A midtown family was forced from their home at midnight Thursday, when a fire destroyed their detached carport, the Tucson Fire Department reported.

The accidental blaze in the 300 block of East Speedway Boulevard, which burned two vehicles and a boat, was attributed to wiring and caused an estimated $100,000 damage, TFD spokeswoman Capt. Trish Tracy said in a news release.

Three homes were without power for about an hour when the fire burned power lines, Tracy said.

Arizona needs more money, coordinated efforts and planning on transportation, a diverse gathering of community leaders and transportation experts said Wednesday.

A higher fuel tax, the elimination of a transportation sales tax cap for counties and the creation of a statewide panel to guide planning were among the chief recommendations by the biannual Arizona Town Hall’s 127 participants from across the state.

Planning is the key, said Town Hall President Tara Jackson. “Some would argue we are already behind,” she said.

The group concluded the best way to plan would involve a state-level panel of representatives from cities, counties, tribes, businesses, academia, nonprofits and other stakeholders.

The panel should plan based on the grass-roots needs of communities, a “value-based” approach, the group said.

The plan should recognize economic development and ecological considerations and help shift the state away from dependence on foreign oil.

The panel would work to eliminate fragmented planning, educate the public and encourage discourse and prioritize needs.

The Town Hall recommends several ways to pay for transportation improvements.

The fuel tax should be adjusted to account for inflation and indexed to inflation to make sure it does not fall behind on the cost of providing services, the group suggested.

“One is to play catch-up, and one is to index for the future,” said Si Schorr, a Town Hall participant who represents Pima County on the State Transportation Board.

The fuel tax has not changed since its inception in 1991.

Other suggestions include toll roads with “congestion pricing,” which would charge more for people using the highways during high-traffic hours, said James Condo, a Phoenix attorney who led the final session to hammer out amendments to the Town Hall report.

Participants met in four groups Monday and Tuesday at the Doubletree Hotel Tucson at Reid Park, then met as one big group to craft amendments to the draft, which was completed Tuesday evening and posted on the Internet for Town Hall members by midnight. Throughout the day Wednesday the document was evolving.

A final draft will be on the Arizona Town Hall Web site next week, Jackson said.

The final report will be combined with the massive background report and distributed widely, Jackson said.

She thinks the goals are achievable, because they were crafted by a broad array of community leaders and experts. Those experts and leaders can now help make the suggestions happen, she said.

“Little of this can be done tomorrow, but I don’t think any of this is pie in the sky,” Jackson said. “These are not people prone to pie-in-the-sky ideas.”

———

On the Web

Arizona Town Hall Web site:

www.aztownhall.org

Economic woes sweeping the nation have forced the State Transportation Board to consider curtailing its five-year plan.

A draft plan presented to the board Friday would carry the Department of Transportation through fiscal 2014.

It includes a handful of new projects, but scores of projects across the state would be deferred to stretch dollars, said Rakesh Tripathi, ADOT’s planning director.

“We’re talking about taking a four-year program and stretching it into a fifth year,” Tripathi told the board.

By pushing some projects off a year or two, the board could save $602 million – the amount of an expected revenue shortfall – over five years, Tripathi said.

Normally, the five-year plan includes a new year of projects each year.

“This year, that opportunity doesn’t exist,” Tripathi said.

Virtually every area of transportation would take a hit under the proposal. Bridges, minor pavement work and construction, archaeological studies, planning and engineering and sign upkeep would all be reduced statewide.

Fifteen projects in and around Tucson would be delayed, including a reconstruction of the Ina Road exit on Interstate 10 (fiscal 2011 instead of fiscal 2010), widening of Interstate 19 from Valencia Road to Ajo Way (fiscal 2014 instead of fiscal 2013) and widening of the I-10 bridge over Valencia Road (fiscal 2014 instead of fiscal 2013).

