Life Coach in Green Valley, AZ

When Kim Eisele comes to work at The Animal League of Green Valley, she's usually walking into a room full of women.

Eisele said males account for about 20% of the roughly 500 people listed in their volunteer database, with a large majority of those typically assigned to dog care.

But there’s no comparison when it comes to the small army of the organization’s 400 female volunteers, who on average work more shifts more often, and run the gamut of responsibilities at the shelter – from dog and cat care to program coordinator to the Board of Directors (which is all-female except for their treasurer).

“We’d love to see more diversity, but you kind of get who you get. You really can’t really control who’s going to walk through the door and say they want to volunteer,” Eisele said.

“But it’s something I’ve always found kind of baffling because we’re definitely open to anyone being involved…maybe it’s just because we’re not paid,” she joked.

While no nonprofit discriminates against volunteers on the basis of gender and most aim to promote opportunities for all, some researchers have noticed a trend in volunteering that have left coordinators like Eisele wondering: Where are the guys?

Several studies have found significant statistical differences in the ways men and women volunteer, the amount of time they spend volunteering and the types of work they do.

According to a 2015 Bureau of Labor Statistics report on volunteering in the U.S., adult women volunteer at higher rates than men across all age groups, educational levels and other major demographic characteristics – about 28% of women reported regularly volunteering compared to about 22% of men.

Retirees also make up a significant portion of the national volunteer base, according to the report, with nearly a quarter of all U.S. adults over the age of 65 completing some type of volunteer work, averaging about 94 volunteer hours annually.

A 2006 study by Hiromi Taniguchi, a sociologist and volunteerism researcher at the University of Louisville, substantiated some differences between the types of volunteer opportunities men and women seek out.

Taniguchi found women are more likely to volunteer in the areas of social and health services, and more likely to participate in activities like preparing or distributing food, tutoring, teaching or fundraising.

Male volunteers are more often found in political, economic and scientific fields, Taniguchi noted, and more likely to engage in general labor, coach or referee sports teams, or participate in food distribution programs.

Joyce Finkelstein, executive director of the Green Valley-Sahuarita Volunteer Clearinghouse, said the trends hold some truth here.

“In our senior community, many volunteers, but certainly not all, participate in more traditional gender roles. Females give more hands-on, direct service; males more service requiring physical strength and mechanical or technical skills,” Finkelstein said.

For example, Finkelstein said, in their cadre of 18 volunteers, the local Arizona Rangers group of uniformed law enforcement auxiliary personnel has one female, and about 60% of the Friends in Deed volunteer base, which offers transportation services to community members, are males who serve in a more technical capacity as drivers.

Penny Pestle, board president of the Sahuarita Food Bank and Community Resource Center, estimates their workforce is balanced, with males constituting about 40% of volunteers who were predominantly concentrated in areas that require more physical strength.

“It does depend on particular functions. The folks who are lifting heavy stuff, not always, but tend to be younger women or men. With our age demographic, we do lean very much toward the retirees in our community…but over the last few years we’ve had an influx of primarily young men,” Pestle said.

“The biggest differences I see are in the heavy lifting and the trucking because it’s a lot of physical work, but I also have a teeny, tiny girl who does delivery drop-off and she’s a real go-getter,” Lavo said.

“So, it’s kind of hard to say there's a hard and fast rule because many people are happy to help anywhere, and just say, ‘Put me where you need me,'” she said.

Karen Pomroy’s group of volunteers at Equine Voices Rescue and Sanctuary is about 80% women, she estimated, adding that she has received more support from male volunteers recently.

But gender aside, work on the ranch is highly physical, Pomroy said.

“I love having the men there because they can fix stuff, but the women fix things, too! They’ve painted entire buildings for me, and there’s definitely a crossover. I wouldn't categorize it as a man’s work vs. women’s work,” Pomroy said.

“Our volunteers are mostly retirees, and they’re out there in the rain, in the sun, in the 120-degree heat…we even have volunteers hobbling around after surgery. They’re just extremely dedicated and, man or woman, they have huge hearts and they’re the backbone of this whole operation,” she said.

But despite the variety volunteer opportunities, the fact remains that a majority of volunteers in the Green Valley area – and across the country – are women.

So, what might account for the volunteer gap between the sexes?

