The new version of the TucsonCitizen.com will be up Monday morning.

The redesigned site will have improved home page content and navigation and much improved individual blog pages.

Each blogger will be able to customize their blog and add features and functions available to WordPress blogs.

This version of the site is the ground floor of what we hope to be a very tall building of citizen journalist bloggers adding information and perspective about life in Tucson.

Be sure to check back Monday for the new and improved TucsonCitizen.com.

For more information about TucsonCitizen.com and our mission, go here and here.

ADOT is teasing I-10 drivers with how wonderful the new I-10 expansion will be once the whole thing is finished.

With little fanfare, ADOT has opened westbound I-10 to four lanes from Speedway to Prince, where it merges back to three lanes. Plus, the Grant Road on ramp is open westbound. That follows the opening of the westbound Miracle Mile on ramp in April.

The four lanes are a joy. The bottle-necked, claustrophobic two-lane construction highway of the past two years suddenly dissolves into an expansive rubberized-asphalt nirvana. I changed lanes four or five times just for the hell of it.

This stretch of road is going to be great once they’re done.

I have to give ADOT and Sundt construction credit for how smoothly this project has gone. I expected it to be a total disaster with every flat tire and overheated radiator creating hours- and miles-long backups. Plus, I expected it to dump so many cars onto crosstown streets that gridlock would prevail.

None of that happened. The only two big crash disasters were caused by semi trucks, one crashing through the center divider and closing the freeway for about eight hours and the other semi caught on fire and closed the freeway for about four hours. Other than that, backups have been minimal, in my experience, anyway.

I drive the freeway to work every weekday and for the past two years I can only remember about a dozen times or so when I got stuck in a jam because of a disabled vehicle or a crash. And I mostly cleared all of those in about 15 minutes. That’s only about once every two months where my commute was slowed. I expected it to happen every day.

That said, I can’t wait for this to project to be finished.

An e-mail sent out this afternoon says the Chicano/Hispano Student Affairs Center will remain open.

Here’s the message:

Hey everybody!
I just spoke with Socorro, and she says the Chicano/Hispano Student Affairs is staying OPEN!!!! Official word from Melissa Vito and Shelton will come soon!!! So come over to Chavez and celebrate!!
Socorro is requesting help from anyone who is available to re-post pictures,
signs, etc.
Thanks,
Brenda Muñoz
Master’s Student
Mexican American Studies & Research Center
University of Arizona

The UA announced earlier this year that it wanted to merge all of the minority student centers to save money. That effort has sparked protest and pushback from faculty, students and community members.

No word on whether other student centers will also remain open or just the Chicano/Hispano center.

USA Today’s cover story today asks “Who speaks for the GOP?”

The story is about a national poll asking Americans who is the voice of the Republican party now that it is out of power.

The answer, according to the poll, essentially is nobody. Blowhard-in-Chief Rush Limbaugh got the highest percentage at 13 percent followed by Dick Cheney at 10 percent and Arizona native son John McCain at 6 percent.

That’s not a good sign for the party seeing as none of them will be running for president in 2012.

But the story got me thinking about the state Democratic party. It’s in the same boat the GOP is nationally: the Republicans control both houses of the Legislature by significant margins, the governor’s office and nearly every state elected office.

So who’s the leader of the state Dems?

The leader was Napolitano, though she wasn’t much of a Democrat. But she bailed for the Beltway.

So who is it? I’m leaning toward Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, mostly because she’s wicked smart and has been out front fighting the GOP legislative majority for two years, and partly because she’s a bit of a hottie (sorry, I’m a pig, what can I say?)

After her, who else is there? I’d nominate Tedski over at Rum, Romanism and Rebellion, but that’s probably because Prezelski blogs a lot and fills up my politics RSS feed most days. And he’s from Tucson, so maybe I’m a bit of homer with him.

But if the Dems in Arizona are to be led out of the wilderness, the trailblazer can’t be from Pima County, he or she has to come from the state of Maricopa.

So is it Attorney General Terry Goddard, the only Democrat holding statewide office now (the ACC doesn’t count)? To me, he’s the invisible man, but maybe he’s working the party behind the scenes in prep for a run for Guv next year. I wouldn’t know, I’m an Independent and don’t get the insiders’ newsletters.

