Mike Merrill of CommSpeed was born to be in the family business. “I grew up in large storage yards with huge spools of cable and huge communication dishes. I would have great games of hide-and-go-seek with my cousins,” he said. But, out of a large number of cousins, he is the only one to have … [Read more...] about A Family Business of Connections
Community Profile
Embracing Arizona’s History
With Arizona's Centennial this week, we decided to feature Flagstaff Historian Richard Mangum and wife, Sherry for this month's community profile. The original town of Flagstaff burned to the ground in 1886. “A dancer in a saloon did a high kick and knocked over a kerosene lamp. At the time, … [Read more...] about Embracing Arizona’s History
Expressing the Holiday Spirit
For Michael Fleishman, magic happens. Williams High School teacher by day, Santa by night, Fleishman is well suited for both roles. Approaching life with a twinkle in his eye, he is a student of human nature, looking to create meaningful interaction with each person he meets. That is a tall order … [Read more...] about Expressing the Holiday Spirit
Driven to Make Customers Happy
Heath Harris, the owner of Heath’s Auto Service in Flagstaff, calls himself a classic overachiever. He may be right. He starts his day five days a week weightlifting. “I do it every morning at 5:00 a.m. to get my whole day in focus. It sets the pace and the intensity,” he said. Then he goes … [Read more...] about Driven to Make Customers Happy
Helping Steer Flagstaff’s Future
Stephanie McKinney is one of those people who, after talking to her for five minutes, you feel you’ve known forever. Effervescent and energetic might be two other ways to describe this dynamic community leader. Her day job is serving as vice president for business development at the National Bank … [Read more...] about Helping Steer Flagstaff’s Future
Teacher Empowering Young Flagstaff Students
It is not too far of a stretch to say that teacher Daniel Belieff runs his fifth grade classroom like the Marine Corps, because basically, he does. “It is the Marine attitude. We train hard; we play hard,” he said. “In the center of our room, there are the 14 units of leadership that our whole … [Read more...] about Teacher Empowering Young Flagstaff Students
Discovering Life’s New Paths Among the Red Rocks
It‘s been nearly 10 years, but the emotions of working at Ground Zero just after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks are still close to the surface for Mark Ranges. “I don’t look at the pictures. I can watch things on TV, but I still can’t look at the pictures,” he said. Ranges, owner of Sedona Off … [Read more...] about Discovering Life’s New Paths Among the Red Rocks
Working to Preserve Forests
Pascal Berlioux's passion is something this region could use right now: a solution for increasing the health of our forests. He has spent most of his time in Flagstaff working closely with people on all sides of forest issues, from scientists to environmentalists. If plans work out, Berlioux's … [Read more...] about Working to Preserve Forests
A Career of Caring for Creatures
She was not one of those children who grew up knowing she was going be a veterinarian. “It was not something girls grew up to be,” said Dr. Cheryl Howerton, owner of Alpine Animal Hospital in Flagstaff. “I wanted to be a teacher.” Still, she had an affinity for animals. “I brought a lot of … [Read more...] about A Career of Caring for Creatures
Three Decades of Serving His Community
About a year after he left his job as assistant dean at Northern Arizona University to open his own business as a financial advisor, Bill Babb had serious second thoughts. “I thought maybe this was a bad decision,“ he said. It was too late to return to the university. They had already replaced … [Read more...] about Three Decades of Serving His Community