U.S. Rep. Ron Barber said he is pleased that the president is seeking additional funding for the Iron Dome missile-defense system in the upcoming budget – something Barber urged the president to do 10 days ago.

As the deadline passed for the nation’s across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration, the failure of Democrats and Republicans to strike a deal before March 1 now means $85 billion will be reduced from government programs and federal agencies over the next 10 months, the consequences of which could also be felt locally, though likely not immediately. 

This article is in reply to a recent Special to The Explorer written by Jo Holt published in the Feb. 20 issue of the paper. Because Arizona has had two balanced General Fund budgets in a row, our state is ranked number one in the nation for business startups.  We went from 46th to number four in private sector job creation. We are 10th in overall great business climate compared to California which is ranked 50th.  During the past four-year recessionary period, we never let K-12 public school per pupil funding go below $9,000 (federal, state plus local funding). We mortgaged the Senate, House and Executive buildings in order to protect K-12 education funding. The north side of Tucson has four outstanding public school districts in Catalina Foothills, Amphi, Marana and Flowing Wells. We have more charter schools per capita and more school choice than any state. We have open enrollment between public school districts, tuition tax credits and a great home school program.

Last week, more than 35 female engineers from Raytheon, the University of Arizona, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and other organizations came to work with nearly 50 middle school girls. The object of last week’s activities was to mentor middle school girls in everything from electrical to aerospace engineering.

Last Friday night my husband took me on a date night to see Kris Allen, who was in town for a single show downtown. Because I was over the moon with excitement (and maybe also because I finally had something other than boring household chores to post about) I penned a pithy Facebook post to brag to all my friends about my plans for the night. Having developed the smidge of a celebrity crush on Kris Allen, it didn’t occur to me that someone might not know who he was. You can imagine my surprise, then, when one of my Facebook friends commented, “Who is Kris Allen?”

The third time is the charm for 83-year-old Jim Rosel, resident at Desert Springs Gracious Retirement Living in Oro Valley, who is retiring for the third time from his career of engineering.

Pima County is making bold strides toward building a more robust local economy, evident with the recent release of its new Economic Development Plan. 

The Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center (SABCC) hosted a bus tour of Tucson International Airport property on Friday, Nov. 30, where buffelgrass will be removed using a $2.5 million federal grant awarded to Pima County and the airport. Pima County contributed $145,500 in matching funds, with TIA contributing a $706,000 match. The grant is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s pre-disaster mitigation program.

U.S. Rep. Ron Barber today welcomed a contract totaling nearly $18.4 million for weapons development at Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems.

The numbers we should all be concerned about: 23% is the largest portion of our workforce in Pima County.  This sector works in the service industry. Followed by Government sector at 19%.

Creating an aerospace and defense park and ensuring the future strength of Raytheon Missile Systems and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base are the centerpieces of an economic blueprint released this week to foster robust job growth in Pima County.

You, an LD 11 voter and reader of the Explorer newspaper, deserve to know the truth about Arizona K-12 public education funding, energy, nuclear recycling and all subjects being debated during this election cycle. I am writing about these three specific subjects because they have appeared in recent political ads and letters to the editor. I want you to know the truth about them.

Despite the fate of Tucson water parks like Justin’s Water World and Sports Park, Breakers Water Park has continued to push through a tough economy to stay afloat in Tucson since 1985.

When one says they have a recording studio in their home, usually a microphone in a closet with some padding comes to mind. This is not the case at Gary Nieman’s house where he owns and operates Mattlind Studios.

The Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO) organization has found itself in the public eye following a leadership exchange meeting to San Diego in May.

If Oro Valley’s June 6 council meeting is a sign of things to come, the Town has a lot to look forward to with its newly reorganized council.

Thursday, Jan. 12

Raytheon Company received a $122.5 million contract from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency for continued development of Standard Missile-3 Block IA and IB programs. Under this modification, Raytheon will provide SM-3 design and engineering, in service engineering support, production engineering, surveillance and flight test support, and transition to production.

When Amphitheater High School English Language Development teacher Carla Garcia was told she would have administrative staff coming to visit her classroom, she expected just that. Needless to say, when she saw a “huge camera”, flowers, and a couple of gift bags being brought into her classroom, she was a surprised.

Non-profit Tucson Values Teachers and Walgreens stores throughout Southern Arizona are spearheading the third "Tucson Supplies Teachers" campaign to stock classrooms and prevent teachers from having to buy school supplies with their own money.

Less than a year after Gov. Jan Brewer signed an executive order to create the Arizona Commerce Authority, its president and CEO, Donald Cardon, spoke in Marana about the ACA’s progress and challenges to date.

Tired of hearing ‘what if’s’

Friday, Dec. 17

Joe Snell, TREO's president and chief executive officer, shared "five things we must consider for the future" at the economic development organization's Friday luncheon.