Image from PBS story on the Basha Family
It seems everywhere I look another small locally owned shop is going out of business. With a small business, especially in the first few years, there isn’t much keeping you afloat and when customers draw back it is hard to keep your head above water. This seems understandable for the little guy but what about the larger locally owned places? I heard the bad news this week that Bashas’, our locally owned grocer, has filed for bankruptcy. This is bad news personally as I know people who work there who are concerned for their jobs. This is also bad news for our community as with the zillions of grocery stores we have here in the valley, Bashas’ is the only one that is Arizonan owned. I must admit, I do a lot of grocery shopping from various places. I am pretty picky and it seems like I can only find certain things certain places. After hearing this news though, I am going to try to do my part to help Bashas’ by choosing to support them with my dollars as much as possible. Other than their being locally owned, why shop there? Their Full Circle line of organics is really good and reasonably priced, they are always the only place I can find really good fire roasted green chilis, and their natural foods section is well stocked. So here it is.. my pledge to focus my grocery shopping at Bashas’.. what will you do to try to save local businesses?

Click here to read about the Basha family from an interview with Eddie Basha, Jr.

Click here to find the Basha’s closest to you.

Here is some more info from Kimber Lanning over at Local First AZ:

As a proud Arizonan, I was alarmed at Bashas’ Chapter 11 filing last week. As our hometown grocer, Bashas’ family of stores holds a special place in our hearts. In addition to being one of the biggest contributors to Arizona charities, Bashas’ is also the state’s 12th largest employer.

I have no doubt Bashas’ will emerge from these bankruptcy proceedings a better company, but right now I can not encourage you enough to make the effort to shop locally. This is the time for Arizona to stand up and say ENOUGH!

We understand that investing in ourselves is the smartest, most sustainable thing we can do for our communities. In addition to their staff, Bashas’ also employs a team of accountants, attorneys, sign makers and web developers, to name a few, who live right here in Arizona. Bashas’ makes the effort to buy their office products from Wist, another Arizona company, and they have a credit union for their workers, which means more money staying here to be invested.

If you are a service provider of any kind, you know first hand how important it is to have strong Arizona businesses. Out of state corporations, even those operating here among us, do not hire locals for their administrative work, and that includes marketers, graphic designers, promotions people and a whole host of other jobs that are outsourced every day.

We are all in this together. Remember, almost three times more of our money stays here in Arizona when we shop locally, and that money goes to our libraries, our parks, our fire departments.

We are seeking long-term solutions for our great state, and a big part of that is supporting Arizona’s own companies. Please take a moment to reflect on a personal story that you have that relates to the Basha family. Perhaps it was the cookies donated to your child’s Little League team, or a charity that Eddie’s wife Nadine funded. Or, like me, maybe Eddie Basha came to your Coalition for World Peace class at ASU in 1985 and significantly changed the way you thought about the world.

These are hometown folks that need us now. Go the extra mile to reach a Bashas’, AJ’s, or Food City store near you. Because of your effort, Arizona will be a better place.

Locally yours,

Kimber Lanning
Director
Local First Arizona
(602) 956-0909
kimber@localfirstaz.com
_____________________________________________

Here’s what one community member is doing for Bashas’:

CLICK HERE

Read more about what Bashas’ has done for our community:

CLICK HERE

Take the pledge to shop local June 19th thru July 5th and help keep independent business alive in Arizona! Why support local business?

• For every two jobs national retailers bring to a community, three jobs are lost as a result of local businesses closing down.
• When you shop locally-owned businesses, your money is re-circulated over and over and creates up to 75% more tax revenue to our community and state.
• Independent businesses raise the standard of living in your community because they take their profits and buy products and services from other local businesses, thus creating more and more tax revenues needed for the community to thrive.
• Millions of dollars of tax revenue subsidies handed to chains by financially-starved local governments drain even more tax revenue from our community and state.
• Blighted empty shopping areas are created in your community when chain stores re-locate to a more lucrative shopping center, or leave altogether. Literally hundreds of big stores are abandoned each year across the United States.
• Independent businesses are unique enterprises that contribute to the character of our community by offering a more diverse selections of goods and services.
• Independent businesses provide meaningful service with a personal touch. It matters to them that you are satisfied and will come back again.
• Carefully planned predatory pricing practices have allowed national chains to establish virtual monopolies as they drive local competition out of business. And then they raise their prices.

