UPDATE: We’re working out some last minute glitches and the new site should be up soon.

At about noon today, we will switch over to the beta version of the new TucsonCitizen.com.

The new site will appear fairly basic for a couple of weeks while programmers and designers work on its ultimate look and function.

About a dozen people have agreed to begin blogs or transfer their blogs to our new site. Some will begin blogging today, others throughout this week and next.

Another dozen or more have expressed strong interest and are likely to begin blogging before the month is out.

Thus begins this new chapter of the Tucson Citizen, The Voice of Tucson. This is a work in progress. We hope to have the first version of the site redesign finished by the end of June. From there, we will continue to recruit new and existing bloggers to help increase the universe of knowledge in Tucson and to add perspective and understanding to the issues affecting our region through intelligent, informed debate.

As the months roll on, the site will change again as we work to make the site the most engaging and useful opinion and commentary site in the state.

The old Tucson Citizen Web site will still be available for anyone searching for archived Citizen stories. It will be a link on the new site.

If you have an idea for a blog on local issues on the new TucsonCitizen.com, e-mail Mark B. Evans, mevans@tucsoncitizen.com (mevans@tucsoncitizen.com), or Ryn Gargulinski, rynski@tucsoncitizen.com (rynski@tucsoncitizen.com). Or you can call us at 573-4561.

Last week, it chose the former. Was it the correct choice? Probably not.

Councilman Steve Leal said at Tuesday’s meeting that the community should be “proud” of the council’s decision.

What’s to be proud of? They raised regressive taxes on electricity and water, essential services that will hit the poorest the hardest. They made using the phone, which these days is an essential service, more expensive. Shouting 911 when you’re being robbed is unlikely to bring a cop. And they made public transportation more costly, which also is a brutal blow to the poor who are the biggest users of public transportation, some because they have no choice.

The council avoided a renter’s tax, but ironically, that would have been a more stable income source than taxes on utilities. Power, water, phone and bus users have the power to make the tax increases moot by using less power, water, phone and bus services.

The city got into this mess by recklessly adding staff, services and programs during the 2002-2007 economic boom that filled the city’s coffers with sales taxes.

Sales taxes rise and fall with the economic tide. Now that the tide has ebbed considerably, the city is stuck with perennial programs that rely on that fickle income.

The council should have adjusted the cost of next year’s city government to meet the expected amount of tax income next year without a tax increase.

The pain of layoffs would have been acute and limited to a few hundred people. Instead, they made the pain chronic and spread it among hundreds of thousands, disproportionately affecting those with the least ability to pay.

Chances of changing the council’s collective mind are slim. The council is expected to set its budget spending limit at Tuesday’s meeting and pass the budget June 9.

So the key now is for voters in the November election and beyond to insist on fiscal sanity when the sales-tax tide comes back in with an improved economy. If the economy returns to somewhere near 2006 levels, the city will again be flush with sales taxes, but it also will have the extra income from the increased utility and excise taxes it intends to impose July 1.

What will the city do with all that money? Give it back to taxpayers by repealing the tax increases? Sock it away for the next recession? Spend it?

The smart choice is a combination of the first two. The third? Well, what’s the opposite of smart.

She also helped recover thousands of acres of burned parks land in San Diego County and launched an innovative system to allow people to make campground reservations online.

The Arizona State Parks Board’s unanimous selection of Renée Bahl to take over the parks system next month has polarized state leaders.

Parks officials say she is a dynamic, experienced professional who will help lead the parks system out of a historic budget crisis.

Bahl, 40, is “a vigorous, intelligent, resourceful person who knows how to get through the most difficult of times,” said Bill Scalzo, who led the selection committee for the Arizona State Parks Board.

But at least one lawmaker says her selection as director is inappropriate given a vandalism incident that took place a decade ago.

Bahl, a former assistant state parks director, oversaw historic preservation at the San Rafael Ranch.

In 1999, another employee caught her etching her first name and the year into the wall of a historic adobe barn.

Bahl was disciplined but remained in her job until 2002, when she left to become director of parks and recreation for San Diego County in California.

State Rep. Daniel Patterson, D-Tucson, criticized the selection.

