In 1899 a small chunk of Pima County along the Mexican border was carved out to become Santa Cruz County. Then and now it is the smallest county in the state of Arizona, 1,238 square miles, roughly a rectangle bounded by a 60-mile southern border with Sonora, a 30-mile western border with Cochise County and […]
Lynn Davison
Posted inLocal News
Borderlands Wins Big for Bats and Bacanora
Borderlands Restoration Network (BRN) has been named the winner of the first-ever Connectivity Challenge offered by the Salazar Center at Colorado State University. As the winner, BRN will receive $100,000 to implement its Bacanora for Bats: Binational Conservation and Sustainable Agave Spirits Initiative. BRN was one of five finalists from across the nation competing for […]
Posted inCommunity
Kids and This COVID Summer
Alex Santos stands outside the Patagonia Youth Enrichment Center waiting to pick up a cooking kit to take home. Photo by Anna Coleman Last summer, before COVID joined us, Patagonia was a pretty good place to be a kid. You could hang out in the park, go to the library for books, computers, and lunch, […]
Posted inLocal News
Clean Water Act Weakened
On June 22, 2020, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put into effect a new regulation that reduces the scope of waters protected by the Clean Water Act. The new rule, the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, limits the definition of protected waters of the United States to “territorial seas and traditional navigable waters; perennial and […]
Posted inCommunity
Youth Center Receives $10,000 Grant
Patagonia Youth Enrichment Center (PYEC) director Anna Coleman recently received a call from Governor Ducey’s office congratulating her on being one of ten organizations statewide to receive an award from the Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence. PYEC received $10,000 in recognition of their work during the coronavirus pandemic. The source of the money is the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Murder and Mayhem Make for a Good Read
Local author Bob Kimball has spun a good tale in “News to Die For.” It’s a mystery, a love story, and perhaps most of all, a window into the newspaper business. The Lafferty family owns and manages The Tucson Independent, a daily paper with a proud history and a fragile present. The heroic protagonist, publisher […]
Posted inLocal News
Global Crisis, Local Impacts
Wineries, Restaurants Hit Hard by Closures Photo by Marion Vendituoli Rune Winery by Kat Crockett Rune was operating six days a week and business was good until the first case of COVID-19 hit the County on March 20. By order of Governor Ducey, they shuttered their tasting room and offered bottles “to go” on weekends […]
Posted inOpinion
Small Town Life: Pulling Together
Be thankful you live in a small rural town. While, it is very likely the coronavirus will get here too, Patagonia, Sonoita, and Elgin are more able than our urban brothers and sisters to manage the spread and support each other through these scary times. Without a doubt, everyone, absolutely everyone, must take the pandemic […]
Posted inCommunity
Coronavirus Overview
What is Coronavirus? Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses. There are several known coronaviruses that infect people and usually only cause mild respiratory disease, such as the common cold. The current pandemic is caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus. The source of the virus has not yet been determined. Patients with confirmed COVID-19 range from […]
Posted inLocal News
Mining Opponents Stage a ‘Peaceful Presence’
State Representative Rosanna Gabaldon speaks with “peaceful presence’ demonstrators in Patagonia after she had toured the Trench Mine remediation site with representatives from South32. Photo by Lynn Davison Local residents gathered to create a peaceful presence on Jan. 10, 2020 at the corners of McKeown and 3rd Ave. in Patagonia, seen here meeting with State […]