It’s First Friday Artwalk in historic downtown Flagstaff this Friday, February 5. Yes, even in winter, downtown Flagstaff is a beautiful place to stroll, especially when 18 art galleries will be offering chocolate! There are a total of thirty-one stops on the Flagstaff art walk this week. Don’t miss one – download your personal map here.

Also, Friday night is the season premier for Flagstaff’s community theatre company – Theatrikos! The “Season of Laughter” opens Friday night with Shakespeare’s classic comedy Merry Wives of Windsor, which will run on weekends through February 28. Buy your tickets on line by clicking here.

It’s my birthday on Friday (when I’ll be working) but I’ll be taking Saturday off to enjoy another great feature of living in Flagstaff – popping two hours south to enjoy some of the seventy-degree winter they are having!

Have a great weekend living in Flagstaff!

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P.S. Follow Theatrikos of Facebook -- click here.

Hope We've Made Enough Space for the Next Snow!

When I turned on the Blackberry this a.m., there was the bright-red "Winter Storm Warning" from the Weather Channel. Flagstaff could see another 3 to 7 inches of snow from storm starting today and ending Thursday, according the the Arizona Daily Sun this a.m.

We've just barely finished digging out! (See the picture at dawn this a.m., with our neighbors' home in the background). I'm not complaining because we suffered no major damage and we have, in fact, been out. As the accompanying article in the Daily Sun explains, many of Flagstaff's neighbors on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations are trapped behind snow and mud-packed roads without food or potable water.

The city of Flagstaff and Coconino County are asking homeowners and business owners to report storm-related damage this week in order to apply for a federal emergency aid. They are requesting: the name of the owner, address, whether the property is residential or commercial, whether a home is primary or secondary, a description of the damage, whether it is insured, ballpark cost estimate on repairs, and any impact to business, such as closure or loss of income. In Flagstaff, the number to call is 928-213-2399. For nonurban areas of Coconino County, it's 928-679-7144, according to the Arizona Daily Sun.

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The good news is that I don't have to open the gate to snow shoe into the forest:

Don't plan to picnic in Flagstaff this weekend!

Update on Flagstaff's Winter Storm as of Friday, January 22, 2010: It's not very often that a city discourages visitors, but that's exactly what's happening in Flagstaff. City, County and Forest Service officials ask visitors to "play in their own backyards" this weekend instead of heading for Flagstaff's snowplay areas. There will be insufficient parking and safety personnel available this weekend to handle snowplay. Roads remain difficult and 5-9 more inches of snow are expected tonight. Flagstaff residents should not travel to a store without calling first to make sure it's open -- many commercial businesses, including groceries and pharmacies, are closed due to roof collapses or sagging. Here's the latest update from Flagstaff's Mayor and Coconino County Supervisors.

Update from Flagtaff's  Mayor as of Friday, January 22, 2010 6:45 a.m.: Overnight was probably the worst of the storm. Immediate impact included collapsing roofs on some Flagstaff businesses. Expectation that roads will be open by tomorrow. Stay home today and let the city do it's work. Read Flagstaff Mayor's Letters to Community here. List of other sources of info about Flagstaff's winter storm on Twitter below.

Here's the  original post from January 21:

If you've never seen a reason to set up a Twitter account, Flagstaff’s amazing winter storm is a good reason to do so now. Flagstaff Mayor Sara Presler has declared a State of Emergency and I hear that Coconino County has as well – but no one is available at the County to put it on the web. Presler was interviewed on The Weather Channel this afternoon, talking about how Flagstaff citizens can help each other get through the storm.

Flagstaff’s local paper, the Arizona Daily Sun, is providing some great, in-depth coverage, but its reporting is much slower than Twitter’s collection of news. By the way, Flagstaff’s winters don’t feature these storms regularly – this may one of the three worst in the last 100 years. Yesterday was a gorgeous day – sunny, warm and the mountains were decorated in snow. It’s likely to be that way Sunday, too. Meanwhile, there is flooding in Sedona and the Phoenix area.

