EMDR Therapy in Oro Valley, AZ

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - A warning out for folks who live in Oro Valley: Arizona Game and Fish says a bear has been spotted several times in the area, including right on people’s doorsteps.

They’re working to find the bear so they can relocate it, but they need your help.

Wednesday, the bear was spotted in a neighborhood off of Oracle and Ina.

Jerry Quesnel lives in the area.

“We were surprised, taken back, shocked, because nobody expects to have a bear walk across their porch in Tucson,” he said.

Quesnel couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a bear walking just outside of his home in the middle of the day. He’s lived in the area for more than 30 years and he’s seen all kinds of wildlife, but never a bear.

In the video, the bear makes its way across the property. It passes a fruit tree and walks right up to the camera. Quesnel says it also visited several of his neighbors.

“Why was it here? it’s hot. there’s been plenty of rain so why isn’t it up in the mountains where they normally hang out?” he asked.

That’s what many people are asking. We saw a number of bear sightings back in May, but Arizona Game and Fish expected the bears to return to their natural habitat once monsoon hit.

“It is unusual, but if it’s a young bear it may be just separated from its mother and learning new territory. those bears typically get into more trouble than not when they’re wondering about,” Mark Hart said.

Hart says there’s a possibility this bear could be the same one that was spotted at Fort Lowell Park in May. He estimates that it’s a two to three year old black bear.

“He hasn’t done anything dangerous per se, he hasn’t menaced anyone or stood on his hind legs, huffed or done any of the tell tale signs of an immanent attack. It’s just looking for resources and probably learned from its last time in Tucson that there are food sources to be had,” he said.

Hart says the bear hasn’t shown that it’s dangerous yet, but wild animals are unpredictable. Game and Fish is asking people in the area to do what they can to keep the bear away from their homes.

″Make sure you’ve left no pet food outside. Then if you have fruit fallen trees, pick it up. Take down your bird feeder, even take down your hummingbird feeders cause bears love hummingbird nectar,” he said.

And if you have trash pick up, don’t put your trashcans out for pickup until the day of.

Right now, Game and Fish’s goal is to locate the bear so they can tranquilize it and move it out of the area.

They are asking for the public’s help. If you see the bear, you’re asked to call them as soon as possible at 623-236-7201.

Copyright 2022 KOLD News 13. All rights reserved.

Oro Valley resident Patricia Miller was concerned about a letter she received from the Regional Transportation Authority back in April 2016, explaining that an 8-foot tall gate would be attached to the back of her home and wrap around her neighborhood.

“Potentially it would’ve looked horrible because none of us liked the wildlife gates that we have going up and down Oracle and we didn’t want that attached to our homes,” Miller said.

Quickly, she organized other concerned residents to brainstorm other alternatives. After going back and forth with the RTA, the Town of Oro Valley, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, and the Homeowners Association, a neighbor suggested folding gates.

“I think they turned out beautiful, I haven’t heard any complaints,” Miller said.

On Wednesday, April 19, The Town of Oro Valley celebrated the completion of the State Route 77 wildlife gate and fence project. Seven years after the project initially broke ground. It was the first of its kind in the Sonoran Desert in Southern Arizona.

The final product is located on the west side of SR 77 at Scenic Overlook Place.

Colin Beach with the Arizona Game and Fish Department said that although the wildlife bridge crossings have been in place for over five years, the wildlife has still been adjusting to the structures. The fence completion initiates year zero.

“We’ve got cameras at the crossing structures and we’ll do some roadkill surveys out here along this stretch out front and just see how things have changed over time and see if we see reductions in roadkill, increases in wildlife species in numbers,” Beach said.

Beach said that 25 species have been caught on camera including mule deer, javelina, bobcat, and mountain lions. In all well over 5,000 animals have crossed since monitoring began in April 2016.

Executive director of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection said that a big part of the project was erecting game fencing that would funnel wildlife to the overpass and underpass.

