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Patagonia Regional Times
New Interns Join PRT
The PRT is pleased to introduce our two new Patagonia Union High School interns. Juniors Aliyah Gallardo and Ayla Kennedy will be reporting on school sports and events, as well as writing features for the paper and for the PRT e-newsletter. Both girls are active in sports. This year, Aliyah...
Fending for Ourselves
If there is one lesson to be learned from events surrounding the container wall along the border in the San Rafael Valley, it is to never underestimate the power of the individual. By now, we are all familiar with the small band of protesters who, concerned by the ecological damage created by this project and frustrated by the inaction of the federal government, shut down the project by blocking construction vehicles. But there is another story to be told, about one woman in Elgin who also felt compelled to take matters into her own hands.
This Is a Story About a Hole
My office at the Art Center faces the highway in the center of town and it is from here that I see everything. From my window I have witnessed a lady crash her van at the Patagonia Market to escape a huge spider on her visor. I have watched in disbelief as a man riding down the highway on a ride-on mower, ear buds in his ears, oblivious to the world around him, cut off a semi truck as it was speeding through town, narrowly avoiding becoming a pancake. I have watched all sorts of weather, clouds of butterflies moving west, and hundreds of law enforcement officials speeding through town kicking up dust. But aside from the lady crashing her van on account of the spider, the most exciting thing to happen on the corner of 3rd and Hwy 82 is the giant hole.
Arrest in Suspected Homicide in Kino Springs
On January 30, 2023, at approximately 5:56 PM, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Kino Springs area regarding a male individual who had been shot and killed. The identity of the deceased individual is being withheld pending the notification of next-of-kin. Santa Cruz County resident George Alan Kelly, age 73, was arrested and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on first degree murder charges regarding the death of the individual and is being held on a $1 million bond. Below is the booking photo of George Alan Kelly. The investigation is ongoing.
Ron Pulliam Selected as CFSA’s 2023 Buddy Amos Founders Award Recipient
The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona is pleased to announce that Ron Pulliam, founder of Borderlands Restoration Network in Patagonia, Arizona, has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Buddy Amos Founders Award. The Buddy Amos Founders Award was established in 2015 in honor of George H. “Buddy” Amos,...
Volunteers Needed to Help Audubon Restore Sonoita Creek Habitat This Saturday
Help Tucson Audubon restore native habitat along Sonoita Creek near the Paton Center. Volunteers will help retrieve and plant splits of Big Sacaton grass along Sonoita Creek. Some volunteers can also help prepare planting areas by removing brush and invasive species and irrigating new transplants. Volunteers should be able to...
BRN Names New Executive Director
Patagonia, AZ, January 26, 2023 – Borderlands Restoration Network (BRN) welcomes Dr. Rodrigo Sierra Corona as the new Executive Director following the departure of Kurt Vaughn who recently relocated back to California to be closer to family. “I want to thank Kurt Vaughn for leading BRN through our first...
Sky Island Alliance Offers Video, Virtual Briefing on Container Wall Removal
Sky Island Alliance is hosting a virtual briefing and discussion on the container wall situation next Thursday, Jan. 19 at 9:30am. Here are the details:. Ring in the new year with us as we discuss the evolving situation with the state of Arizona’s illegal shipping-container wall on the Coronado National Forest. Our Program Director Emily Burns and Dinah Bear, legal expert and co-founder of the Border Coalition, will host the virtual talk, followed by a Q&A. We’ll be celebrating the good news that Arizona has agreed to remove the shipping containers and drop its lawsuit against the U.S. government — no longer disputing federal ownership of the 60-foot strip of land along the border known as the Roosevelt Reservation. We’ll also discuss how the shipping-container project affected wildlife and communities at the border, and we’ll share what we know about next steps for border wall deconstruction.
Fire Chiefs Discuss 2022, Anticipate Challenges Ahead
The Patagonia and Sonoita-Elgin fire services both had a busy 2022, and anticipate more of the same in 2023. “It used to be that the wildfire season began in May, but recent history shows that the fire season is now year round,” said Patagonia Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company Chief Ike Isakson in a recent interview.
Town Doctor Retires
“For the almost two dozen years we worked together, Dr. Anderson kept saying she was going to retire. It’s hard for me to believe she really meant it this time,” said Sharon Cordova, Office Supervisor at the Family Health Center in Patagonia, part of the Mariposa Clinic group headquartered in Nogales.
County’s Courthouse Lease Raises Questions
During a public meeting on Dec. 6, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted to approve leasing a 278 sq. ft. office space at the historic 1904 Courthouse in Nogales to Arizona Minerals (AMI), a subsidiary of South32, for $1,000 per month. Needless to say, renting space in an iconic County-owned property to a controversial, foreign owned, for-profit entity raises several questions.
