Free Republic

TUCSON, Ariz. – Chris Paul Snow, 68, of Marana, Arizona, was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer G. Zipps to 144 months in prison for assault of a federal officer with a deadly weapon, unlawful possession of a destructive device, possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, and use of a firearm during a crime of violence.On August 3, 2018, law enforcement responded to a 911 call reporting a shooting incident at Snow’s residence in Marana. While investigating the incident, officers found several rounds of ammunition, loaded firearm magazines, and a live grenade in Snow’s...

Up to 1,000 non-native fish died in the Lower Santa Cruz River, a retired fish biologist says, because a state contractor diverted river water for an Ina Road bridge construction project. The diversion moved the river’s treated sewage effluent from the west bank to the east bank, away from the towering, shady willow trees along the west bank. It ended Friday, a little more than a week after it started, when the contractor dug a new channel near the bridge site to reverse the effluent’s course back to the west bank. The diversion “was a necessary part of the construction,”...

The town of Marana is offering Boy Scouts plenty of chances to "do a good deed daily" - and work toward their Eagle Scout awards in the process. Though the town and the Scouts have been working together for several years, the help has been particularly welcome as town finances have gotten tighter and budgets have dried up, according to town officials. The Parks and Recreation department is a big beneficiary of the Scouts' efforts. Scouts have installed a community water demonstration garden at the Marana Operations Center on West Ina Road, placed trail signs along the Tortolita Preserve Trail,...

Navy officials have suspended parachute training at a facility near Marana after the second SEAL in less than a month died in an accident there. The latest incident occurred at about 8 a.m. Thursday when a SEAL suffered fatal injuries during parachute training at Pinal Airpark, according to a news release from the Navy's Special Warfare Command. The SEAL was flown to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The SEAL, who isn't being identified until his family is contacted, was based on the East Coast. In the wake of Thursday's incident and another fatal parachuting exercise on Feb....

Long separation to Texas, then Afghanistan will stress families When she learned her soldier husband was going to war, Cate Beech felt a clock start ticking inside her heart. When they wake in the morning, when they glance at each other over dinner, it constantly reminds her that their time together is running out. "I see couples arguing over little things and I think 'I don't have time for that,' " said Beech, 30, of Marana. "Deployment changes the way you think. You can't worry about the small things." The Beeches — Cate, Chief Warrant Officer Stephen Beech, a helicopter...

<p>The collision between a military and a civilian plane near Tucson on Friday that killed an Army pilot prompted four competitive British skydivers in the civilian plane to leap for their lives, officials said Saturday.</p> <p>"Luckily, the (civilian) passengers were experienced jumpers, and luckily the pilot did a really good job of keeping the plane steady so the passengers could jump," said Tony Frost, owner of the Marana Skydive Center and the Cessna 182 involved in the crash.</p>