“Bahl should be fully questioned about her vandalism of state historic properties, and rejected as a poor choice for this important job,” Patterson wrote on his blog. “Someone as clueless as Bahl on protecting state treasures is clearly not appropriate to head state parks.”

Through a spokeswoman, Bahl declined to comment. Officials said they were impressed with Bahl’s education, which includes a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in public administration with a focus on natural resource management.

Scalzo said Bahl brought up the vandalism incident during an interview and apologized for it, saying she had made a mistake.

“One thing I really appreciated is she brought that up,” Scalzo said. “She didn’t say, ‘I’ve had a perfect career I don’t make mistakes.’ ”

Bahl, who will make about $140,000 a year, will take over for Ken Travous, who is retiring after 23 years leading the parks system.

Lawmakers swept $36 million from parks coffers in the last year, prompting the closure of three parks and threatening several more with closure. The board is working to prevent further cuts proposed by the Legislature’s Republican leadership, which board members say would devastate the system.

Scalzo called criticism a distraction from the parks board’s most pressing problems.

“We need help; we don’t need criticism,” he said. “We need to have this new person come in here with everyone wishing her the best, because she’s going to need every bit of it.”

1. Leap in U.S. debt hits taxpayers with 12% more red ink – USA Today Bottom line: The government took on $6.8 trillion in new obligations in 2008, pushing the total owed to a record $63.8 trillion.

Put on a coat before reading this story, ’cause it will chill you to the bone.

2. Many small businesses lose their credit - USA Today When credit lines are reduced — or outright severed in this case — businesses could have problems such as buying needed supplies or equipment. Nearly 60% of small-business owners said they’ve used a credit card as a financing tool in the last 12 months, according to a NSBA survey released this month.

One of the pillars of the economy is credit. Ironically, abuse of credit is what got us into this mess but it is its proper use that is going to get us out. These microloans to small businesses are vital to keeping the economy from continuing to fall and for the long slog out of the hole. If the federal stimulus had been used to prop up economic engines like this rather than being doled out to state and local governments, the climb out would have been faster and less painful.

3. It’s bad timing for Bank of America to be puttin’ up a Ritz – USA Today “It’s again about the whole idea of excess and not spending money wisely,” says Hebert of the i2i consulting firm. “Somebody in those mahogany-coated rooms should have said, ‘Come on guys.’ ”

I wish I was fabulously wealthy so I could be as clueless as bankers and Wall Street financiers. Isn’t ignorance supposed to be bliss?

4. Microsoft announces big Bing theory – USA Today Bing will lead to faster, better organized and more relevant results, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said. The service, which is available to a few test users now, will be widely released by Wednesday.

Will the maker of the most prevalent but least useful computer operating system finally “get” the Internet? I doubt it.

5. Publicity push to tout Brewer budget plan; Dem budget plan bridges gap between GOP, Brewer- Arizona Republic As the minority party at the Statehouse, the Democrats are trying to chart a middle course between the deep cuts of the Republicans’ budget plan for fiscal 2010 and the 1-cent-per-dollar sales-tax hike that they believe Gov. Jan Brewer is promoting.

Wednesday is June 3. There will be 27 days left in the fiscal year before the next fiscal year’s budget has to be passed. And we get a detailed budget from the governor and the Democrats only now? What the hell have they been doing the past four months? And with a month to go, the majority Republicans still don’t have a budget? We don’t pay these guys very much, but I’m beginning to think we pay them too much. PASS A BUDGET!

6. An old tradition for tough times: Money sharing – Arizona Republic The popular monetary practice based on rotating credit is deeply rooted in Mexican culture but little known to outsiders. In a cundina, participants – typically about 10 family members, friends, neighbors or colleagues – contribute a set amount of money each week. Those contributions are pooled, and each week, a different participant takes home the entire pot.

Interesting idea. Better trust your partners, though.

7. Homeowners fall behind at highest rate since ’72 – USA Today; Delinquent mortgages, foreclosures up in Ariz. – Arizona Republic Foreclosures were started on an additional 2.52 percent of Arizona mortgages, bringing to 5.56 percent the proportion of Arizona loans in foreclosure during the quarter. Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada accounted for 46 percent of all foreclosures started last quarter.

