Life Coach in Oro Valley, AZ

The District 5 Little League Majors best-of-three tournament between Marana and Thornydale began Friday night with both teams showing their nerves with 39 runs scored off an abundance of walks, wild pitches and errors.

The game won by Thornydale 21-18 at Arthur Pack was still very competitive and both teams really showed their resolve by not letting the other pull away.

The teams play in the second game of the series on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Arthur Pack. If Thornydale wins, it moves on to the state tournament that begins July 8 at Verde Valley. If Marana prevails, the teams will meet in a deciding third game Monday at Arthur Pack at 6:30 p.m.

Thornydale’s ability to keep Marana scoreless in the sixth and final inning was the difference in Friday’s game.

An assist by left fielder Sophia Calderon getting out a runner trying to reach third after a base hit was sandwiched between infield assists by third baseman Ryann Pogue and shortstop Niyah Valenzuela on groundouts.

It was the only inning Thornydale did not allow a run. It came at the right time after Marana rallied for five runs in the fifth inning to take an 18-17 lead only to allow Thornydale to answer with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take the 21-18 lead.

“They made the plays when they had to,” Thornydale manager Robert Calderon said of his team. “It’s going to happen — we’re going to make errors. It’s what you do after the errors is important.

“What we’ve also been doing alot in practice is the play after the play. The throw from the outfield is an example of that. They kept going. They didn’t stop.”

Thornydale LL Majors softball coach Robert Calderon’s team is one win away from advancing to the state tournament. They beat Marana 21-18 in the first game of a best-of-three District 5 series. pic.twitter.com/BPRhZxM87Y

— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 25, 2022

Bella Kneeland provided a good example of fortitude for her teammates.

She struggled in the circle to start the game but she made up for it with her bat. She went 2 for 3 with two runs, two doubles and three RBIs.

Marana took a 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Instead of caving in, Kneeland and Thornydale responded with 13 runs in the first three innings to take a 13-10 lead.

Thornydale LL Majors standout Bella Kneeland had a couple of doubles to lead her team’s lineup in a 21-18 win over Marana. The teams play in Game 2 of the best-of-three District 5 championship series tomorrow at Arthur Pack at 6:30 pm. pic.twitter.com/d9LDZD8zLz

— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 25, 2022

“It’s stressful but it’s fun at the same time,” Kneeland said what it felt like to be in the high-scoring game. “Everyone tried their best.”

The game was a constant back-and-forth affair.

After Marana rallied to tie the game at 13 in the top of the fourth inning, Thornydale answered with four in the bottom of the inning.

Marana responded with five runs in the top of the fifth to take an 18-17 lead behind an RBI single by Addison Dillard and a two-run single by Ananna Lopez, but Thornydale again rallied for four runs.

Valenzuela, who had two singles and scored three runs in the game, started the fifth-inning rally for Thornydale with walk. Valenzuela later scored as did Kenzie Pritchett and Kneeland after Prickett reached on an error and Kneeland a walk.

Jillian Iiams also scored that inning after a walk. Iiams had a double and run and Haley Allsup had an RBI double as part of Thornydale’s seven-run third inning. Allsup finished 2 for 3 with two runs and two RBIs.

FRIDAY, JUNE 24

D-5 SOFTBALL 10-12: ARTHUR PACKThornydale 21, Marana 18

D-5 BASEBALL 8-10: MEHLContinental Ranch 16, Tucson Mountain 3Thornydale 15, Oro Valley 5

D-5 BASEBALL 9-11: CURTISMarana 13, Tucson Mountain 8 (Consolation)Canyon View 18, Thornydale 8

D-5 BASEBALL 10-12: ORA MAEOro Valley 8, Continental Ranch 7Flowing Wells 19, Thornydale 9 (Consolation)Western vs. Canyon View (not reported)

D-5 BASEBALL 50/70: ARTHUR PACKThornydale 10, Tanque Verde 3

D-12 BASEBALL 9-11: FIELD OF DREAMSCactus 3, Copper Hills 2Sunnyside 15, Los Ninos 0

D-12 JUNIOR BASEBALL: JESSE OWENSSunnyside 10, Cactus 7Randolph 20, Southwestern 0

D-12 SOFTBALL 10-12: FIELD OF DREAMSCopper Hills 2, Sunnyside 0

SATURDAY, JUNE 25

D-5 SOFTBALL 10-12: ARTHUR PACKMarana vs. Thornydale, 6:30 p.m. (Championship)

D-5 BASEBALL 8-10: MEHLContinental Ranch vs. Thornydale, 5 p.m. (Elimination)Canyon View vs. Tanque Verde, 7:30 p.m.

D-5 BASEBALL 9-11: CURTISOro Valley vs. Marana, 5 p.m. (Consolation)CDO vs. Western, 7:30 p.m. (Elimination)

D-5 BASEBALL 10-12: ORA MAECDO vs. Marana, 5 p.m.Oro Valley vs. TBD, 7:30 p.m. (Elimination)Tucson Mountain vs. Flowing Wells, 5 p.m. (Consolation)

D-5 BASEBALL 50/70: ARTHUR PACKWestern vs. Thornydale, 6:30 p.m.

