. Across the country, in a Chicago apartment in the projects, a mother colors with her 3-year old daughter and says, “We’re making such a nice picture.” “I urm. I crulr a square!” responds the daughter. “You’re colorin’ a square?” asks the mother, continuing the conversation. They talk about what to use on the bear’s next square the why the bear has a frown on his face, and what other shapes the daughter wishes to draw. Dr. Dana Suskind, of the 30 Million Words Initiative, says the way parents speak to their children makes all the difference to their future success.
“Thirty million words, it’s how many fewer words a child born into poverty hears by age 4 compared to a child born into more affluent circumstances,” she said. Suskind bases her comment on the Betty Hart/Todd Risley study that revealed profound differences in exposure to language between low-income and higher-income children by the age of 4. Moreover, using words in an
affirming way rather than as a series of negative commands or criticism can also profoundly affect the child’s ability to learn. The Hart/Risley study found that the number and type of words young children hear affects early literacy skills and lifelong learning. The difference can largely account for the social and educational gaps
• See Talking, page 2A
Doctors say an 87-year-old Payson man is lucky to be alive after falling while on a walk last week and hitting his head. Joe McVaugh left his Flowing Springs home and was down Flowing Springs Road when he reportedly slipped and fell down a steep cliff. Cali Cole had spoken with McVaugh 20 minutes earlier when he stopped over to look at flowers she had recently planted. As Cole headed off to work at Home Depot, she spotted McVaugh hanging off the side of the second bend, clutching long ragweed grass. Cole jumped out of her vehicle and grabbed McVaugh’s hands. She helped pull him to the road, but when he stood up, Cole lost her footing and they both toppled over the cliff, rolling
• See Woman struggles, page 7A
He would not stop threats by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
A man arrested for harassing his ex-girlfriend the same day a judge put him on probation for threatening the woman now will serve 2.5 years in jail — the maximum sentence under the terms of his plea deal. Cary Taylor Frocklage, 49, will also serve four years on probation for incidents involving his ex-girlfriend and an unrelated DUI. Frocklage said while he was not the “world’s best boyfriend” he never struck a woman and never will. Addressing the two rows of Time Out Shelter volunteers in purple shirts, who frequently attend domestic violence sentencings, Frocklage said he is sorry and he takes responsibly for his actions. “I love women,” he said. Calley Anderson, with the Gila County Attorney’s Office, painted a different picture of Frocklage, saying he tormented his ex, hunting her down 12 hours after he was sentenced for harassing her, sending her abusive text messag-
• See He would not stop, page 7A
Duty, Honor, Country: Saluting Service by
Michele Nelson
roundup staff reporter
Eleven veterans who served in wars from World War II to the Iraq War gathered at the Powell Place on a warm day to receive recognition for their service. Former Marine and Hospice Compassus volunteer Joe Juharos coordinated the event. He had a slew of retired military personnel to help him honor the veterans with song, a framed certificate, Veterans Affairs and military branch pins and a formal salute. “No other Hospice honors Michele Nelson/Roundup the veterans like we do,” said Veterans, family members and local officials gathered last week to honor the service of military veterans living at Powell Place in Payson. See Veterans, page 7A
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