Check out Local First Arizona’s site for more information about this event.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is raising awareness of endangered species today across the country. The National Wildlife Federation blog has a great post on it (don’t forget to Tweet it!) including a cool challenge to learn one new endangered species for your area. “There are currently 1317 species listed in the U.S.: 746 plants and 571 animals. To find out what endangered species are near you, and how you can help, please visit www.fws.gov/endangered.” There are 73 species listed on the endangered species list just for Arizona! I’ve listed them below from the Southwest Endangered Species page of the FWS. They even break it down by county, they’ve done a great job with their page. Check out their suggestions for how to take action and do something positive for these dwindling species.

Common Name	Scientific Name	Species Group	Listing Status	Species Image	Species Distribution Map
Acuna Cactus	Echinomastus erectocentrus var. acunensis	Flowering Plants	C
Apache trout	Oncorhynchus apache	Fishes	T
Arizona Cliff-rose	Purshia (=Cowania) subintegra	Flowering Plants	E
Arizona hedgehog cactus	Echinocereus triglochidiatus var. arizonicus	Flowering Plants	E
bald eagle	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Birds	DM
beautiful shiner	Cyprinella formosa	Fishes	T
black-footed ferret	Mustela nigripes	Mammals	E, EXPN
bonytail chub	Gila elegans	Fishes	E
Brady pincushion cactus	Pediocactus bradyi	Flowering Plants	E
brown pelican	Pelecanus occidentalis	Birds	DM, E
California condor	Gymnogyps californianus	Birds	E, EXPN
Canelo Hills ladies’-tresses	Spiranthes delitescens	Flowering Plants	E
Chiricahua leopard frog	Rana chiricahuensis	Amphibians	T
Cochise pincushion cactus	Coryphantha robbinsorum	Flowering Plants	T
Colorado pikeminnow (=squawfish)	Ptychocheilus lucius	Fishes	E, EXPN
desert pupfish	Cyprinodon macularius	Fishes	E
desert tortoise	Gopherus agassizii	Reptiles	SAT, T
Fickeisen plains cactus	Pediocactus peeblesianus fickeiseniae	Flowering Plants	C
Gierisch mallow	Sphaeralcea gierischii	Flowering Plants	C	No Image
Gila chub	Gila intermedia	Fishes	E
Gila topminnow (incl. Yaqui)	Poeciliopsis occidentalis	Fishes	E
Gila trout	Oncorhynchus gilae	Fishes	T
gray wolf	Canis lupus	Mammals	DR, E, EXPN, T
Headwater Chub	Gila nigra	Fishes	C
Holmgren milk-vetch	Astragalus holmgreniorum	Flowering Plants	E
Huachuca springsnail	Pyrgulopsis thompsoni	Snails	C
Huachuca water-umbel	Lilaeopsis schaffneriana var. recurva	Flowering Plants	E
Hualapai Mexican vole	Microtus mexicanus hualpaiensis	Mammals	E
humpback chub	Gila cypha	Fishes	E
jaguar	Panthera onca	Mammals	E
Jones Cycladenia	Cycladenia jonesii (=humilis)	Flowering Plants	T
Kanab ambersnail	Oxyloma haydeni kanabensis	Snails	E
Kearney’s blue-star	Amsonia kearneyana	Flowering Plants	E
Lemmon fleabane	Erigeron lemmonii	Flowering Plants	C
lesser long-nosed bat	Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae	Mammals	E
Little Colorado spinedace	Lepidomeda vittata	Fishes	T
loach minnow	Tiaroga cobitis	Fishes	T
masked bobwhite (quail)	Colinus virginianus ridgwayi	Birds	E
Mexican spotted owl	Strix occidentalis lucida	Birds	T
Mount Graham red squirrel	Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis	Mammals	E
Navajo sedge	Carex specuicola	Flowering Plants	T
New Mexican meadow jumping mouse	Zapus hudsonius luteus	Mammals	C	No Image
New Mexico ridgenose rattlesnake	Crotalus willardi obscurus	Reptiles	T
Nichol’s Turk’s head cactus	Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. nicholii	Flowering Plants	E
northern aplomado falcon	Falco femoralis septentrionalis	Birds	E
Northern Mexican gartersnake	Thamnophis eques megalops	Reptiles	C	No Image
ocelot	Leopardus (=Felis) pardalis	Mammals	E
Page springsnail	Pyrgulopsis morrisoni	Snails	C
Peebles Navajo cactus	Pediocactus peeblesianus peeblesianus	Flowering Plants	E
Pima pineapple cactus	Coryphantha scheeri var. robustispina	Flowering Plants	E
razorback sucker	Xyrauchen texanus	Fishes	E
relict leopard Frog	Rana onca	Amphibians	C	No Image
San Bernardino springsnail	Pyrgulopsis bernardina	Snails	C	No Image
San Francisco Peaks groundsel	Senecio franciscanus	Flowering Plants	T
Sentry milk-vetch	Astragalus cremnophylax var. cremnophylax	Flowering Plants	E
Siler pincushion cactus	Pediocactus (=Echinocactus,=Utahia) sileri	Flowering Plants	T
Sonora chub	Gila ditaenia	Fishes	T
Sonora tiger Salamander	Ambystoma tigrinum stebbinsi	Amphibians	E
Sonoran pronghorn	Antilocapra americana sonoriensis	Mammals	E
Sonoyta mud turtle	Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale	Reptiles	C
southwestern willow flycatcher	Empidonax traillii extimus	Birds	E
spikedace	Meda fulgida	Fishes	T
Stephan’s Riffle beetle	Heterelmis stephani	Insects	C
Three Forks Springsnail	Pyrgulopsis trivialis	Snails	C
Virgin River Chub	Gila seminuda (=robusta)	Fishes	E
Welsh’s milkweed	Asclepias welshii	Flowering Plants	T
woundfin	Plagopterus argentissimus	Fishes	E, EXPN
Yaqui catfish	Ictalurus pricei	Fishes	T
Yaqui chub	Gila purpurea	Fishes	E
yellow-billed Cuckoo	Coccyzus americanus	Birds	C
Yuma clapper rail	Rallus longirostris yumanensis	Birds	E
Zuni bluehead Sucker	Catostomus discobolus yarrowi	Fishes	C
Zuni fleabane	Erigeron rhizomatus	Flowering Plants	T

