ON THE ROAD WITH STEVE AND COOPER

posted by Michael Chihak

Travel light is an admonition that would serve anyone bound for another destination in this age of airline charges per bag, weight limits and X-ray machines in search of hidden nail files.

It served me well in years traveling for various journalistic enterprises -- take along enough but not too much clothing, including the right shoes, pens, notebooks, camera and film and a map, along with a sense of where to find hearty, inexpensive meals.

Now, I'm part of a TV crew, riding in a van packed full of video gear, tripods, microphones, lights, extra battery packs and an array of extension cords, reflectors, bounce boards and dimmers.

Oh, and two highly capable video crew members, videographer Steve Riggs and student grip Cooper Christensen.

We're off for points north and east. Watch for our reports in upcoming Arizona Week episodes.

ROAD TRIP: ISO ARIZONA STORIES

posted by Michael Chihak

Ninety percent of Arizona's population is concentrated in cities, and most of that in the two big metro areas, Phoenix and Tucson.

But there's a lot going on among that other 10 percent and in the dozens of far-flung communities across the state. A crew from Arizona Week is heading out there this week to gather information for upcoming programs.

We hope to be surprised with what we find, but we also have some ideas that we'll try to bring home. Here's a short list of the ideas:

-- In the White Mountains, we will talk with businesspeople and the heads of business organizations about how the economy is doing in the aftermath of the Wallow Fire. How did the fire affect the summer tourism season? And how will the fire's after effects, which could linger for years, change the business landscape?

-- In northeastern Arizona, we hope to talk with officials of the Navajo Nation, as they build on economic enterprises, with casino gaming under way and plans to expand it. The nation also has formed a chamber of commerce to represent businesses and is looking at energy resource expansion, all aimed at lowering the high unemployment rate on the nation.

-- Along the Interstate 40/Route 66 corridor, we will talk with business officials about summer tourism and how the economy and gasoline prices have affected it. Is traffic down? Are people staying closer to home? How is the hospitality industry doing?

-- In Flagstaff, we will interview Mayor Sara Presler about the city budget, the economy and business in and around Flagstaff and other matters. How is the summer visitor season? What has Flagstaff done to keep up city services in the face of lower revenues? How are cuts at Northern Arizona University affecting the community?

There's more, but those are the key targets for now. Look for one of these topics to bubble to the surface in time for Friday's broadcast of Arizona Week.

ECONOMICS VS. ENVIRONMENTALISM IN FIRES AFTERMATH

posted by Michael Chihak

The monsoon rains of the last few days didn't come soon enough to keep nearly 1 million acres of forest and grassland, along with dozens of homes and businesses, from burning in Arizona.

Now comes the No. 1 question: Can we stop it from happening again?

Friday's Arizona Week will explore the issue, featuring interviews with two state politicians and a forest ranger to sort out some of the rhetoric over conflicting business and environmental interests.

State Rep. Brenda Barton, R-Safford, in whose district the Wallow Fire burned for more than a month to become the state's largest wildfire ever, held a hearing this week in Phoenix to bring various interest groups together.

Barton, in an interview for Arizona Week, said she wants business interests to take a role, specifically timbering and cattle ranching.

"We had almost a million acres burned within the last couple of months. In my opinion, that's really unacceptable. If you're not going to allow it to be harvested but you allow it to be burned, I don't understand that methodology," Barton said.

She said private timbering businesses should be allowed in to help with thinning, the incentive for them being they keep and market what they cull.

Cattle grazing also ought to be allowed on federal forest lands, Barton said, because it can be done scientifically, not like in the 19th century when cattle denuded the grasslands.

More of her interview on Friday's program, plus the counterpoint from Arizona Rep. Bruce Wheeler, D-Tucson, and a conversation with a ranger from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, site of the W538,000-acre Wallow Fire.

WILDFIRES AFTERMATH: HOW DO WE AVOID A REPEAT?

posted by Michael Chihak

Discussions abound in the midst of the worst wildfire season in Arizona history.

Midst of? Yes, it's not over, despite the beginning of the monsoon rains and a good drenching in Southern Arizona in the last couple of days. Fire conditions remain high in many parts of the state.

Questions to be answered:

How do we manage the forests with the best known, although not always agreed upon, ecological science?

What are the management and usage issues that created the conditions leading to the state record 538,000-acre Wallow Fire, the 223,000-acre Horseshoe 2 Fire and the 30,000-acre Monument Fire?

What role did climate change play in the conditions that led to the fires?

We are striving to find experts to speak on the topic for Friday's Arizona Week.

FIVE CS FOR 21ST CENTURY? NOT WITHOUT EDUCATION

posted by Michael Chihak

The director of the Arizona Centennial Commission made a cogent observation in my interview with her this week about the upcoming festivities to mark a century of statehood.

Karen Churchard called the centennial an opportunity for Arizonans to decide how we as a state should evolve in the next 100 years.

Among other things, Churchard said, we need to figure out what industries will drive the new century's Five Cs in Arizona.

You remember the Five Cs: copper, cattle, cotton, citrus and climate.

Time was when every school kid in the state could recite the Five Cs as readily as the ABCs. Many school kids' dads and moms earned honest livings in one or another of the industries represented by the Five Cs. They didn't need much education for that work, mostly manual labor.

But now the work world has changed, and the labor needs are less manual and more mental. Which means we need more education and better schools.

With ongoing erosion of the state's public education budget by the Legislature, our schools are hard pressed to match the needs of the labor market. The state’s support for K-12 education in the coming school year will be at its lowest per student in more than a decade.

Why, word is that some schools will be able to afford to teach only three of the Five Cs. And who knows where they’ll be on the alphabet?

The point is obvious: Without a strong educational system, we won't be able to attract and grow the industries that will create a new set of Five Cs for the next 100 years.

Most other states are well ahead of us – in years of statehood, educational success and establishing their own economic development plans for the next century.

Knowing that, we should resolve to celebrate Arizona’s upcoming birthday with this gift – an educational system that leads in transformation of the Five Cs That will give us 100 years of prosperity -- a most appropriate centennial gift.

WHAT WILL THE NEXT CENTURY'S FIVE CS BE?

posted by Michael Chihak

Every Arizona school kid ought to be able to name the state's Five Cs, the hallmarks of economics and culture that shaped Arizona's first century as a state.

Copper, cattle, cotton, climate and citrus.

Now come preparations for the centennial celebration, culminating in the Feb. 14, 2012 recounting of President William Taft signing the law making Arizona the 48th state.

Festivities galore are in the planning stages, and we will hear about some of them on Friday's Arizona Week. At the same time, the state's Centennial Commission director sees the celebration as an opportunity to look forward.

"Who do we want to be in the future, not just from a culture and a people, but how do we want to take care of our land and what industries are really going to be the Five Cs, if you will, of the next 100 years?" Centennial Commission Director Karen Churchard asks in an interview.

Watch Friday at 8:30 p.m. MST and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. MST, PBS-HD-6, or on this Website for more discussion of the state's legacy and its future.