A look at the new stories that shaped the Verde Valley in 2021.
January
Visit “2021: A Year in Photos”
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photojournalist Daulton Venglar’s
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■ On Jan. 1, David Rhodes took over as Yavapai County sheriff.
■ Verde Valley Medical Center reported that vaccinations against COVID-19, reserved for Phase 1A had begun to slow down. Yavapai County expanded vaccinations to Phase 1B, essential workers.
■ The Cottonwood- Oak Creek School District Governing Board unanimously voted Jan. 5, to continue remote learning, then go to a hybrid model.
■ The Clarkdale-Jerome School District’s Governing Board voted to delay its in-person start after winter break until Jan. 11.
■ The Goat Fire burned 28 acres on the side of the Black Hills.
■ At the Camp Verde Town Council’s meeting Jan. 6, Vice Mayor Joe Butner ended the meeting by vocally condemning the pro-Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., that turned into a violent failed insurrection. Clarkdale Mayor Robyn Prud’homme- Bauer suggested that the Town Council approve a letter condemning the event and rioters’ attempts to overturn the presidential election, but council decided Jan. 12 not to approve it, arguing that it was not the nonpartisan council’s place to get involved in a polarized national issue. The Sedona City Council had a moment of Silence for Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died Jan. 7 after suffering two strokes related to the riot.
■ On Jan. 19, Cottonwood City Council approved annexing 11 square miles northeast of the city. The Spring Creek Ranch development on 280 acres of that annexed land still faces planning approval.
■ The legal sale of recreational marijuana for adults age 21 and older began Jan. 22. Long lines formed at the Verde Valley’s two dispensaries
■ The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors ended the Verde Connect project on Jan. 6. Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor Donna Michaels stated a series of falsehoods about the project. She provided no proof of her claims when pressed for comment.
February
■ On Feb. 9, the Verde Valley Fire District hosted four candidates for the job at a meet-and-greet at Station 31 on E. Godard Road, giving the fire district governing board and other interested members of the public a chance to meet the candidates to replace retiring fire chief Joe Moore, who planned to retire in March.
■ At a meeting on Feb. 11, the Mingus Union High School District Governing Board voted 4-1 to return to in-person learning on Feb. 22.
■ After seven years, Clarkdale-Jerome School Principal Stephen Doerksen announced that he would be leaving his post. He later became principal at American Heritage Academy in Cottonwood.
■ The Verde Valley Homeless Coalition worked on installing sprinklers in its drop-in facility to bring it up to fire code for overnight stays.
■ The snowfall damaged Tuzigoot National Monument citadel reopened Feb. 19 after two years of repairs.
■ Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor Donna Michaels attempted to improperly replace two long-time county Planning and Zoning Commission members by sending them a letter announcing she would be appointing their replacements on Jan. 1. Michaels lacks the legal authority to force them out. One remained while the other departed. Michaels then appointed Charley Pitcher, a Sedona area resident whose wife donated $1,000 to her campaign. The Pitchers run a website opposing a commercial rezoing request near their home that will now come for a vote before the commission Michaels appointed Charley Pitcher to. Michaels omitted the financial connection when announcing the appointment.
March
■ On March 3, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey released an Executive Order requiring all school districts to be open for in-person learning.
■ At a meeting on March 2, the Cottonwood City Council approved Community Development Block Grant funds for a playground at the Cottonwood Kids Park.
■ The Verde Valley Fire District board selected Danny Johnson as new fire chief.
■ On March 16, Yavapai County announced that appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations would be open to Phase 1C.
■ On March 25, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced he was ending remaining COVID-19 restrictions.
April
■ The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Taskforce arrested former Cottonwood Old Town Association Treasurer Traci Koelzer in Oakland County, Michigan, in April. She allegedly embezzled $20,000 from the Old Town Association in April 2018 and disappeared.
■ After contemplating buying the Rough Cut building for $8.1 million for a new city hall, the Cottonwood City Council backed off April 6, due to the high cost.
■ The Verde Valley Homeless Coalition requested the city of Cottonwood help in getting a grant to build transitional housing.
■ Northern Arizona Healthcare’s Valley View Care ceased operations April 18.
■ On April 19, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announc-ed that he would no longer be requiring school districts to mandate mask wearing.
