The show of stars and planets I discussed last week continues this week, including Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus, all of which are still visible at 8 p.m. in about the same places as they we…
The show of stars and planets I discussed last week continues this week, including Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus, all of which are still visible at 8 p.m. in about the same places as they were last week — planets move through the night sky, but not that fast — so you have time for an encore.
January's Chamber of Commerce meeting on Jan. 8 kicked off with the introduction of this year's elected board members. Lynn Tricozzi is on the board for another year as president. Tricozzi has been on the board for the last year and also works as management at ACE Hardware here in town. She …
Wildlife has been active in the mild winter climate of Arizona’s lower and mid elevations, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department has been receiving increased reports of human-wildlife conflicts in many parts of the state.
Welcome to 2025, this third day of January, and still no snow in sight. We’ve had plenty of cold brought by winds and heavy breezes and mostly sunny days, but we’re all wondering and worried about foreboding drought conditions in our future.
Arizona’s bald eagles are gearing up for another busy breeding season, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department is asking the public to help keep these birds safe. The state is home to two distinct groups of bald eagles: a wintering population that migrates to northern breeding grounds and a…
Local hunters are voicing frustration over the use of hounds in what was an extremely short 2024 fall bear hunt in Game Management Unit 1, located largely in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in eastern Arizona. The season opened on Aug. 9 with a season-specific limit of six female bear…
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department is asking hunters to continue doing their part to help keep Chronic Wasting Disease at bay. The disease is fatal and affects the nervous system of deer and elk.
The holiday season is a time for joy, celebration and indulgence, but it doesn’t mean you have to let go of your health and fitness goals. With a little planning and some smart strategies, you can enjoy the festive treats while staying active and feeling great. As a medical fitness professio…
“Most people forgot that the very oldest stories are, sooner or later, about blood. Later on they took the blood out to make the stories more acceptable to children, or at least to the people who had to read them to children rather than the children themselves (who, on the whole, are quite k…
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department advises hunters who plan to be in the field for the upcoming archery-only nonpermit-tag deer seasons — Dec. 13-31 and Jan. 1-31 — to make certain the game management units in which they intend to hunt are open.
Arizona’s breeding bald eagle population grew to its largest size ever documented, with a record 90 adult pairs occupying breeding areas across the state and hatching a record 96 young during the 2024 breeding season, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s annual survey.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department reminds anglers of the importance of proper fishing line, monofilament, disposal after AZGFD biologists removed a tangled fledgling from the wild and took it to wildlife rehabilitators.
When it comes to experiencing some of the finest wing-shooting that Arizona has to offer, the “second” dove season, which opens Nov. 15, is not to be missed.
Rumors that the piñon had dropped started circulating in early September. I was skeptical, having been schooled by an old-timer that this was too early on the calendar.
In early April 1873 General George Crook, Commander of the Department of Arizona, called a halt to his active military campaign against the Native American groups who had refused to come onto the reservations. His troop columns, led by native scouts, had crisscrossed central Arizona constant…
Don’t pet the fluffy cows.
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department, partnering with Arizona’s wildlife conservation organizations, put a combined total of $24.2 million into on-the-ground projects for wildlife conservation in 2023.
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department has released the draw results for 2025 spring hunts.
There’s a solar sail orbiting Earth, and NASA has given us the keys to track it. Launched in April, the “Advanced Composite Solar Sail System” is a test to allow NASA to determine how to proceed with solar sail deployments in the future. They’re studying the systems used to deploy the sail i…
The release of four California condors at the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument on Sept. 28 will celebrate Public Lands Day, and mark the resumption of condor release after a hiatus due to bird flu. The Peregrine Fund and the Bureau of Land Management will livestream release of the young, …
If you get up in the wee hours of the morning, you may notice a brilliant star shining overhead. It’s not a star, but the planet Jupiter.
