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Palo Verde Park is in the process of being hit by wire thieves. They operate in plain sight, and we don’t even know what we’re looking for. Luckily, we have a lot of nosy neighbors here, and I’m hoping you will be extremely vigilant and pay attention to anyone hanging out by the light box near you.

Lights out started on Amherst probably a month or maybe more before the recent outages on Yale, Baylor, Colgate. They have systematically been removing the wire. You won’t really recognize them because they blend well, or they come in the middle of the night when nobody is around. You may not even understand what’s happening.

One of the first steps is popping the light box and cutting the wires. Be on alert for popped light boxes, it’s easy enough for them to pop them. Report them right away.

Then they hook up the wire and move down the street pulling the wire. So, if you see a person or people, and a vehicle around a light box doing something whether your view is obscured or not, just pay attention to what they’re doing. They could be connecting wire to their vehicle to drag it down the street. They’ve taken out half mile strips in Rita ranch.

They may be coming from out of town, they may even look like real contractors themselves with a truck, maybe even lights. The point is to be vigilant and pay attention to these things and take photos and share them with TPD especially as your street gets added to the list of streets in Palo Verde Park that have gone dark. Don’t presume the people working on our lights are legit. Take photos/video and share with police or report on 311.

I was talking to one of the contractors who was doing the logging of the outages and he said that we were an especially good neighborhood because when I came up to him to ask who he was, he said I was the fourth person who had done that. So, keep it up Palo Verde Park!!

Look through your camera footage if you have a camera that faces a light box. Scan through your video to see if you can see any odd activity over the last few weeks, maybe even month. They probably work in small tasks, not the whole job at once. Last week I noticed light box covers off around and things cut. I reported that and lights off on Yale and Baylor midweek last week.

I’ve been seeing reports on 311 coming through on our other streets over the last few days. I don’t know if people are taking their time reporting or if lights are going dark as we sleep every night. I’ve been doing some sleuthing through budgets and other online references to streetlight maintenance theft and repair, and according to Tucson’s reported repair costs, every 100 damaged streetlights could cost taxpayers approximately $131,000 to restore.

And for the folks who ask why should we care—THIS is why we should care.

So I hope all of us nosy neighbors are on it now. We’re good at reporting on strangers with weird behavior or cars circling the neighborhood etc. etc. so let’s get to work. Let’s see if we can’t help the police find these thieves. This may be happening in other neighborhoods right now so I hope everybody’s on the lookout for any activity around their light boxes.

ETA-TLDR:
Wire thieves are making neighborhoods go dark, pay attention to the light boxes in your neighborhood, report on the 311 app if you see light box covers popped or wires cut or lights out.

Report suspicious activity around light boxes to TPD.

I’ve lived here a few years, but don’t think I’ve ever seen the wind this bad before. And if it was, I didn’t know about valley fever or had a dog, so it wasn’t a concern. I have since learned about it in my studies and know how severe of disease it is for both humans and animals. My epi professor lost his dog to it.

The wind & dust were so bad today, and I can STILL hear it howling outside. I can wear a mask, but I’m really worried about my dog.

Genuine question I should’ve asked during the lecture: how long after this wind settles should I be worried about VF? I won’t be taking my dog outside longer than is needed while risks are high, but for approx. how many days should that be?

Happy Friday all! I put together a list of free stuff happening around town this weekend. Numbers match the map.

There's quite a lot more but I just wanted to pick a nice collection from all around town. All of these are free to get in some have paid extras like carnival rides and such.

AI disclaimer: AI was used to help in the production of this post but it was produced and created by a human 😎

1. Tucson Meet Yourself Folklife Festival

Fri–Sun, downtown at Jácome Plaza. Food from all over, music, dance and folk artists working. Fri & Sat 11am–10pm, Sun 11am–6pm. Free to get in, bring cash or a card for food. The Sun Link streetcar is free all weekend so you can skip parking.

2. Tucson Astronomy Festival at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park

Sat 3–9pm. Telescopes for looking at the sun in the afternoon, then night sky viewing once it gets dark.

