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Patagonia Regional Times
The PRT Newsletter for the Week of July 3, 2024
PRT Hosts District 3 Supervisor Candidates’ Forum July 13. Circle Z Ranch is the PRT E-newsletter’s Premier Sponsor for 2024. We are grateful for their partnership. If your business would like to be featured as a newsletter section sponsorship partner of the PRT, click here for more info.
Town of Patagonia’s 2024 Primary Election
The Town of Patagonia’s Election Director, Isabel Van Nest is busy gearing up for the 2024 Primary Election. This year the Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, July 30 from 6:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers at 310 McKeown Ave. You can request an early ballot in writing during Town Hall hours Monday – Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. On this year’s ballot are four candidates running for three council member positions: Ronald Reibslager, Gary Retherford, Michael Stabile and Anita Francesca Claverie. A candidate must receive 51% of votes cast to be immediately elected. Votes cast are the total number of people who voted. Candidates with less than 51% votes cast will have a run-off on November 5th in the general election. Thank you, Patagonia, for coming out and voting.
County Sheriff Candidates Tackle Debate Questions
Six candidates running for Santa Cruz County Sheriff participated in a two-hour forum hosted by the PRT at the Tin Shed Theatre on June 29. Five Democrats, Jose Agosttini, a navy veteran with 35 years experience working for Customs and Border Protection; Rafael Corrales, who served in the sheriff’s department for 24 years, retiring as a sergeant in 2018; incumbent David Hathaway, who has served one term as County Sheriff; Andrew Ibarra, who described himself as a problem solver; and Mario Morales, who served as Hathaway’s Chief Deputy, as well as working for the Nogales Police Dept., will face off in the July 30 primary election.
Watch the June 29 Sheriff Candidates’ Forum
View the entirety of yesterday’s two-hour forum in Patagonia via We Love Nogales‘ complete coverage. The candidates who participated in the forum were:. Jose “Joe” Agosttini (Dem) Travis Arnold (I) Rafael “Rafita” Corrales (Dem) Sheriff David Hathaway (Dem, incumbent) Andrew Ibarra (Dem) Mario “Toro”...
Voters to Elect County Treasurer From Field of Write-in Candidates
The vacuum created by the withdrawal of former Santa Cruz County Treasurer Liz Gutfahr as a candidate in the upcoming election has been filled by three write-in candidates, Democrats Alejandro Paz and Jesus Kataura, and Independent Carola Romero. The three candidates have to run as write-ins because the deadline to...
Sky Island ‘FotaFauna’ May 2024 Highlights
FotoFauna highlights from May are in — and this month’s all about the summer vibes with wildlife either escaping the heat at night, out early in the morning, or just not scared. Check out this video from our Wildlife Specialist Miguel Enríquez…. A little background for...
Schedule for 2024 Fourth of July Celebration in Patagonia
The July Fourth Celebration Parade will start at 11am at the Patagonia Schools, proceeding west on SR82, turning left onto Fourth Avenue, turning left onto McKeown Avenue and continuing down to Taylor Avenue where it will then return to the Patagonia Schools. At dusk, the Patagonia Volunteer Fire and Rescue...
The PRT to Host Candidate Forums at the Tin Shed Theater
The Patagonia Regional Times is hosting two political candidate forums this summer at the Tin Shed Theater. The first will be the Sheriff Candidates Forum, which will be held on Saturday, June 29, from 2 – 4pm. The second forum will occur on July 13, from 2 – 4pm with the Dist. 3 Supervisor Candidates in attendance. Both forums, each scheduled on Saturday afternoons, will provide an opportunity to educate SCC residents about the candidates and this important primary election.
PUHS Appoints New Head Coaches for Volleyball, Soccer, Girls Basketball
Patagonia High School has announced the appointment of three new head coaches for the 2024-25 school year. Andres Cuevas will take over as head volleyball coach, David Clovesko-Wharton takes the helm as soccer coach, and Michele Shadrick will be the new girls basketball coach. The appointments were approved at the June meeting of the Patagonia Union High School District governing board. The board also approved Anelie Olivarria as assistant volleyball coach.
