Tanque Verde Blog

Gone Fishing

Tanque Verde Blog is currently on hold because the chief cook and bottle washer is on an extended vacation and nobody else has stepped up to the plate yet to fill in. If you live in Tanque Verde and are interested in volunteering to help build a sustainable neighborhood news blog, please email me on TV Blog’s contact form and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.

State School Funding Explained by LD30 Rep. Antenori

LD30 Rep. Frank Antenori

Dale Roose

Finding funding for education during the recession was the subject of a town hall meeting with guest speaker state representative for LD30 Frank Antenori. Hosted by Voices for Education, the meeting was held in a packed room at the Bear Canyon Library on Thursday, May 7, 2009.

Mr. Antenori’s presentation began with a video narrated by Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett explaining in general terms where state money comes from, how it’s spent, and how state government got into the current economic crisis. Due to equipment failure, attendees couldn’t watch the entire video but fortunately we can watch the video on YouTube.

Save Tanque Verde to Meet May 27th

Dale Roose

The Save Tanque Verde neighborhood group will meet at 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 27th, in the Board Room at the Lew Sorensen Center to oppose plans for what they consider to be a wedding business. The buyer of the site located at 1902 N. Tanque Verde Loop Road, John Fazio, says the proposed activity is for a church—Mesquite Grove Chapel—which would be allowed in this pastoral residential setting.

As evidence for their claim, the group points to Mr. Fazio’s connections with Reflections at the Buttes and services offered by that business: wedding location, reception site, catering service, entertainment service, bartending services, rehearsal services, and additional amenities.

Voices for Education Town Hall with Frank Antenori

Voices for Education will be hosting a town hall meeting with LD30 Representative Frank Antenori on Thursday, May 7, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Kirk-Bear Canyon Library in the Bear Canyon shopping center (8959 E. Tanque Verde Rd).

Voices for education “…is a parent-based education advocacy organization that works to improve the educational outcomes of Arizona’s students,” according to the group’s Website.

Discuss the 2009 legislature, K-12 education, Arizona state budget and state trust lands. Email or call to RSVP (520) 324-0881.

It Was About Compost

Composting Workshop at Tanque Verde Gardens

Professional agrarian Leo Mercado of Tanque Verde Gardens treated about two dozen guests to a free workshop on composting complete with a demonstration of the proper way to build a compost pile. The workshop, held on Saturday, May 2, 2009, was one in a series of workshops Leo is hosting through the Food Conspiracy Co-op so keep checking their Website for announcments of future workshops.

While building the demonstration pile, participants learned about the life cycle of compost from the needs of the first microorganisms that begin to break down the organic matter to other microorganism that destroy potentially harmful pathogens and fix nitrogen to fertilize the next crops. A sustainable cycle of life continues.

Parks & Rec Fees and Youth Programs on Supes Agenda

Proposals by Pima County Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation for fee increases and new fee-based programs for youth are on the agenda of the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday (BoS Sitting in Regular Session, Addendum Item 1B [pdf]). The Board had previously voted to approve some increases but not others but will revisit the issue after Board members complained of a lack of information. The Board is reluctant to increase fees that will adversely impact families living on low income.

Among the proposed increases to be considered are fees for:

• aquatics (pools located outside the Tanque Verde area)

Swine Flu Information from TVUSD

Tanque Verde Unified School District has just released the following information about the Swine Flu:

The health and welfare of our students is paramount. To keep our parents and students informed about the recent outbreak of the swine influenza virus and how to decrease the risk to you and your family, we are providing the following information provided by the Pima County Health Department. Additional information can be found at their website:  http://www.pimahealth.org. The Pima County Health Department continues to carefully monitor the cases of Swine Flu nationwide. Although the number of cases in the United States has grown to  64, at the present time, there are no suspected or confirmed cases in Pima County.

May 19, Hearing on County Budget

Dale Roose

Items to be considered on the May 19, budget hearing by the Pima County Board of Supervisors include the possible closure of the Lew Sorensen Community Center (see previous article). According to the schedule presented in a memo from County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, this hearing will precede the vote for tentative budget adoption on the same day followed by a vote for final adoption scheduled for June 16.

As a regular meeting of the Board of Supes, citizens are generally allowed three minutes each to speak in the Call to the Audience to comment on items on the agenda. The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. and be held at the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, Pima County Administration Building, 130 West Congress, 1st Floor, Tucson.

“The Taste” to Raise Funds for Education

“The Taste“–a fundraising event for education in Tanque Verde–will be held at 49er’s Golf and Country Club on May 2nd from 5-10 p.m. The Website of  the Tanque Verde Educational Enrichment Foundation invites participants to: ”…come on out for some fabulous food, wine, entertainment and silent auctions at this elegant event.”

Community Forum for TVUSD

Dale Roose

Tanque Verde Unified School District will be hosting a Community Forum at Emily Grey Jr. High School, located at 4201 N. Melpomene Way, on Monday, May 4, at 7 p.m.

At the Community Forum that was held on March 19th, subjects discussed included three items to be on the November ballot: a Maintenance & Operations override, a bond issue, and a capital override, all needed to continue current district operations and renew a Maintenance & Operation Override already in effect. According to officials, approval of all three will not result in an increase in the tax rate.