Check back often for the latest news.

• Snowbowl construction postponed
  Jul 26, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  ...said Coconino National Forest spokesman Brady Smith. As of July, Snowbowl had proposed adding 100- and 300-foot conveyor lifts (similar to conveyor belts) for beginners and: --expanding two ski trails --constructing water pipeline for snowmaking, to continue through the winter --expanding Agassiz Lodge The Coconino National Forest has not cleared any parts of the project for construction to date, saying it needs specific construction plans. ...
• Higley seeks state funds for repairs at Power Ranch Elementary
  Jul 21, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  As soon as we see the clouds, we hover over the campus," he said. Other fixes at the campus will have to wait until next summer. The district will need to test the soil around campus in the spring to be sure it stays dry enough. In addition, Williams Field will get stationary cameras around campus.
• Nebraska city's immigrant ordinance faces similar hurdles as SB 1070
  Jul 20, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  Two years ago, a Farmers Branch, Texas, rule prohibiting apartment rentals to illegal immigrants was struck down in court. Both cities have appealed. However, a Valley Park, Mo., ordinance denying business licenses to employers hiring undocumented immigrants was upheld by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2008. That rule has not been enforced because the Missouri Legislature passed a law that has supremacy over the city's ordinance. A court fight would be expensive.
• Kids program awards grants despite uncertainty
  Jul 19, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  Regional councils made up of volunteers decide what programs are awarded funds.
• Arizona's school health policies are traditionally murky
  Jul 18, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  Arizona lawmakers passed a bill in the last session that requires all Arizona school districts to hold a hearing by Jan. 1 to inform parents about any district policy regarding recess that might exist. Beyond that, each school district can set its own recess policy. Schools must, however, have a wellness policy that addresses healthy eating and physical activity. That was mandated by the federal Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004.
• EDITORIAL: Our View
  Jul 18, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  Arizona had 91,484 properties -- one in every 30 homes -- impacted by foreclosure in the first half of the year. Brewer wants the Legislature to OK her plan to transform the department into the Arizona Commerce Authority with more focus on economic development and finding ways to generate more high-paying jobs in the state. But they face an uphill battle in claiming the attention of voters as Arizona prepares to implement SB 1070.
• FUSD continues AIMS slide
  Jul 15, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  Math and reading are required at all levels, with writing or science given at some grades. Only 10th-graders fared worse than their peers statewide. Science: Passing the science portion is not required for graduation. But improvement has been slight but steady statewide, if still not in high or even medium-high numbers.
• BRIEF
  Jul 14, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  Scores were "steady" in grades three through five in reading, according to the department. Reading scores were up in grades six through 10.
• Musical Chairs Mentoring key to success of new teachers
  Jul 13, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  On July 27, Shafer, 31, starts his first full-time teaching position as director of choirs at Chandler's Hamilton High School. He learned about Evans' position through his friend and mentor, Bart Evans, Cris' husband. Bart Evans is choral director at Mesa's Dobson High School, where Shafer completed his student teaching.
• Recession makes East Valley a retail black hole
  Jul 13, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  Shopping plazas will recover as residents return to empty homes, Josker said. But the recession will have doomed some plazas. But that's jumped to 13 percent partially because Bashas' shuttered four stores in its bankruptcy reorganization, Mackay said. That's helped bring life to mostly vacant centers, Mackay said.
• Snowbowl work delayed
  Jul 9, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  ...snowmaking infrastructure, and lack of water for firefighting. PERMIT GOOD THROUGH 2032 Snowbowl has a permit for a water pipeline into 2032. As part of that permit, construction is supposed to be completed by December 2014. Opponents in the pending lawsuit are asserting that the federal government did not adequately assess the health risks to skiers and snowboarders possibly eating snow made from reclaimed water. Snowbowl has vowed to seek potable water...
• Gilbert school board votes to strike street, utility tax
  Jul 8, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  And, the district had requested the school board raise the $400,000 by keeping an adjacent ways tax the district uses to make such improvements. Stump said the board also received several e-mails about the proposed tax levy. The state requires school districts to hold such a hearing if they plan to spend adjacent ways funds.
