Thousands of Marana residents stand to save money on flood insurance due to a recent decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Marana residents who received letters from the town regarding the modernization of its Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) should mark their calendars with two important dates: May 5, the day the town will host a workshop detailing changes and what they mean to Maranans; and June 16, the day the new maps will take effect in Pima County.

A study commissioned by the town of Marana reduces the community’s floodplain area from 19 square miles to three.

Revised, study-based, digital flood insurance rate maps for Northwest Pima County have been generated, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is seeking public comments on them.

Any annexation, zoning and development of the Arroyo Grande state land parcel remains far in the future.

Water issues, construction projects top

At its Nov. 4 meeting, the Oro Valley Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-1 to continue a rezoning change request that if approved, could allow a developer to level the natural hillsides of a property at First Avenue and Lambert Lane to make way for 160 single-family homes.

On the west side of the Tucson Mountains stand 2,500 residential lots, surrounded by freshly paved roads, street signs and decorative walls.

Cross community and municipality collaboration is key to regional economic development. It’s a difficult concept when each community is trying to develop and protect its own economic base.

A landfill proposed for ground west of Marana constitutes "an inappropriate land use in a sensitive flood area," Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry indicates in an April 6 memorandum to the Pima County Supervisors.

Michael Racy approached the Marana Town Council one more time Wednesday, representing DKL Holdings with regard to the company’s proposed Marana Regional Landfill.

Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords conducted a whistle-stop tour of District 8 on Aug. 27, labeling her newly chosen Republican opponent Jesse Kelly "an extreme guy.

You've known about The Petrified Forest since childhood. It's the place in the desert where trees have been transformed into stone.

A bus service needs money. So does a symphony. And governments. This week, leaders in Marana and Oro Valley town governments are trying to manage the pain caused by shrinking purses. It's hard, frustrating, contentious work. Someone is inevitably harmed, and upset.

A quest to make Oro Valley and the Northwest “the healthiest town in America” hits a benchmark Saturday, with a package of events at Oro Valley Marketplace.

One by one last Tuesday, 14 residents west of Marana told the Marana Town Council they oppose an annexation of acreage that may be used for a proposed Marana Regional Landfill.

In her first term in Congress, 8th District Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has been “surprised by the deep rancor” of “deep-rooted partisanship” in Washington.

Information about a proposed commercial landfill and its related impacts is being presented to the Marana Town Council in a special meeting next Tuesday, June 22.

Joyce Rychener has spent dozens of hours in the hot summer sun at Steam Pump Ranch, where she's raised a Native American heritage garden.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors recently passed a measure that could place the Santa Cruz River and its tributaries under protection of the federal government’s Clean Water Act.