INSIDE THE JANUARY 2022 ISSUE: I-17 Widening Project Beginning Soon p. 3 Executive Coach Offers Steps to Reduce Drama in the New Year p. 4 Babbitt Ranches Joining Hall of Fame p. 6
Next Generation Tools Battling Pandemic Impact Scientists hopeful that evolution and technology will tame COVID-19
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By Bonnie Stevens, FBN
s the highly contagious omicron variant is outpacing the delta strain in Arizona, one of Arizo-
na’s leading infectious disease scientists says the endgame for human coronaviruses in the past has been to become more contagious but make us less sick. Thus, the evolutionary character of COVID-19, together with “next generation” tools, have scientists optimistic that we are better able to treat the disease and guard against severe illness than ever before. “One of the great next generation
technologies is this sequencing capability for genetic material,” said Dr. Dave Engelthaler, director of the Translational Genomics Research Institute’s disease branch. “We look at the RNA and DNA of infectious diseases. By studying the genomics of this virus from the very beginning, we’ve been watching it evolve and seeing new mutations that might lead to new variants. Essentially, they would mutate to a way
that they could transmit faster, maybe not cause more serious disease, but maybe start to evade some antibodies. We thought we had the winner of thesurvival-of-the-fittest race with delta – that thing transmits really fast and it replaced all other strains around the globe – and then omicron pops up on Thanksgiving Day.” As the number of cases has been
New Apartments to Ease Housing Shortage p. 8 Community Profile: Dee Jenkins Leading Camp Verde Conservation p. 12 Sweet Shoppe Celebrates Record Holiday Season p. 20
FLY FLAGSTAFF FIRST!
Continued on page 43
A New Year Focusing on Joy, Bliss, Abundance Melissa Cripps guiding others through transition with Blue Raven Inspirations
Melissa Cripps, pictured here on the island of Staffa, Scotland in September 2020, has started her Blue Raven Inspirations coaching business, “not to build a business but to keep the bliss going,” she says. “It’s how we will become a more compassionate world.” Courtesy photo
January 2022 | Issue 1 Volume 15
By Bonnie Stevens, FBN
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ong-time Flagstaff State Farm Agent Melissa Cripps realizes she has been in transition for a while. The deaths of her parents and brotherin-law, her completion of the Master of Music in Cello Performance program at Northern Arizona University and a trip with
her sister to Scotland are a few of the momentous events that have occurred in recent years that have taught her valuable lessons about finding bliss and creating magic. After 32 years as a community leader in business and the arts, Flagstaff’s first female State Farm insurance agent retired from her business last fall Continued on page 40
CHECK OUT OUR FBN PET NEWS SECTION, COVERING A VARIETY OF SUBJECTS ABOUT OUR FAVORITE FURRY FRIENDS, ON PAGE 24
