Life Coach in Flagstaff, AZ

KTAR.com

PHOENIX – There is no escaping the snow in northern Arizona, where more storms are lining up to unload over the coming days, forecasters said.

Heavy and blowing snow is expected to cover Flagstaff and surrounding cities starting Thursday night, on the heels of a weather system that brought precipitation and winds that topped out at 78 mph in Coconino County the previous day.

A winter storm warning is in effect until 8 a.m. Friday, the National Weather Service said.

“This is not the end – this is actually the beginning,” meteorologist Cindy Kobold with the Flagstaff office told KTAR News 92.3 FM early Thursday.

“We are looking at more snow for the next several days, two more storms for sure.”

Snow will continue Thursday through Friday morning for most of the High Country, becoming heavy this afternoon. Gusty winds will also persist continuing dangerous travel conditions. Snow loading could be a concern in some areas. #AZwx pic.twitter.com/erycHrIvME

— NWS Flagstaff (@NWSFlagstaff) February 23, 2023

The next incoming storm could drop another 8-12 inches around Flagstaff, Williams and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Another storm Saturday night into Sunday may yield between 6-12 inches.

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Winds are on track to reach 40-45 mph.

“It doesn’t look like the wind is going to be as impactful,” Kobold said.

Winds blew so hard Wednesday that the weather service had to guess at snow estimates.

“It made it impossible to accurately measure the snow,” Kobold said.

Several highways remain closed Thursday because of the weather, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation:

• State Route 87 between Winslow and Payson (Milepost 342-252)

• SR 260 eastbound between McNary and Greer (MP 360-385)

• SR 273 between SR 260 and Sunrise Park (MP 377-383)

• U.S. 180 north of Snowbowl (MP 236-248)

• SR 64 near the Grand Canyon (MP 240-264)

• U.S. 191 South of Alpine (MP 188-252)

Other roads reopened Thursday, including northbound Interstate 17 between SR 179 and Flagstaff, eastbound Interstate 40 at U.S. 93 (MP 72), and westbound I-40 at Holbrook (MP 289).

Kobold and the rest of the Flagstaff bureau staff were among those who drove I-40 early Wednesday.

“It started out as rain and then it got cold so fast there [was] this icy accumulation that is really horrible on the 40,” she said.

Plows had gotten the snow out of the way, but there was still ice.

“Temperatures are too cold to get it out of there,” Kobold said, “and you don’t have all these semi[trucks] generating friction with their tires to melt that off.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.

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FLAGSTAFF, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- A major winter storm rolled through much of Arizona early Tuesday, bringing the potential for dangerous driving conditions and more than a foot of snow to higher elevations. The Arizona Department of Transportation says multiple roads are closed in northern Arizona due to winter weather-related crashes. The following roads are currently closed:

Several schools in the High Country have also delayed classes and buses for Wednesday. For more information, visit https://www.azfamily.com/weather/closings/.

ADOT says snowplows are working to clear the affected areas and advise drivers not to tailgate a snowplow and to avoid travel during severe storm conditions. Earlier today, slick road conditions caused the driver of a tractor-trailer to lose control on the I-40 in Williams and hit a Department of Public Safety patrol vehicle that was parked on the side of the highway. DPS says the trooper suffered minor injuries.

Meanwhile in the Phoenix area, residents were hit with rain, wind and hail late Tuesday night. The West Valley was covered with balls of hail, while north Phoenix saw strong winds and pockets of rain. Some homeowners even captured loud thunder and the occassional lightning strike! However, the wind has been constant across the Valley. Officials are asking drivers to stay off the roads since visibility is low on the freeways.

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A spokesperson for the city, Sam Beckett, says Flagstaff has already had a near record-breaking snow accumulation for January, which has made preparation for this storm more complicated. “I think we cracked the third largest January snowfall in history, and the biggest piece was after the events. Crews, up until Friday, were still doing snow hauling in the communities to try and free up space to be able to move around in some of the priority areas. Our downtown area. Trying to haul all that snow out of there has been a monumental effort. And then the transition right back to snow operations has been just a ton of work. It’s constant. It never lets up,” said Beckett.

According to the First Alert Meteorologist April Warneke, heavy snow is expected in the High Country, with blowing dust expected in desert spots. Forecasters predict nine to fifteen inches for Flagstaff, about three to five for Prescott, and one to three inches in Sedona.

Crews in northern Arizona have already taken an abundance of caution, with Flagstaff Unified, Williams Unified, Embry-Riddle, and Blue Ridge also canceling classes for Tuesday. Prescott Unified School District will also have a two-hour delay on Tuesday. Closer to Phoenix, a High Wind Warning is in the effect of the Superstition and Pinal and Superstition Mountains from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. as gusts of up to 70mph are possible.

