Photo by Marion Vendituoli Bob Ollerton, Lee Gordon and Ike Isakson stand in front of the new water truck purchased by the Patagonia Volunteer Fire Department. The new truck, which cost $130,000, will be used for both wildland fires and structure fires. The old water truck, which is now almost 40 years old, will get […]
Marion Vendituoli
Posted inLocal News
Ranchers Face Uncertainty During Pandemic
Ian Tomlinson, his daughters and cowboys brand calves on the Vera Earl Ranch this spring. Photo by Jessica Zamudio Ranchers in Santa Cruz County are not strangers to being affected by factors outside their control. The timing and amounts of winter rain and the monsoons, the price of hay and supplements, trade policies, the futures […]
Posted inCommunity
Friends Pitch in to Sew Masks
When Mimi Henley and Steve Johnson added onto the garage and workshop at their home in Elgin, they could not have anticipated that their new space would be transformed almost immediately into an assembly line that has produced close to 4000 cloth masks since the beginning of March. Elin Kentnor folds a mask front into […]
Posted inLocal News
Mine Study Delayed
The completion of the pre-feasibility study (PFS) for the Hermosa Project in the Patagonia Mountains is now projected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2020, according to the mining project’s communications director, Jenny Fiore. The study was originally scheduled to be released this spring. “It’s just a matter of taking time […]
Posted inCommunity
Rumors, Reality and Responsibility
Social Distancing, Artwork by Paula Wittner The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world as we know it, but even as it brings the world together against an invisible enemy it reveals the differences in how we experience it. “I heard that we are all in the same boat,” a facebook user posted recently. “but it’s […]
Posted inLocal News
County Response to New Executive Order
County / State Still Not Divulging Location of COVID Patients in SCC Despite New Executive Order Residents of eastern Santa Cruz County wondering if any of their neighbors might be suffering from COVID will probably still not be able to access this information despite an announcement from the Arizona Dept. of Health Services that, starting […]
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 inSchool News
Hayes Named Patagonia School Supt.
The Patagonia District School Board has hired Kenny Hayes as the Superintendent and Principal of the Patagonia High School and Patagonia Elementary School, replacing Rachell Hochheim who did not renew her contract. Hayes has been at the Patagonia Schools for the past seven years, most recently serving as Interim Superintendent during Hochheim’s maternity leave. Photo […]
Posted inCommunity
Readers Respond to PRT Survey
The PRT asked our readers to respond to a survey about their feelings about the coronavirus pandemic. 130 people responded, 62 people from Patagonia, 45 from Sonoita/Elgin, eight from Nogales, seven from Tucson and eight from other areas. More than three times as many women responded to the survey as men. A large majority of […]
Posted inLocal News
Rabid Skunk Bites Hiker
A backpacker on the Arizona Trail near Kentucky Camp, off of the Fish Canyon road was bitten in the face while sleeping Thursday morning, March 5, according to AZ game and Fish (AZGF). The backpacker, who was an off-duty EMT, according to Mark Hart, spokesman for AZGF, killed the skunk, which later tested positive for […]