Whatever happened to TARP buying up all those “toxic assets” and the foreclosure stability plan (Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan)? I guess the Autoworker’s Union has to get paid off first by saving a mostly dead auto behemoth. Oh, that’s right, Michigan and Ohio are swing voter states and Arizona, California and Nevada are not.

8. ‘UFO’ spotted in Southeast Valley no longer unidentified – Arizona Republic “It was some kind of electronic device,” airport spokesman Brian Sexton said of the plastic object whose owner was identified as Space Data Corp., a Chandler firm whose products have logged 250,000 hours of flying time over the United States.

When will people finally get that there are no extraterrestrials? Once you learn the science behind the speed of light, the relationship between mass and energy (E=mc2) and the distances of the galaxy and the universe you quickly realize that if not impossible, interstellar travel is extremely impracticable.

This gorgeous goat may greet you at Triangle L Ranch

Take a trek less than 50 miles yet a world away to Triangle L Ranch in Oracle.

Oracle happens to resemble Tucumcari, N.M., so it’s something you definitely don’t want to miss.

I found a groovy write-up in our archives about the ranch and added a few notes of my own.

Mark your calendars for June 13 when the Carnivaleros will be in concert at the ranch with a CD release party. Cost is $10.

Other stuff is free.

Triangle L Ranch

Oracle’s Triangle L Ranch Bed and Breakfast, 2805 N. Triangle L Ranch Road, features art, goats and surprises.

With buildings dating from the 1880s, the 50-plus acre Triangle L is at an elevation of 4,500 feet in the high foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains.

Besides being a bed and breakfast and a ranch, it hosts weddings, retreats, reunions and workshops.

William Ladd, a cattle and sheep rancher, homesteaded Triangle L Ranch in the 1890s and its Web site claims Wild West buffalo hunter and showman William “Buffalo Bill” Cody was a regular visitor. It also claims to be southern Arizona’s first guest ranch.

Artist and gallery owner Sharon Holnback has owned the ranch since 2001 and hopes to make the property a haven for artists.

Ryn note: The gift shop is already fully stocked with fine, kitschy and wacky art from regional artists.

Where to eat

Try Nonna Maria’s Pizza, 2161 N. Rockcliff Blvd. (520-896-3522, http://nonnamarias.com), owned by Frank and Angelina Palazzolo. He’s the chef and also an artist, going by the name Papuni.

The menu has strong influences from traditional Sicilian family recipes and includes vegetarian and vegan options. It does not have a formal kids’ menu but the staff will accommodate.

Kid-friendly?

Ryn note: Visiting the pygmy goats are a must for both children and adults.

Farmers market

Check out The Station, 1395 W. American Ave. (896-9005), a small market owned by Megan Hartman. Besides local produce it sells coffee and espresso beverages and, 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays hosts a farmers market. The store is open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. weekends.

The drive

Head north on Oracle Road, which turns into State Route 77. Past the turnoff for Oracle (between mile markers 100 and 101), take the next left onto Rockcliff Boulevard, then the first right onto Oracle Ranch Road. Continue down it about 1/4 mile and go left on Triangle L Ranch Road. Follow it to its end. The main house is on the left.

To learn more

623-6732, www.trianglelranch.com

Travelers wait to show passport proof in this 2008 photo in Cancun.

Long gone are the days of simply telling the guards at the borders you are a U.S. citizen while they merrily wave you through.

Now you’ll need proof.

Starting Monday, a passport will be required to get back into the U.S. if you’ve been traveling in foreign lands, according to a report at KOVA.com.

Passport soon required to re-enter US

New travel laws…require citizens to show a passport or passport card to get back into the US by land and sea from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda.

The rule change is part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

It’s a 2004 law that’s part of recommendations from the 9-11 commission.

The rules apply to everyone, including children. Read story: www.kvoa.com/global/story.asp?s=10442531

The change may have taken five years, but it’s a positive change just the same.

Passports are wonderful pieces of documentation for several reasons:

• How else can you flit off to France at the drop of a hat?

• They are easier to keep track of than the tattered, dog-eared birth certificate

• They serve as a little scrapbook of all the exotic places you’ve been

• The photos always look better than those that end up on the driver’s license

_____

Do you care about this new travel requirement?