In the meantime, Flagstaff is already seeing near-blizzard conditions. and Beckett says the city is asking those who don’t need to travel to stay off the roads. “If you don’t have to travel, don’t travel. We’re going to see some pretty significant snow storms, snow events coming in the next 24-48 hours or so. Expecting the bulk of it to come in tomorrow afternoon. We are going to see a lot of wind, a lot of snow at times. It’s going to make traveling very hazardous, and we just hope that if people don’t have to travel, don’t travel. Stay home, if you have that option to remote work, tomorrow would be a great day to do that,” he said.

If you do decide to drive, Beckett says, stay clear of snow plows. Each year they have incidents where people get into trouble getting too close to one or trying to pass one. “When you see the snowplows, give them some extra space. Don’t assume they can see you, their focus is on their plow, and understanding where they are on the road. They aren’t watching the car coming up behind them too fast. Give them a little extra space,” Beckett said.

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When Chiefs coach Andy Reid was in his late teens in Los Angeles, his older brother, Reggie, studied geology at Northern Arizona University.

After Reggie suffered permanent damage to his right arm in a motorcycle accident, the little brother spent a summer in Flagstaff helping him with the demanding field work of digging holes for soil samples.

In an interview with The Star in 2013, Reggie Reid said he could still remember Andy “sweating his tail off” as he kept telling him he had to dig deeper.

“And all that cinder block,” Andy Reid recalled with a smile Monday night. “That’s tough.”

As it happened, that wasn’t the only time Andy Reid dug as deep as he could for the cause at Northern Arizona — which would become a one-year building block in the arc of his coaching career at one of its many pivotal junctures.

And that time also became a cause for him to pause and celebrate his former boss there amid all the hoopla on Monday, when Reid invoked the name of near-centenarian Larry Kentera repeatedly at the Super Bowl LVII Opening Night shindig.

“Ninety-eight years old and still going strong,” Reid said at one point. “He’s something.”

So was Reid’s brief but meaningful time working for Kentera, who by telephone on Tuesday gushed over Reid and was gratified by his references to him.

“I haven’t coached for a long time, and then Andy brings up my name,” he said, laughing and adding, “Everybody probably thinks I’m underground right now.”

While Reid’s 14 seasons in Philadelphia is the most visible previous stop in his career and part of the pandemonium as he prepares his Chiefs to face the Eagles in the Super Bowl on Sunday, his year with the Lumberjacks was part of the connective tissue of his budding career when it was pivotal he gain traction.

Reid had relished his three years at his first full-time coaching job at San Francisco State, a now-defunct and then-Division II non-scholarship program. He was making about $22,000 a year as part of a three-man staff, responsible for teaching classes and selling hot dogs (at times amid campus protests) to fund-raise for a lean football budget.

But by the end of the 1985 season, it was time to make a move up. And when LaVell Edwards, his mentor and former coach at Brigham Young, touted Division 1-AA (now FCS) Northern Arizona — a school located in Flagstaff, about two hours north of Phoenix — Reid resolved that he had to get the offensive line job there.

So moments after Edwards called on Reid’s behalf, Kentera said, the eager Reid called in what seemed a rather orchestrated approach. But Kentera told Reid the same thing he had told Edwards: I’m not making any decisions now, because I have to get to Sacramento for a recruiting trip and I’ll get back to you after that.

Off Kentera went to Sacramento (about 90 miles from San Francisco) … where he was surprised to have Reid meet him at the gate back in the days before modern security would have precluded such a greeting.

For that matter, this was well before the advent of the internet and any number of easy ways to track possible flights.

“I had my ways,” Reid said, smiling. “I talked to enough people.”

And then he talked and talked to Kentera, who said he was practically running to baggage claim since he was in a hurry. But Reid kept pace, and kept saying “I want this job.”

“And, you know, I kind of liked that,” Kentera said. “He was hungry, you know what I mean?”

Between that, Edwards’ recommendation and the sense that Reid’s “demeanor and personality” made him the kind of guy who would just fit in, Kentera hired Reid with no real sense of what kind of position coach he would be.

Turned out Reid had a certain knack for the work.

“I can’t say enough about his coaching technique,” Kentera said, later adding, “He taught those players how to play offensive line. He didn’t just say, ‘Get down there in position and hit that guy down.’ You understand what I’m saying?”

If you know Reid and his ability to connect with people, perhaps particularly players, you definitely understand what he’s saying. And even by then, Reid’s gift with people, now a vast expanse that might be seen as six degrees of Andy Reid, was becoming a bedrock of his future.

Talk about a coaching carousel:

After a graduate assistant year at BYU under Edwards, he’d gone to San Francisco State to work for Vic Rowen — who had been a mentor to Edwards. Before he hired Reid, Rowen had hired a then-high school coach named Mike Holmgren — whom Rowen helped get a job with Edwards while Reid was at BYU … and would later give Reid his first NFL job with the Green Bay Packers.