One common explanation is cultural expectations. Men, Taniguchi writes, are often conditioned to think they should devote all of their energy to generating income to be the “breadwinner” for their family unit, which could result in them being less willing to devote themselves to nonmarket activities outside the family.

This theory could be seen in a segment of Taniguchi’s study, which found that when men and women are out of work, women increase their time spent volunteering, while men spend almost all their free time looking for work.

Taniguchi also writes that volunteering is “a privilege as well as a responsibility,” and can be gender-specific with respect to some key employment and family-related variables – those who find themselves struggling to find a job, or who may be working to care for an elderly spouse or family member were often discouraged from volunteering.

Other research out of a 2016 study out of Leeds Beckett University suggests male volunteers may need something specific to “hook” them into volunteer work and would be more likely to work with an organization they already had a connection to. On the other hand, women appeared to volunteer for social reasons or out of a desire to help the community.

Michelle Phillips, executive director of the Greater Green Valley Community Foundation, noted that upbringing and lived experience can also play a role in whether or not you volunteer later in life.

“I’d say women do volunteer more, but I think it depends upon the age, how they grew up and sometimes what their background is...some people might just simply have more time on their hands,” she said.

Finkelstein speculated that the difference in gender representation might just be a reflection of individuals looking for the type of volunteerism that is a “good fit” for the skills that they want to share.

Regardless of the reasoning, Finkelstein said organizations and the individuals they serve see lots of value in retaining and recruiting a diverse group of volunteers – whether it’s diversity in gender, ethnicity, physical ability or lived experience.

“That diversity is hugely important to us because it really helps strengthen this organization,” Pestle said.

“One of the beautiful things about this area, particularly in Green Valley, is there is such a richness of diverse work and life experiences, and that is hugely important because we can draw from that people who can write, who have been a social worker, someone who has taught or been a nurse, has computer skills or craftsman skills or whatever it might be – all of those things together become very, very useful,” she said.

It is almost hard to believe that just two days ago we experienced the summer solstice. Based on the behavior of the Phoenix Suns on Thursday evening, you would have thought we were days away from Christmas if it hadn’t been for the steamy 108° temperatures followed by a gusty monsoon storm in the Phoenix metropolitan region. Because it was quite the silent night from the offices of the Suns.

Phoenix GM James Jones made a grand total of 0 moves on the night of the 2022 NBA Draft.

Phoenix entered the evening without having any draft capital. The organization had traded their first round pick – which, based on a 64 win season in 2022, was the 30th overall pick – to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Chris Paul in 2020. Their second round pick was dealt mid season in 2022 to the Indiana Pacers. That transaction saw Torrey Craig re-join the team.

Pick number 30 became forward Peyton Watson from UCLA, who will now play in Denver as the Thunder traded the pick to the Nuggets for JaMychal Green and draft capital. Pick number 58, which the Pacers traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, was New Zealand guard Hugo Besson.

The possibility for some draft day fireworks were present as rumblings relative to Deandre Ayton landing spots have been ever present since the unceremonious end of the 2021-22 season occurred. Detroit – a popular team linked to the Suns’ starting center – chose to move up and draft University of Memphis big man Jalen Duren. Could this mean they are committed to the rebuild and don’t want to move forward with Ayton? Possibly.

Jalen Duren has been traded to the Pistons, per @ShamsCharania.Detroit was linked heavily as a Deandre Ayton destination, so we’ll see how this impacts that rumor.

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 24, 2022

The series of Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski notifications about players who had either signed two way contracts or are joining Summer League rosters was vacant of Suns action as well. Perhaps it was past James Jones’ bed time. Or perhaps he has zero interest in having a G League team, rostering a Summer League team for development opportunities, or associating with players who are prospects. It’s very LeBron James of him.

I’m guessing he fell asleep watching the draft like we all did.

Despite the epic Game 7 loss in the Western Conference Semifinals at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, the Suns are still a team coming off of a franchise best 64-win regular season. The potential for enhancing the team’s roster and building upon their greatest regular season finish in franchise history most likely will not come via prospects in the draft.

James Jones has made clear that building through the draft is a thing of the past for Phoenix. The big day on the calendar for the Phoenix Suns comes in one week. Although the NBA hasn’t officially announced it, the last time the league was on its regular schedule (back in 2019), July 1 is when teams could begin negotiating with free agents. Well actually, June 30 at 9:00pm Eastern so players, agents and teams don’t have to wait til midnight to make first offers.

