Life Coach in Florence, AZ

It was a massive week of voting for the Game of the Week with more than 129k votes and the rivalry between the Gophers and Bears came out on top!

We began a new way for you, the fans, to take part in the show by choosing which game would be the Game of the Week!

Week 3 was a massive week for voting for Friday Night Fever's top game as we got more than 129,000 votes in this week's poll!

The top two games, Desert Edge at Highland and Florence at Coolidge, were going back and forth, taking the lead from each other multiple times, but ultimately the rivalry matchup between Florence and Coolidge came out on top!

Florence at Coolidge got 59.8% of the vote (77,208 votes), Desert Edge at Highland got 37.78% (48,787 votes) and Casa Grande at Central got 2.42% (3,124 votes).

Congrats to Florence and Coolidge, 12Sports will be live on 12 News at 5 and 6 at your game and it will get top billing on Friday Night Fever as our Game of the Week.

Be a believer and catch the Fever this Friday night at 11:35!

129K TOTAL VOTES!!! THANK YOU!@FlorenceFBall at @BearsCoolidge is our #FridayNightFever Game of the Week!! The rivalry game won with 77,208 vote (60%)! We'll be LIVE out there leading up till kickoff on @12News at 5 and 6.... then catch the highlights at 11:35PM! @12SportsAZ pic.twitter.com/7mkQPz0tjz

— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) September 15, 2022

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Week 2 of Arizona’s longest-running high school football show saw storms roll through and postpone many of our games, but not our Game of the Week!

O’Connor beat Red Mountain 28-14 in a great game, which won our poll that got more than 9,000 votes!

Be a believer and catch Fever every Friday night at 11:35 p.m.

Be a believer. Catch the fever on YouTube! Subscribe to the 12News YouTube channel for more Friday Night Fever content.

The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.

The Cardinals have made the State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers also play at the Footprint. Phoenix has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC.

The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Cactus Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the Waste Management Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall; and Cactus League Spring Training.

One of the country’s leading developers of Net Zero communities, MODUS Companies, has just closed on 39 acres in Casa Grande, Arizona. While the city currently only has a population of 57,000+ residents, it is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, thanks to companies like Nikola, LUCID and KOHLER coming to the area and bringing 6,400+ job opportunities along with them.

With this surge in growth, Founder of MODUS Companies Ed Gorman saw an opportunity to bring their Net Zero energy solutions to the area to not only help with sustainability but also affordability in the way of lower utility bills for residents.

READ ALSO: Metro Phoenix almost doubles its apartment construction

“We were drawn to Casa Grande by the dynamic story of the market,” said Josh Holmes, the Executive VP of Acquisitions for MODUS Companies. “With EV manufacturers Nikola and LUCID creating around 6,000 jobs in the market and KOHLER another 400+ jobs, the tremendous population growth and a lack of supply for housing creates an exciting opportunity for us to provide our brand of quality, sustainable living in these markets.”

MODUS’ 39 acres is located at the I-10 and Florence Boulevard, adjacent to the Promenade Shopping Center (which features 1 million square feet of retail). The 470 unit planned for the site will feature all aspects of MODUS’ Net Zero Energy build outs, which include Zero Energy Star® certification for maximum energy efficiency, rooftop mounted solar panels, mini-split heating and cooling systems with a 20 SEER heat pump, energy recovery ventilators, hybrid hot water and other environmentally friendly features – all of which lower utility bills for residents 60-70% more than traditional building methods.

With over 1,200 units being built by MODUS throughout the state in the coming year, and the increased need for sustainability and affordability throughout the nation, Founder Ed Gorman is also developing his Build-to-Rent Net Zero platform on the national level.

“While we continue to be bullish on the Phoenix Metropolitan area as a whole, we are always looking for sites similar to Casa Grande and the 30 acres we just closed in Buckeye, where we plan to develop 450 Build-to-Rent Units,” said Holmes. “Not only because they are well located, but they are also strong markets for both population and job growth.”

