Payson Roundup 021715

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PAYSON ROUNDUP TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 17, 2015 | PAYSON, ARIZONA

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with community groups and efforts. Safeway Manager Dan Dillon tied with Coldwell Banker Bishop Realty Owner/Broker Ray Pugel for best business person. Both have led businesses through the shoals of the Great Recession, while also serving the community. The Roundup will insert a special section into the Feb. 27 issue detailing all of the winners and runners-up in 70 categories. Photographer DJ Craig, who took the photograph above in Green Valley Park, won recognition as best photographer.

Man pleads guilty to rape attempt Alexis Bechman

A homeless man who tried to rape a 90-year-old woman walking her dog last year pleaded guilty Friday. Russell Allen Wheetman, 56, will spend years in prison for sexual abuse, attempted sexual assault and kidnapping.

Alexis Bechman

roundup staff reporter

More than 400 people gathered Monday night to find out who won honors this year in the eagerly anticipated, annual balloting by Roundup readers for the Best of the Rim. More than 1,700 people voted in more than 70 categories. Roundup staffers tabulated some 100,000 votes for everything from best margarita to best real estate agent. The big awards of the night went to best business and best business people. Payson Safeway won the prize this year for best business, both for customer service and for the store’s involvement

roundup staff reporter

The Gila County Attorney’s Office did not offer Wheetman a plea deal and instead of going to trial, Wheetman pleaded guilty to the entire grand jury indictment. Superior Court Judge Gary Scales will sentence Wheetman at 4 p.m. March 20 in Payson. Besides a lengthy prison term, Wheetman could be put on lifetime probation and be

required to register as a sex offender. Despite all this, Wheetman appeared calm throughout Friday’s hearing, speaking in a soft, mild mannered voice when asked how he pleads. The woman Wheetman attempted to rape strained to hear much of what was said at

• See Man pleads, page 9A

Police are investigating the death of a mother and son Sunday night in Payson. Christy Barrowdale, 42, and her 17-year-old son were found dead in a home in the 1100 block of North Monte Rosa Lane. Police had not released the son’s name as of press time. Payson Police Chief Don Engler said with the investigation ongoing and autopsy results pending, he could give few details and remained tight-lipped on the circumstances surrounding the deaths. Around 7:45 p.m., a family friend went to the home in west Payson and through a window spotted Barrowdale lying on the

Pete Aleshire

roundup editor

Forget the university. If the computer climate models are correct, Rim Country’s economic future rests mostly on the C.C. Cragin pipeline, which will make Payson one of the few cities in Arizona with enough water to get through the megadroughts that await. The dry periods in the second half of the 21st century will likely make the worst droughts in the past 1,000 years look like “a walk through the Garden of Eden,” according to a mega study published in the online journal Science Advances, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which also published the journal Science. The climate change driven by humanity’s release of heat-trapping pollutants into the atmosphere will cause decades-long droughts in the Southwest and the Great Plains far worse than

have suffered severe drought in 11 of the past 14 years, according to the U.S. government’s Drought Monitor. Currently, most of Cali­ fornia remains in “severe” or “exceptional” drought while most of Arizona lingers in “moderate” drought. In Arizona, the northern third of the state remains in “severe” drought, so does Southern Gila County and most of Pinal County. The snow pack in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Cascade Range in Washington See Study predicts, page 2A

the long-term droughts documented by previous tree ring studies reconstructing rainfall patterns over the past 2,000 years. Researchers from NASA, the Earth Institute at Columbia University and elsewhere said the dry spells likely to hit the Southwest in the next 90 years will dwarf the series of droughts many experts now believe prompted the collapse of the Hohokam and other ancient civilizations in the Southwest. The Southwest and California

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Pete Aleshire

roundup editor

Rep. Brenda Barton wants to compel counties and cities to let people with concealed weapons permits bring guns into public buildings. HB 2320 passed out of committee last week. It would allow public agencies to ban guns from public buildings only if they provided metal detectors, gun lockers and guards at each door. Current law allows a ban on guns in public buildings if the government agency provides a convenient gun

locker. Lawmakers supporting the measure said people have a constitutional right to carry guns and people who do have guns in places like town council meetings could better defend themselves from armed criminals. Rep. Barton, who represents Rim Country, told Capitol Media Services that people have a right to defend themselves, even in public buildings and all public events. “When you take away some of those rights here,

• See Rep. Barton, page 2A

Pete Aleshire/Roundup

A study predicts winter storms like this could become increasingly rare in the Southwest.

Ever wonder #whatTheHeck’sAHashtag?

THE WEATHER Outlook: Expect a week of sunshine with highs in the upper 60s and lows in the mid to upper 30s. Details, 9A

volume 26, no. 14

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Alexis Bechman

roundup staff reporter

What is a hashtag? A woman asked last week in a packed room of small-business owners, glancing around the room nervously to see if it would be met with quizzical “how can you not know” looks. Instead, participants exchanged nods and asked speaker Ana Gutowski, CEO of the Rim Country Regional Chamber of Commerce, what the silly thing stamped before words and phrases meant. They had seen it show up in commercials, advertisements and more frequently, Facebook posts, but had no clue as to its purpose. Gutowski explained it was a Twitter thing. A man in the audience chimed in confidently, sure of its historical,

utilitarian purpose — “it is the pound sign, the number symbol.” “What?” some women mouthed to each other across the room, clearly unsatisfied with both responses. The room looked to Tess Tanner with the Roundup’s advertising team (the youngest person in the room) for an explanation. Tanner said the # symbol tags topics on Twitter so people can follow an evolving conversation. Tamera Morken, with THAT Brewery, said the business owners can monitor everything said about their craft beers by searching #THATBrewery on Twitter or Facebook. But why would you want to monitor #THATBrewery, the group asked. The organizers then set out to answer the question, for a roomful of hashtag novices struggling with the many confusing and seemingly unnecessary things about social media. In an hour-long presentation, Gutowski went

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through the basics of online marketing, briefly touching on everything from Facebook etiquette to search engine optimization, banner advertising, email blasts, message boards, website design, blogs and Twitter. The message: businesses need to do all of the above and do it well to stay competitive in the digital age. “Social media lets you reach and educate your customers in real time,” she said. For some in the group, who still had trouble logging on to Facebook, setting up a business page, posting to it and then studying the results using Facebook’s analytic tools, tackling social media presented a daunting task. Still, Gutowski pushed through the presentation, the first of several free lunchtime seminars for business owners presented through a partnership of the chamber, Payson Economic Development and Gila County Industrial Development Authority. See Business owners, page 2A

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floor. The friend called for help and emergency crews found Barrowdale and her son lying dead in the home’s living area. Carbon monoxide from a vehicle may have played a role in their deaths, Engler said, but he would not elaborate. Engler would not say if officers found evidence of a struggle or if anyone else was living at the home at the time. Police remained at the home until 3:30 a.m. Monday collecting information. Barrowdale was the director of the nonprofit, Children First, according to Roundup archives. Children First facilitates the Child Adult Care Food Program, which provides cash reimbursements to child-care providers for meals served to children in their care.

Guns in city hall

Drought nightmare forecast by

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Police probe double deaths

Best of the Rim celebrated

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Payson wrestlers triumph: 8A

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