And at San Francisco State, Reid would be joined by Dirk Koetter, with whom he would later coach at Texas-El Paso and Missouri.

It was more of the same at NAU, where Reid was accompanied from San Francisco State by Tom Melvin — now the Chiefs’ tight end coach. And Flagstaff was where he met Brad Childress, the new offensive coordinator. When Reid took over the Eagles in 1999, he made Childress his quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator before Childress became head coach of the Vikings and ultimately rejoined Reid in Kansas City for four years.

Meanwhile, beyond Reid and Childress, Kentera also hired two other future NFL head coaches in his five seasons at NAU: Bill Callahan and Marty Mornhinweg, who like Reid and Koetter spent time at Mizzou.

“I was just lucky; I guess that was it,” Kentera said. “They made me a good coach because they were good.”

That 1986 team went 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the Big Sky Conference, and Reid fondly recalled the wisdom he gained from Kentera.

“Great human being. Learned a ton from him,” Reid said. “His energy level was something we all wanted, and he wasn’t young back then, either.”

It was mutual admiration, to be sure. Even after Reid decided to leave only a year later soon after Koetter called and convinced him to consider joining him at UTEP under Bob Stull, later the MU coach. After an interview lunch in El Paso, Reid also got an endorsement from Dave Toub … now the Chiefs’ special teams coordinator.

When Reid sheepishly approached Kentera to tell him he had an opportunity to take a Division I job, Kentera remembered encouraging Reid to seize the chance.

“‘As much as I hate to see you leave,’” Kentera recalled saying, “ if you’re going to be in this game, you’ve got to go because it’s another step up.’”

When NAU announced Reid’s departure in February 1987, Dave Brown, the school’s co-athletic director at the time, told the Arizona Daily Sun the Lumberjacks were disappointed to lose him.

“I believe,” he said, “Andy has a very bright future ahead of him.”

Nearly 40 years later, as Kentera frets that he might be starting to get old, Reid frequently reminds him of the meaning of that year in his life.

He was Reid’s guest at a Chiefs-Steelers game in the last few years, and they have exchanged multiple text messages since the Chiefs beat the Bengals to advance to their third Super Bowl in four years.

Kentera tries to watch every Chiefs game he can. And when they lose, which he notes is “very seldom,” he tends to “kind of feel it a little bit.”

Thanks to Reid always remembering from where he came, each step of the way, Kentera also is feeling something now: gratitude for Reid all over again.

“Oh, yeah, hey, very nice,” Kentera said. “He’s just that kind of guy.”

Just like the guy he met that day in Sacramento and sensed was what he might be looking for.

Healthcare providers in northern Arizona have been impacted by the recent winter storm, with Flagstaff locations announcing operational changes.

Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH) announced Wednesday that visits to NAH Medical Group clinics and offices in Flagstaff would be moved to telemedicine or rescheduled for the safety of both patients and staff. It also closed NAHOSC, Children’s Health Center and EntireCare Flagstaff Wednesday.

NAH’s website on Thursday included a banner that said NAH offices would be contacting patients with appointments that day to change to telemedicine or reschedule.

It added that any new updates would be posted on nahealth.com.

North Country Healthcare (NCHC) has also been changing its operations in response to the weather. It closed the Williams Urgent Care Wednesday, and announced additional closures and delays at other locations across northern Arizona.

Locations closed Thursday included the Fourth Street and University Avenue locations, pharmacy, dental services, pediatric care and mobile medical unit in Flagstaff, as well as the primary care, physical therapy and dental offices in Williams.

These locations will also be on a delayed start Friday, with the announcement noting that they will open at 9 a.m. “at a minimum.”

NCHC’s Show Low primary care and dental offices were on a delayed schedule Thursday, opening at 10 a.m. The Williams Urgent Care, NCHC’s Grand Canyon services and all lower elevation locations were operating on regular hours Thursday.

More information, including additional updates, can be found at northcountryhealthcare.org.

After being closed Wednesday, Flagstaff Urgent Care reopened with limited hours on Thursday. Due to “icy roads and bad visibility,” the urgent care center delayed its opening by two hours Thursday and closed two hours earlier than usual.

Clinic manager Gabriela Gilmore said Flagstaff Urgent Care sees fewer patients than usual in bad weather, though it also tends to receive more phone calls requesting telehealth appointments.

Gilmore recommended that most Flagstaff residents considering a visit to urgent care “stay home until the road conditions are better.”

“Give us a call before heading to the urgent care; we can answer most questions over the phone,” she said. “Most urgent care visits can wait. If someone feels like their symptoms cannot wait, then they should consider going to the emergency department.”

