School candidates: 3 • Volunteers fly high: 9 • Surviving Tontozona: 15 ARIZONA NEWSPAPERS AND NATIONAL LOCAL MEDIA ASSOCIATIONS’ NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
PAYSON ROUNDUP
75 CENTS
TUESDAY | AUGUST 9, 2016 | PAYSON, ARIZONA
payson.com
Tontozona spirits high – but so’s the creek
Help for the UNINSURED stops in Payson to help people to maneuver into a safe insurance harbor. Byron Lewis’ official job title is North Country Health navigator. Care is a nonprofit with But Lewis doesn’t 14 locations around the navigate the waters of state. The clinic offers Roosevelt Lake, he navmedical care and insurigates the craggy shoals ance advice. of the health insurance While the clinic options available to charges for medical care, A SICK Northern Arizona resithe insurance advice dents. SYSTEM comes free. “I’m an expert on the “We will sit with them Affordable Care Act,” he and take them through said. the entire enrollment process,” said Lewis works for North Country Lewis. “I had a guy come in as a single HealthCare. He cruises between dad with three kids at home. He made North Country clinics in the White Mountains and Flagstaff, including See Clinic helps, page 3 by
Michele Nelson
roundup staff reporter
Surviving
Sun Devils head back to Tempe one day early by
•
Keith Morris
roundup sports editor
Photographer DJ Craig captured the high-spirited hijinks at the Sun Devils’ pep rally in Green Valley Park on Friday, although the threat of thunderstorms reduced the crowd compared to last year’s rally.
After a wet field and the possibility of more rain forced him to cancel the wildly popular Maroon & Gold Practice at Camp Tontozona scheduled for Saturday morning, Arizona State football coach Todd Graham wanted to try and salvage some of the fun associated with that event. Players sign autographs on the field at Camp T each year after that final practice, so
• See ASU Pep Rally, page 9
Kirkpatrick blasts McCain Trump an issue in Senate race by
Peter Aleshire
roundup editor
Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick brought her campaign to unseat incumbent U.S. Senator John McCain to Payson last week, with a rousing speech at a fundraiser staged by Rim Country Democrats before opening her local headquarters. Her appearance came on the heels of a nationally reported breach between the longtime Republican senator and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Kirkpatrick, a former prosecutor and state lawmaker who resigned her Flagstaff-based congressional seat to take on McCain, said “people are so disappointed that John McCain wouldn’t stand up to Trump when Trump insulted him. They tell me, ‘if he won’t stand up for himself, he’s not going to stand up for us.’” She added that voters have also complained about McCain’s support for the decision by Senate Republicans not to even hold hearings to consider President Barack Obama’s nomination
Banner gets hacked to payment card data at food and beverage outlets at some Banner Health Rim Country residents who used locations. The hackers had access to cardholdservices at Banner Payson Medical er name, card number, expiration date Center between June 23, 2016 and and internal verification code between July 13, 2016 may be victims of a cyber June 23, 2016 and July 7, 2016 Look for attack on the company. the list of the affected outlets at www. A Banner spokesperson told the BannerSupports.com. Roundup they don’t yet know how The attack did not affect payment many people in the area were affected. card payments used for medical serBanner Health announced last week vices. that it is mailing letHowever, on July 13, ters to approximately 2016, Banner Health Was your data exposed? 3.7 million patients, learned that the cyber health plan members Call 1-855-223-4412, from attackers may have and beneficiaries, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific also gained unauthofood and beverage Time, seven days a week rized access to patient customers and physito see if you or a loved information, health cians and health care one are possible victims. plan member and benproviders related to a eficiary information, cyber attack. as well as information Customers with questions about about physician and health care providwhether their data was compromised ers. That might include names, birthcan call 1-855-223-4412, from 7 a.m. dates, addresses, physicians’ names, to 7 p.m. Pacific Time, seven days a dates of service, claims information, week. The call center representative and possibly health insurance informawill determine whether a caller’s infor- tion and Social Security numbers. mation was compromised and if so The attack was apparently initiated direct callers to the Kroll fraud moni- on June 17, 2016. toring website. Banner Health is working to Banner Health has launched an enhance the security of its systems investigation into the breach. and work with payment card networks. On July 7, Banner Health discovered the hackers may have gained access See Hackers, page 3 by
Teresa McQuerrey
roundup staff reporter
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THE WEATHER
volume 26, no. 66
Outlook: Mostly sunny today with a 40% chance for rain. Mostly cloudy Wednes day and Thursday with a 60% and 40% chance respectively. Highs in the mid 80s. Details, 8
See our ad and upcoming events on page 16
to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. “People are really angry that we haven’t filled the vacancy on the Supreme Court. John McCain came out before there was even a nominee and said, ‘I don’t think that seat should be filled for a year — the next president should fill it and I support Donald Trump for president.” McCain last week sharply criticized Trump for comments he made about the Muslim parents of a U.S. Army captain killed in Afghanistan who charged a suicide bomber to save the men under his command. Trump
• See Senate race, page 5
Photo courtesy of DJ Craig
The Green Valley Park lakes overflowed their banks last week and the ducks and geese investigated the new territory in Green Valley Park.
Deluge
by
Peter Aleshire
roundup editor
Tonto Creek and the East Verde flooded crossings, Green Valley Park lakes overflowed and even the ASU Sun Devils ran for cover. Gotta love the monsoon. A storm last week dumped more than an inch of rain on Payson. The fierce storm sent water crashing down the East Verde River, for a time trapping people
Floodwaters close crossings • See Monsoon floods, page 2
Mountain bikers show off trails of Rim Country Story and Photo by Alexis Bechman roundup staff reporter
Despite the threat of monsoonal rain, a good crowd turned out for camping and mountain biking for Certified Bicycle’s Rim Country Mountain Bike gathering July 30 and 31. Shop owner Mick Wolf has been working for years to revive the mountain biking scene in Payson and help boost the local economy. Recently, he and several other riders started the Rim Country Mountain Biking Association to build new trails (including in Rumsey Park) and re-route other trails — including Boulders, Cypress and Monument Peak areas — to make them more rider friendly. While that group works on trails, Wolf held a mountain biking event on the Rim at the end of July, outside East Clear Creek. Riders went out Saturday and Sunday, July 30 and 31, each time heading out from Pinchot Cabin, off Forest Service Road 139, off the northern end of the Houston Brothers Trail. The last time Wolf held a similar event was in 2010. Due to the threat of wet weather, the
• See Mountain bike trails, page 5