Boys Honored For Assisting Granduncle After Car Falls On Him
PRESCOTT- Don Mapes was busy restoring his 1952 MG TD with his two grandnephews Wyatt and Patrick Eyler on Friday, July 14th, when the jack slipped, trapping Mapes under the car with the frame across his chest. After Wyatt and Patrick’s mother Lalanie pointed out another jack, the boys quickly learned how to operate it and managed to lift the car off Mapes.
Mapes escaped with only bruised ribs and a few cuts.
“The first minute it fell on him, I was pretty terrified,” Wyatt Eyler said. “Then once we got the car off him, I was glad that he was alive and not unconscious when the car fell on top of him.”
Wyatt and Patrick then waved down the firefighters who helped Mapes get to the hospital.
“The thing that really got to me was how calm and collected the boys stayed during the whole situation,” Prescott Fire Department Engineer and Paramedic David Haskell said. “They didn’t seem stressed out at all.”
Healing Field Honors Victims of September 11th, 2001 Terror Attack
PRESCOTT VALLEY- 32-year-old New York City resident Doris Torres was just one of the heroes during the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Torres, who worked in foreign trade for Fiduciary Trust International at the World Trade Center, helped an emotional colleague down the stairs and returned to save more individuals during the attack. She died five days later due to burns.
Her story joins 2,995 others on cards attached to American flags at the Prescott Valley Civic Center Healing Field, honoring individuals lost from citizens to public safety on that fateful day in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC.
Starting at 6:30 am Friday morning, September 8th, volunteers came to help place flags in the ground, attach a card to each flag and lay boots at the bottom for those lost in public safety.
Prescott High School Focusing On Broadcast Journalism, Virtual Reality
Together with Boys and Girls Club of Central Arizona, Prescott High School Brings Students Into World of Broadcast Media
PRESCOTT- The classroom of Ms. Robyn Bryce at Prescott High School during the 9:00 am hour is not a typical environment. In fact, had one not walked through the doors of a school it would be hard to differentiate the classroom from a television newsroom.
“It’s crazy up in here,” Bryce said laughing.
Each morning, Bryce and her students produce a morning newscast where the teenagers curate the content, script the show and telecast it live on YouTube each day with anchors. The broadcast features everything one would see in a television newsroom in terms of jobs, such as a director and audio coordinator, along with utilizing professional equipment.
Camp Courage Serves As Yearly Family Reunion for Burn Survivors
PRESCOTT- After suffering burns during a trailer fire in 2001 while moving, the then ten-year-old Josie Correa attended her first Camp Courage; a week of fun and healing with fellow burn survivors.
“Camp Courage has been a huge difference in my life,” said Correa who attended multiple times during her childhood. “I grew up here at the camp so it’s kind of like a second family but it also let me see life in a different way and what’s really important.”
Students and Alumni Fulfill Bradshaw Mountain Teacher’s Dream
PRESCOTT VALLEY- Mr. George Ponte has spent twenty-five years of his nearly forty-year teaching career impacting the lives of many at Bradshaw Mountain High School. One of those students was Chris Ames who took Ponte’s class in the 2000-2001 school year when he was a senior.
“It didn’t really matter what he was teaching, he was so passionate about what he taught,” Ames said. “At the same time, you could pull him aside if you were having problems and he would drop what he was doing and listen.”
“Just a friend, a mentor and a great teacher,” Ames continued.
‘2016 Was A Year of Continued Growth for Prescott Valley
Many cities across the country were negatively affected when the recession hit at the end of the last decade and Prescott Valley was no different. Prescott Valley Mayor Harvey Skoog remembered the police department went through a hiring freeze, family incomes dropped and road repairs slowed.
However, in the last six years, the trend has been moving in a positive direction and Skoog said there has been a modest recovery in 2016 especially in the fourth quarter.
Forty Graduate from Northern Arizona Regional Training Academy
PRESCOTT- Shayleen Elenz spent most of her life in Prescott Valley and wanted to become a police officer because of the positive experiences she had with law enforcement in the past.
That dream transpired into a moment Elenz shared with 39 other graduates of the Northern Arizona Regional Training Academy on Thursday at Yavapai College as recruits officially became police officers in front of family, friends and fellow officers.
“It was a tough journey, it was a really tough time, but super proud,” said Elenz following the ceremony.
Kids Enjoy Shopping With A Cop
PRESCOTT VALLEY-Nine-year-old Austin Ferguson along with 90 other kids joyfully went through the aisles of the Walmart located on Glassford Hill Road in Prescott Valley on Saturday morning filling their cart up to the top with goodies for their family, friends and a little for themselves during the 19th annual “Shop with a Cop” event.
The day started bright and early as kids hopped into a police car for the ride over to Walmart. Ferguson described the experience as being in a helicopter.
“Felt like I was in a dream,” Ferguson said.
Torrence Dunham 
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