Fourteen Pima County projects would remain on track, including further study of an I-10 bypass west of Tucson (fiscal 2010), widening of I-19 from Ajo Way to San Xavier Road (fiscal 2013) and reconstruction of the Irvington Road I-19 interchange.

The plan will be reviewed by the board, then vetted through public hearings. The board set a Pima County hearing for June 5, though no location was chosen.

The cuts will be necessary to offset reduced revenue and about $400 million in funds stripped from ADOT by the Legislature, said Finance Director John McGee.

“That is putting a lot of stress on the department and its ability to do business as usual,” McGee said.

In a separate action, the board approved a new $50.4 million exit on Interstate 10 between Avra Valley Road and Cortaro Road.

That project will create a new link between parts of Marana east and west of I-10. The project, expected to be completed in 2010. The job will boost Marana’s economy two ways, said Mayor Ed Honea.

First, it will employ 300-400 workers, he said.

“It’s also going to serve as a catalyst for the Spectrum Marana regional mall,” Honea said.

That 1.5 million square foot shopping center would pump sales tax revenue into the city, he said.

The following restrictions will be in place on Interstate 10 during the coming week:

• Through lanes on I-10 will be closed Thursday, 11 p.m.-5 a.m.

• Northbound Interstate 19 will be closed at the westbound I-10 frontage road exit Thursday, 11 p.m.-5 a.m.

I-10 frontage roads

• The eastbound and westbound frontage roads from Miracle Mile to 29th Street will have intermittent lane closures Monday-Friday, 7 p.m.-6 a.m. and 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Closures

• St. Mary’s Road will be closed 6 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. April 27.

• The right lane of east- and westbound Congress Street will be closed Monday-Friday, 9 p.m.-6 a.m.

• 22nd Street will be closed Monday-Thursday, 8 p.m.-6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. April 27.

America needs a federal program that protects homeowners, especially in a state where the mortgage crisis and ensuing broader financial crisis hit harder than in other places, U.S. Sen. John McCain said Thursday.

Last fall, when the economic ripples from failed mortgage lenders were spreading across the nation, McCain and others suggested the government step in and buy mortgages to allow homeowners to sidestep expensive loans, he said.

“I still think that would have been a way to address this,” McCain told a gathering of Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce members at the group’s annual National Issues Forum.

Pima County has been hit hard by foreclosures, with more than 1,100 in March (a local record) and more than 9,000 in 2008, according to the Pima County Department of Community and Economic Development.

Though Wall Street seems to be responding to government actions, the economy will not recover fully until the housing market recovers – especially in Arizona, which has been among the nation’s leaders in home construction for at least a decade, McCain said.

In much the same way it did during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the government should buy “toxic” loans and refinance them, he said.

Throwing money at the problem is not the answer, he said.

“We’re going to spend $11 trillion this year, by far the most in our history,” he said.

A day after a “tea party” protest that drew about 3,000 people to El Presidio Park, McCain said he understands their frustrations with taxes, the stimulus package and government debt.

“I think that was a manifestation of frustration about a lot of things, not just taxes,” he said.

He called for a guest worker program to stem the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico and an increase in the use of nuclear power and said he agrees with President Obama’s timeline for a pullout of troops in Iraq.

Afghanistan is another story, he said.

“In Afghanistan, it’s going to be long and hard. You will see an increase in both casualties and combat,” McCain said.

The senator, who asked Congress for no earmarks last year, decried the process, which avoids the full vetting of most federal funding mechanisms.

“Earmarking . . . is the gateway drug to corruption,” he said.

McCain also joked about his failed attempt at the presidency last fall. He is not the first Arizona politician to make an unsuccessful bid; others include former Gov. Bruce Babbitt, former Rep. Mo Udall and former Sen. Barry Goldwater.

“Tragically, Arizona is still the only state in the nation where mothers don’t tell their children if they work hard they can grow up to be president,” McCain joked.

Feds’ stimulus package also draws their ire

They say they’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore.

