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In today's newsletter:
Today's riddle: What did one strawberry say to the other strawberry? 🤔 (Answer below!)
1. Monday, August 24, 2026 (knau.org) — Flagstaff businesses hit by this summer's Pocket Fire can start applying Tuesday for low-interest federal disaster loans at new SBA offices opening in town. The update also notes that a Flagstaff company's NASA mission to save an aging space telescope has been called off, while Slide Rock State Park remains closed from fire damage.
2. C-CART partners (nau.edu subscription) — Several key Flagstaff health organizations, including The Guidance Center and Native Americans for Community Action, are highlighted as partners providing mental health and substance-use services to local residents. The piece explains how these agencies work with trainees and researchers while delivering integrated care across Flagstaff and northern Arizona, especially for underserved and Native communities.
3. Once the Solar System's Ninth Planet, Pluto Was Reclassified 20 Years Ago. Here's Why Planetary Scientists and the Public Alike Love the Small Icy Body (smithsonianmag.com) — Flagstaff's Lowell Observatory plays a starring role in Pluto's story, from Clyde Tombaugh's 1930 discovery there to today's annual I Heart Pluto Festival that draws visitors to town. The article explains why Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet, how New Horizons transformed scientists' understanding of it, and why the tiny world still captures public imagination.
4. Arizona's $870M school choice program survives union backlash — what it means for Utah (deseret.com) — Arizona's statewide Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program, illustrated with scenes from BASIS Flagstaff classrooms, survived a union-backed ballot challenge after the state Supreme Court tossed thousands of signatures. The piece explains how this $870 million school choice program works, why unions opposed it, and what Arizona's legal fight could signal for Utah's newer Utah Fits All scholarship program.
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-- The Patch AM Team
P.S. The answer to today's riddle: If you weren't so sweet, we wouldn't be in this jam! (Thank you Patti F. for sending it in!)
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