Stories
Candidates declare war on feds
State legislative contenders stress crusade to undo terms of statehood so Arizona can control federal lands
The three Republican contenders for the state House and Senate seats representing Rim Country launched a full-throated call to wage figurative war on the federal government at a joint appearance last week before the Payson Tea Party.
Nightmare accident kills two
A midnight four-wheeling excursion Saturday killed two Payson residents, one of them a middle school student, after a Jeep Wrangler carrying eight people rolled down a steep embankment near Doll Baby Ranch Road.
Schools cut budget 5 percent
Teacher costs take big drop, grant may help cushion blow
The Payson Unified School District’s (PUSD) budget for the 2012-13 school year will drop 4.16 percent, reflecting layoffs and a drop in enrollment. The school board adopted a $14.6 million operations and maintenance (M & O) budget for 2012-13 at its meeting on Monday, July 9.
We lost ‘amazing people’
Friends of Devin and Jeff say victims would help anyone, anytime
Family and friends of two people killed in a four-wheeling accident this weekend are struggling to understand how a fun outing could go so tragically wrong. Devin Grace Frantzke, 14, and Jeff Johnston, 55, of Payson, died when they were thrown from a Jeep Wrangler early Sunday morning near the end of Doll Baby Ranch Road.
Payson SWAT team responds to gun threats
Bizarre behavior alarms bystanders, draws police to ultimately empty threats
Friday the 13th kept police busy with strange, back-to-back calls involving alleged threats to use a gun in a dispute. Officers ended up arresting two men, but not for weapons misconduct. The first call came in about 3:30 p.m. after a man reportedly brandished a handgun in the Walmart parking lot. An hour later, authorities got word that a man was holed up in his apartment with a shotgun.