Locals Vote to Move ‘Cuisine Tourism’ Process Forward
At a highly contentious meeting attended by 25 Sonoita and Elgin residents on June 12 at the Sonoita Fairgrounds, steering committee members of the wine cuisine tourism initiative voted 12-7 to continue to work on studying the possibility of developing overlay districts in the area. “Now that the community has...
Nabhan Nabs James Beard Award for Agave Book
Patagonian ethnobotanist and author Gary Nabhan won a prestigious James Beard Award last Saturday for ‘Agave Spirits: The Past, Present, and Future of Mezcals,’ the 2023 book he co-authored with Philadelphian restaurateur and agave advocate David Sura Pinero. The James Beard Awards, presented annually, are generally regarded as...
County BOS, SEFD, Sonoita School District Release Statements on Missing Funds
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District (SEFD) and the Sonoita School District have issued public statements following press reports regarding the size and potential impact of the financial irregularities in the County Treasurer’s Office involving former Treasurer Liz Gutfahr that are currently under investigation.
Drilling Down
I am more anxious than usual the night before an anticipated trip to an open mine in one of our local Sky Island mountain ranges. The next day’s drive proves to be anticlimactic. Though the road is severely rutted, and the falloff steep and menacing, our tippy side-by-side is in very capable hands. The mine is a wonder, a labyrinth of digging, all stopes and drifts. I decline an opportunity to take a rope assisted scramble down an incline shaft.
The Summer Triangle
Some celestial objects stand alone. Others pull us in with their complexities. Want to study astronomy without looking all over the night sky? Try the Summer Triangle. It is well up in the East throughout the next few months, moving slowly overhead as June and July give way. It is a science course unto itself.
Notes From the SEFD: It’s More Than a Ride
Most calls received at Sonoita-Elgin Fire District (SEFD) are not fire calls. Ambulance calls, ranging from a relatively simple transport to a lifesaving situation, are a big part of what we do. Recently one of our crews delivered a baby!. Two of the three shifts at SEFD have two paramedics,...
Glimpses Into Our Past: Hollywood Comes to Elgin
In July 1946, much to the dismay of the state of Texas, Monterey Productions announced its plan to film the western movie “Red River” in Arizona. The story is based in Texas and Kansas, but the production manager noted that “he can find every type of Texas scenery within the 20-mile radius of an imaginary circle around his location near Elgin. So, instead of going to Texas where he would have to travel several hundred miles for the correct changes in scenery, he’s moving his entire production outfit to the Santa Rita Hotel here [Tucson] and to an about-to-be-built camp near Elgin.” [Arizona Daily Star, 7/25/1946].
Of Dogs and Rattlesnakes
Here in Arizona, if you spend time enjoying the great outdoors you will eventually run into a rattlesnake. It’s not a question of if, it’s a matter of when. Of course, we all know what to do to avoid being bit. If a rattlesnake is stretched out on a trail warming up, it’s easy to move around it. The same holds true if it’s in a defensive posture and “buzzing.” All one has to do is give the snake some space and you will be safe. The facts indicate that 90% of human rattlesnake bites happen because the victim was trying to handle the snake. It’s safe to say most bites are self-inflicted.
Patagonia Youth Enrichment Center Celebrates Ten Years
The Patagonia Youth Enrichment Center (PYEC) hosted a community party on May 4 to celebrate ten years serving the area’s youth. Attendance was high and the youth center’s patio was filled with people from all around. The current PYEC youth mingled with returning young adults, all of whom are a valuable part of the center’s core. Families and community members had opportunities to catch up with one another, tour the youth center, talk with the PYEC staff, board members and youth, as well as enjoy a dinner of hamburgers, sides and desserts.
Get Down and Dirty at the Garden
A simple definition is a place to grow plants, vegetables, flowers. But if you’ve ever visited a beautiful garden, or even a scruffy overgrown garden, you know that it’s a lot more. Gardens are way for us to connect with nature, to get our hands in the dirt, to enjoy the beauty of flowers, to take a mental break and relax.
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Patagonia Regional Times is a free monthly publication serving the Mountain Empire communities of Canelo, Elgin, Patagonia and Sonoita in Santa Cruz County, Arizona.
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