Thursday, December 20, 2018
The seven-day private vehicle entrance fee at Saguaro National Park will go up from $15 to $20, the seven-day motorcycle entrance fee will rise from $10 to $15, individual entrance passes for pedestrians and bicyclists will increase from $5 to $10 and the Saguaro Annual Pass will increase from $35 to $40.
According to Saguaro National Park, the change comes in response “to public comments on a fee proposal originally released in October 2017 to modestly increase entrance fees in order to raise additional revenue and address the $11.6 billion in deferred maintenance across the system of 418 park units.”
“Federal law requires that recreational fees charged on public lands be used for direct visitor benefits,” said Leah McGinnis, park superintendent. “Every fee dollar collected in Saguaro National Park stays in Saguaro National Park and is invested back into improving visitor facilities and services here.”
In 2019 the National Park Service is offering the following fee free days:
Monday, Jan. 21 for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; Saturday, April 20 for the First Day of National Park Week/National Junior Ranger Day; Sunday, Aug. 25 for National Park Service Anniversary; Saturday, Sept. 28 for National Public Lands Day; and Monday, Nov. 11 for Veterans Day.
The price of the annual America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass, along with the Lifetime Senior Pass will remain at $80. The free annual pass for active duty military personnel and free lifetime passes for people with disabilities are also available. Families with fourth grade students can utilize the Every Kid in a Park pass, permitting a fourth grader and all of their family into all Federal Recreation Areas for free for the year.
Tags: Saguaro National Park , National Park Service , entrance fee , increase , Image
Tags: Center for Judaic Studies , live stream , Khashoggi Aftermath , Simon Henderson , journalist , Washington Institute , Image
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
An amendment to the neighborhood plans of Miramonte and Broadway-Alvernon was granted by Tucson City Council yesterday to allow for an “adaptive re-use” of the Benedictine Monastery. This latest development will bring the developer, Tucson Monastery, LLC, the city and the residents one step closer to finalizing development plans on the historic site.
The mayor and council unanimously passed a motion to amend the plans to allow for public use of the monastery and to incorporate a joint letter of agreement between the Tucson Monastery, LLC and the residents as conditions of the rezoning. It is still undecided what the monastery will be used for in the future, so the letter of agreement ensures that the public will have a say in the outcome.
The letter also ensures that no student housing will be established on the site surrounding the monastery, but rather 250 units of high-end apartments. It states any building cannot surpass 55 feet in height (which council member Steve Kozachik said is about 30 feet less than where this conversation began) and a row of oleanders on the southern and eastern sides of the property will remain intact.
The 7.5 acre site has split zoning between O-3 (professional and semiprofessional office, high density residential developments, and limited research and development uses) and R-3 (high density residential, primarily for apartments or single-family development).
Kozachik, of Ward 6 where the monastery resides, gave a ten-minute speech explaining the long and difficult process that preceded this agreement and amendment. He said the original zoning of the site allows for 660 student housing beds and complete demolition of the monastery. In May the council initiated the process of providing the Benedictine Monastery with a historic landmark designation, which protects it from demolition.
There have been dozens of meetings, hundreds of people included in public outreach by the developer and the architect, three planning commission hearings and significant neighborhood communication, according to Kozachik.
He said in the beginning of this process, the developer had an underlying entitlement because of the existing zoning and made some initial proposals. Over a hundred people came to each of the two public meetings held to discuss the proposals last summer.
“At the first one, where the initial concept of a project was presented, it was seven stories tall, it was approximately 86 feet tall, and there was an audible gasp in the room when the rendering of that was shown on the screen,” Kozachik said. “Remembering, of course, that the underlying zoning still existed and that was the opening gambit for what was going to be proposed.”
After that bad reaction, the developer worked with the Miramonte and Sam Hughes neighborhood associations to make some consensus about what would be done with the property. With this agreement and amendment passed, a rezoning process can move forward.