■ The Cottonwood City Council voted down a resolution to declare Cottonwood a “Bill of Rights Sanctuary” at a city council meeting on April 20.
■ The Verde Valley Fair returned April 28.
May
■ The Mingus theater program is planning a triumphant return, with their spring musical, “The Addams Family,” premiering on May 7 at the school’s theater.
■ COVID exodus causes surge in home prices. As prices increase in Sedona, existing and new residents are moving to other Verde Valley communities, driving up prices everywhere.
■ Cottonwood families demand the city act to stop vandalism at the Cottonwood Cemetery. Tombstones and gravestones have been toppled and damaged.
■ Verde Valley officials gathered to address lack of housing in their communities and discuss the Verde Valley Regional Economic Organization’s findings of a Verde Valley-wide affordable housing study.
■ Mingus Union High School graduates held their commencement ceremony on May 28.
June
■ The Cottonwood City Council eliminated library late fees.
■ The town of Jerome voted to update the parking fees in town to a flat, daily rate.
■ A fire burning in Cornville near Page Springs Road consumed around 1,241 acres on June 14 and 15, forcing residents to evacuate their homes.
■ Clarkdale’s Town Manager Tracie Hlavinka resigned June 8 to move back to Texas to be near family. July 8 was her last day. The town later hired Susan Guthrie from Sunnyvale, Texas.
■ The Backbone Fire ignited around 11:30 p.m. June 16, about 15 miles southeast of Camp Verde near the Fossil Creek Recreation Area and Child’s Power Plant substation. It burned 40,855 acres by July 22.
■ The Rafael Fire was discovered at 7:28 p.m. on June 18, on the Prescott National Forest. By July
7, it burned 78,065 acres north of Clarkdale, making it the largest fire in Verde Valley history, doubling the Backbone Fire and 3.5 times larger than the 21,227-acre Slide Fire of 2014.
■ A $40,000 grant was awarded to the Friends of the Verde River.
July
■ Manzanita Outreach launched a new program offering free meals to kids in Cottonwood and Cornville.
■ The 27th annual Corn Fest took place July 17, in Camp Verde.
■ Lloyd Masayumptewa was appointed superintendent of Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments on July 18.
■ A Cottonwood man, Nathan Wayne Entrekin, 48, was arrested for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol while clad in what he said was “Captain Moroni,” a character in the Book of Mormon.
■ Authorities and volunteers are searching for a missing 16-year-old Cottonwood girl, Faith Moore, who was swept away in a flash flood around 9:40 p.m., July 24. After an extensive search involving 600 people, her body was located July 28, on the bank of the Verde River.
August
■ Yavapai College offered live, virtual STEM classes to students ages 6 to 14.
■ Students returned to classes the first week of August.
■ The Cottonwood City Council approved updates to an ordinance regulating the storage of junk on private property.
■ Former Camp Verde wrestling coach Dioney Carlos Zavalza-Ceniceros was sentenced Aug. 4 to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges of sex crimes against children.
■ Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes was arrested at Lake Powell for operating a boat under the influence on Aug. 7.
■ Jeff Schalau retired from University of Arizona Cooperative Extension of Yavapai County. Since 1998, Schalau has provided leadership and educational programs and written the beloved weekly Backyard Gardener column.
■ The 2020 U.S. Census Bureau results are in, and show the Verde Valley gained 3,000 residents since 2010.
■ Yavapai College and community partners celebrated the completion and grand opening of the Verde Valley Skilled Trades Center Aug. 13.
■ Mingus Union High School head coach Doug Provenzano resigned from his position Aug. 17 days after being placed on a paid administrative leave pending an investigation by school administration.
■ Restaurants are feeling the pains of increased food costs and slower delivery times of food deliveries.
September
■ Park officials for Mo n t e z uma Ca s t l e and Tuzigoot National Monuments have announced that alcohol consumption is no longer allowed in any area of the parks.
■ Sept. 11, marked the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pa. Memorial events were held throughout the Verde Valley.
■ School officials and law enforcement agencies cracked down on traffic violations in school zones in August. On Oct. 7 around 3 p.m., a Cottonwood-area school bus stopped in the intersection of South Sixth Street at Aspen Street, a driver struck a child in a crosswalk, breaking his leg. The driver faces felony charges.
