Kevin Murphy – Pima Post

Arizona House Passes Bill Allowing Community Colleges to Offer 4-year Degree Programs

23Mar

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

News

Arizona House Passes Bill Allowing Community Colleges to Offer 4-year Degree Programs

By Kevin Murphy On February 22, the Arizona House passed HB2523 by a vote of 57-3, which would allow community colleges to offer 4 year degrees. This is the first time ever that a bill advocating for four-year degrees being offered at community colleges has passed the Arizona House. If passed in the State Senate, the bill would require community colleges interested in offering 4 year degrees to conduct multi-year studies funded by local tax revenues to determine if they would be eligible to hire the required faculty and sustain four-year programs. While other state colleges have backed the bill going forward, Pima Community College has not advocated for or against it. Libby Howell, the Executive Director/Media, Community, and Government Relations at Pima Community College, said that the...

Successful Pima Coach Rebekah Quiroz “Hit the Dirt” and “Never Looked Back”

16Mar

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Features, Sports

Successful Pima Coach Rebekah Quiroz “Hit the Dirt” and “Never Looked Back”

Originally posted to allsportstucson.com By Kevin Murphy Pima Community College head softball coach Rebekah Quiroz is in her third season at the helm and is poised to write the next chapter in an already illustrious softball career. During legendary softball runs in high school, college, and in the professional ranks, Rebekah has been blessed to play for three legendary coaches: her father Armando Quiroz, Stacy Iveson and Mike Candrea. She also played on teams with the likes of softball greats Nancy Evans and Jenny Finch. In 2018, after storybook playing and coaching career, Rebekah was hired as Pima’s head softball coach, replacing her father Armando after he retired. At the outset of the 2021 season, Quiroz reflects on the softball experiences that got her to where she is and her expe...

Jason Jacome Has Come Full Circle in Life, On the Diamond

13Mar

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Sports

Jason Jacome Has Come Full Circle in Life, On the Diamond

Originally posted to allsportstucson.com By Kevin Murphy The game of baseball has taken Jason Jacome around the world since he last pitched at Pima Community College in 1991. That season Jacome was named Region 1 Player of the Year, with a record of 17-2. He was drafted in the 12th round in the 1991 MLB draft by the New York Mets. Now, 30 years later, he is back where the whole journey started. Jason was recently hired as an assistant baseball coach for the Aztecs, joining his brother, head coach Ken Jacome in the dugout this season. Jason and his family made the move to Tucson from Madison, Wis. His son Atley Jacome joined the Aztec baseball team this season as well. Jason played five seasons in the major leagues with the Mets, Kansas City Royals, and the Cleveland Indians, before pl...

On Verge of 300 Wins at Pima, Todd Holthaus Reflects During Season-In-Waiting

12Mar

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Sports

On Verge of 300 Wins at Pima, Todd Holthaus Reflects During Season-In-Waiting

Originally posted to allsportstucson.com Photo by Stephanie Van Latum By Kevin Murphy When Pima Community College women’s head basketball coach Todd Holthaus reflects on his greatest memory in his 293 wins at the college level, he doesn’t have to think back too far. “The greatest memory was probably the most recent victory. Winning last year on Mesa’s court when we reached the championship game, it’s the first time a visiting team won that game,” Holthaus said. In what ended up being Pima’s last game of the season, the team pulled off a much coveted victory on the road at Mesa Community College in the 2020 Region I championship game. The win snapped a long trend of the home team winning in previous region championship games between the two colleges. “We’ve played Mesa so many times in t...

Pima Indoor Sports to Begin After Long COVID-19 Stoppage

11Mar

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Sports

Pima Indoor Sports to Begin After Long COVID-19 Stoppage

Originally posted to allsportstucson.com By Kevin Murphy Pima Community College announced Wednesday that indoor sports will begin their seasons starting Friday and Saturday of this week. This is extremely welcome news to the those teams who have to this point been unable to play any scheduled games due to COVID-19 safety protocols. The women’s volleyball team will play the first game of the season at Eastern Arizona College at 1:00 p.m. on Friday in Thatcher. The women’s basketball team begins its season hosting Arizona Western College at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday at the West Campus Gym. The men are scheduled to open at home against Central Arizona College next Saturday, March 20, at the West Campus Gym. According to the press release from Pima Community College’s Sports Information Direct...