“I sit here tonight wanting to just simply make the point that we are preserving the monastery, there will not be student housing, we have significantly reduced the mass over what was originally proposed, there will be a public use of the monastery, and there will be a public process going forward,” Kozachik said. “It’s been a difficult process, everyone knew it was going to be because this is a sensitive site.”
Tags: Benedictine Monastery , Tucson City Council , Steve Kozachik , Rezoning , Neighborhood , Historic , Preservation , Image
Orders are made through the Fry's Food Stores mobile app, and groceries are available for delivery seven days a week.
The new vehicles, known as the Nuro R1, travel on public roads without drivers or passengers, delivering groceries from Kroger stores (such as Fry's and Ralph's). Nuro has been developing the R1 since 2016.
With this initial announcement, this service is only available at a single Fry's food store in Scottsdale, but more locations across Arizona are expected.
Tags: Fry's , groceries , delivery , automated , robots , driverless cars , Nuro R1 , Kroger , Image
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
“All her life, Martha has put service first — leading in the toughest of fights and at the toughest of times,” said Gov. Ducey, in a release. “She served 26 years in the military; deployed six times to the Middle East and Afghanistan; was the first woman to fly in combat and command a fighter squadron in combat; and she’s represented Southern Arizona in Congress for the past four years.
With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona’s interests in the U.S. Senate. I thank her for taking on this significant responsibility and look forward to working with her and Senator-Elect Sinema to get positive things done.”
McSally represents Arizona’s Second Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she serves on the Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees and chairs the Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee.
A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, McSally is a veteran of 26 years, retiring as a full Colonel in 2010. During her military career, she deployed to the Middle East and Afghanistan six times and was the first woman in U.S. history to fly a fighter jet in combat and the first woman to command a fighter squadron.
“Over the last year, I’ve traveled across this great state, meeting with countless Arizonans, and listening to them,” McSally said, in a release. “I’ve heard about the challenges they face and the hopes they have for the future – and I’ve learned a lot. I am humbled and grateful to have this opportunity to serve and be a voice for all Arizonans. I look forward to working with Senator-Elect Kyrsten Sinema and getting to work from day one.”
Governor Ducey appointed Senator Kyl to the Senate in September of 2018, filling the seat vacated by the late Senator John McCain. Senator Kyl’s resignation from the Senate will be effective Dec. 31.
Tags: Governor Doug Ducey , Representative Martha McSally , Senate , senator , Senator Jon Kyl , Kyrsten Sinema , Image
Monday, December 17, 2018
The two biggest names we’re hearing: Tucson City Councilwoman Regina Romero, who is up for reelection to her Ward 1 seat in 2019; and state Sen. Steve Farley, who is on his way out of the Legislature after an unsuccessful run in this year’s gubernatorial primary.
Both Romero and Farley told The Range today that they are giving the race some serious thoughts but aren’t likely to make final decisions until after the holidays.
Ward 2 Councilman Paul Cunningham, who is up for reelection next year, tells the Range he hasn’t decided whether to run for mayor and will spend the holidays talking it over with his family. “I can say without question I will be running for office in 2019,” Cunningham told The Range. “I cannot specify on whether it will be for Ward 2 or mayor at this time.”
Ward 6 Councilman Steve Kozachik has already told the press he’s not going to run. In a prepared statement, Kozachik said he’d have to resign from his Ward 6 seat to run for mayor; since he’s shepherding several major projects—including the upcoming Broadway widening and the redevelopment of the Benedictine Monastery property on Country Club Road—he doesn’t want to step away from the table.
We also hear that developer Randi Dorman has expressed interest in the job. She tells The Range that she's been encouraged to run in the past and she "would love to serve the city that way" but she's waiting to see whether Romero decides to get into the race.
We’re sure some political gadflies will be exploring runs as well as well. (We’re looking your way, Felicia Chew.)
Democrats still have a huge voter-registration advantage in the city of Tucson and GOP candidates got clobbered across the board in Pima County in this year’s election, so it’s gonna be an uphill battle for any GOP candidate who steps into the ring.