• Snowmaking opponents file for time
  Jul 8, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  ...of the Navajo Nation has stated, in documents to the Agriculture Department, that potable water would be less offensive on the mountains 13 tribes consider sacred. No tribal official has publicly said potable water would be a better option. Claimants in the reclaimed water case filed last September were the Save the Peaks Coalition and Kristin Huisinga, Clayson Benally, Sylvan Grey, Don Fanning, Jeneda Benally, Frederica Hall, Berta Benally, Rachel Tso and Lisa Tso. ...
• Snowmaking gets green light
  Jul 7, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  The USDA is obviously out of touch with the community and our efforts to protect the San Francisco Peaks.
• Musician prepares to become choir teacher at Hamilton
  Jul 6, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  It will be her third year. She gives Shafer kudos. I think we're in capable hands," Arntsen said. Fellow student Karishma Deshpadne, 15, agrees. "I like choir. Shafer," she said while standing over a piano stuffing letters into envelopes. "I like him.
• Student teachers advised to specialize skills
  Jul 6, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  Kyrene Elementary School District will host some ASU students seeking elementary education degrees. The student-teachers will spend half their day at a school and the other half taking ASU classes.
• Making Cardinals roster tall task for Max Hall
  Jul 3, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  I've always wanted to be here." It won't be easy for Hall to make the active roster. He's fourth on the depth chart, and NFL teams usually carry three quarterbacks. Max certainly wanted to please us, but Max was more about our team winning and doing whatever it took to win.
• FUSD mulls rate hike for school-based child care
  Jul 2, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  Additional savings could come from closing the small program offered at Leupp Public School and cutting back on staff hours, benefits and positions. Sixth-graders, however, will still be able to attend FACTS programs next year even though they will be part of the middle school system. Sinagua sixth-graders will attend FACTS at Knoles, and Mount Elden sixth-graders will walk over to Puente de Hozho. Johnson said this plan is only for after school.
• State's original charter schools up for renewal
  Jul 2, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  The process to attain a charter is one big area, said DeAnna Rowe, executive director of the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools. But weren't charters founded to make things simpler?" Douglas said. New School for the Arts and Academics is another original charter school. Katy Cardenas is executive dean, a post she has held since 2005.
• Heller
  Jul 1, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  Football season begins Aug. 21, when Bishop Gorman plays Hamilton at the near-halfway point of Flagstaff. To do so, Sanchez will bring his team across the border. But that's not the case (at Bishop Gorman) that I've heard from anyone. "We're going to play this game. Horizon hosts the Big League Dugout Classic every spring with several of the nation's elite high school baseball teams.
• Musical Chairs Journey to the classroom
  Jul 1, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  Like his wife, Bart's career is teaching kids music. Shafer completed his master's degree in December. In late May, Cris Evans invited Shafer to Hamilton. Shafer's also completing on an online continuing education class to turn his provisional Arizona teaching certificate into a standard one.
• Report
  Jul 1, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  In math, Latinos fared better than blacks and Native Americans in grades four and eight. Some of that growth is students who may have come to us in different ways.
• Teacher turns national park into classroom
  Jun 29, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  Together, teachers and staff work to develop service learning activities for their high school students that advance the park's mission, yet are broad enough to be applicable to local, state and national education standards.
• Mountain View student wins $1.3 million in scholarships, college financial aid
  Jun 28, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  I worked hard in school to not only get into college, but get college paid for. That's what drove me." Sabrina currently lives with her dad, stepmom, sister and two half siblings. Sabrina's parents met in California, where her mom lived at the time, and moved to Arizona where Sabrina was born. By the time Sabrina was 2, she was bilingual.
• VX Girls Track Athlete of Year
  Jun 28, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  Discus Dominates discus and shot put with state titles; 3rd in high jump Cadija Harris Chandler Jr. High Jump 5A-I state champion at 5 feet, 5 inches Jasmine Todd Chandler So. Triple Jump Four-time champion in 2010 (triple jump, long jump, 100, relay) Shantella McCoy Marcos de Niza Sr.
• Maricopa Community Colleges board rejects proposed tax hike
  Jun 24, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  The small remainder comes from other revenue sources. The state has made cuts in aid the last few years. The previous 2 percent tax levy increase was approved for the 2008-2009 school year.
• Parents press FUSD for boundary exemptions
  Jun 22, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  But there could be slimmer margins now. For example, Coconino High School can hold 1,750 students. Projected enrollment for next year, based on population within Coconino's proposed boundaries, is 1,725.