D-12 BASEBALL 8-10: PURPLE HEARTCactus vs. Copper Hills, 5:15 p.m.Southwestern vs. Rincon, 7:45 p.m.

D-12 BASEBALL 9-11: FIELD OF DREAMSRincon vs. Cactus, 5:15 p.m.Randolph vs. Sunnyside, 7:45 p.m.

D-12 JUNIOR BASEBALL: JESSE OWENSCopper Hills vs. Southwestern, 5 p.m. (Elimination)Empire vs. Cactus, 7:45 p.m. (Elimination)

D-12 SOFTBALL 8-10: FIELD OF DREAMSSouthwestern vs. Sunnyside, 5:15 p.m.

D-12 SOFTBALL 10-12: FIELD OF DREAMSRandolph vs. Sunnyside, 7:45 p.m. (Elimination)

The Grand Canyon Synod (GCS) Transition Team in partnership with the Rocky Mountain Synod (RMS) walks with Congregations through the transition time of calling a new rostered leader (pastor or deacon). The Team is led by Bishop Hutterer with Director of Congregation Transitions in the GCS and RMS, Deacon Janice Zimbelman, Associate for Candidate Identification, Dr. Jerry Kingston, and Transition Coaches, Rev. Pat Reed and Rev. Glenn Zimbelman.

The Transition Coach is the liaison between the Office of the Bishop and the Congregation. Coaches work most closely with councils and call committees once the congregation, under the guidance of an Intentional Interim Pastor, has completed a Ministry Site Profile (MSP). The MSP describes a congregation’s setting and ministries along with the qualifications and qualities they are seeking in their next rostered leader. This document is used by the Office of the Bishop to find a good match for a congregation. Deacon Zimbelman contacts candidates interested in serving in the Grand Canyon Synod and discusses their gifts for ministry. Candidates are identified through networking, congregation recommendations and through a database of candidates interested in serving in Region 2. That database is updated weekly and maintained by Dr. Kingston. The final decision about which candidates are presented to a call committee rests with the Bishop.

The past year has been a learning process as we continue to refine and improve the Call Process by providing increased communication, guidance and care to rostered ministers and congregations during times of transition. Our new Transition Manual, Congregations in Transition: Moving Boldly into the Future, is posted on the GCS website along with a list of Congregations in Transition (CIT). They can be found under the Congregational Resources tab. Synod Council Representatives attend Congregational Meetings to Call a New Pastor and bring greetings from the Office of the Bishop. They are there to celebrate the call of a new pastor not only to a congregation, but also to this Synod. We are church together.

The Grand Canyon Synod Transition Team has received positive feedback this past year from the leaders of congregations (transition teams, councils, call committees, and interim pastors) who appreciate the availability and attention from the Office of the Bishop. Since last Assembly, the GCS has welcomed 13 new pastors including 3 first call pastors. The lists (in alphabetical order) of Congregations with New Leaders and Current Congregations in Transition are below.

Respectfully Submitted,

Deacon Janice Zimbelman (jzimbelman@gcsynod.org), Rev. Patricia Reed (preed@gcsynod.org), Rev. Glenn Zimbelman (gzimbelman@gcsynod.org)

Swiss drug giant Roche has invested millions of dollars expanding its Oro Valley campus to meet demand for its medical diagnostics, and now its employees have a place of their own.

Roche Tissue Diagnostics this week unveiled the latest phase of its campus transformation — the Employee Forum, a two-story, 45,000-square-foot building that features a conference center, an expansive cafeteria with rotating local restaurant fare, a gym, wellness center and meeting rooms.

On Tuesday, company and civic leaders joined hundreds of Roche employees in the cavernous conference center to cut the ribbon on the building, which was five years in the planning.

Jill German, who leads the site as president of Roche Tissue Diagnostics, said the new building was badly needed to connect employees on the sprawling campus and was designed based on feedback from Roche’s roughly 1,800 employees.

“We needed a place that people could gather in, people could connect in and be creative in, and at the same time, they voiced desires around health and wellness, and frankly that became even more pronounced during the pandemic,” German said.

The new building’s 2,500-square-foot fitness center is open to employees 24 hours a day, seven days a week and includes a large weight room, glass-walled rooms for instructor-led fitness classes, lockers and showers.

Next door, a wellness center includes a lab to process blood samples and two exam rooms to conduct physicals or receive shots and vaccinations, staffed by a registered nurse, a nurse practitioner and medical assistant.

Besides the 4,000-square-foot cafeteria with free coffee, the Employee Forum has a separate coffee bar near the entrance and the publicly accessible “Innovation Center,” which features interactive demonstrations of Roche’s tissue diagnostics platforms including several lab instruments.