3. Boo Bash at Lincoln Regional Park

Sat 5–8pm. The city's big Halloween night. Trunk-or-treat, carnival games, costume parade and a haunted playground.

4. Oro Valley HallOVeen Spooktacular

Sat 5–8pm at Kriegh Park. Trunk-or-treat, live music, bounce houses and food trucks.

5. Not Too Frightful Fridays at Trail Dust Town

Fri 5–8pm. Free admission and parking. Kid-friendly Halloween stuff. Rides are extra if you want the $10 wristband.

6. Town of Marana Fall Festival

Sat 2–9pm at Marana Heritage River Park. Carnival rides, mutton bustin', food trucks and a spooky garden walk.

7. Guided Hikes in the Tortolitas

Sat 8–11am from the Wild Burro Trailhead. Free guided hike with the Town of Marana. You need to register on the town's site.

8. TAAA Stargazing at Tucson Mountain Park

Fri 6:30–8:30pm. Volunteer astronomers set up telescopes in one of the darkest spots near the city. Free Registration.

9. Rillito Park Farmer's Market

Sun 8am–noon. The big Sunday one. Go early, parking fills up.

What are you up to this weekend?!

Recently moved here a few months ago from phoenix and we live between the rincons and mount Lemmon in tanque verde so it’s usually pretty windy. Today seems to be more on the extreme side, so I was wondering on a scale of 1 to 10 how windy is this for Tucson historically?

Thought this was cool.

Anybody else have fun pictures from the wind today?

hi tucson i wanna collect maybe 70 hygiene bundles for the homeless (pads, wipes, deodorant, clean underwear, etc) but im not sure how to go about giving them away. i don’t know if it would be a smart idea to just walk around an area with a high homeless population like 6th or if i can set up a booth somewhere? never done this before—please help!

Wasnt the moon space ex launch?

TPD has the northbound lane blocked due to a tree blown into the street. The tree came off the west side of the Walmart Supercenter parking lot.

Thank you so, so much for helping my husband and me today during a terrifying situation. I cannot express my gratitude enough. (He's going to be OK!)

Alright my aviation peeps! Does anyone know what Davis-Monthan might have flying around today? I remember getting ready this morning and hearing a SUPER loud jet but didn't have a chance to run out an look, not that I would have known what it was anyway. And just now sitting in the office I heard it again. SO LOUD and sitting inside! I swear the window was almost shaking.

Does anyone know where I could find city planning. I would love to know what exactly they are building around ajo/benson/campbell. Not just the ice rink but the bridges.

Hey guys happy Friday, I'm gonna be visiting Tucson and haven't been there since COVID.

Since I left I've been playing One Piece since the first set, and when checking the Bandai App I see there's basically a store hosting a tournament every day of the week? Are there any stores I should avoid/ must check out? Is the scene really active like that?

Hi, I need emergency residential shoring today or this weekend. Any contractor recommendations?

I'm not looking for an elaborate bouquet, just something where I can custom choose a small little arrangement. Really trying to make it with flowering plants from the desert.

Anyone know of places around town where I can do this?

I’m near grant and craycroft. It hasn’t picked up on the TEP tracker yet.

I recently rescued a doodle who is a little over a year old. Allegedly, he is a labradoodle and as a result he is wiggly and mouthy (he doesn't nip of bite, he just lightly wraps his jaw around your hand/arm if he doesn't appreciate what you're doing). I would just groom him myself, but he has next to no experience being groomed, so he is wiggly and I just don't have enough knowledge to train him to behave on the table, but he is VERY trainable and intelligent. His coat texture is lowkey ATROCIOUS though and mats if you look at it wrong, so I don't expect him to be stunning, and I honestly might just ask for a #10 all over. My biggest request is to find someone who is capable of giving him a clean poodle face/ short poodle sporting cut despite his wiggliness and occasional mouthing. I DESPISE the "doodle beard" since its just been super gross in my experience, and he currently looks butchered after my attempt at cleaning his face up. Thank you!