• Flagstaff Unified School District splits attendance east-west
  Jun 18, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  The board will do a first reading of an amended policy on June 22 and vote on it on June 29. A few concessions have already been made, though. The trade-off would be otherwise limiting high school boundary exceptions. Assistant Superintendent Bob Kuhn said he did not expect unanimity among the 200 to 225 Sinagua seniors. But if an overwhelming majority picked Flagstaff High, the recently closed Flagstaff Middle School campus across the street could take the overflow.
• Flagstaff Unified School District set to vote on school closure
  Jun 13, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  But they also predict that this plan would result in less enrollment loss from families dissatisfied with the district's plan and provide academic opportunities for advanced middle schoolers. Parents and students at South Beaver have retained local lawyer Tony Gonzales, who has raised concerns about potential discrimination that could result from the closure of the predominantly Hispanic, low-income magnet school.
• Supervisors hike county property tax
  Jun 13, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  We're definitely living within our means and the county should do the same," said Cynthia Dorfsmith, a city of Flagstaff employee. "I oppose a property tax.
• Suit likely if South Beaver closed
  Jun 10, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  Attorney Kellie Peterson said the closure decision is based on finances and what's best educationally for students. She denied there are any negotiations between FUSD and NAU or any other entity over potentially soon-to-be vacant properties. That includes South Beaver, which occupies a prime piece of land just across South Beaver Street from the university. The school board is expected to vote on the issue on Tuesday.
• Major grant helps students investigate outdoor environments
  Jun 7, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  ...-- Schools across Coconino County are using $400,000 in grant money to study outdoor environments using geographic information systems and geospatial analysis. Winners in the "Power of Data" project programs are at Sinagua, Flagstaff, Williams, Tuba City and Page high schools, Flagstaff and Mount Elden middle schools, Eagle's Nest Intermediate School (Tuba City), Verde Valley School and Rimrock Public High School. The competitive funding is administered by Science Foundation Arizona and...
• Board leans to two H.S.
  Jun 6, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  The high schools promoted more than 800 students on Friday, which was the original date administrators set last year for graduation.
• SB1070 lawsuit to cost Flagstaff at least $25,000
  Jun 6, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  ...city of Flagstaff at least $25,000 to fight the state over the controversial new law on illegal immigration known as SB1070. A unanimous Flagstaff City Council agreed Tuesday to continue to pursue an injunction that would prevent SB1070 from taking effect in late July. City Attorney Pat Boomsma was given several options on how to pursue legal action, but she decided to join with several communities, including Tucson and San Luis, in suing the state. The city of Flagstaff...
• So. Beaver lawyer cites racism
  Jun 6, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  But he does list several concerns from parents at the predominantly Hispanic school. Today, 58 percent of the 349 students identify as Hispanic, the highest of any FUSD school. About 69 percent of the student body qualifies for free or reduced lunch and about 15 percent are classified as English language learners, both the second-highest of any district school.
• Parents appeal to keep schools open
  May 31, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  Twobears' three children attended the school, as did her mother. Now, Twobears, an anthropologist, is a Dartmouth and Northern Arizona University graduate and has recently been accepted into a doctoral program. She credited South Beaver. The 75-year-old school is a part of Flagstaff's history, she said. "We love that school.
• Charter chooses Flagstaff
  May 30, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun
  By the end of freshman year, students are already collecting college credits through Advanced Placement exams. Middle schoolers get courses in economics and philosophy. She said she's satisfied with Flagstaff Unified School District and volunteers regularly, and she likes her son's teacher. But her son, who just missed the cutoff for gifted student services, seems bored.
• Higley District to install security cameras on high-school campuses
  May 30, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  Students also threw water balloons and shaving cream in the school courtyard. Repairs will take place after students leave for summer. Graduation will be held tonight. The district will seek criminal charges against students who damaged the sprinkler head, Malaj told the Tribune.
• After 39 years, Powell Junior High School says goodbye
  May 27, 2010 — East Valley Tribune
  The school sold football, track and baseball jerseys to students for $5. Some bought them to hang on their walls. My husband said I should have started a book 16 years ago," she said. Klinker noted the school has a different culture than other campuses. Besides closing several school and program sites, the governing board voted to move ninth-graders to three of the district's six comprehensive high schools in the fall.