Several thousand people attended Wednesday’s “Tucson Tea Party” at El Presidio Park to send a blunt message to government officials that they believe the nation is way off course.

The symbolism of holding the rally on the deadline for filing tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service was not coincidental.

“We’ve been planning this for over a month now,” event organizer Robert Mayer, 22, said as a country singer played on a temporary stage near the park’s fountain.

“We had hoped to draw about 1,000. But we estimate that over 3,000 people have passed through since it started,” Mayer said.

Hundreds brought signs and placards to give added weight to their complaints:

• The federal bailouts of banks and automakers. The federal stimulus package. The economy. Job losses.

• Loss of liberties under the Patriot Acts. Warrantless wiretapping. The Homeland Security Agency.

• Immigration. Abortion. Capitalism vs. socialism.

The event was one of many held nationwide. Conservative television and radio talk show hosts have for weeks been stirring up public anger, mainly against the Obama administration, and calling for a national day of protest.

The Manns – account manager David and stay-at-home mom Donna – were at the protest because they believe they are being charged for other peoples’ mistakes – individual and corporate.

“I don’t believe they should be using my tax money to shore up mistakes by lenders and people who overstated their income,” David Mann said.

“They’re basically pushing this country into trillions and trillions of dollars of debt. . . . Where does it stop?”

No one ever bailed out Heidi Taylor, 63, who came to Tucson in 1967 after escaping from East Germany. She had $150 in her pocket when she arrived here.

“And I never took one single penny from the government,” she said.

The effects of government spending will carry over for future generations, many at the rally said.

“I have children and grandchildren who will have to pay for our mistakes,” Linda Walker, 61, said.

“We’re here because we want smaller government,” Anna Gilman, 42, said.

“This is about government spending,” Ted Hanson, 60, said.

Hanson also opposed the bank and auto industry bailouts by former President George W. Bush.

Hanson attended with son Ryan Harrison and brother-in-law Don Kraska of Coolidge.

The crowd makeup was a mix of mainly Republicans and Libertarians, although Democrats who said they voted for the president were there as well.

Not everyone agreed with the majority’s messages.

“Obama has been in office about 90 days and they want to blame all of it on him?” asked Jack Smiley, 65.

“None of these people showed up for the last eight years when all this started,” Smiley said.

Mayer said word about the local event was spread using many communications mediums, helping attract the higher-than-expected turnout.

“We started on Facebook, letting our friends know,” Mayer said, referring to the Internet social networking site.

“Then, we started up a blog,” he said. “We were on talk radio, too.”

By Garry Duffy, B. William Poole

The Tucson Audubon Society is looking for birders to help raise money for the organization this month through its Birdathon, according to a news release.

“Birdathon is similar to a charity walkathon where walkers earn donations for numbers of miles walked. Instead we count birds,” said Chris Harrison of the Audubon Society, who organized the event.

Birdwatchers will gather in teams from now until May 10 to count bird species in specified areas. Donations will be raised through pledges of money for each species spotted or a flat donation.

Birders can create their own teams or join teams organized by the Audubon Society, the news release said.

For more information, see the Audubon Society Web site at www.tucsonaudubon.org or call or e-mail Harrison at 629-0757 or charrison@tucsonaudubon.org.

Cessation help line receiving many more calls

The rising price of tobacco is rippling across Arizona, forcing smokers to dig deeper for cash, sparking a potential black market boost and prompting an increase in calls to a state cessation help line.

The federal tax on a pack of cigarettes April 1 went from 39 cents to $1.01, which raises the price by about 10 percent. Cigar taxes went up 40 cents per stick, about a 10 percent increase for most smokers.

The tax on bulk tobacco – the roll-your-own type many smokers have turned to lately to save money – went from $1.09 per pound to $24. That’s a 2,102 percent increase.

“They’re creating a whole new black market, is what they’re doing,” said Dan Johnson, 54, a 30-year smoker who rolls his own. “There’s going to be a lot more smuggling, that’s for sure.”