After that, I’m stumped.

Any thoughts?

Councilwoman Karin Uhlich just sent out an e-mail saying the city’s July 4th celebration is back on.

She said she and Mayor Bob Walkup started calling business leaders today trolling for donations.

According to the release:

In the last 24 hours, Walkup and Uhlich secured commitments of more than $65,000 for the 4th of July Celebration from:
Pascua Yaqui Tribe – $20,000
Desert Diamond Casino – $10,000
Tucson Electric Power – $10,000
Cox Communications – $10,000
Arizona Builder’s Alliance – $3,000
Several anonymous donors – $12,500

I set the odds at the city folding its tent, so to speak, on the cancellation in one day at 10:1. I should have bet myself.

Kudos to the businesses that stepped up.

Now you have to ask, why didn’t they do this in the first place?

The Star is reporting that the city will not hold its annual July 4th celebration this year, thereby saving about $50,000.

The city is struggling financially (crisis seems a little hyperbolic, even though I’ve used it a couple of times and let it go by as an editor at the old Citizen) so I can’t blame city officials for trying to find ways to save money. But this is sure to backfire.

I’m laying odds on how long before they change their minds and put on at least a fireworks show.

1 day – 10:1

2-5  days – 2:1

1 week (after getting an earful during call to the audience at the next council meeting) – even money

Won’t reinstate it – 4:1

I can’t believe it’s only Wednesday. After a fitfull start Monday, the basic site is up and several new bloggers are blogging.

Technical issues continue to be debugged and the site should get better every day. The problem with commenting logins will continue for a few more days, though.

Some of the Wordpress plugins are buggy and we’re working those out too. The blogs should start to get more sophisticated and unique as the users get used to WP (including the administrators who are learning WP at a furious pace).

Among the new bloggers signed up are:

From the Right – by John Ellinwood, a conservative and frequent blogger who is the former president of the Oro Valley Republican Club. He’ll be writing about local, state and national politics.

Data Port – by Art Jacobson, a retired writer and journalist who will write mostly about politics and the media. But he’s been blogging Data Port for a couple of years and judging by his archive, he’s likely to write about anything.

Veteran Veritas – by Mike Brewer, a former Marine and Vietnam veteran who has been involved in veterans’ issues for 30 years. He’s also a downtown gadfly and I’m trying to get him to write about that, too, but his real expertise is veterans’ affairs.

Tucson Sci-Fi – by Pablo Bey. He’s a little hard to describe. Click on his blog and read his bio info. He’ll mostly write about science fiction and horror media, but he’s an eclectic guy and it’s likely his blog will be too.

The Logical Lizard – by Geoff Notkin,  “a science writer and columnist, a television documentary host, meteorite hunter, photographer, musician and artist.” He will be writing about all those topics.

Fashion Edge – by staff of the Razor’s Edge, a clothing store for people with… um … an edgy taste in clothing. Check out the blog. It’s either your scene or it isn’t. If it is, it should be a fun blog.

Artistic Tucson – will be written by a numerous Tucson artists about the Tucson art scene and art in general.

Metromix – Polly Higgins is a Citizen staffer still awaiting news of her fate who has been the head of Metromix for the past year. She will blog about events and entertainment options in Tucson that can be found in Metromix.

Zoom Zoom Tuson – Keith Ames will blog about Tucson’s racing scene.

There are numerous other blogs in the works about numerous issues that should start up during the rest of this week and next.

I know some readers have been frustrated with the change but the site should get better every day. Roll out of the full redesigned site is still on schedule for the end of the month, if not sooner.

Every morning I read the Arizona Daily Star, the Arizona Republic and the USA Today. Here’s the top 10 stories I’m digging:

1. Brewer: Fix deficit by raising sales tax – Arizona Daily Star   The Republican governor, who had increasingly come under criticism from her own party for offering few specific ideas to fix the budget deficit, proposes temporarily raising the state sales tax a penny, using federal stimulus money and mortgaging state assets.