That is 6:00pm Arizona time on June 30. Mark your calendars, start your engines, and turn on your Shams and Woj notifications.

In summary, was it a boring draft night for Suns fans? Sure. It felt as if we were standing outside of a stranger’s door, festively belting out “all is calm, all is bright…”. But boring is good. The franchise is close to achieving the ultimate goal of bringing a championship to the Valley. The NBA Draft does not carry the weight it did just 3 seasons ago. James Jones has turned the assets of the draft into production on the court.

So what if it was uneventful. For quality organizations, it should be.

“Sleep in heavenly peace…”

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - Thousands without power, dozens of power lines and trees down and damage across Southern Arizona as a powerful monsoon storm ripped through.

No doubt, it’s a busy day for Gabriel Felix, with Felix Landscaping and Maintenance LLC. When the storm started up Thursday night, he knew he would have an early day.

“I said, ‘you know what, I better get to bed because I know I’m going to be busy in the morning,’ but it was scary. It made everybody’s houses shake,” said Felix. “I’ve been here my whole life, 40 years, never seen a rainstorm like this one last night.”

He and his crew were clearing a tree that was across the road, blocking traffic and very large. They had to use a tractor to lift large chunks into a dump truck. Felix said it was the third one that day and certainly not the last one.

“The calls started coming in at 3:30, as soon as the storm hit, and first light we were out, and we’re going to be out until it gets dark,” said Felix.

One tree in a Green Valley neighborhood was completely uprooted and narrowly missed several houses. The exposed roots were taller than the nearby homes. Similar sights were all around the town and Sahuarita as trees, saguaros and more were toppled in the powerful winds. Dozens of power lines were downed in the storm, too. The Green Valley Fire District said they responded to three cars trapped by the live wires.

“They’re fine. We had crews that responded, obviously and had to assess to situation,” said L.T. Pratt, Green Valley Fire District. “If you don’t have to be on the road, if you don’t have to be out tonight, stay home.”

TEP says nearly 50 of these lines were blown over, prompting closures of Duval Mine Road and La Canada Drive while crews work to fix them. Nearly 20 transmitter lines and the entire substation are were down after the storms, according to TEP. It is damage Kevin Rogers came to see because it’s left him without power since 10 p.m. on Thursday. He is one of about 3,000 people who were without power for most Thursday night and Friday. Nearly 15,000 were initially without power.

“Right now, I’m just looking for ice and coolers so I won’t ruin my stuff in my refrigerator,” said Rogers.

TEP is handing out ice bags on the north side of the McDonalds off Continental Road in Green Valley. As of early Friday afternoon, they had given away more than 80 bags. They said they will be giving out the bags until all the power is back on, which could take a while due to the extensive damage.

“Because there’s infrastructure damage, it’s going to take us a while to get all the customers restored to power, but we’re hoping to have everyone restored except a few hundred people by tomorrow,” said Sherri Cadeaux with TEP. “We should have the majority those customers restored today, but there may only be a couple of hundred people without power tomorrow.”

Copyright 2021 KOLD News 13. All rights reserved.

A Green Valley Realtor was sentenced Friday to 30 days of home detention for continuing to menace a local judge despite a court order to stay away.

The sentencing came minutes after Michael G. Scaramella was found guilty on two misdemeanor counts of interfering with a judicial proceeding and failure to comply with an Injunction Against Harassment.

Justice of the Peace Ray Carroll’s testimony and more than two dozen Sheriff’s reports paint a picture of the elected judge living the past two years looking over his shoulder.

“He tormented my wife and myself,” Carroll told the court before Scaramella’s sentencing. “It’s not because of COVID I don’t go out, it’s because of Mr. Scaramella. I just want this person to leave us alone.”

Carroll said he developed a stutter, his wife dropped out of activities and he got approval to bring a gun to the courthouse. He also said his wife spent months out of state in part over fears for her safety after they said Scaramella harassed them on the road, staked out parking lots and intersections looking for them, and spent hours parked on their street.

Scaramella was sentenced to 180 days in detention, with 150 days suspended provided he abides by the injunction. He also must undergo mental health and alcohol evaluations, and was given 12 months of unsupervised probation.

Pro Tem Judge John Davis, who presided over Friday’s bench trial, said Scaramella could be jailed or sentenced to home detention for the suspended 150 days if he violates terms of the sentence. Justice Courts rarely send people to jail, though Davis said it was a possibility if health conditions at the county jail improve.