A couple of weeks ago, the price of a packet of “rollies” was about $1.25; now it’s approaching $4, said Johnson, a day laborer who can ill afford the added cost.

The state Department of Revenue confirms that rising costs spur the black market.

Revenue Agent Jack Doyle told a state Bureau of Tobacco Education and Prevention Program committee in January that black market products from Mexico, Indian reservations and states with lower or no taxes take money from the state coffers.

Smokers are pooling resources to make trips to such places for bulk purchases to avoid taxes. Not all that is brought back is for personal use; some of it is sold to friends and others.

Wayne Tormala, director of the state bureau, who receives his budget directly from tobacco taxes, agreed.

“Arizonans have a lot of ways they can get outside the tax structure,” Tormala said.

The Department of Revenue needs more than just seven agents assigned to cigarettes (there are 25 assigned to alcohol), Doyle told the committee.

Messages left recently with the state agency seeking comment went unanswered.

Johnson suspects the black market will thrive as prices continue to rise.

“If you can buy a carton of cigarettes in Mexico for $7 and sell it here for more, why not?” he asked.

Help line calls on rise

For the first three months of the year, the University of Arizona-based Arizona Smoker’s Helpline, which handles calls for the entire state, received about 200 a week from smokers who wanted to quit, Director Stephen Michael said.

“Last week, our calls were up . . . almost 100 percent” to about 375, Michael said last week.

Bill Bailey, 30, who was taking a smoking break downtown Friday, was among them. Bailey has newborn twins and he vowed to quit before they are 90 days old.

Bailey’s doctor referred him to the help line. He has called the line a few times, but he thinks he will go it alone soon, he said.

The line is staffed by intake specialists who assess callers and refer them to coaches, who help smokers craft plans to quit, call to check progress and generally serve as a shoulder to lean on, Michael said.

Since July 1, the state has shifted its cessation focus away from classes – they stopped in Pima County in December – to the help line after deciding it was more economical, Tormala said.

It makes sense. Studies have shown that help lines and Internet based-counseling, which ASHline also offers, help more people dollar for dollar, Michael said.

“What we’ve been doing most of this year is focusing on physicians for referrals,” he said.

At the end of fiscal 2008 last June, the help line was getting about 400-500 referrals per month from doctors. Now there are about 800-1,000 per month, Michael said.

Bailey, who has seven children to raise with his girlfriend, Heather Quigley, is OK with the tax increase, especially since the extra funds might pay for health care for the couple’s kids.

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program, under which the federal taxes were made law, is aimed at people in the Tucson couple’s shoes. They make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but struggle to make ends meet, Bailey said.

“Right now, we’re on one income – his – so it is” a factor, she said.

Bailey said that at $12 per day, the cost of smoking could drive the couple to quit sooner than it planned.

“We might be running short on cigarettes next week, and that might be the start of us quitting,” he said.

At Smoke, the cigar bar attached to McMahon’s Prime Steakhouse, 2959 N. Swan Road, the impact of the new 40-cent-per-cigar federal tax hasn’t been felt.

Owner Bob McMahon won’t raise prices until he sells his way through inventory he bought at the pre-tax increase prices, he said.

It might be a while before his customers, who pay from $3 for a Montecristo Memories to $175 for a Fuente Opus X BBMF Maduro, puff their way through his humidor.

“I have thousands, for sure,” McMahon said.

The same is true for Anthony’s Cigar Emporium, 7866 N. Oracle Road, said manager Brian King, although the tax increase has affected sales.

Anthony’s no longer carries bulk tobacco because the higher quality brands the store carried were about to almost double in price, King said.

“The stuff we were selling for $30, we were going to have to sell for $50-70 per can,” he said.

The increases come when the store is already hurting.

“We’re already in a sluggish economy. We’ve already seen business dip because cigars are a luxury item,” King said.