What a disaster. Clearly, the state can’t climb out of this hole without a tax increase, but increasing the tax that got us into this mess – the sales tax – is the absolutely wrong way to do it. It’s a regressive tax subject to the vagaries of the economy. Moreover, it won’t raise enough money to get the job done. They need to raise the state income tax, especially on top earners, and put to voters a series of government reforms that include  repealing the two-thirds vote requirement for the Legislature to pass tax increases and  the prohibition on legislative changes to voter-passed programs.

2. Poll: Most oppose closing Gitmo – USA Today  By more than 2-1, those surveyed say Guantanamo shouldn’t be closed. By more than 3-1, they oppose moving some of the accused terrorists housed there to prisons in their own states.

So what are we supposed to do, keep these guys forever? We can’t try them because we tortured most of them or our evidence against them came from secret means that can’t be revealed in court. We can’t let some of them go because they remain unrepentant jihadists bent on killing Americans. And we can’t keep them locked up forever without offending 800 years of common law that began with the signing of Magna Carta at Runnymede. I say take ‘em back to Afghanistan and let ‘em go. If they take up arms against us again, kill them or capture them and try them properly this time.

3. What gets people to ride transit? Subsidies – Arizona Republic  A majority of passengers are paying less than full fare out of their own pockets – and often nothing at all. They rely instead on a subsidy from their private or government employers or on a public program such as discounts for the elderly and indigent.

What a boondoggle. The government pays people to ride the government’s train.

4. Bloody Sunday leaves 6 dead in rash of slayings – Arizona Republic  Sunday’s carnage began around midnight when investigators said a woman shot her husband in the couple’s bedroom before turning the gun on herself.

It’s a shame what a crime capital Phoenix is becoming. I grew up there and I’ve always liked Phoenix (except for ASU). But after having simultaneous mass murderers terrorizing the city, the home invasions and kidnappings of the smuggling cartels, the cop killings and the rising murder rate, I’m glad I live here.

5. Border crossers get pass on first day of new passport rule – Arizona Republic  Border agents used Day One as an exercise in education, not detainment. At the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, for instance, people were waved through even if they did not have the proper ID. They were handed a flier that explained the new rules.

How many chances are they going to give people? They’ve already delayed this thing a couple of times and now when they say they’re really going to enforce it, they don’t enforce it.

6. City North case goes to high court – Arizona Republic  At issue is a clause in the Arizona Constitution that bans outright gifts from government bodies to private individuals or companies. Courts until now have ruled that economic-development agreements are acceptable if the city gets direct benefits in return.

This case has huge implications here, especially in Oro Valley and Marana.

7. Fitzgeralds’s awkward catch throws a scare into practice – Arizona Republic   Fitzgerald, one of the NFL’s best receivers, walked gingerly away, head athletic trainer Tom Reed at his side, and then returned to action later in practice. You could have powered a generator with the sighs of relief.

I’ve never liked the Cardinals but I could be converted because I really like Fitzgerald as much for his off-the-field demeanor as for his play on it (I’ve been burned by that before,though, Kobe Bryant coming to mind). But typical Cardinals, this one player could make or break their season.Teams win championships, players win fat contracts.

8. Pixar found its lucky charm – USA Today  Not only did he (John Ratzenberger) become part of history as a voice in the first animated feature created entirely by computer, but the job also turned into an enduring relationship whose main requirement is to step into a recording booth now and then and pretend to be a school of snarky fish in Finding Nemo or a friendly Mack truck in Cars.

He’ll always be Cliff Clavin to me, but his turn as the slotted pig in “Toy Story” were classic. Pixar rocks.

9. Homer inflation pumps debate – USA Today   There have been nine games in which at least five home runs were hit. In three other games, teams have combined to hit seven or more. All told, the new stadium is on pace for 306 home runs, which would surpass the record 303 hit in 1999 at Coors Field in Denver. Last year, 160 home runs were hit at the old stadium.

Teams playing in home run havens don’t win championships because they can’t sign or resign great pitchers. Say goodbye to the dynasty.

1o. U.S. military using Twitter to counter Taliban’s Web posts – Arizona Daily Star  U.S. and Afghan forces killed four militants in Wardak province, the U.S. military tweeted on Monday. That’s right. The military tweeted the news, sending it worldwide on Twitter, the social networking site, hours before making the formal announcement to the media.

