Category: Health

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Copper State of Mind

Copper State of Mind

October marks the beginning of the fall season. Temperatures are beginning to dip back into the double digits. The leaves are changing in some parts our state. Pumpkin festivals and haunted houses are in full swing. And you might even see festive holiday decorations up in some of the stores.

But October is also the month where we rally around a few causes – breast cancer awareness, domestic violence awareness, mental health awareness, diabetes awareness, among many others.

Please take a moment this month to consider supporting organizations doing great work on these and other important issues facing our communities today.

– Abbie S. Fink, HMA Public Relations

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Alternatives to plastic straws on the rise

Plastic straws

Cities from Seattle to St. Petersburg are banning single-use plastics like plastic straws, utensils and stirrers to limit the amount of plastic waste in the oceans.

It’s a fundamental shift that’s affecting nearly anyone who visits a restaurant or coffee shop. Behind the scenes, restaurants are looking for alternatives to plastic straws without impacting customer experience, their brand or the bottom line.

As a consumer, understand it’s a process. Your favorite coffee shop or restaurant may do a test run with paper or bamboo straws before deciding what works best. It’s all part of the movement to ‘go green.’

– Jeremy Bess, Revenue Management Solutions

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Oro Valley closes ball fields for improvements

JDK Park

The James D. Kriegh Park (JDK Park) is the oldest and most heavily used park in Oro Valley. But parts of the park are showing their age, so JDK Park’s softball and baseball areas are getting remodeled.

This is the home of CDO Little League, which has been here for 40 years. We’ve had generations of families learn how to play baseball here — to the extent that we’ve had young boys, now men, going on to the big leagues. This is their home when they come back, but it’s also the heart of our community.

Renovations will continue through March.

– Kristy Diaz-Trahan, Oro Valley Parks and Recreation Director

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American food spending shifts away from farmers

American food spending

A recent USDA study shows that for every dollar Americans spend on food, only 7.8 cents goes to farmers, their lowest share since 1993. Another important metric: For the first time, over half of all consumer food dollars are spent at restaurants.

“The on-the-go consumer leads to farmers getting a smaller share of the food total,” said John Newton, director of market intelligence at the American Farm Bureau Federation.

And there’s always a millennial niche: They go grocery shopping the least compared to other generations, and devote more of their at-home food spending to prepared foods.

– Lauren Bankert, The Tallahassee 100

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ACE to thin, restore 200 acres near Flagstaff

ACE

In 2017, American Conservation Experience (ACE) partnered with the City of Flagstaff and Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project to thin 110 acres of hazardous fuels in Dry Lake Hills, just north of Flagstaff. The goal was to reduce the threat of forest fires and post-fire flood impacts.

This successful partnership will now continue thanks to support from the City of Flagstaff, National Forest Foundation and Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

ACE will be employing, training and deploying 24 emerging forestry professionals, now through late November, to thin an additional 200 acres in Dry Lake Hills and Brookbank Meadow.

– Jeff Bousson, American Conservation Experience

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Arizona Sports Hall of Fame to induct 6 new members

Pat Tillman

Late Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman and former Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Mark Grace are among the six members of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame’s 2018 induction class.

They’re joined by former Brophy College Preparatory swimmer Gary Hall Jr., long-time Arizona Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea, Xavier College Preparatory athletic director and golf coach Sister Lynn Winsor and former Chaparral High School softball coach Jeff Oscarson.

Inductees must be either an Arizona native, immediately recognized as an Arizonan or have made at least two significant contributions to the state’s athletics community.

The induction ceremony will be Nov. 1.

– Nikki Balich, Arizona Sports Hall of Fame

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Arizona Science Center gets grant to expand STEM

Arizona Science Center

The APS Foundation of America is enhancing its partnership with Arizona Science Center, with a $1 million grant to the Rural Communities Expansion Project.

This grant will sustain the professional development of K-8 teachers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects and allow the program to expand into Cochise and Yuma counties.

The program brings Arizona Science Center staff into schools for a full-day, hands-on event. To date, it has impacted over 400 teachers, 10,500 students and 21 administrators from 15 schools in nine rural districts, where high-quality STEM professional development opportunities were limited.

– Barbara Lockwood, APS Foundation of America

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New homeless shelter coming to Bullhead City

floor plan of homeless shelter

Planning and zoning commissioners recently approved a 50-year conditional-use permit allowing Housing for Hope Inc. to build and operate a homeless shelter in Bullhead City, Arizona.

The 10,500-square-foot, $2 million building will house a family shelter, men’s and women’s shelter, veterans beds, outreach center, commercial kitchen and counseling services. The shelter will be the first of its kind in the area. Construction is set to begin in mid-to-late fall, and the shelter could be in operation by the first quarter of 2019.

Housing for Hope is an affiliate of Catholic Charities Community Services.

– Jean Christofferson, Housing for Hope

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Lessons from Mr. Rogers

Copper State of Mind

Many of us grew up watching programming on PBS – “Sesame Street,” “Electric Company” and of course, “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” I recently saw the documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.” Co-workers, family and friends talk about the impact he had not only on the children who tuned in daily, but on them, too.

Dealing with topical issues – the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, the Challenger explosion, civil rights, disabilities, among others, he taught us the importance of being kind to each other and while the nation changed around him, he stood firm in his beliefs about the importance of protecting childhood.

– Abbie S. Fink, HMA Public Relations

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Beware of Fridays when behind the wheel

highway

According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, in the past decade, nearly one million licensed drivers and registered vehicles have been added to Arizona’s roadways. That means more congestion and more crashes.

Of the 126,845 collisions in 2016, 30.3 percent happened on the state highway system, while 69.7 percent occurred on other roadways, such as city streets and county roads.

Fridays saw more crashes than any other day of the week. During weekdays, crashes spike during morning and afternoon commutes. On weekends, most crashes occur between 6-9 p.m. So much for the weekend starting right.

– Scott Hanson, HMA Public Relations