PICTURE ROCKS DIGEST

Welcome to the Picture Rocks Digest, a free newsletter about issues and events in the community. The print version of this all-volunteer publication is distributed at area businesses and community sites. If you have calendar events or news items, or if you would like to be added to our email list, please contact us at PictureRocksDigest@comcast.net.

The Picture Rocks Digest is a publication of Citizens for Picture Rocks, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(4) civic organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in the community. Citizens for Picture Rocks meets the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm in the Picture Rocks Community Center, 5615 N. Sanders Road. Meetings are free and open to the public. The next meeting is October 21, 2008. Everyone is welcome to attend. Membership not required, but highly recommended!

CITIZENS FOR PICTURE ROCKS
ANNUAL MEETING

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Picture Rocks Community Center
5615 N. Sanders Road
Iced Tea Social Time at 6:30 p.m.
Meeting begins at 7:00 p.m.

Members will elect officers and fill two positions
on the board. Current officers are:
Greg Mattison, President
Mike Lytle, Vice President
Kaitlin Meadows, Secretary
Karen Zopf, Treasurer
Tom Allen, Member-At-Large

Meadows and Zopf have completed their initial terms on
the board and the membership will vote to fill those positions
Board members will serve three-year terms
For more information, contact Greg Mattison at 682-8862

COMMUNITY NOTES

• Adopt-A-Roadway Cleanup Oct. 18: Volunteers are needed to help pick up trash along three area roadways in C4PR's next semi-annual road cleanup event. If you would like to help, please meet at 8:00 a.m. at Picture Rocks Community Center, 5615 N. Sanders Road. Safety vests are provided by Pima County Dept. of Transportation and tools were acquired with a grant from PRO Neighborhoods. Lunch will be served afterwards. For more information, contact Chris Banks at 682-7229.
  


• PRFD Board Position Open: The Picture Rocks Fire District has one appointed position to fill on its Board of Directors. Anyone wishing to serve on the Board should attend the next regular meeting on Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. and be prepared to talk with the Board about your interest in serving. Requirements are that you must be a registered voter and a resident of the Picture Rocks Fire District. Call 682-7878 for more information.
  


• BMX-Skatepark Update: Much is going on behind the scenes. Pima County Parks and Recreation personnel are working with Procurement staff to finalize and issue an SFQ (Solicitation for Qualifications) to which interested designers/builders will respond. A team consisting of county staff, community members and park users will evaluate the responses and select the company that will design and construct our park. It's possible that a contract could be awarded by the end of the year!
  


• Trunk O'Treats: Families are invited to Picture Rocks Community Center on, Friday, Oct. 31, 6:00-9:00 p.m., for "Trunk O' Treats," a safe alternative to trick-or-treating. Vehicles stocked with goodies will be set up in the parking lot for youngsters. Refreshments and information will be available for adults. Among those expected to participate are: Picture Rocks Fire Dept., Trico Electric, the A&W Great Root Bear, C4PR and Arizona Youth Partnership. To help, call 682-7166.
  


• Halloween Alternative: There will also be seasonal festivities at the Praise Center Church at 12331 W. Picture Rocks Road, 682-8240.
  


• Coming Next Month... PR Fire Dept. softball tournament on Nov. 15 and PRCC Thanksgiving luncheon on Nov. 26.
  


• Hold the Date: The second Picture Rocks Community Fair is set for May 9, 2009. Volunteers needed; call Jamie Kisthardt at 682-0287.
  


• Donations Sought for School Breakfast Program: Reductions in federal funding have resulted in cutbacks of the elementary school breakfast program in Picture Rocks. MUSD Board President Dan Post has initiated a private funding drive to finance the meals, which he says benefit the children in many ways, including fewer visits to the school nurse, higher attendance rates, fewer discipline problems and improved academic performance. Donations of all sizes are welcome and may be sent to MUSD, 11279 W. Grier Road, #106, Marana, AZ 85653. (C4PR members passed the hat at the September meeting and sent $561 to Desert Winds Elementary School, and the breakfast program is again up and running. Principal Denise Linsalata sent her "thanks" to C4PR. It's about neighbors helping neighbors. See this recent Arizona Daily Star story for more.)
  