There’s something unmasculine about the military tweeting the enemy.

What is TucsonCitizen.com?
The site is a collection of blogs and bloggers who post news, information, opinion and more on the site
everyday. Blogs will range from politics to UA sports, and from knitting to star gazing.

What’s in it for you?
• Readers. Thousands of people a day come to TucsonCitizen.com. Instead of a few hundred or a few thousand page views a week, you will have the potential to generate tens or even hundreds of thousands. The reach and impact of what you write and post will exponentially increase. And isn’t that the point?
If you blog because you want to inform, you will inform more people under the TucsonCitizen.com umbrella than out in the cybersphere by yourself.

• Marketing. Most blogs stand alone in the cybersphere, employing various means to attract attention, most usually relying on Google keyword searches, RSS feeds and word-of-mouth. TucsonCitizen.com will market the site to Tucson using one of the most powerful marketing tools in the city – Tucson Newspapers – providing exposure that few bloggers can afford on their own.

• Site support. All bloggers have to learn to be a bit of a web monkey to make their blogs look good. Most, however, quickly reach their Peter Principle after learning how to upload photos and video. The web is a much more powerful broadcast medium than that. We can help you podcast, vodcast, live stream newsmaker interviews, create multimedia photo slideshows, create interactive graphics, find and use government data and much more. If you have a cool idea for your blog, we can help you get it on your page.

• Compensation potential. It is the intent of TucsonCitizen.com to return a percentage of the site’s advertising profits to its bloggers. Details on how and when that will occur will be available soon.

What’s in it for Gannett and Tucson Newspapers?

• Readers. TucsonCitizen.com will be a place where Tucson’s citizens can go to get information, perspective, opinion and advice that they can’t find anywhere else. We are excited about the potential the new TucsonCitizen. com has in giving Tucson’s citizens a voice in their government and their lifestyles. If you have something to say, we can deliver you an audience.

If you have a blog and are interested in what we can do for you, or you want to start a blog for TucsonCitizen.com, e-mail site Editor Mark B. Evans at mevans@tucsoncitizen.com, or call 573-4561.

Today marks a new era for Arizona’s oldest newspaper.

Started in 1870 as a weekly newspaper by John Wasson, the then Arizona Citizen was a Republican counter voice to the Democratic Arizonian weekly newspaper. Just five years after the Civil War, passions still ran high and the conflict of North and South had morphed into a political battle of Republicans and Democrats.

Wasson’s writing style was more akin to today’s blogging than to objective journalism. His stories reflected his political point of view, contained his own personal observations and were laced with opinion that today would be called “editorializing.”

But the paper persevered and grew, eventually dropping the personal views of its writers and becoming Tucson’s leading daily for much of its existence until about the 1970s when readers began to choose a morning paper more frequently than the afternoon Citizen. Circulation declined and in January, the Citizen’s corporate owner, Gannett Co. Inc., decided to cease printing the Citizen.

After months of negotiations with prospective buyers and the U.S. Department of Justice, which had an amount of regulatory oversight of the Citizen’s operating agreement with the Arizona Daily Star, Gannett on May 16 decided to cease printing a newspaper but continue the Citizen’s Web site as a home for opinion and commentary.

So now the Citizen has come full circle, returning in a fashion to the personal journalism of its founder. This new site will serve as The Voice of Tucson, providing a forum for Tucson-area residents to express their views on the issues of the day.

It’s a brave new world and myself and Ryn Gargulinski, who have been chosen to oversee this new version of the Citizen, will work hard to make sure it plays a relevant role in providing perspective and understanding on matters that affect people’s lives.

The site will be more than just debates over politics and government, but advice and discussion on all manner of things affecting the lives of our neighbors. It will have information on the arts, science, Veterans’ affairs, health and more.

In the end, it is our hope that you find the site useful, in one manner or another. If not, let us know and we’ll work to change it.

If you have a blog, or have a good idea for a blog, and want to blog at TucsonCitizen.com, contact either me, mevans@tucsoncitizen.com, or Ryn, rynski@tucsoncitizen.com.