Free Republic

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo., Dec. 1, 2014 – The North American Aerospace Defense Command’s NORAD Tracks Santa website, http://www.noradsanta.org/ , launched today featuring a mobile version, a holiday countdown, new games and daily activities and more. The website is available in eight languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Chinese. Official NORAD Tracks Santa apps are also available in the Windows, Apple and Google Play stores, so parents and children can countdown the days until Santa’s launch on their smart phones and tablets. Tracking opportunities are also offered on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+. Santa followers just...

SIERRA VISTA — When it comes to honoring the veterans who make up a significant portion of the community, the city of Sierra Vista now clearly wears its heart on its sleeve. As of late Wednesday afternoon, anyone entering Sierra Vista by way of Buffalo Soldier Trail will see a sign denoting it as a Purple Heart City, which will be joined by another sign on Charleston Road. The sign was posted on the west side of the highway, just south of Fort Huachuca’s East Gate, during a ceremony attended by Sierra Vista Mayor Rick Mueller, Fort Huachuca Garrison Commander...

SIERRA VISTA — Army officials will be listening to what the civilian community does to support Fort Huachuca at a listening session Tuesday. “We need to tell the Department of the Army all the good we are already doing to help soldiers and their families and retirees and their families,” Mayor Rick Mueller said. Tuesday will be the second listening session concerning a potential reduction of soldiers and civil service employees at the post. The cuts are part of an overall “reduction in force,” that the Army is charged with carrying out, according to Maj. Gen. Robert P. Ashley, the...

A dispute between House and Senate armed services committees over whether to slow growth in military housing allowances and raise off-base pharmacy co-payments has put at risk passage of a defense authorization bill. “This is as bad as I’ve ever seen it,” said one armed service committee staffer, describing the impasse between House-Senate negotiators striving to reach a defense policy bill compromise two months into the new fiscal year. If no deal can be struck, this Congress would be the first in 52 years not to enact a bill to shape defense policy and resets budget priorities. It would mean...

It is an indisputable fact of modern times. We are far too busy. If you are a stay-at-home parent, then your busy is magnified. Taking on the homemaker and parental role would snap Mister Fantastic’s rubber band. It does not matter if you have one child or a truckload. You are bent, folded, pulled and prodded in countless directions. For those who work outside the home and have children, you are multitasking on steroids. So, just to amp things up several notches on your stress scale, do not forget that we are now approaching the holiday season at breakneck speed....

TUCSON — U.S. Rep. Ron Barber filed a federal lawsuit on Monday seeking to stop certification of the 2nd Congressional District race in Arizona as his campaign argued for including ballots that were rejected in the Nov. 4 election. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Tucson is the latest attempt by the Tucson-area Democrat to challenge the results that had him losing to Martha McSally by 161 votes. Barber wants 133 disqualified votes to be counted before the election is certified. The results are headed for an automatic recount that will begin next week, as mandated by state law...

PHOENIX — The Pima County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a request from Democratic Rep. Ron Barber to delay certifying election results as he challenges the reasons ballots that could shrink Republican challenger Martha McSally’s slim vote lead weren’t counted. Kevin Hamilton, a lawyer representing Barber’s campaign, said in a letter to the board that there are more than 130 rejected ballots that should have been counted. Barber’s campaign has collected affidavits from voters who said they were qualified to cast a ballot but had their ballots rejected. “As a result, if the board certifies the canvass without correcting...

SIERRA VISTA — Traffic tickets are no longer being issued from video captured by traffic safety cameras in Sierra Vista as of Nov. 5, following the passage of proposition 408 in last Tuesday’s election. The contract between the City of Sierra Vista and Redflex includes a provision that the city can terminate the agreement with no penalty if citizens vote to ban the use of photo enforcement. A grassroots effort brought the question to the Nov. 4 ballot, which passed by a large majority. “While the actual removal of the cameras is the vendor’s responsibility, we can — and do...

SIERRA VISTA — The 20th Annual Veterans Parade in the city will be held Tuesday — Veterans Day — said Laura Killberg, special events supervisor for the community’s Parks and Leisure Services. There are 55 entries in the parade and the event begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday, she said. Since Wednesday Killberg and others have been putting the finishing touches on the parade to include the lineup of the participants. The entries will be broken down into three sections with the first being veterans’ organizations — 17 of them — led off by the Buena High School Marching Colts, she...

SIERRA VISTA — Motorists traveling on to Fort Huachuca for work in the morning are advised to give themselves more time than usual after a change in policy has resulted in a more thorough check of identification cards for people entering the installation. On Monday morning, congestion at the Main Gate was backed up far enough that drivers were blocking the intersection of Buffalo Soldier Trail and Fry Boulevard. Sierra Vista police officers issued at least two verbal or written warnings to motorists, and are hoping that driver’s will remember not to block the intersection in the future. After Monday’s...