• Marana Alumni Association Forming: Calling all Marana and Mountain View grads and friends... The Marana Alumni Association is in the early planning stages and current priorities are to obtain non-profit status and get a website up (volunteer webmaster needed). For information contact Pam Moseley by email or phone (352-2421 x1233) or MUSD's website.
  


• Marana Fall Heritage Festival: Saturday, Oct. 25, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Marana Heritage Park. Activities include historical displays, arts and crafts vendors, seed planting at the Community Food Bank garden, a farm stand with locally grown foods, food vendors, and mesquite pod milling by Desert Harvesters. For more information, call 382-1964 or visit the Town of Marana website.
  


• "Girls Making Media" video and audio production workshops for teenage women: Free three-session workshops on the use of video and audio to educate, inform and influence public opinion about issues affecting women and girls and call for social change. First series of workshops begins in November 2008; additional series are scheduled for 2009. For information and an application, contact Stephanie Smith, Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission, 624-8318.

PICTURE ROCKS MEETS THE CANDIDATES

Citizens for Picture Rocks hosted the second of its two 2008 Candidates' Forums on Sept. 16 at the Picture Rocks Community Center. Approximately 65 people were on hand to hear candidates for Pima County Dist. 3 Supervisor and the Marana Unified School District Governing Board address issues of the concern to the community. The meeting was moderated by outgoing Dist. 25 State Representative and Picture Rocks resident, Jennifer J. Burns.

Candidates for MUSD Governing Board

Eight people - including two incumbents, one former member, and five newcomers - are running for three positions on the Marana school district's five-member board.

Incumbent Dan Post, former rancher and father of 11, has served on the MUSD board for over 20 years. The other incumbent, Maribel Lopez, mother of two and president of a K-8 school in Florence, is seeking her second term. Albert Siqueiros, a Chief Academic Officer at Tucson Unified School District and former principal at Estes Elementary School, previously served on the board from 2004-2006 when he was elected to fill a vacancy.

Newcomers Amy Autret and Suzanne Hopkins, who both have children at Ironwood Elementary School, believe that families outside the town of Marana in unincorporated Pima County need better representation on the Board. Joe Koellisch, President of Coyote Trail PTF and Co-Chair of the 2007 MUSD Budget Override Committee, has children at Coyote Trail and Marana Middle School, and emphasized the need for unity in the district.

Kathryn Mikronis, who has children at Coyote Trail and Estes Elementary, in a written statement stressed accountability and "what is right for all our students." Dean Spencer, a 2007 graduate of Marana High School, current Pima Community College student and resident of Picture Rocks, spoke about the need for better pay to attract and retain quality teachers.

Board members serve for four years and are not paid. The Marana Unified School District covers 550 square miles and has approximately 13,000 students at 17 schools. The board usually meets twice a month on the second and fourth Thursdays, at 7:00 p.m. at the Marana Civic Center, 11555 W. Civic Center Complex. Candidate statements are available online at the County School Superintendent's website.

Pima County District 3 Supervisor Candidates

The Republican candidate is challenger Barney Brenner, a retired businessman and hot air balloon pilot. He criticized the current Board of Supervisors for high property taxes, inadequate services such as road maintenance, and not managing the budget well.

The Democratic candidate is 12-year incumbent Sharon Bronson, who beat out challenger Donna Branch-Gilby in the September primary election. She said that the primary property tax rate has been reduced during her terms and cited sustainability, the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and investment in communities as her priorities.

Pima County Dist. 3 Supervisor candidates Barney Brenner and Sharon Bronson

Both candidates expressed opposition to a proposed I-10 bypass through the Avra Valley, but diverged in their responses to questions posed by the community involving sales taxes and alternatives to the soon-to- be-closed Tangerine landfill for waste disposal. See the Arizona Daily Star's report on this debate here.