Thanks to You, PRT Fundraising Campaign a Huge Success
To our generous readers who donated to the PRT during our recent fundraising campaign, We Thank You! You have donated an astonishing $36,288 over the past two months, $9,288 more than our fundraising goal of $27,000!. $15,000 of the funds raised will be matched by NewsMatch, a national organization that...
HOPE Lends a Helping Hand to Recovering Addicts
Inside a nondescript building on Mastick Way in Nogales, a dedicated staff of 12 works on the front lines of combating the growing effects of drug addiction and associated behavioral health issues in Santa Cruz County. This facility is part of HOPE (Helping Ourselves Pursue Enrichment), a statewide nonprofit program that provides peer support services to individuals who are living with mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders.
New Trailhead Opens
In the midday warmth on Dec. 16, the Oak Tree Canyon Trailhead of the Arizona Scenic Trail (AZT) was opened with short talks, coffee, and an O’odham-inspired lunch. The new access point for trails in the eastern Santa Rita Mountains is on SR 83 north of Singing Valley Road, near Milepost 43. The mile-long trail is what AZT labels a “connector trail,” like Patagonia’s Train Track Trail, one of many spurs off the main 800-mile Mexico-to-Utah route. It saunters for just under a mile through grazing land and up an inconspicuous two-track, meeting the Arizona Trail where Passage 5 ends and Passage 6 begins. Once at the main trail, heading south leads to Gardner Canyon, and heading north, to the trailhead where Sahuarita Road meets SR 83.
Town Council Notes – Dec. 2022
The Call to Public heard three concerned residents – Jean Miller, Mary Skye, and Judith Andrew – raise questions about the Harvest Moon Hostel, to be located at 316 Smelter Ave, the alley behind the hotel. Their concerns focused on parking and traffic, and the presence in the alley of hunting dogs owned by hostel guests. Jean Miller also discussed parking problems in the town’s center, but Mayor Wood steered the comments to the parts relevant to the hostel proposal. Commenters were reminded that the hostel organizer, Heather Wood, had made a full presentation about the project previously to the Town’s Planning and Development Committee, as announced on public bulletin boards.
The Elves Did Their Part
I made it to December 26th before I furiously crammed every Christmas decoration back in its box. I didn’t pay attention to organization – 2023 me will figure it out and question why 2022 me did this to us. I did a broad sweep in the kitchen, ridding myself of any leftover cookies, cake, dip, chips and scraps of leftover meat. All tamales were relocated to the freezer. In Patagonia, tamales are currency and will come in handy down the road. I balled up lights, stuffed stockings into bags and piled the trash sky high in the alley. Christmas is officially over at the Farley house, and I must say, good riddance.
Life Among the Humans: Jews in the News
It’s nice to see that antisemitism’s on the rise again! There’s something comforting about the stuff that doesn’t change. Even the more unpleasant stuff, like jock-itch and/or athlete’s foot. They’re awful and they itch, of course, but they’re familiar, too, and reassure us that the world is as it’s always been.
How I Survived
My life as I knew it disappeared into thin air when I tried to get out of bed on Dec. 26 of 2021. My kids and I had just come back from Florida. Our family had partied at a hotel for my niece’s wedding. I’m glad I had a great time with the kids because that will be the last of fun like that for me, maybe forever!
Covid, Flu, RSV Spiking in SCC
If it seems like there is a lot of Covid around, that’s because there is. And there are also more flu and RSV infections. Santa Cruz County (SCC) is one of six counties in Arizona that had high levels of Covid community spread on Dec. 1. In a recent interview with the PRT, SCC Health Department Director Jeff Terrell said the increases in respiratory infections are to be expected this time of year as people celebrate the holidays with more travel and large indoor gatherings. Also, unlike the past two years, fewer people are wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, two mitigating precautions against the viruses that cause Covid, flu, and RSV. The spike in Covid cases in the two weeks after Thanksgiving has leveled off but Terrell expected another spike after Christmas.
Locals Pay Tribute to Joni Mitchell
It was a chilly mid-December night at the Patagonia Lumber Company when the air was warmed by a large crowd who had gathered to witness ten of Patagonia’s bravest show their stuff. No, not the volunteer firefighters or the Sheriff’s posse, but rather amateur singers stepping to the microphone (many for the first time) to play tribute to Joni Mitchell, one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time. The evening was organized by the Sashas, a local band who wanted to honor Mitchell and give local folks a chance to perform on stage.
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