About 66 million years ago, an otherwise normal day on Earth was disrupted by a searing flash of light, followed by a boom loud enough to be heard everywhere on the planet, followed then by a concussive jolt from the ground, after which came a wind that exceeded the force of any hurricane, a…
Sometime in the second century, Ptolemy decided it would be a good idea to catalog all the constellations then identified and named. A constellation is a collection of stars that seem to be related to one another visually, and is often used like a connect-the-dots puzzle to suggest the outli…
IPM is not the latest dance move or a password; it’s the agricultural and gardener’s method of controlling and eliminating insect pests without the use of chemicals. IPM is Integrated Pest Management, a strategy focusing on prevention of pests and the damage they cause by using techniques th…
Summer in the Rim Country means the cow elk that were bred during the rut are now having calves. The rutting period for elk begins in early September and will continue throughout the month of October. Therefore, some calf elk have been on the ground for over a month while some are still being born.
It was a warm fall afternoon in the high country in the heart of game management unit 3C. I was sitting with my back to an old yellow belly ponderosa, enjoying the warmth of the sunlight. A stallion came up over the little hillock and stood proud. It wasn’t long before another came and stood…
Navajo and Apache counties, along with state trust lands in both counties, Show Low and the town of Pinetop-Lakeside and Fort Apache move to Stage 2 fire restrictions at 8 a.m. on Friday, June 21.
It is officially spring in the White Mountains, and that means snow is melting, water is running, and many roads across the forest are either inaccessible due to snow drifts or in very poor condition due to mud. The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests cautions people to avoid traveling on wet…
Here I am again, sitting on the banks of the East Verde, hoping the clouds will drift away, Earth will spin and the moon will align, and I will finally understand why it’s so hard for me to do the things that I know will make me happy.
As shed antler hunters begin to scour the backcountry for dropped deer and elk antlers, the Arizona Game and Fish Department reminds those using an off-highway vehicle, or OHV, in their search to stay on roads and trails.
As we observe our dark skies around 9 p.m., you’ll see an uncommonly bright star in the west. That star is actually the planet Jupiter. Now look above Jupiter, approximately at twice the altitude above the horizon. You’ll see two bright stars rather close to each other. These are the twin st…
Environmental groups have filed another lawsuit claiming unregulated cattle grazing threatens endangered species and key riparian areas.
The world is going through a hot spell, with February the ninth month in a row to set a modern global record for heat. Moreover, the global ocean temperature in February was at an all-time high for the month, according to the European Union’s climate monitoring organization, Copernicus.
As we look into the spring sky, a bright star, Arcturus, rises in the east as darkness falls over the land. When twilight fades into night, go outside and look to the northeast. You’ll find a familiar pattern of bright stars: the Big Dipper.
In response to local angler feedback and a commitment to optimizing stocking strategies, the Arizona Game and Fish Department hatchery staff has successfully adjusted production cycles for rainbow trout, with the goal of completing stocking in area lakes by the end of June.
We’re perched on the brink. Somewhere far to the south, they’re gathering. Somewhere in their hidden places, the heroes of evolution are girding themselves.
Titan, Saturn’s largest satellite, is a fascinating world with many Earth-like qualities.
A series of winter storms has boosted the snow pack all across the state, with a potential for more storms over the weekend in both Rim Country and the White Mountains.
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department is accepting applications for 2024 hunt permit-tags issued through the draw process for pronghorn and elk.
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department is beginning review of its Article 10 rules pertaining to off-highway vehicles.
We can get used to where we live, work and play; but, as I learned recently, things look a lot different with a little altitude change.
The International Space Station looks a lot like what it is: A collection of canisters bolted together with a huge array of solar panels strapped on, and it’s a great example of what an international collaborative effort can do. No, there aren’t (yet) sleek Pan Am-emblazoned spaceplanes dock…
With summer fast approaching, some are feeling the urge to strike out into the wilderness for a day or weekend of communing with the natural world, while others are watching the mercury shoot up and asking themselves what options they have to escape life in a pizza oven.
It has been an amazing adventure learning the stories behind the different family-owned businesses in the Heber-Overgaard area. Mary Maude’s is no exception. This business is a one stop shopping experience with antiques, clothing, jewelry, meat, jams, sauces, old and new furniture and a diner.