The cremains of more than a dozen destitute veterans will be placed in a columbarium at the Southern Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery on Saturday. The public is invited to attend the event to honor those who served the nation during a Missing in America Project ceremony. The cremains will travel from Tuscon and be met at RC City, north of Huachuca City by cyclists with the Patriot Guard and other service-oriented organizations to be escorted to the cemetery. The formal service will begin at 1 p.m.

SIERRA VISTA — With early voting starting Thursday, now is the time to bone up on the local issues that will be decided at the ballot box during the Nov. 4 General Election. For Sierra Vista voters, with no city candidates facing runoffs, it really is all about issues. Three ballot questions, to include two hot topics, will be posed to city voters this year. A citizens’ initiative seeking to ban the use of photo enforcement cameras within the city limits has garnered the most attention recently, with the initiative’s organizer placing several large signs around town. King’s Court isn’t...

SIERRA VISTA — Pelted by the remnants of not one, but two tropical storms in September, Cochise County ended a wet summer with gusto, making it a banner monsoon for rainfall totals. After receiving just over an inch of rain from moisture tied to Tropical Storm Norbert, Sierra Vista saw more than 3 inches within a day when the remnants of Tropical Storm Odile took a beeline through Cochise County. These deluges helped nudge Sierra Vista’s monsoon total to 15.09 inches, as measured at the fire station on Fry Boulevard, making it the wettest monsoon in the National Weather Service...

BISBEE — At a special meeting held Wednesday, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors declared a State of Local Emergency in the county, which includes municipalities. Supervisors Pat Call, Ann English and Richard Searle agreed that due to the heavy flooding caused by last week’s rains, which resulted in extensive damage and flooding to public facilities, roadways and infrastructure, it is in the best interest of the county and cities to declare an emergency. “The flooding has resulted in a condition of extreme peril to the public health and safety of its citizens,” states the resolution the supervisors adopted at...

SIERRA VISTA — The annual Marine Corps League Toys for Tots Drive has begun. The event kicked off Saturday with the awarding of raffle prizes drawn on Sept. 13 during the Sierra Vista Oktoberfest. The prizes were officially presented at the Toys for Tots headquarters in Sierra Vista, while at the same time a recent participant in the Honor Flight program — Ralph Graves — made an appearance. It was an early Christmas for sister and brother Liberty West, 9, and Lincoln West, 5, winning a special 360 degree racer stunt bike and for 9-year-old Annamae Buhr, the recipient of...

BISBEE – Some parts of Bisbee received more heavy rainfall Saturday and Sunday nights which caused mudslides, rock slides and flood damage to homes, buildings and streets. Andy Haratyk, Bisbee streets operation manager, said his department is doing the best it can to maintain access to homes on damaged roads. Haratyk said two roads have been closed to traffic. “I only have one person with me on streets right now,” Haratyk said Monday. “We have only two. One is away on vacation.” Brewery Road is still closed after the Sept. 18 rain and more debris and rock came down from...

SIERRA VISTA — Thursday’s slow-moving storm dropped as much as 6 inches of rain during a 24-hour period on parts of Cochise County, according to the National Weather Service. The steady rainfall began Wednesday afternoon and continued throughout most of the county on Thursday, gradually increasing the flow of the San Pedro River and creating flooding conditions that closed roads, including portions of Highway 92 east of Palominas Road. Cochise County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Carol Capas said some property damage was caused by the slow-moving weather front, with two women being rescued from a house in Portal early Thursday morning....

FORT HUACHUCA — A training brigade currently based in Providence, R.I., will be relocated to Fort Huachuca with an execution date of Oct. 16. The Headquarters, 1st Brigade (Military Intelligence) 100th Training Division (Operational Support) will transfer 72 positions to the post in Sierra Vista, Tanja Linton, spokeswoman for the fort media office said Monday. Fifty-eight of those positions will be part-time reservists who will be at the fort one weekend a month for drills and two weeks a year for annual training. The 1st MI BDE trains both active and reserve soldiers in several military intelligence occupational skills. The...

FORT HUACHUCA — A much needed traffic project at the post’s East Gate will begin Monday, which will impact traffic flow and cause delays, Fort Spokeswoman Tanja Linton said. The project will last into next year with work coming to a stop in November, as winter temperatures delay the repairs, she said. Starting Monday, two lanes will be open for inbound traffic, which means drivers will be rerouted through the outbound lanes. During that time, traffic will be inbound from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, Linton said. From 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. outbound traffic will have...

SIERRA VISTA — It was standing room only at Regis hair salon Wednesday evening, with a line that stretched out the door. More than 20 Troop 444 Boy Scouts, along with scout masters, friends and family members, crowded the salon located in the Mall at Sierra Vista for a group head shaving. They were doing it in a show of support for Assistant Scoutmaster Janet Thompson who is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. And they were doing it for cancer awareness. All smiles, 12-year-old Dakota Pierce was one of the first in the group to climb onto the stylist’s chair...