Pandemic Playbook: Santa Cruz River Park Disc Golf Course

11Mar

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Features, Stomping Grounds

Pandemic Playbook: Santa Cruz River Park Disc Golf Course

By Kevin Murphy The clean and crisp desert air, the jingle of the chains, the audible yelling and laughter in the distance: this is what playing a round of disc golf at the Santa Cruz River Park Disc Golf Course is like. For those not in the know: disc golf - or frisbee golf - is like the game of golf, except instead of golf balls being shot with a club towards holes in the ground, frisbees are thrown from a concrete tee pad toward above ground baskets installed on the course. Like regular golf, each basket is still called a hole. It is a game of skill, played solo, in pairs, or in groups, where the true opponents are yourself and the elements. Nestled within Santa Cruz River Park in the El Rio Acres neighborhood near Speedway and I-10, this hidden treasure, established in 1978, is freq...

4Mar

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Features, News

Career Café: Cover Letters and Coffee

By Kevin Murphy Career Café is a free event available to all Pima Community College students that offers career resources and career advice. The event started in 2013, and this year is being held virtually due to Covid-19 safety protocols. It will cover subjects like resume review, professional interviewing, cover letter tips, and career resources. Though the event is virtual this year, prizes will still be awarded, and the coffee will be sent to students in the mail. First Year Experience program developer Renee Forsyth oversees the event. “The purpose of Career Café is to teach the students job skills and career navigation,” Forsyth said. “So what we found was that the college was hosting these different career fairs and mock interviews, and the students weren't even ready with that...

20Feb

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Features

Ed Doran: Student Success Guru

By Kevin Murphy If you are looking for ideas on what it takes to be successful in college and beyond, Ed Doran holds the keys. Doran recently retired from his full time duties after 20 years at PCC. He spent the last 10 years of his career as an educational support counselor at the Downtown campus, and remains an adjunct instructor for the STU 210 University Transfer Strategies course, which helps students make the transition from PCC to a university. Amy Davis, who works at the department for student success courses at Pima Community College, has nothing but good things to say about Doran. “Ed is a wonderful Student Success faculty member who cares deeply about his students' success in his courses and in their lives,” says Davis. “ He recognizes that Student Success courses are about ...

8Feb

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

News

Legal Treats, Cramped Streets

By Kevin Murphy Proposition 207 was passed last November, legalizing the use and sale of recreational marijuana in Arizona. Under the new law, people 21 and older can grow up to six plants, with a maximum of 12 plants in homes with more than one adult, and possess up to an ounce (28 grams) of marijuana, with no more than 5 grams of concentrates. Once licensed by AZDHS, medical marijuana dispensaries can sell recreational marijuana. Recreational marijuana sales have the usual state and local taxes applied as well as an additional excise tax of 16 percent. After administrative costs, the remaining excise tax revenues are split mainly between community colleges (33%), police and fire departments (31.4%), state and local transportation programs (25.4%), public health and criminal justice ...

Restaurant Resilience: Two Local Restaurant Owners Adapt to Covid-19

3Feb

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

News

Restaurant Resilience: Two Local Restaurant Owners Adapt to Covid-19

By Kevin Murphy Tucson restaurant owners are adapting to a new normal under Pima County’s Covid-19 health and safety guidelines. With the onset of nationwide Covid-19 vaccinations already under way, the light at the end of the tunnel couldn’t come any sooner for local restaurant owners who have been soldiering on in this bitter battle since the beginning of the pandemic. With resilience and resolve, these restaurant revisionists have adapted and overcome setbacks to continue to safely serve their fare to the community at large. Located at 2650 N. 1st Ave., Smokey Mo co-owners OC Davis, Pat Jorgenson, and Brandon Johnson have been executing Kansas City style BBQ for the masses, while making some changes in protocols along the way. Purchased from previous ownership in March of 2020, the...