Still, cigar afficionados – who are generally somewhat affluent – will mostly take the price increase in stride, said Ron Janoff, 81, who started smoking cigars about five years ago after 30 years as a nonsmoker.

Janoff smokes about six or seven $4 to $5 cigars a week, one a day plus maybe two on weekends. The 10 percent rise is unlikely to deter him.

“If you can afford to smoke cigars, you really aren’t going to notice it,” said the semi-retired real estate developer.

Source: Arizona Bureau of Tobacco Education and Prevention.

———

WHERE TOBACCO TAXES GO

Arizona tobacco taxes total $2 per pack of cigarettes. The money is distributed through several funds, most of which are health-care related.

• Tobacco Tax and Health Care Fund; 58 cents per pack – Helps pay medical expenses for the poor, tobacco use prevention and cessation programs, prevention of tobacco-related diseases and to offset costs for the state Department of Corrections.

• Tobacco Products Tax Fund; 60 cents per pack – To help pay medical expenses for the poor, trauma center operations, programs aiming for prevention and reduction of tobacco use, and for research in tobacco-related diseases.

• Smoke Free Arizona Fund; 2 cents per pack – To enforce the Smoke Free Arizona Act, which banned smoking in most public places statewide.

• Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board Fund; 80 cents per pack – To pay for health care and development programs for young children.

———

HIGHEST COMBINED TOBACCO TAXES

Cigarette taxes per pack

State State tax Federal Tax Combined

1. New York $2.75 $1.01 $3.76

2. New Jersey $2.58 $1.01 $3.58

3. Massachusetts $2.51 $1.01 $3.52

4. Rhode Island $2.46 $1.01 $3.47

5. Washington $2.03 $1.01 $3.03

6. Alaska $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

7. Arizona $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

8. Connecticut $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

9. District of Columbia $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

10. Hawaii $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

Source: USA TODAY

• See this article online at www.tucsoncitizen.com for the complete list of tobacco taxes.