“Because of what we have here in the Sonoran Desert in Pima County, we have the most beautiful preserved parks right at the edge of development,” Campbell said. “And that’s of course where conflicts start.”

The following is the opinion and analysis of the writers:

Tucson can be proud to have thoughtful, caring and smart Council members, along with an outstanding, compassionate leader in Mayor Romero. But even the best and brightest can make mistakes.

And they have made a doozy with their rushed (effectively zero public comment); under-informed (nationwide, other municipalities have successfully negotiated side agreements to their utility franchise agreements legally committing their utilities to putting meaningful dollars into climate action plans); and potentially catastrophic approval of the franchise agreement between the City and Tucson Electric Power (25 more years of TEP burning climate-disastrous fossil fuels while continuing its current 20-year track record of empty promises on renewable energy.)

Ordinarily, these kinds of boring, technical agreements generate scant public attention, and the required voter approval is a no-brainer. But not anymore. Not when the region’s biggest belcher of greenhouse gases wants another 25 years to enrich their shareholders at the expense of cleaner air and the region’s dwindling water supply. And charge everyone everywhere all at once for what mostly benefits a few special interest groups.

The City has only itself to blame for this mess. TEP took supreme advantage of a set of circumstances that put the City in a bind—and set itself up as the White Knight, spreading the franchise agreement like a coat across a very muddy puddle so the City could walk across and not get its feet wet.

What we’re seeing is a Tragedy in Three Acts.

Act One. Enter the University of Arizona with righteous climate goals of 100% renewable energy. Problem: not enough electrical capacity. Solution: Build out two miles of high-voltage transmission lines to UA’s doorstep through the Sam Hughes neighborhood.

Act Two. Enter neighborhoods. Not at all happy about their sight lines. They organize and pressure the City. Charter says to underground lines in view corridors (but says nothing about how to pay for it). Sam Hughes is in a view corridor. Cost: $45 million to underground, but only $1.8 million to put on poles. Who cares? City will write checks. UA happy, Sam Hughes happy. (UA deafening silence about kicking in any dough and potentially even bigger City money worries as many more neighborhoods would also qualify as view corridors.)

Act Three. Enter Tucson Electric Power. “Hey, City, we can help.” Just sign on the dotted line right now (the current franchise agreement doesn’t really end until April 26, 2027) and we’ll get you the undergrounding money! No, we’ll put nothing in writing about money to put real meaningful dollars into your Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, but here’s a letter of righteous intent from our CEO. We won’t do Jack to help with undergrounding or quickly move on midtown’s deteriorating electrical infrastructure unless you immediately approve this new franchise agreement and get it to a public vote.

Epilogue. There won’t be a sad one if you vote “no” on Prop 412. You’re going to be paying higher rates that benefit a select few. There’s only a pitiful amount of money in it to fight the climate disaster Tucson faces and fully acknowledges in the City’s climate plan. And if you vote “yes” there will be no/zero/nada leverage to bring TEP to the climate mitigation bargaining table for any parallel agreement that could legally obligate them to change their energy mix.

TEP isn’t the bad guy here and really neither is the City. TEP is just doing what its corporate charter requires: make as much money as legally possible.

The only temporary solution here is to vote “no” on 412 and rethink this whole idea of undergrounding.

What about making those two miles of poles (14 or so) into a City attraction of art by, as Judith Anderson, a member of the Tucson Climate Coalition, suggested, acknowledging Tucson’s cultural heritages: the Yaqui, Tohono O’odham, Latino, Black and more, creating a different kind of view corridor on those poles? Just a thought.

Five years after construction of a major senior living community in Oro Valley abruptly halted due to a labor shortage, the project is once again underway.

La Posada Communities, which has an existing community in Green Valley, recently broke ground on La Posada at Pusch Ridge, on First Avenue and Lambert Lane, west of Oracle Road.

Originally called Nakoma Sky, more than 200 independent and assisted-living units were planned.