■ The 20th annual Thun-der Valley Rally and concert event returned to Old Town Cottonwood on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17 and 18.
■ A developer spoke to the Cottonwood City Council about his 741-acre, $1 billion development on State Trust land outside the city. Bruce Barrett, a developer for Chromatic Resorts out of Utah, had a long history of failed or un-built projects in four states. Barrett never returned.
■ Attorney Andy Jolley has been selected to replace Mik Jordahl as the new misdemeanor prosecutor for both Cottonwood and Clarkdale.
■ Eden Stokes, an 11th-grader at Mingus Union High School requested live instruction while being quarantined for “exposure” to COVID-19. In response to Stokes’ email, MUHS Governing Board President Carol Anne Teague falsely claimed the girl would not have been quarantined if she been vaccinated or wearing a mask, which is not MUHS policy and a violation of Gov. Doug Ducey’ orders. Additionally, in blaming Stokes, Teague ignored that minors cannot get any vaccinations without parental permission.
■ Mingus Union High School District asks for a budget override. It barely passed by 82 votes on Nov. 2. The Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District override passed by a comfortable 4%.
■ The Cottonwood City Council approved $2.95 million for a new city hall on Sept. 21. Council approved a preliminary plat for phase three of The Vineyards at Cottonwood.
■ An evening of art celebrated ceramic artist Don Reitz and Yavapai College art professor Patty McMullen- Mikles on Sept. 30.
October
■ Clarktoberfest featured live music and vendors Oct. 2.
■ National Night Out on Oct. 12 connects Cottonwood police to community.
■ The Clarkdale Town Council voted unanimously Oct. 12 to approve an increase in a grant to revamp the Selna Mongini Park.
■ Several trails and a hang glider launch point temporarily reopened on Mingus Mountain after a forest thinning operation was postponed due to the heavy monsoon storms.
■ On Oct. 18, the Cottonwood Planning and Zoning Commission held a special meeting to discuss a Conditional Use Permit for a 56-unit multi-family apartment development on 3.1 acres located between Sixth and Seventh Street.
■ Verde Valley Fire District officials announced late Oct. 18, that firefighter and paramedic Tyrone Earl Bell died from complications of COVID-19. Bell’s funeral was held Nov. 1.
■ Mingus Union High School kicks off its theater season on Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. with “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
■ Thousands of people came out to celebrate Halloween this year in Clarkdale after last year’s event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
■ The Open Studios Tour event, started by The Sedona Visual Arts Coalition, opened Verde Valley-wide.
■ The Yavapai County Attorney’s Office faces a backlog of case.
November
■ U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema [D-Ariz.] spoke in Sedona with Larson Newspapers Managing Editor Christopher Fox Graham about legislation, the senate filibuster, pharmaceutical industry lobbying and prescription drug prices Nov. 11.
■ Cottonwood’s 12th annual Walkin’ on Main event kicked off on Nov. 13. The Verde Valley Author Expo featured over 20 authors at the Cottonwood Community Clubhouse on Nov. 20.
■ After years of breaches, Freeport-McMoRan mining company finally plans to remove the nonfunctional scrap metal Brewer’s Tunnel Dam from the Verde River.
■ Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Michael R. Bluff sentenced Jason Howard Engel, 42, of Camp Verde, to 15 years in the Arizona State Prison on Nov. 18. Engel ran a red light at the intersection of State Route 89A and Willard Street on Sept. 7, 2020, striking and killing Jody Makuch, an off-duty Cottonwood police commander.
December
■ Verde Valley residents oppose draft resdistricting maps that cut off eastern Sedona from the rest of the Verde Valley.
■ Cornville is set to receive a new 100-foot-tall monopine cell tower behind Cornville County Market, but some oppose the location, height or both.
■ The Made in Clarkdale event showcased over 20 artists on Dec. 4.
■ The city of Cotton-wood’s annual Christmas parade took place on Dec. 4. Cottonwood police officer Eli Olofson and K-9 partner Duke achieved certifications from the National Police Canine Association Narcotics and Patrol.
■ Long-time Jerome musician Hank Erwin released a new record, “The Copper Album,” influenced by the town.
Christopher Fox Graham
Larson Newspapers