Citizens for Picture Rocks does not endorse any candidates, but believes that information empowers voters to make the best choices. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 4. The last day to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot is Oct. 24. For more information, visit the Pima County Recorder's website.

VOTE AS YOU PLEASE - BUT PLEASE VOTE!

IN THE NEWS

• Water co-op gets $200K state loan (Arizona Daily Star, 9/18/08) Rancho del Conejo Community Water Co-op was awarded a low-interest state loan to construct a system to reduce arsenic levels and comply with federal standards that went into effect in January 2006.
  


• Running out of resources (Arizona Daily Star, 9/18/08) Especially in difficult economic times when demand increases, school resource centers and clothing banks - including the one at Picture Rocks Intermediate School - welcome help; call Christina Noriega at 579-4920.
  


• Ground under road, park projects rich in history (Arizona Daily Star, 10/09/08) Excavations along Silverbell Road between Ina and Cortaro have unearthed an 80- acre Hohokam Indian compound - including pit houses, emetaries and evidence of an irrigation canal - dating between 1100 and 1400 A.D.
  


• Endangered status sought for Sonoran Desert tortoise (Arizona Daily Star, 10/09/08) Environmental groups say the tortoise's population has decreased 51% in Arizona since 1987 and are asking the federal government to list it as an endangered or threatened species.
  


• Out of the way rock shop crystallizes the word "stuff" ((Arizona Daily Star, 9/22/08) Jerry and Eulaine Turner and and Don Kern are the J,E, and D of J.E.D.'s (now simply Jed's) Rock Treasures, a "mineral/jewelry/novelty/knickknack" store, or maybe more like a scavenger hunt, on Sandario Road.
  

AFTER THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

There was the barest hint of coolness in the morning air as the autumnal equinox approached. On September 22 the sun rose exactly in the east and set exactly in the west exactly 12 hours later. Now, with the harvest moon past and a hunter's moon to rise on October 14, autumn is finally upon us. The long hot summer of triple-digit temperatures has relaxed and the morning air is delicious. Some move their sleeping arrangements outside, and hikes are again both possible and fun.

It was a fairly average monsoon season, with about 5.5 inches falling in downtown Picture Rocks. It was not the driest; that was in 1924, when less than 2 inches fell. Tucson airport's average is 6 inches, a little less at the University of Arizona, with 12 inches on Kitt Peak. With the dry season ocotillos drop their leaves, some of them turning red for a bit of "autumn color." Mesquite and palo verde trees drop their second set of bean pods, sources of nutrition for thousands of years. In the O'odham language, October is the month of "Wi'ihanig Mashath," the harvest moon.

While there could still be rain from tropical storms, autumn is generally a dry season, with clear skies. In 1983, however, October rains and flooding in Tucson and Marana displaced 10,000 people, killed 13, and destroyed bridges, roads and crops. There will still be some hot days, but by the end of the month most of us will, once again, remember why we love to live here.

As snowbirds of the human species make their way back to Southern Arizona from colder climes, the area also fills with winged birds and other critters moving south for the coming winter, including hawks and falcons. Some, like Anna's hummingbirds, may hang around; others, including bats, will leave and head south. Cactus wrens are building nests in the cholla, while packrats gather prickly pears to stash in their messy nests. Snakes become sluggish as the air cools, preparing for hibernation. Spadefoot toads burrow deep in the ground to await the next season of chubasco storms. Roadrunners soak up the warmth of the sun. Desert tortoises finish off prickly pear fruit as they fatten up for hibernation. There are lots of butterflies, fewer mosquitoes.

With clear skies, the Orionids meteor shower, made up of dust from Halley's Comet, may light the skies October 20-22, especially in the small hours of the morning. Pack a picnic dinner and take a chance on an early show at Picture Rocks Park. If there are no meteors, you can still watch the nightjars hunting bugs around the lights.

Autumn... The desert takes a deep breath after summer's arduous heat. Critters move about, fattening up for winter, slowing down. After the tricks of summer, autumn is a genuine treat, a season to savor in this very special place in which we live.