It took the Civil War to raise the Stars and Stripes over Arizona, but it became a United States Territory on Dec. 29, 1863, at Navajo Springs, 30 miles from the New Mexico border in what is now Apache County.

SPRINGERVILLE - Visitors planning to travel to the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests (ASNFs) for Memorial Day weekend will be happy to know that the forest's recreation sites have opened for the summer season. Popular destinations such as Woods Canyon Lake and Big Lake were closed a few weeks ago because of snow and muddy conditions, but they are now open and their facilities are up and running.

WHITE MOUNTAINS - The human-caused Porter Fire that started over the weekend in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest on the southeast side of Porter Mountain near Show Low is currently being monitored by crews for hot spots, but is essentially out, according to Show Low Fire Department Information Officer Eric Neitzel.

From his Facebook Page Tuesday at 12:33pm
     Vincent Craig, the famed Navajo artist, musician, poet, composer, humorist and creator of the comic strip super-hero Muttonman, died Saturday night, May 15, at 9:10 PM in Scottsdale, Arizona.

SHOW LOW - Show Low Bluff has an agreement with U.S. Charter Group LLC for them to purchase a 6.5-acre site for an American Leadership Academy charter school.

NAVAJO COUNTY - Voters in Navajo County approved the temporary one percent sales tax increase by almost the same percentage as the state.

PHOENIX - Panfilo H. Contreras, executive director of the Arizona School Boards Association, predictably commended voters Wednesday morning for Tuesday's passage of Proposition 100, raising the sales tax by 1 cent for three years.

HOLBROOK- A White Mountain Lake man was arrested Tuesday night after allegedly shooting into an occupied motor home where a man and a woman were eating dinner.

PHOENIX - The Arizona State Parks Board voted to keep five more State Parks from closing June 3 by directing Executive Director Renee Bahl to sign unique management and financial agreements with rural communities to keep each one open.

PINETOP-LAKESIDE - Past cases of vandalism at the Porter Mountain communications site has led the Forest Service to lock an already existing gate near its summit.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - It was reported this week that Justice Department attorneys have been "working around the clock" to find ways to sue Arizona over its new immigration statute. U.S. Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, expressed frustration that the Justice Department is devoting "around the clock" resources to devise ways to sue Arizona instead of fulfilling its legal obligation to provide Congress with a report about the expansion of Operation Streamline.

WHITE MOUNTAINS - Last week's arrest and release of Billy Joe Breedlove Jr. could spark some changes in state law regarding sex offenders and misdemeanor sex offenses.