Follow some local and state sources on Twitter – you don’t have to “tweet” yourself to follow others. Or, if your “principles” just won’t allow you to use Twitter, just click on the links below and follow each site separately. The advantage of Twitter is that you see news from all of these sites on one page. Set up your account at Twitter.com and then "follow" news sites about the storms. Here are some useful Flagstaff and Arizona “twitterers” to follow for storm updates:

http://twitter.com/azds

http://twitter.com/ArizonaDOT

http://twitter.com/joeferguson

http://twitter.com/naztoday

http://twitter.com/AZPubRadio

http://twitter.com/sarapresler

http://twitter.com/AzEIN

http://twitter.com/AZFireInfo

http://twitter.com/insideNAU

http://twitter.com/VisitFlagstaff

http://twitter.com/azcInsider

Once this storm is passed, and we’ve dug out, you must know someone who will want to buy a Flagstaff home! Send them my way! Meanwhile, if you have other Twitter sites with Flagstaff storm news to suggest, put them in a comment here and I'll add them to the list.

Get Ready, Flagstaff!

Preliminary forecasts indicate that severe winter conditions will soon return to Flagstaff.  Storms that could bring large amounts of snow to the area will arrive starting as early as next Monday. The City of Flagstaff is encouraging all citizens to begin preparing now and be prepared for large accumulations of snow.

Among other things, be prepared in case you are snowed in or power goes out during these storms. (Power outages are not as common in Flagstaff as in the east because so many power lines here are underground, but, still, it can happen.) City officials are recommending that residents have bottled water, non-perishable food, prescription medication, flashlights, battery-powered radios, and extra batteries at home. Remember your pets!

So, spend this nice, sunny weekend in Flagstaff shopping and winterizing your vehicle with snow tires, chains, blankets or sleeping bags, water, a first aid kit, ice scraper, extra clothes, and keep the gas tank at least half full. Make sure you have enough extra gas for snow blowers!

Clearing snow off of roof tops should be considered for structures with ice buildup problems. (If you haven’t installed those heat tapes, this is the weekend to do it!) If there is a large amount of snowfall clearing vent pipes to gas fueled appliances is recommended to prevent carbon monoxide buildup. There are a variety of businesses offering this service, including painters who are otherwise in their off-season but have those really great ladders!

City snow plows will run continuously throughout the storm with Flagstaff’s main roadways plowed first. As we saw in the last storm, it could be quite some time before plows are able to work in residential areas. Coconino County and the Arizona Department of Transportation also have snow plows that will be working in the area. Please do not park on Flagstaff streets between midnight and 7:00 a.m.  Please help your neighbors clear snow and snow berms whenever possible. City Parks and Recreation has equipment that will help handicapped individuals clear berms left by the snowplows.

Don’t forget to have fun playing in the snow!

These are two separate issues related to Flagstaff public schools:

• Which Flagstaff schools should be closed and consolidated with others?
• Should the Flagstaff School Board be granted the authority to override its budget limit to obtain more operating funds?

There are lots of activities in the works related to both issues.

As to the first issue, there will be eight community forums to discuss the closure of some (probably some of the elementary schools) and the potential change of use of other schools (one of the three Flagstaff high schools could become a middle school). The first meeting is this Thursday, January 7, at 6 p.m. at Christensen Elementary, 4000 N. Cummings Street in east Flagstaff. Here’s a complete list of the scheduled forums, courtesy of the Arizona Daily Sun.

On the second issue, having lost the voters support on a mail-in ballot in November, where only 16% of registered voters voted, the Flagstaff Unified School District governing board gets a “do-over” with another vote where mail-in ballots are due by March 9. This time, there is a more organized effort to get out the favorable voters, including a Facebook page and yard signs. A meeting of supporters happens Tuesday night at the Main Flagstaff Public Library in downtown Flagstaff at 6:30 p.m.