Matt Kraemer, PT, DPT, FACHE, LSSBB, an administrator with NAH’s Orthopedic and Spine Institute, said this week’s weather has “offered all kinds of challenges” to delivering care.

“Reduced visibility and icy road conditions [have] made it difficult for our patients and staff alike to reach our ambulatory care centers,” he said.

On both Wednesday and Thursday, NAHMG clinics had been contacting patients to either switch appointments to a virtual format or reschedule, depending on urgency, need for in-person appointments and preference.

Patients with “truly urgent and emergent” needs have been directed to FMC’s Emergency Department for care -- which is still open and operating mostly as usual.

Dr. Rachel Levitan, chair for FMC’s department of emergency medicine and an emergency medicine physician, said the travel conditions have been making census counts lower for now.

“With the highways closed and snow, fewer people coming into town and out and about, it typically makes census lower in Flagstaff until one to two days after storms, then we usually get quite busy,” she said. “I can’t speak to exact numbers, but know that weather can make it more difficult to get out.”

The switch to telehealth for prescheduled appointments is not new, Kraemer said.

“This winter, more than others, we have been forced to transition in-person visits to virtual care delivery given road closures and inclement weather,” he said, adding that contingencies providers have made in response to COVID have helped develop this option.

While he said many patients were willing to switch to virtual appointments in the past few days, providers have also opened additional appointments in the coming weeks to help make up for the cancellations. Some are even offering options on Saturdays, he said.

He said the power outages have not impacted most of NAHMG’s sites and employees, though those who have have been looking for other options -- even using cellphones at times.

While this wasn’t always possible and NAHMG closed some sites, he noted that the hospitals, emergency and surgery centers all have generators in case of an outage.

NAH has been following the National Weather Service’s guidelines for travel with this storm, Kraemer said, recommending staff and patients stay home as much as possible for their safety.

“Patients that are comfortable, and a virtual visit is appropriate for their condition, we recommend transitioning those to virtual medicine appointments,” he said. “If a patient is having a medical emergency, NAH recommends seeking care at the FMC Emergency Department, or calling 911 for emergency medical care and transport.”

The new short documentary 'Voices of the Grand Canyon' shares the deep cultural connections and generational struggles of those that call the monument home.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Seeming to stretch out farther than what can be believed, the Grand Canyon National Park is an undeniable symbol of Arizona.

And on Sunday, Feb. 26, the park celebrates its 104th birthday.

But the canyon has a history that runs deeper than its status as a state park.

A new short documentary by a Diné (Navajo) filmmaker is shedding light on the canyon's sacred importance to the people who have called it home for centuries.

"Voices of the Grand Canyon" speaks the stories that most visitors to the park never hear. And for Deirdre Peaches – writer, director, and producer of the film – that story is a personal one.

>>You can watch the full 12-minute film below:

"I am Bitterwater Clan, born for Reed People, my maternal grandfather is Salt Clan, and my paternal grandfather is Bitterwater Clan. I am from Flagstaff, Arizona," Peaches said, introducing herself in Diné - the Navajo language.

"What brought me to filmmaking was a sense of reconnecting to my culture ... And using that as a way to learn more about my culture ... My traditions."

Her film features an all-Native American cast and production crew, placing the narrative of the Grand Canyon National Park in the hands of those that claim it as their homeland.

Viewers can see how the canyon is more than just a vacation destination.

“The archaeological sites are our footprints. It is evidence that the Hopi clans traveled through there,” said Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, former director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office and one of the film's narrators. “The Grand Canyon is very special to us. It’s our genesis.”

"And so for people visiting the park," Peaches explained, "I would just advise them to be respectful as if you were going into a church or a service or something of that sort."

For Peaches, the canyon is just as much of a living thing as the people who walk its stony formations.

"What we do to the land we do to ourselves. So I think that's really important for people to realize."

Credit: Deidra Peaches, Grand Canyon Trust

Coleen Kaska, a former Havasupai Tribal Council member. Credit: Deidra Peaches, courtesy of Grand Canyon Trust

On-screen, Jim Enote (Zuni), Nikki Cooley (Diné), Leigh Kuwanwisiwma (Hopi), Coleen Kaska, (Havasupai), and Loretta Jackson-Kelly (Hualapai) share the stories that stretch back to the roots of their heritage while viewers take a bird's-eye-view of the canyon's majesty.

Voices of the Grand Canyon debuted in 2022 to a wave of success at film festivals around the American southwest, winning Best Documentary at the Indie Film Fest in Phoenix.

But Peaches is keeping a cool head about her success.

"I'm feeling really good," she said. "And so like, now, I feel like I just want to keep filming."

You can learn more about the film, and the vast history of the Grand Canyon at grandcanyontrust.org.

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