rainy night in AF

It's a rainy night. I know it all too well. The floods, the mud, the streams flowing. Ash Fork monsoon season is here.

Fire Board President Assaulted

Conflict between a volunteer fire board and a segment of the rural community it serves appears to be intensifying north of Ash Fork.
This follows an overhaul of volunteers at the fire station amid allegations from the new board that former managers misspent thousands in tax money for personal purposes.
Jim Nelson, president of the Kaibab Estates West volunteer fire board, was attacked in his driveway Friday night following a contentious public meeting outside of the fire station.
Nelson went with his dogs to lock the gate outside his home for the night and was struck on the head with a heavy object. He turned to fight off two men who had been waiting for him in the dark, one of whom he thought he recognized from that night's meeting.
"It's escalating," Nelson said.
Deputies from Coconino and Yavapai counties responded to Nelson's call for help, as did his new volunteer fire chief, but the dispatcher from his own fire department did not acknowledge the call, he said.
The Coconino County Sheriff's Office is planning to question one local resident who has recently stepped forward to speak to investigators.
There have been no arrests or charges related to the assault or any other part of the case, said Coconino County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Jim Driscoll.
This comes after Nelson and fellow board member Lisa Monville found what they said was thousands in taxpayer dollars used for personal purposes at Kaibab Estates West's fire department, a volunteer agency where firefighters are supposed to be paid small stipends and for expenses like duty-related travel.
They reported their findings to county investigators and the Coconino County Attorney's office is now weighing the case.
Investigators have said that the spending does not appear improper or out of line with spending for a fire department.
"We don't see at this point that there is a criminal act, but we're still going to be sending that to the county attorney's office for review. These were customary expenditures and it did not involve a lot of money for a fire district that size," Driscoll said.
The former fire chief has previously denied any wrongdoing or misspending of public money.
As the two started raising questions and terminating some volunteers in June and July, Nelson found a dead skunk at his gate, Monville said she received a verbal threat on her life, and a mysterious fire destroyed the department's only ambulance -- inside the locked fire station.
No firefighter responded to extinguish the fire inside the fire station.
Later, a friend of Monville's found her puppy with its neck broken, and the animal partially skinned, Monville said.
One or more individuals moved around the furniture outside Monville's home the same night Nelson was attacked, she said.
The fire department's radio repeater came unplugged several times in recent weeks.
Investigators have not determined what ignited the fire inside the fire station.
"We don't have a suspect. We have lots of rumors. We can't prove it's arson," Driscoll said.
The fire board met Friday to consider 26 different fire department matters, but was frequently interrupted by a crowd that brought chairs and drinks, Monville said.
Coconino County Sheriff's deputies planned to attend Tuesday night's meeting, as did Nelson.
"I'm going to bring a big stick and put a football helmet on for this one," Nelson said.

via: arizona daily sun

Reward offered for info on Ash Fork elk poaching case

Arizona Game and Fish and an anonymous donor are offering up to $3,000 for information leading to a conviction in the suspected poaching of a bull elk north of Ash Fork.
The elk was found at Partridge Creek and was believed to have been shot and killed illegally, then left to decompose.
Anyone with information regarding this case can call (800) 352-0700 and reference case number 11-000959. Web submissions can be reported via the internet by going to www.azgfd.gov/thief. Identities will remain confidential.

Via: Arizona Daily Sun

The Ranch House Cafe

I have eaten at the Ranch House Cafe before. It's ok. Nothing to write home to Mom about. I ordered the standard breakfast there. There's a "bobby burro" that some say is fairly good. Here's a review of another person:

Zach Tamburello said: (quoted from the Urbanspoon website)
"The Ranch House Cafe, to me is the best restaurant in all of Ash Fork and its a reasonable price range for any budget."
 

Well, There aren't many restaurants in Ash Fork. 2, maybe 3. I would think that the place has it's "regulars" and those regulars keep the doors open. The truckers from interstate 40 help keep the doors open too. Somebody is always there, even when it snows. I know of another place and I will get info on it for another post.

A place to experience on old route 66

Road Kill Restaurant Review

The motto is you kill it we grill it. This is a place full of character on the old route 66 near Seligman.
The bar is very rustic with stuffed animals and the barman looked like Virgil Earp from the old cowboy days.
Good choice of beer.
We didnt eat but it had a comprehensive snack menu - and the food looked good as it came out.
A very interesting place to visit and an alternative route to the I40
via: tripadviser

70 days, 3,200 miles, 2 running shoes

WILLIAMS - Heading out of Ash Fork up the hill to Williams is a grind. Semi trucks shift into low gear to make the climb and many a vehicle has been known to make a forced pit stop on the side of the highway after over heating.

Imagine what it might feel like to make the journey on foot. Running.

A handful of runners did just that last Thursday while participating in the ninth running of the Los Angeles-New York Footrace. The 70 stage, 3,200 mile race across the United States following Route 66 was first run in 1928 during the great depression. As a promotional effort to market the newly created Highway 66 from Los Angeles to Chicago, organizer C.C. Pyle sent 199 runners on their way from LA through Chicago to New York. Just 55 runners finished.

The 14 runners participating in this year's race set out from Los Angeles June 19 before facing the sweltering heat of the Mohave Desert. Participants will run an average of 45 miles per day.

Markus Mueller is no stranger to long distance running, what those in the sport call "ultra-running." In 2001, Mueller finished the 2,700 Trans Australia Footrace in 10th place. The run began in Perth in the middle of the hot Australian summer and ended in Canberra, 63 running days later. A total of 24 ultra runners were selected from around the world with only 14 runners finishing the grueling race.

Mueller said the LA to New York race is particularly difficult.

"It is really demanding and you have to take care of your feet and not run too fast," he said.

Runners must maintain a minimum pace of 3.5 miles an hour for each stage or face disqualification. All stage times are totaled with the fastest runner named the winner.

Unfortunately, Mueller is no longer in contention to win the foot race after missing the cut off time heading into Needles, Calif. as well as on the Kingman leg of the race.

"Now, I have taken three days off in Flagstaff and just joined today again," Mueller said, adding he will finish out the race despite his official disqualification.

Every morning, an orientation meeting is held to go over the race route for the day. Organizers scout each route the day before to insure that all roadways are passable. Most racers have one support person following by car with water and food. Mueller said most racers stop every three miles, more in the hottest deserts, to rehydrate and fuel up.

Mueller said the 30-mile Ash Fork to Williams leg of the journey was actually one of the easier segments of the race.

"It is kind of a rest day for the runners," he said.

Just what drives runners to take on such a difficult journey, pushing their minds and bodies to the limit? Mueller said long distance running provides a different t perspective, another way to take a look at the world we live in.

"The motivation for me, and I think for the rest of the people, is just to see the country at a human pace," Mueller said. "You see things you would never see otherwise and you actually grasp every detail that is along the road - the good and the bad."

The race winds through the Navajo Reservation this week heading for New Mexico north of Los Alamos.

"We are in really remote areas, so support will be kind of difficult," Mueller said.

The race eventually ends in New York City by Central Park August 27 after crossing 14 states - California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.

What do you do after 70 days on the road?

"Just drink a beer," Mueller said.

For more information visit www.lanyfootrace.com


via: williams news

Memorial Day 2011

We take time out to honor our men and women of the military who are serving and who have served to make our country free.
This video was made on Monday, May 30, 2011 in the town of Ash Fork, home of many veterans. I was driving down double A ranch road and made the right at Lewis Ave. I continued down Lewis to 6th st., made a left then another quick left onto Park Ave. Every year they put out the American Flag to commemorate Memorial Day. Everybody, please let's take a moment of silence.