I thought this was very cool! Please do this in my neighborhood.

azdailysun.com
About 200 households and up to eight businesses in and near east Flagstaff could get solar panels for free as part of a pilot project to turn neighborhoods into power producers.

Arizona Public Service is proposing to buy solar panels and pay local contractors to install them on houses and businesses from Smoke Rise and Doney Park to Lenox Park. “We think it’s important to build awareness within our customer base, and we couldn’t think of a better place to start than Flagstaff,” said APS Chief Executive Officer Don Brandt.

The utility would buy, own and maintain the solar panels on private homes and businesses and receive the electricity — typically equating to about half of the electricity used in a local home.

Homeowners would receive a locked-in 20-year rate on portions of their electric bills for offering to have the 2, 3, or 4-kilowatt solar systems, and allowing easements to access them.

The $14.7 million proposal to generate electricity in this way is novel statewide in that it knocks down to zero the initial price of installing a solar system on a house.

In all, the utility would generate 1.5 megawatts of renewable electricity. That’s enough to supply about 230 homes from Sheep Hill to nearly Sugarloaf Peak, at typical energy use rates for homes in that area.
Continue story at azdailysun.com

Photo: Nicholas_T

More good news for solar power generation here in Arizona! That’s two big solar plants planned in the next couple years.

The Arizona Department of Commerce and Albiasa Solar of Spain will announce Monday a $1 billion solar-thermal power plant will be built near Kingman next year, generating enough power for 50,000 homes at once when it opens in 2013.

It’s the third large Arizona solar plant announced in less than 18 months, although one of the first two has been scrapped and the other won’t be running until 2011.

The Kingman plant will create 2,000 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs, according to the Commerce Department.

Full Story at azcentral.com