———

Cigarette taxes per pack

State State tax Federal Tax Combined

1. New York $2.75 $1.01 $3.76

2. New Jersey $2.58 $1.01 $3.58

3. Massachusetts $2.51 $1.01 $3.52

4. Rhode Island $2.46 $1.01 $3.47

5. Washington $2.03 $1.01 $3.03

6. Alaska $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

7. Arizona $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

8. Connecticut $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

9. District of Columbia $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

10. Hawaii $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

11. Maine $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

12. Maryland $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

13. Michigan $2.00 $1.01 $3.01

14. Vermont $1.99 $1.01 $3.00

15. Wisconsin $1.77 $1.01 $2.78

16. Montana $1.70 $1.01 $2.71

17. South Dakota $1.53 $1.01 $2.54

18. Minnesota $1.50 $1.01 $2.51

19. Texas $1.41 $1.01 $2.42

20. Iowa $1.36 $1.01 $2.37

21. Pennsylvania $1.35 $1.01 $2.36

22. New Hampshire $1.33 $1.01 $2.34

23. Ohio $1.25 $1.01 $2.26

24. Puerto Rico $1.23 $1.01 $2.24

25. Oregon $1.18 $1.01 $2.19

26. Arkansas $1.15 $1.01 $2.16

27. Delaware $1.15 $1.01 $2.16

28. Oklahoma $1.03 $1.01 $2.04

29. Indiana $1.00 $1.01 $2.00

30. Illinois $0.98 $1.01 $1.99

31. New Mexico $0.91 $1.01 $1.92

32. California $0.87 $1.01 $1.88

33. Colorado $0.84 $1.01 $1.85

34. Nevada $0.80 $1.01 $1.81

35. Kansas $0.79 $1.01 $1.80

36. Utah $0.70 $1.01 $1.70

37. Nebraska $0.64 $1.01 $1.65

38. Tennessee $0.62 $1.01 $1.63

39. Kentucky $0.60 $1.01 $1.61

40. Wyoming $0.60 $1.01 $1.61

41. Idaho $0.57 $1.01 $1.58

42. West Virginia $0.55 $1.01 $1.56

43. North Dakota $0.44 $1.01 $1.45

44. Alabama $0.43 $1.01 $1.43

45. Georgia $0.37 $1.01 $1.38

46. Louisiana $0.36 $1.01 $1.37

47. North Carolina $0.35 $1.01 $1.36

48. Florida $0.34 $1.01 $1.35

49. Virginia $0.30 $1.01 $1.31

50. Mississippi $0.18 $1.01 $1.19

51. Missouri $0.17 $1.01 $1.18

52. South Carolina $0.07 $1.01 $1.08

Source: USA TODAY

Pothole work downtown; I-10 construction continues

The following traffic restrictions will be in effect during the coming week:

Interstate 10

• I-10 in both directions will be closed from Prince Road to 29th Street on Saturday from midnight to 6 a.m.

• The eastbound frontage road lanes from Miracle Mile to 29th Street will be closed intermittently Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

• The right lane of the eastbound frontage road will be closed at Speedway Boulevard on Monday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• The westbound frontage road from 29th Street to Miracle Mile is subject to intermittent lane closures Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

• The westbound right lane of Speedway will be closed Monday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Speedway at I-10 will be closed Monday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

• The right lane of east- and westbound St. Mary’s Road will be closed Monday, 9 p.m.-6 a.m.

• The right lane of eastbound Congress Street will be closed Tuesday-Thursday, 9 p.m.-6 a.m.

• 22nd Street will be closed Monday-Friday, 8 p.m.-6 a.m.

Scott Avenue

• Scott Avenue from Broadway to 14th Street will be closed through April 24, as will side street access to Scott from Jackson, Ochoa, Corral and 12th streets.

Pothole work

All pothole work is scheduled for 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

• On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the left lane of westbound Congress from Arizona Avenue to Pennington Street will be closed. One lane of through traffic will be maintained.

• On Tuesday, the left lane of northbound Sixth Avenue from Broadway to just north of Congress will be closed.

• On Friday, the left lane of eastbound Broadway between Granada and Church avenues will be closed.

The Bureau of Land Management and the Pima County Fair have teamed up to help save wild horses and burros.

The federal agency will bring about 20 horses and eight burros to the fair for a silent auction April 24 to 26.

The minimum bid for the critters is $125 each, and any that don’t sell will be available first-come, first-served for the minimum bid, according to a BLM news release.

The animals will be available for previewing at the Pima County Fairgrounds, 11300 S. Houghton Road, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 24. BLM will screen potential bidders and issue bidder numbers during previewing.

Bidding begins at 10 a.m. April 25, and winning bidders will have a chance to adopt a second animal for $25. Unsold animals will be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 26.

All animals must be removed at the time of purchase. For more information, call Mary Pyles at 623-580-5662 or see the Bureau of Land Management Web site at www.blm.gov.

University of Arizona freshman Gallien Culbertson likes the choice of the new basketball coach, but he thinks the pick might hurt the school in the short term.

“Sean Miller is a good coach, but I’m not sure how good a recruiter he’ll be since he’ll be on the West Coast,” the 19-year-old business major said.

Other fans had similar views Monday, when Miller decided to leave Xavier to come to UA to replace Lute Olson.

Justin Steele, a 27-year-old graduate student in the Eller College of Management, thinks USC’s Tim Floyd would have been better prepared to hit the ground running on recruiting, because he has West Coast contacts.

“Short term I think it’s going to be harder to get kids to come here,” Steele said.

Steele’s friend, Adam Aronoff, isn’t so sure.

He thinks Miller might widen the potential pool of recruits because of his connections in the Midwest, where athletes might be dreaming of the sunny West.

“It would be an easy sell,” Aronoff said.

Greg Crawford, 27, thinks recruiting will be crucial to Miller’s success.