Scaramella, 65, has another court date March 15, and is expected to start serving home detention a day later. He would be allowed to leave home for work.

The three-hour trial was the latest entry in a saga that has played out over nearly three years. Carroll’s first interaction with Scaramella was during a routine case in 2019 in his Green Valley courtroom.

According to Doug Levy, one of Carroll’s attorneys, “All the judge was doing was his job.”

In 2019, he signed an Order of Protection for a woman against her live-in boyfriend, Michael Scaramella. She sought it after an altercation at their Green Valley home.

The woman obtained the court order March 8, 2019, and Scaramella was served by a deputy at the home about 5:30 p.m. that day. Scaramella was uncooperative and tossed the court paperwork out of his car window as he drove off, according to a sheriff’s report. Scaramella then texted the woman five times over the next 90 minutes in violation of the order, according to reports, asking her to meet him for dinner. “I miss you. I’m sorry. Come please eat dinner with me. I’ll pay for you,” some of the texts read.

Scaramella was arrested that evening at the Coyote Grill in Green Valley on suspicion of Domestic Violence/Failure to Comply with a Court Order. He was released a day later, and the woman told deputies she received a call from his number shortly thereafter, “but no one said anything and immediately hung up,” according to a report.

Scaramella challenged the Order of Protection on March 27, writing in court paperwork, “I deeply regret my outburst and realize I need help coping with my frustrations and anger… I’ve never acted out like this.”

The order was upheld by Carroll.

Through the rest of 2019 and into early 2020, the woman made several more reports to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, none of which ended with charges or arrests, but all mentioning Scaramella. Among the reports:

•In October 2019, the woman called deputies because Scaramella was in the neighborhood helping somebody work on a car. Scaramella was cooperative with deputies and moved his vehicle, which was near the woman’s home, according to a report.

•In December 2019, the woman reported Scaramella was at a neighbor’s house, in violation of the 250 feet the court order stipulated. But incorrect information from a deputy who believed the court order didn’t apply to her residence hampered action, according to a report.

In March 2020, Carroll made his first call to the Sheriff’s Department regarding Scaramella. He reported that Scaramella was at a home across the street from his, which the Realtor had listed for sale, and took pictures of Carroll when he went outside. Carroll later said Scaramella was at the home “24/7, he practically lived there” and knew the judge lived across the street and was trying to intimidate him. Deputies reached Scaramella three days later and he denied taking photos; he said he was simply picking weeds at the home he had up for sale. Carroll was advised to call 911 about any further incidents.

Reports continued through 2020, and included the woman’s ex-husband, two of her friends who had a run-in with Scaramella, and a neighbor with whom Scaramella had a bloody scuffle. The neighbor was prosecuted after a physical altercation brought on after Scaramella started taking video of the man in his backyard for no apparent reason.

On June 30, 2021, Carroll asked the court to modify the order to keep Scaramella 1,000 feet from him and 500 feet from the intersection of Camino del Sol and Camino Estelar, where he said he’d seen him many times and is not far from Carroll’s home.

On June 29, 2021, Carroll’s wife, Ann, also obtained an Injunction Against Harassment against Scaramella, out of Sahuarita Municipal Court. Her paperwork cited four incidents including “aggressive tailgating,” an obscene gesture and “stalking and following” her in his vehicle.

In the middle of it all, a similar case played out involving another Pima County judge, which weighed heavy on Carroll’s mind.

In that case, Justice of the Peace Adam Watters experienced weeks of harassment at his home that included stalking and slashed tires. In February 2021, it led to a confrontation with a man named Fei Qin in front of Watters’ home, where the judge fired a gun into the road. Qin was sentenced to 18 months in prison last month.

In both cases the judges were targeted by people on the receiving end of bad news from the courts — the Order of Protection on Scaramella from Carroll, and Watters’ declining to evict one of Qin’s tenants because of a CDC eviction moratorium.

The cases are different in that Watters’ wrapped up relatively quickly while Carroll’s case dragged on — until two incidents in 2021 turned it into a front-burner issue for law enforcement and the courts.

About 8 a.m. on April 2, 2021, Carroll was driving to work when he saw Scaramella’s vehicle coming toward him.