For more information on the 39 acres the company closed in Casa Grande, or other upcoming projects from MODUS Companies, visit www.moduscompanies.com or call 602.421.2221.

PHOENIX — Salt River Project electric customers can expect higher power bills beginning in November.

Its executive board approved a 4.7% increase during its meeting Monday.

That equates to an average of $5.58 increase in monthly bills according to the utility.

A second increase of the same amount was also approved which would begin in November 2023.

The utility said the hikes are a result of rising natural gas costs that the utility is allowed to recover through its Fuel and Purchased Power Adjustment Mechanism (FPPAM).

During the same vote, the board agreed to forgo $124 million in fuel costs that customers owe for years prior.

In a 10-3 vote with one abstention, the board also approved the construction of two new natural gas turbines to be installed at SRP's Copper Crossing solar plant in Florence.

The move serves as part of a plan b for the utility after the rejection of its Coolidge Gas Plant expansion by the Arizona Corporation Commission earlier this year.

That expansion would have added 16 natural gas-fired turbines to the existing 12 at a cost of up to $953 million. But the attempt was fiercely fought by residents of the neighboring community of Randolph and environmental groups.

SRP is currently appealing that decision in Superior Court and says it still has an urgent need for more power generation and the ability to bring on more renewable energy onto the grid before the summer of 2024.

The utility purchased eight turbines in anticipation of approval of the Coolidge expansion but with its fate in limbo is now figuring out other places to put them.

"These two are the only two units that we have any hope of getting in service by December of 2024," SRP executive Kelly Barr told the board.

Sierra Club spoke out against the plan instead advocating for using more solar with storage on the site.

"At a time when we should be taking the climate crisis seriously and investing significantly in renewable energy and energy efficiency, it seems that SRP is still looking to more and more gas," said Sandy Bahr Executive Director.

The two units going to Florence will be less than 100 MW, which is the amount that would require ACC and Line Siting Committee approval.

When board member Randy Miller, an opponent of gas expansion, questioned where the other six turbines would go Barr said they had not figured out a location yet.

Construction of the two turbines in Florence is expected to begin in October.

The Oswego County Historical Society will host a presentation by Alanna Ossa, anthropology professor with SUNY Oswego, on Saturday, Sept. 24. The program, “Digging History: What We Unearthed at The Richardson-Bates House Museum,” begins at 3 p.m. in the community room of the Oswego Public Library, 120 E. Second St., Oswego. The event is free and open to the public.

Earlier this summer, a group of SUNY Oswego students joined Ossa to conduct an archaeology dig at the Richardson-Bates House Museum in Oswego.

The dig site was chosen because a 1920s plan for a garden on the south lawn of Florence Bates’ house identified an area between the garage and octagonal shed, as the “rubbish area.” Hoping to discover the ‘midden’ (the kitchen refuse area) for either the 1872-era current house or the earlier 1850s home on the site, the group started digging there.

Ossa explained the site was rich in artifacts that provided clues to the family’s lifestyle, cooking and eating habits, and Maxwell Richardson’s hunting hobby.

“We found great items on the very first day,” she said. “Blue and white pottery sherds, NY Stoneware, shells and a variety of bones. We spread out over eight separate excavation units, each approximately 3 feet by 3 feet. As we got to deeper layers, indicating earlier discards, the objects and site architecture got more interesting.”

What was discovered? The results will be shown at this special lecture program on Saturday, Sept. 24. For program details, call the Richardson-Bates House Museum at 315-343-1342.

SUNY Oswego’s Archaeology Field School focuses on both historic preservation and professional training in archaeological survey, excavation, artifact analysis and curation.

Alanna Ossa has a doctorate in anthropology from Arizona State University. Prior to joining SUNY Oswego, she was a senior project manager for an environmental firm specializing in cultural resource management and historic preservation. She has extensive field experience in Mexico, Arizona, and lately, the Northeast U.S. She has managed field projects in archaeological survey and excavation since 2000.