Do you and your children have passports?

If so, is your photo better than the one on your driver’s license?

Jehovah’s Witnesses hold conventions here, Arizona Daily Star

The first of seven weekend conferences for Jehovah’s Witnesses begins today (Friday) at the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave.

About 45,000 people are expected to attend the three-day “Keep on the Watch” conferences, Tucson spokesman Robert Soler said.

The gatherings will be held at the Convention Center each weekend in June, with Spanish-only programs offered the weekends of June 12, June 19 and June 26. The final two weekend conferences are scheduled for the end of July.

Program sessions, which are free and open to the public, are the same each weekend. Sessions will begin at 9:20 a.m. each day. No collections will be taken. Read story: www.azstarnet.com/metro/294880

I’m all for freedom of religion. That’s kind of what this country was founded on, no?

Holding free conferences where people can learn more is a great idea.

Knocking on people’s doors, shoving pamphlets in people’s bags or telling folks they will rot in Satan’s clutch unless they follow your religion is not.

I’m not saying anyone from these conferences would do such things – they’ll probably be too busy with their sessions – but it has happened in the past.

_____

How do you react if someone tries to “convert” you to their religion?

But try being one in New York City.

One off-duty cop, who was chasing a guy he found trying to rob his car, was shot and killed by a fellow officer, according to The Associated Press.

Off-duty NYPD cop fatally shot by fellow officer, The Associated Press

NEW YORK — A plainclothes policeman who drew his gun while chasing someone he had found rummaging through his car was shot and killed by a fellow officer who was driving by and saw the pursuit, the police commissioner said.

Commissioner Raymond Kelly said 25-year-old Omar J. Edwards died after being shot late Thursday within blocks of the Harlem police station where he worked….

The shooter was white and Edwards was black, a fact that could raise questions about police use of deadly force in a minority community.

In the past three years in the New York City area, there have been two other cases of off-duty policemen being shot and killed by other officers. Read story: www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/294922.php

During my time in New York City, several very helpful Brooklyn police detectives came to my rescue when I was being stalked.

Yet I also had some less-than-stellar experience with New York City cops.

So did Abner Louima.

Anyone not familiar with the Louima case needs simply Google: plunger and NYPD.

Two black bears recently paid a visit to some Foothills backyards. While it was not reported whether or not the bears used any area pools, Arizona Game and Fish officials did say folks should take caution.

Wildlife officials ask those in north Tucson to be ‘Bear Aware,’ Arizona Game and Fish news release

Tucson Regional Supervisor Leonard Ordway said the north Tucson area adjacent to the foothills of the Catalina Mountains is not typically bear country, but is within a short distance away from more typical bear country in the Catalinas. Bears can cover vast distances in a short period of time.

Ordway explained that biologists recognize that it is not possible to simply capture and relocate an animal that presents a public safety threat, such as an adult male bear. “If it is a threat in Tucson, it will still be a threat wherever else we might place the animal. We just don’t have vast areas of black bear habitat devoid of humans or other bears – it simply doesn’t exist,” he said.

More info: www.gf.state.az.us/

DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING ARE FICTIONAL TIPS THAT MAY GET YOU KILLED.

Some quick tips will insure mauling, mutilation, future visits and possible death from the burly beasts:

• Leave your yard strewn with rotting garbage, open food containers and deer carcasses

• Walk alone, at night, and through areas where you know bears are sure to roam

• Feed them. Better yet, hand feed them bloody raw meat

• If confronted by a bear, scream like a wounded animal and start to run

• Position yourself between a female bear and her cubs

ANOTHER DISCLAIMER Seriously, please know the above tips are a joke. If you try them and get killed, we will not be held responsible.

The real tips appear below.

Wildlife safety tips

• Never intentionally feed wildlife. Even birds feeders can become attractants for larger unwanted animals if they are not handled properly to prevent spillage on the ground.

• Secure all garbage.

• Walk or jog in groups. Pay attention to your surroundings when hiking, jogging or bicycling.

• Supervise your children (especially toddlers) and keep them in sight at all times.

• Keep your pets on a leash – don’t allow them to be free roaming. Pets can easily get into conflicts with a wide range of wildlife from skunks to coyotes.