For business collaborations, the Employee Forum has eight conference rooms of various sizes, and the main cafeteria can seat up to 500 people for events.

Roche, which has steadily expanded its campus on East Innovation Park Drive since the company acquired the former Ventana Medical Systems nearly 15 years ago, is looking forward to opening a new 60,000-square-foot manufacturing building in Marana by the end of the year.

The new building will host Roche’s instrument manufacturing operation, while the Oro Valley campus will remain home to research and development and manufacturing of reagents — chemicals used in diagnostic tests, German said.

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - Barbed wire, broken glass, and other debris is piling up in an area where wildlife frequent and it’s becoming an eyesore for some residents.

This is happening in the wildlife corridor near the Oro Valley Marketplace off of Tangerine.

Some residents are concerned that this trash could harm wildlife if they get caught in it, but Pima County says cleaning up the trash could cause even more problems.

“There are bobcats and javelina trotting through with their young and we don’t want them to be injured by rusty barbed wire and tangles of old bailing wire and these sharp dangerous objects,” Oro Valley resident Dr. Amy Eisenberg said.

Broken bottles, parts of tires, even some rusty sheet metal are all things you’ll find in the wildlife corridor. Some of it is old and still left from when this spot was a dumping site, but some of it is from people dumping their trash now.

“Contemporary stuff has no place here. If we remove this stuff, the native vegetation may regenerate and animals will have a safe corridor alongside this Oro Valley Marketplace,” she said.

Dr. Eisenberg took her concerns to Pima County. When they told her the area wouldn’t be cleaned up, she brought her worries to KOLD. We spoke with the county about why there wasn’t a plan to get the trash picked up.

“If we were to bring in those bigger machinery types of equipment, the back loaders, the scrapers, we would have to remove infrastructure in order to get into the wash. We would potentially have to blade around these trees. We would actually do more of an environmental harm by picking up the trash than just leaving it,” said Joseph Cuffari, program manager for Pima County Regional Flood Control.

They will take away the big stuff, but the glass and debris will stay.

But is it a threat to wildlife in the area?

The county brought along a research scientist who says trash can have lots of impacts on wildlife, but it depends on the trash.

″I think of all the threats they have to deal with, it wouldn’t be a big concern of mine. Maybe that one individual animal might suffer a little while until the wound healed up,” Matt Goode said.

Though things like barbed wire and broken glass have the potential to injure wildlife passing through, he believes the animals will be able to avoid it for the most part.

For that smaller debris, the county is hoping that during monsoon it will flow into the trash captures they have. They say that will be the easiest and most environmentally friendly way to clean some of it up.

Copyright 2022 KOLD News 13. All rights reserved.

Italian aerospace and defense giant Leonardo is expanding its presence in metro Tucson with a new laser manufacturing plant that will add 170 jobs to its local payroll.

Leonardo Electronics US Inc., a provider of advanced technologies for defense, security, medical and industrial applications, said is has purchased 12 acres in Oro Valley’s Innovation Park and plans to begin construction of a new semiconductor laser manufacturing facility on the site at the end of the first quarter of 2022.

Leonardo arrived in Tucson in 2009 when the company, then known as Finmeccanica, acquired laser-diode maker Lasertel and its plant along Interstate 10 in Marana in a deal reportedly worth $10 million.

The company said it has outgrown that 75,000-square-foot facility, which currently employs about 200 workers making laser diodes — electronic components used for fiber-optic telecommunications, imaging and a range of other applications.

The new Innovation Park location will comprise about 120,000 square feet of manufacturing and administrative offices, and the full expansion over five years will add an additional 170 jobs to the Tucson facility, Leonardo said in a news release with Sun Corridor Inc., the Tucson region’s main economic-development group.

Leonardo plans to invest about $100 million in the new plant resulting in a total economic impact of $374 million over the next 10 years, Sun Corridor said.

“This new larger facility will support our business growth across all key market segments,” said Matthew Keegan, president and CEO of Leonardo Electronics US Inc. “We ultimately selected Innovation Park in Oro Valley due to its proximity to our existing employee base and exceptional talent in the region, which is one of the leading photonics technology hubs in the country.”

The University of Arizona’s Wyant College of Optical Sciences is one of the nation’s top-ranked programs in optics and photonics, a optics-related field that includes generation, sensing and processing of light for electronics and other applications.

The UA Tech Park on South Rita Road is home to UA tech spinoff NP Photonics, which makes fiber lasers and and amplifiers, and Applied Energetics, which makes high-powered lasers for military uses.

Besides Sun Corridor, partners in the Leonardo project include the Arizona Commerce Authority, Pima County, the Town of Oro Valley, VentureWest, Trammel Crow, SmithGroup and Sundt Construction.

Beyond attracting new businesses, economic development is about helping local companies expand, said Joe Snell, president and CEO of Sun Corridor.

“Success stories such as this have a tremendous ripple effect across the entire economy,” Snell said. “Leonardo’s success is the entire region’s success.”