“Our board paused the project in 2018 due to the high volume of projects under construction in Pima County and Phoenix, which created a lack of subcontractor availability,” said Joni Condit, president and CEO of La Posada. “When the board and senior management determined to restart the project ... we chose to break the project into phases to streamline the process.”

The first phase will be 166 apartments ranging in size from 1,000 to 1,900 square feet.

Amenities to be built in the first phase include two dining venues, a bar, library, fitness and art studios and a spa.

Condit said about half of the apartments have already been leased by future residents.

As for pricing, Condit said, “La Posada at Pusch Ridge is a life-plan community which has an entrance fee deposit and a life lease. The monthly service fee covers their apartment, flexible dining program, housekeeping services, maintenance, wellness services, and many activities.”

She did not provide specific numbers.

More information can be requested by future residents at laposadapuschridge.org

La Posada’s “life lease” is included with the entrance fee and deposit provides lifetime access to all amenities, activities and services.

Much of the site work has been completed on the 80-acre parcel and the construction timeline is about 30 months with an anticipated move-in by mid-2025.

Gensler Architects designed the community to center around a common gathering area and construction will be steel frame and concrete for better sound buffering, durability and termite resistance, Condit said.

“Sundt Construction self performs its major concrete work, helping them to control their schedule,” she said of the general contractor.

“We are off to a good start on the construction of our second campus, with an opportunity to offer a new and wonderful lifestyle option for the residents of the Oro Valley area,” said Simon Davis, chair of the La Posada board of trustees.

Demand for senior living communities — independent living, assisted living and memory care — continues to be strong across the country.

The biggest demand is for assisted living and the occupancy rate of such units around the U.S. is at nearly 90%, according to NIC MAP Vision, which researches senior housing data for investors, developers, health care providers and other industry stakeholders.

Since March 2021, the pace of move-ins exceeded move-outs in all three categories.

PHOENIX — Light rain showers covered the Valley overnight and snow fell in northern Arizona and Tucson in the latest winter storm.

The widespread storm saw rain gauges across the Phoenix area record an average of just over a tenth of an inch of rain by the early morning, the National Weather Service said.

Rain gauges in Mesa and Apache Junction captured the highest amount of rain, with over half of an inch recorded by 10 a.m., according to the Flood Control District of Maricopa County.

Parts of Queen Creek and Gold Canyon recorded just under half an inch of rain, while areas in Chandler and Fountain Hills saw over a quarter of an inch.

Some residents near Scottsdale and Anthem even saw hail.

Small hail and graupel possible over the next hour near Scottsdale and Anthem. #azwx https://t.co/naqQOFUuwT

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) February 26, 2023

In northern Arizona, snow showers were expected to continue through the afternoon.

Only one highway, US 180 between mileposts 236-248, was closed due to blowing and drifting snow along with high winds, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Anywhere from 2-4 inches of snow could fall in areas higher than 4,000 feet.

Snow was also seen in southern Arizona, north of Tucson in Oro Valley.

@NWSTucson Snow at 2,480’ in Oro Valley near CDO wash. Mixed with rain & occasionally heavier. Temp 33* Rh99%. Started 0745, for 20 minutes. pic.twitter.com/td7SgnM5jE

— Res-Q Life (@ResQLife1) February 26, 2023

Here is a look at the CDO at Edwin Road in Catalina (Elev 3100 feet). The flakes are starting to fly with a light dusting so far. Snow levels could briefly get down to as low as 2500 feet (including parts of Tucson Metro) but no accumulation below 3000 feet. #azwx pic.twitter.com/hb3bnnrDMY

— NWS Tucson (@NWSTucson) February 26, 2023

NWS said areas as low as 2,500 feet could see brief snow levels, with minor accumulations of up to a couple of inches in parts above 3,000 feet in southern Arizona.

Drivers were advised to be prepared for extra travel time during extreme weather conditions. Travelers should also track the forecast and pack an emergency travel kit before hitting the roads.