• Don’t leave pet food out where wild animals can get at it.

• If you have fruit or citrus trees, harvest ripened fruit and don’t let fruit collect on the ground.

• Trim the vegetation around your home to eliminate hiding cover for all wildlife.

What to do if you encounter a bear

• Don’t run. Running elicits what is called a predator-prey response – if you run, the animal might instinctively want to chase and catch you. Despite their imposing size, bears are quick and can reach speeds of 40 mph.

• Stay calm.

• Continue facing it, and slowly back away.

• Try making yourself look as big and imposing as possible; put young children on your shoulders.

• Speak loudly or yell and let it know you are human (don’t scream).

• Make loud noises by clanging pans, using air horns, or whatever is available.

• If attacked, fight back.

• Never get between a female bear and her cubs.

Sawyer has been to known to have his own fashion blunders.

Tucson is not a fashion capital of the world for good reason.

The often oppressive heat and laid-back attitude insure not many people care what others are wearing, at least to a degree. And that’s quite alright.

It’s awesome living in a place where pretty much anything goes.

But no matter how laid back the Old Pueblo may be, certain styles should still be kept in the closet.

Before I proceed, I must warn you are reading fashion tips from someone who owns leopard print shorts, a faux fur leopard hat trimmed with a feathered brim and patent leather leopard shoes.

I’ve also been accused of wearing pajamas to work.

Yet faux fur is a far cry from some other fashion faux pas.

Like wearing socks with sandals. Sandals are meant to keep your feet light and airy. Pulling on a pair of socks underneath defeats the purpose, kind of like wearing a sweater beneath a tank top.

Or wearing sandals all year long. One well-respected fashionista, who asked to remain anonymous lest she lose her job, said she can immediately tell when someone just moved to the desert.

“They’ll be wearing sandals, shorts or sunbathing when it’s February and 50 degrees,” she said. After all, they think, it’s Arizona. It’s supposed to be hot.

She also noted how newcomers have a penchant for buying cowboy hats, boots, bolo ties and other “authentic” finds from roadside markets.

“It would be great if they were buying legitimate Navajo jewelry,” she said. “But they’re buying junk. Turquoise that’s not really turquoise and coral that’s not really coral.”

Rather than a striking sterling silver bolo, they end up with some chintzy plastic thing. She’s seen couples fresh from the Midwest sporting giant rodeo belt buckles, bizarre cowboy boots and even chaps.

“Gee, did you just move here?” she asks them.

She also has an issue with certain sundresses.

“Sundresses that the women should have stopped wearing 70 pounds ago,” she said. “Or older women who wear those sandals with little flowers.”

Another sundress faux pas is when the bra straps stick out. Some of the slinkier summery styles scream for equally slinky underwear. Yet we’ll still see the strap or full outline of the bra beneath the sheer, light fabrics. Even sweaters look better beneath a tank top than a chunky, obvious bra.

At least the butt crack fad passed. Low-rise jeans coupled with a peek-a-boo thong was a trend for far too long. It was as if some chicks were taking fashion cues from repairmen or plumbers.

Guys had a version of the butt crack fashion, too, with the prison-inspired baggy jeans with the waist that hung near their knees. That, too, has petered out in many circles.

But another trend won’t go away.

We still have the mullet. This hairstyle, which features a cropped top and sides coupled with long tresses in the back, was the rage in the 1980s. It continues to haunt us, in Tucson and beyond. As proudly proclaimed in the introduction to the site mulletjunky.com: “To a true mullet connoisseur, the mullet is not viewed as just a haircut. It’s a phenomenon…a culture…a rare breed that can transform interest and curiosity into an obsession.”

It’s also something I lost count of when I tried to tally the number of mullets I saw at the Pima County Fair. To be fair, at least most folks had their bra straps tucked in, their sandals sans socks and their pants pulled up and fastened at the waist.

Ryn Gargulinski is a poet, artist and performer who would wear pajamas everywhere if she could. Listen to a preview of her column at 8:10 a.m. Thursdays on KLPX 96.1 FM. Listen to her webcast at 4 p.m. Fridays at www.party934.com. E-mail rynski@tucsoncitrizen.com