She was not one of those children who grew up knowing she was going be a veterinarian. “It was not something girls grew up to be,” said Dr. Cheryl Howerton, owner of Alpine Animal Hospital in Flagstaff. “I wanted to be a teacher.” Still, she had an affinity for animals. “I brought a lot of animals home. I spent a lot of time on my grandmother’s farm near Modesto,” she said. “One of my first experiences was a kitten choking on a chicken bone. She got it out. That really impressed … [Read more...] about A Career of Caring for Creatures
Three Decades of Serving His Community
About a year after he left his job as assistant dean at Northern Arizona University to open his own business as a financial advisor, Bill Babb had serious second thoughts. “I thought maybe this was a bad decision,“ he said. It was too late to return to the university. They had already replaced him. He had no choice but to move forward. “So, I made the cut of the life boat and decided to just go for it and not turn back,” he said. And along the way, he learned something valuable. “The … [Read more...] about Three Decades of Serving His Community
Businessman’s Ambitious Plan Taking Root
Imagine for a moment biting into a fresh, sweet strawberry on a snowy, winter day. Now imagine this strawberry was picked only a day ago and comes from a Northern Arizona Farm. Impossible, you say. Strawberries can’t be grown in the winter here. Yes, they can. If all goes according to plan, Flagstaff residents will be able to enjoy those strawberries, leafy vegetables and more, when Ron Brewster opens his Green Sky Farm at Red Gap Ranch. This farm will be contained in greenhouses where … [Read more...] about Businessman’s Ambitious Plan Taking Root
A Sustainable and Native Livelihood
When the idea of using xeriscape landscaping in yards became popular, most people resigned themselves that to save water, they had to settle for what Nigel Sparks calls a “gravelscape” – nothing fancy or colorful, just efficient. “I think that is what people came to see and that was not the intention when xeriscaping started,” he said. Sparks, the owner of Flagstaff Native Plant and Seed, would like to propose something different for your yard. You can have a shaded patio and beautiful, … [Read more...] about A Sustainable and Native Livelihood
Business Owners Living to Hike the Red Rocks
Greg and Gracie Stevenson caught a bad case of Red Rock Fever. Avid hikers, they had been exposed to the fever for about 12 years while visiting his folks who live in Sedona. Once on the way to Phoenix to catch a flight home to Texas, they began to wonder. “Why can’t we live somewhere beautiful like Sedona?” he said. “Over the next couple of weeks, we started filling legal pads with ideas about what we could do to sustain our family.” They decided that since the whole family enjoyed … [Read more...] about Business Owners Living to Hike the Red Rocks
Flagstaff Mall Improvements Good for Shoppers
The holiday shopping season has been made better by the new parking lot at the Flagstaff Mall & The Marketplace has been completed. Shoppers can now find plentiful parking on the new 9,000 tons of asphalt that has been laid down and wrapped all the way around the mall, says Lori Pappas, assistant vice president of consumer marketing for the mall. She says the improvement to the parking lot was needed. … [Read more...] about Flagstaff Mall Improvements Good for Shoppers
Social Media Shaping Election Landscape
Over the last several years, Americans have consumed social media applications at a record pace and are allocating more and more of their waking hours on sites like Facebook and Twitter. “When it comes to election cycles, they’re spending increased amounts of time using social media sites to learn about their favored politicians on their online profiles. They receive regular updates in their feeds after they follow or like them,” said Lisa Loeffler, owner of … [Read more...] about Social Media Shaping Election Landscape
Flagstaff Company Insures Americans Going to Mexico
The next time you head down to Mexico, you might want to take a second and buy your insurance online from MexPro, a locally owned insurance company in Flagstaff. It takes only a few minutes to complete the process and the company partners only with top-rated Mexican Insurance Companies. “We are a pretty unique online insurance agency we call a ‘managing general agency,’ which means we are the [liaison] between companies and the client,” said Nate Watson, … [Read more...] about Flagstaff Company Insures Americans Going to Mexico
Rural Williams May See Renewable Energy Project
Plans for a wind farm near Williams are moving forward with an agreement between NextEra Energy Resources and Arizona Public Service. “We signed a long-term power purchase lease with NextEra Energy Resources on July 22,” said Steve Gotfried, spokesman for Arizona Public Service. “What will come next will be development and building the Perrin Ranch Wind Energy Center about 13 miles north of Williams.” He said it will be a 99 megawatt wind farm with 62 … [Read more...] about Rural Williams May See Renewable Energy Project
Book Stores Bracing For Industry Changes
The community is eagerly awaiting the reopening of Bookman’s after the roof collapsed from heavy snow in January, destroying most of its inventory. “We are steadily at work,” reported the manager, Andrew Shkolnik, who said the popular store and gathering place should reopen in November or December. He said they just got all the book shelves for the new store and are in the process of organizing books by type, so that when they move in, they can … [Read more...] about Book Stores Bracing For Industry Changes