Salon offers free hair service for unemployed workers
In hopes of helping local residents who have been hard hit by tough economic times, Carrie's Day Salon, located at 2625 S. Woodlands Village Blvd., has begun offering free and discounted hair services to unemployed men and women of Flagstaff who want to look their best for a scheduled job interview.

New play opens at Theatrikos Wednesday
Theatrikos Theatre Co. will present "The Little Dog Laughed" beginning on Wednesday at the Doris Harper-White Community Playhouse.

Arboretum to close for the season
Saturday is the final day of the 2009 season at The Arboretum at Flagstaff.

Remembering a famous weaver
She died on June 4 last year at 91 years old, but the memory of this matriarch lingers long in the minds and hearts of Marie Littleman's extended family.

FCF to award grants Nov. 6
Flagstaff Community Foundation, founded in 1987, has announced the recipients of grants through the 2009 open-competitive grant cycle.

Shafer -- Smith
Jennifer Smith of Flagstaff, the daughter of William and Deborah Smith, will marry Matthew (Bubba) Shafer of Flagstaff on Oct. 1, 2010.

Military News: Yazzie graduates from training
Army Pvt. Brian I. Yazzie, the son of Irvin Yazzie of Flagstaff, recently graduated from the Direct Fire Infantryman One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning, Columbus, Ga.

Community news: BBBS benefit event Nov. 14
The annual Wine & Beer Tasting and Silent Auction, sponsored this year by Taverna Greek Grill, will be on Nov. 14. The popular Flagstaff fundraising event will take place from 8 - 10 p.m., at the Flagstaff Radisson Woodlands Hotel, with all the proceeds going to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flagstaff, a nonprofit organization working to improve the lives of local youth through adult mentoring.

Community thanks: Flagstaff Project Connect thank you
On behalf of the estimated 800 people we served at Flagstaff Project Connect we would like to thank the nearly 40 agencies that offered services last Saturday to those struggling in this economy. Another 80-plus volunteers served as guides, set up, prepared and served a great lunch, and tore down and cleaned up. Our heartfelt thank you goes out to them as well.

Let us let them see for themselves
"A secret is something you tell one person at a time."

The Fighting Sommeliers smell victory
This year the NAU Homecoming weekend conflicts with the homecoming celebrations at my alma mater, the Biloxi School of Bartending. So, I am writing this column in the Bacardi Library on the Biloxi campus where I, as a callow undergraduate, spent many a fruitful hour napping in the late afternoon sun on the carpeted floor near the oversized book stacks. Ah, memories.

Dill: The herb of the year
The International Herb Association has designated dill as the "Herb of the Year" for 2010. This decision coincides with the best time for planting this ancient herb -- generally in late fall and winter in zones 6 and 7. In Flagstaff, at zone 5, it's an annual, which means that the seeds sown in the fall won't come up until the ground thaws in late spring.

Is plaque a moral issue?
After Patty Hooker, my dental hygienist, finished scraping, polishing, picking and excavating debris, I asked her if she thought plaque were a moral issue. Appearing surprised, she claimed she'd never thought about it before. Patty bears an unnerving resemblance to Sarah Palin, a discomfiting experience for a cranky old Democrat. I was puzzled about her surprise, plaque being the raison d'être for dental hygiene.

Applying animal behavior to real life
Being an applied animal behaviorist is not a well-known career. Many kids want to grow up to be firefighters, dentists, actors, and teachers, but few say they want to be applied animal behaviorists. It's too bad, because the world could use more of them. Applied animal behavior consists of using what we know about animal behavior in practical ways, and there's no shortage of need for such skills.

How salmon find their way
J. R. R. Tolkien's famous saying "Not all those who wander are lost," did not apply at an animal conference I attended at Nashville's Opryland Hotel. It was so unbearably challenging to find one's way around this labyrinth that all nomadic behavior could be attributed to people being unable to locate their destination. On the third day of the conference, I came upon a group of people wild with laughter. They were clustered around a map, and every member of the party appeared hopeless or helpless, and one man threw up his hands in a show of complete defeat. Having figured out how to get around some areas of the facility, I offered my assistance. The answer came from the one person who was not laughing too hard to speak: "I don't think you can help. We can't find the session about our area of specialty-orientation and navigation."