DIGGING UP THE PAST – The Oswego County Historical Society welcomes SUNY Oswego Professor Alanna Ossa to present “Digging History: What We Unearthed at the Richardson-Bates House Museum” on Saturday, Sept. 24. The program begins at 3 p.m. in the Community Room at the Oswego Public Library, 120 E. Second St., Oswego. Pictured is Professor Ossa supervising students from SUNY Oswego’s Archaeological Field School in a site near the museum’s garage. Photo courtesy of the Richardson-Bates House Museum.

On August 11, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a draft Underground Injection Control (UIC) permit for a commercial copper recovery enterprise near Florence, Arizona.

The Florence Copper Project would build on an existing production test facility established by Florence Copper Inc. That site is currently operating under a UIC permit, and has produced more than a million pounds of copper. Florence Copper Inc. is owned by Taseko Mines Ltd., a publicly traded company based in Vancouver, Canada.

“The UIC permit is the final key permit required for the construction and operation of the Florence Copper commercial facility. Our project has gone through extensive scrutiny by both the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the EPA over the past eight years, and we are confident that the rigorous work completed by both these regulatory bodies will result in permitting success in the coming months,” Taseko President/CEO Stuart McDonald said in an August 15 press release.

Florence Copper is proposing to recover the red metal from an approximately 212-acre ore body two miles northwest of Florence’s business district, from depths between 450 and 1,400 feet. The recovery process involves injecting a dilute sulfuric acid-based solution into the ore body, to dissolve copper oxide minerals. The copper-laden leach solution is then pumped out through recovery wells around an injection well; copper is then extracted through solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW). According to the draft permit, four recovery wells will surround each injection well.

Along with the well field and required monitoring wells, the Florence Copper Project would include construction, operation and eventual closure of an SX/EW plant, a runoff pond, process water impoundments, a tank farm and other accompanying facilities. “Mining solutions will be conveyed and processed in pipes and tanks with secondary containment (berms), and in double-lined ponds or impoundments to prevent contact with the ground surface,” the draft permit stated.

Once final permits are issued, the company plans to invest $230 million to build commercial production facilities. According to Florence Copper’s website, this would create about 800 direct and indirect jobs and $2.1 billion in economic activity.

The press release said that Florence Copper was expected to have the lowest energy and greenhouse gas intensity of any North American copper producer, and to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign producers. “As the United States advances toward its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 – including 100% clean electricity by 2035 and 50% light-duty electrical vehicle sales by 2030 – the country will need to address its reliance on imports of critical metals. Low impact, environmentally sound projects like Florence Copper will help meet the growing U.S. demand for copper,” said McDonald.

A 45-day public comment period for the draft permit began when the permit was issued. Public comments may be submitted through Sept. 29, 2022, with a virtual public hearing on September 15. The public comment period for the draft federal permit will last 45 days, ending on Sept. 29, 2022, with a virtual public hearing to be held on September 15. The hearing will take place from 5-8 p.m. Arizona time, at the following Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83331479484?pwd=NVJab244eGs4TmFPVkpUUS9Ua1JMZz09#success (meeting ID 833 3147 9484#, passcode 478516). Pre-registration is not required to speak at the hearing, but those wishing to pre-register can do so at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZdmTKLZz-34OVVqb9SmPsYnKwmYZP41In5p36eZIoru0B7w/viewform.

Comments may also be submitted online at https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/EPA-R09-OW-2021-0149-0003, or mailed to :

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9

Groundwater Protection Section, Mail Code

WTR-4-2

75 Hawthorne St. San Francisco, CA 94105

Attn: Nancy Rumrill

For further information on the Florence Copper Project, visit https://www.florencecopper.com/about/the-project. To learn more about Taseko Mines, see the company’s website at www.tasekomines.com.