Tags: local politics , mayor , Tucson , elections , Image
Friday, December 14, 2018
In the end, it wasn’t even close. When the time came for the TUSD Board to discuss the Freedom Center-created textbook for the high school course, Ethics, Economy, and Entrepreneurship, not a single board member had a kind word to say about it. And since the textbook and the course are inextricably linked, the board’s consensus opinion was the course will not return to TUSD.
[A Personal Note: For this post, I'm once again donning the blogging hat I took off recently. I'll most likely return to The Range in January, though I'll be writing less frequently. Stay tuned.]
A bit of history: Ethics, Economy, and Entrepreneurship somehow managed to sneak into the TUSD curriculum in 2016 as a yearlong course which fulfilled the state's economics requirement and could also be taken for dual credit at the University of Arizona. No one at the district knows how it got there (or at least no one is saying).
The Board is supposed to approve new courses, but they were kept in the dark on this one. Most of them first learned of the course's existence when I wrote an article about it in the print edition of the Weekly in October, 2017. Since the school year had begun and students were already enrolled, the board decided to let the course stay until the end of the school year, then discontinue it. Possibly, they said, they would take a closer look at the course at a later date.
That later date was Tuesday, December 11. After the textbook was opened to the public for inspection and evaluation, and a citizens' committee was created to make a formal assessment of the book, it was time for the board to decide on the fate of the textbook and the course.
Tags: Ethics , Economy , and Entrepreneurship , TUSD , University of Arizona , Freedom Center , Kochs Off Campus , Image
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
The Oro Valley location, at 11107 N. Oracle Road, opened in 2017, and is the only store of Native's five Tucson locations to close.
The employee could not state a reason for the store's closure, and no one at the Oro Valley location could be reached, as the store's phone line has been turned off.
Native moved into Tucson a decade ago, and maintains its locations at 8225 N. Courtney Page Way in Marana; as well as 3100 E. Speedway Blvd., 5421 S. Calle Santa Cruz, and 10255 E. Old Vail Road in Tucson.
Tags: Native Grill , closure , closed , restaurant , bar , grill , Oro Valley , Image
Thursday, December 6, 2018
CANS Venue & Lounge (340 N. 4th Ave.) announced it will close in a lengthy Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon, attributing the closure to disappointing sales and an inability to compete with other, more established venues, like the Rialto Theatre and Club Congress.
"This decision has not been an emotionally or financially easy one," the post states. "Our experience running a venue has taught us many things, and we hope to have gained wisdom and spiritual growth throughout the process. We are incredibly grateful to Tucson for the opportunity to try our wild ideas and create an artist oriented community. Unfortunately our dreams of running a profitable business have fallen short. Truthfully we are sad, disappointed and at a loss."
CANS, which opened in May as a traditional Jewish diner, went through several transformations in its short lifespan, thanks to poor execution from the start, according to the company.
"Our initial opening proved to be a public relations nightmare based on hearsay and internet toxicity," CANS Facebook post said. "We overcame that but not without scars. We live by the ethos of vote with your dollar."
The restaurant and venue, which was opened and operated by Tallboy's founder Ben Schneider, is the latest 4th Avenue fixture to close this year.
Others include Mabels, the Flycatcher, Ordinary Bike Shop and Revolutionary Grounds, highlighting an evolutionary shift on the venerable downtown street.
Tags: CANS Deli & Venue , 4th Avenue , Closures , Tucson , Downtown Tucson , CANS , Image
Monday, December 3, 2018
New changes added to the Sam Lena-South Tucson Library include a large children's room with a creative youth space for teens, new study rooms and community rooms, an upgraded service desk and new curbside book drop-off. The library will reopen on Thursday, Dec. 6 at 9 a.m, and is located at 1607 S. Sixth Avenue.
The Flowing Wells library will reopen Monday, Dec. 10 at 10 a.m. and is located on 1730 W. Wetmore Road.
Both libraries will have updated collections, furniture and public use computers.
Join the reopening celebration with Pima County Public Library. For more information, visit the library website or call (520) 791-4010.
Tags: library , reopening , renovations , new , Flowing Wells Library , Sam Lena Library , celebration , completion , Image