Carroll took photos, which were overexposed and didn’t clearly show the incident. Even so, and in part due to Scaramella’s history, the deputy determined there was enough probable cause for a violation of the court order.

“I believe that Mr. Scaramella made it a point to harass Judge Carroll as often as he could,” the deputy wrote. But instead of arresting Scaramella, the deputy was told to send the case to the Pima County Attorney’s Office for a decision. No action was taken.

More than six months later, on Oct. 15, 2021, Carroll caught a break, in part because of his new habit of keeping his cell phone camera handy when on the road. He took photos of Scaramella in his 2006 gold Infiniti violating the court order by being within 500 feet of the intersection at Camino del Sol and Camino Estelar.

He called the Sheriff’s Department and Scaramella was tracked down and arrested. He was uncooperative and it took two deputies to get him out of his car. Later in court, Scaramella would deny it was his vehicle at the intersection. He spent one night in jail before being released and had no contact with Carroll until their court case Friday.

Taking action against Scaramella proved difficult because of the pandemic and because nearly the entire slate of judges in Consolidated Justice Court — Carroll’s colleagues — recused themselves.

The first 90 minutes were spent trying to reach a plea deal, which failed when Levy and Carroll disagreed with it because they said it let Scaramella off lightly. Addressing the court, Carroll said he wanted Scaramella to serve at least 60 days in jail.

“I assure you I’ve spent 60 sleepless nights worrying about my family,” he said.

Judge Davis agreed the plea deal was “insufficient” and the trial began immediately. Levy called it “a layup of a case,” and it played out that way over the next three hours.

Scaramella’s attorney, Brereton, pushed a point that his client was never served the modified Injunction Against Harassment, then was displeased when what he called “an 11th hour” document was shown in court, indicating it had been served.

Scaramella stumbled on the stand when he insisted he always drove around the intersection he wasn’t supposed to be at, costing him an extra six miles in travel time. But D’Arquea pointed out that Scaramella insisted he didn’t know about the modified order banning him from the intersection— so why avoid it?

Scaramella often shook his head as others testified on the stand and at least twice ignored his lawyer’s advice and spoke out.

“I’m tired of listening to these lies all day,” he said just before sentencing. “I’ve been harassed and it’s cost me a lot of money and that’s his goal, to run me out of Green Valley.”

Brereton indicated they would appeal the guilty verdicts.

The woman who once lived with Scaramella and still has an Order of Protection against him gave deputies a video last month she said shows him driving by her in her neighborhood while she was out for a walk on Jan. 27.

PIMA COUNTY, Ariz. — A wildfire burning in southern Arizona is 70% contained as of Thursday after igniting on Sunday

The Presumido Peak Fire has burned more than 2,500 acres as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

Crews are mopping up areas of low fire activity.

Firefighters for much of the week dealt with red flag warnings and wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour, the department said.

Crews and firefighting aircraft were called in to control the blaze burning about 20 miles west of Green Valley in Pima County.

Authorities said the fire was burning on Tohono O’odham Nation land. A VLAT, one of the largest firefighting aircraft in the nation, was called in to help.

No evacuation orders have been issued, but authorities say the smoke and flames are visible to several communities.

What started the fire is being investigated, but is believed to be human-caused.

The Presumido Peak Fire is one of the first significant wildfires of the year

The Fire Potential Outlook, a fire forecast put out by the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho, predicts above-average fire danger for the southern part of Arizona.

This is a developing story. Stay with 12 News for the latest updates.

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Residents in evacuation areas are urged to have an emergency supplies kit to bring with them when leaving their homes, especially as Arizona residents are beginning to see widespread fire activity throughout the state.

An emergency supply kit should be put together long before a wildfire or another disaster occurs. Make sure to keep it easily accessible so you can take it with you when you have to evacuate.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends that residents near a disaster store emergency supplies in a plastic tub, small suitcase, trash can, backpack, or other containers.

Residents should make sure they have the necessities, such as three gallons of water per person and a three-day supply of ready-to-eat food, the NFPA said. A first-aid kit, prescription medications, contact lenses, and non-prescription drugs should also be taken into account.

Copies of any important family documents, including insurance policies, identification, bank account records, and emergency contact numbers should also be taken and put into a waterproof, portable container in your kit, the NFPA said.

The association lists other items that would help in a disaster, including:

The entire NFPA checklist of supplies can be found here.