For the second time in a month, a Cottonwood teen has allegedly stolen his parents’ truck, but this incident ended a lot better than the first one did. A 17 year old boy left through a bedroom window of his house in the 200 block of South 15th Street and took his mother’s truck last Thursday night. The boy has no driver’s license or any experience behind the wheel. The next morning, the officer saw the truck parked in front of the boy’s girlfriend’s house in the 3800 block of East Del Rio Drive. The teen was located there and he is in the Prescott Juvenile Detention Center on charges of vehicle theft and runaway juvenile. On August 5th, a 14 year old boy took a car belonging to his friend’s dad and took it for a joyride. He later stole his mom’s truck and one of his 12 year old friends who was driving the car crashed it on old Highway 279 and Quail Springs Ranch Road. There were no serious injuries in that accident.

The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office is seeking an alleged child molestation suspect. In addition to child molestation, 64 year old Eric McNeill is also wanted for sexual assault and kidnapping in Yavapai County. His victims range in age from 4 to 17 and the crimes date back to 1972, with the most recent reported in September 2011. It is believed McNeill fled to Washington State after that offense was committed. Persons known to this suspect have contacted detectives regarding his possible whereabouts. If you have information on McNeill’s whereabouts, you’re asked to call your local law enforcement agency. Anyone with knowledge of his current crimes, or victims who have not yet come forward is asked to call Detective Ross Diskin at 777-7348 or Yavapai Silent Witness at 1-800-932-3232. If your tip leads to an arrest, you will be eligible for a cash reward.

Now that the Primary is over, Yavapai County voters are turning their attention to the General Election, which will include many School Board races. There are 3 four year seats available on the Prescott Unified School District Board and there are 6 candidates, including incumbents Dee Navarro and Tina Seeley. Board member Steve Campbell isn’t running for reelection. There are also 3 four year seats on the Chino Valley Board, but only the 3 incumbents, Peter Atonna, Sherry Brown and Josephine Kelleher are running. All 5 seats are up for grabs in the Humboldt Unified School District, but there are too many candidates running for 2 two year seats and not enough seeking 3 four year positions. Carter says he hopes to remedy this by having 1 of the 2 year candidates serve a 4 year term. The last day to register to vote for the General Election is October 8th.

If you’ve been dealing with lane restrictions, closures and detours on I-17 in the Camp Verde area, repaving work is almost done and you’ll have a smoother road to travel on. The southbound left lane is closed through 7 tonight as ADOT crews prepare for final paving of the 9 mile stretch of I-17 between Middle Verde Road and Highway 179, the Sedona turnoff. ADOT spokesman Tricia Lewis explains what work on this 4.2 million dollar project has entailed. Paving is scheduled to be done by next Wednesday, September 5th. The project hours have been changed from 7 am to 7 pm due to low overnight temperatures that won’t allow successful application of rubberized asphalt.

Prescott area educators will be honored as part of a special event at 5 tonight. The Prescott Chamber of Commerce and Friendly Pines Camp is hosting the 35th annual Salute to Educators Barbecue. Teaching and administrative staff members from area school districts and charter schools have been invited to attend. During yesterday’s live Talk of the Town on KQNA 1130 AM and 99.9 FM, Chamber Director David Maurer explained why this salute is held every year at the camp. The camp is located on Friendly Pines Road off Senator Highway in the Groom Creek area.

A Camp Verde woman has suffered serious injuries following a head on collision yesterday morning. Cottonwood Police Sergeant Gareth Braxton explains the accident occurred at 8:45 on Highway 260. Braxton says the 65 year old RV driver tried to avoid the collision. Braxton adds occupants from both vehicles were transported to Flagstaff Medical Center, with the 48 year old female passenger of the truck suffering the most serious injuries. Braxton adds the collision caused a closure of Highway 260. The RV driver and the 68 year old driver of the truck didn’t appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the accident.