Marana voters have until May 21 to decide whether or not they will support a solo ballot measure relating to the town’s home rule option.

Last month, Marana voters received a ballot in the mail with just one question on it. But it’s a question that has a huge impact on how our local government serves residents and business owners over the next four years.

“We are the 90 percent.”

I was disappointed in Pima County District Attorney Barbara LaWall’s lack of interest in righting a more than 40-year wrong recently.

Marana voters spoke loud and clear in the town’s March 12 Primary Election.

Some Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives insist on wasting time on extremist legislation that promotes an ideological agenda focused on undermining the federal government instead of working on what matters most to Arizonans – creating jobs and improving education.

With the unofficial election results flowing in for the Town of Marana's all-mail election.

With the Marana election less than a week away, Town officials estimate they have only recieved about 20 percent of the ballots back.

Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez would like to remind all voters in the Town of Marana that your ballot must be received by Election Day, Tuesday, March 12, 2013.

Every year as federal and state lawmakers start working on the year’s tasks at hand from budgets to amending, defeating or approving new laws, there’s always a list of proposed legislature that makes one raise an eyebrow.

For the past few months, the big question for Sun City residents was, “Will it pass or fail?” On Jan. 31, the ballots were counted and the question answered - it passed. The proposed multi-million dollar fitness facility was approved. The new question is, “When will it open?”

The Town of Marana’s election season has officially arrived. Beginning last Thursday, the Pima County Recorder’s Office began to mail out ballots to approximately 20,000 registered voters in town. 

The Town of Marana has hosted a pair of open houses — the most recent last week at Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Library on N. Schisler Drive, to help educate the public about the town’s pursuit of a wastewater system.

Viable activities being denied

Marana will hold its first all-ballot-by-mail election beginning with the March 12 primary. The Pima County Recorder’s Office will send ballots by first-class mail to all registered voters beginning Feb. 14. Signatures on all returned ballots are verified by the County Recorder’s staff, which has at least 10 years of experience with verification and is trained by a forensic document examiner every two years.

For information about polling place and identification requirements, contact the Pima County Division of Elections at 3724-6830, or visit their website at www.pima.gov/elections.

The Oscar season is customarily kicked off by the Academy president and a random star solemnly announcing the nominees in a drab ceremony. The Academy decided to shake up tradition this year, however, in one of the most cheerful Oscar mornings we’ve ever had. Seth MacFarlane, director of “Ted” and this year’s Oscar host, announced the nominees Thursday morning alongside the invaluable Emma Stone, who had the funniest bit at last year’s Oscar ceremony. MacFarlane and Stone made for an outstanding duo, engaging in playful banter about each of the categories. Even when one of their jokes didn’t quite hit the mark, MacFarlane and Stone still looked like they were having a genuine ball on stage. That’s more than can be said about Anne Hathaway and James Franco when they hosted the Oscars two years ago.

Respecting the people’s opinion, and democracy, doesn’t appear to be the strong suit of many of our state’s lawmakers. No, instead, our state’s leaders continue to fight the 2010 voter-approved initiative that has made medical marijuana legal.

The Marana Town Council has authorized the town staff to negotiate with Pima County on one of two options the county recently offered to settle their dispute over the purchase of the Rillito Vista Wastewater Reclamation Facility.

After years of dispute over control of the Marana Wastewater Reclamation Facility, the Pima County Board of Supervisors is calling for an end to further litigation with the Town of Marana, recently extending two separate settlement offers.

The Arizona Supreme Court has declined to hear the Town of Marana’s case relating to a ballot measure that would have allowed the municipality to own and operate a wastewater facility without seeking voter approval in next year’s town elections. 

Fans have a chance to vote on the ESPN poll for the Heisman Trophy - to vote for UA's Ka'Deem Carey, who is currently the nation's leading rusher, visit