“He’d better be able to recruit,” he said. “I think (Lute) Olson brought a lot of talent to the program, because he was like a dynasty . . . I think (recruiting) is a lot of the strength of the program,” he said.

As for this year, Aronoff and Culbertson agree the choice is unlikely to have major impact.

“The entire recruiting class for this year is gone anyway,” Aronoff said.

Art history Professor Albert Stewart, a self-described “huge fan” who goes to every home game, would have liked to see Floyd get the job. He is a little concerned about the $2 million plus per year that Miller will get.

“I know museums are losing curators because they don’t have money, so it seems a little unbalanced. But if it brings in money, it’s great,” Stewart said.

The money is not an issue for Steele.

“God, no. I’d pay more for (Michigan State’s Tom) Izzo or (University of Kentucky’s Rick) Pitino,” Steele said.

Aronoff likes Miller’s age: 40.

“I think it brings long-term security. We got somebody who can be there 20 or 30 years,” he said.

Air National Guard aircraft electrician Chris Crawford doesn’t like the choice. He thinks UA should have stuck with interim coach Russ Pennell, who carried the team to the NCAA Tournament for its 25th straight year.

“I don’t know why they didn’t keep the guy who took them to the Sweet 16,” he said.

Amy Goodman, host of the popular ‘Democracy Now!’ television and radio show, will speak and sign copies of her latest book in Tucson on April 26.

Proceeds from the $10 talk and book signing will benefit the city’s cable access channel, Access Tucson and public radio station KXCI, according to a news release.

Goodman will speak at the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave., at 6 p.m., and will sign copies of her third book, “Standing up the the Madness – Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times,” which she co-authored with her brother, David Goodman. The book tells the stories of grass-roots activists who challenged government.

Tickets are available at KXCI, 220 S. Fourth Ave.; Access Tucson, 124 E. Broadway; and Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave., or online at www.kxci.org.

The year is off to a roaring start when it comes to temperatures. January, February and March combined were the second warmest on record, the National Weather Service said.

March was the seventh warmest since Old Pueblo record keeping began in the 1890s, John Glueck, who compiles Tucson statistics for the weather service, wrote in a monthly roundup.

Rainfall lagged far below normal for March. The 0.18 of an inch that fell at the airport ranks as the 24th driest March in more than 100 years. The city has received less than half of its normal rain since October 1, the start of the water year that scientists use.

The area has had 2.69 inches compared to the normal 5.59 inches, based on a 30-year average.

Warmer-than-normal temperatures and lower-than-average precipitation across the state in March led to a “dramatic” snowpack dip, which will mean less water in the state’s reservoirs later in the year, said a March 24 outlook by the Climate Assessment for the Southwest.

Much of Arizona got less than 50 percent of normal rainfall for the winter, and some parts got less than 5 percent, CLIMAS reported.

Though most reservoir levels along the Colorado and Salt rivers were above last year’s levels for March, that means the Colorado reservoirs were hovering around 50 percent full.

A long-lead forecast for April-June calls for a increased chance of above average temperatures and normal rainfall.

A June-August forecast calls for above average rainfall, according to the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.

The weather service is calling for temperatures around 80 for the rest of this week, with lows around 50. No rain is forecast.

———

March by the numbers

Seventh warmest on record

0.18 of an inch of rain (0.81 normal)

91 degrees, highest temperature (March 2)

38 degrees, lowest temperature (March 28)

2.90 inches, rainfall deficit from normal since Oct. 1

Source: National Weather Service

The same day that the Arizona Game & Fish Department launched an investigation into the capture of the last known wild jaguar in southern Arizona, U.S. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva asked the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to investigate the capture and later euthanization of Macho B.

“While the Arizona Game & Fish Department has stated that it will investigate the circumstances of this case, I strongly feel that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, as the federal agency with responsibility for conservation of endangered species, needs to step in and determine the facts of this case,” Grijalva said Wednesday in a news release.

“It is not enough that the Game & Fish Department investigate its own activities, given what has happened, as they have made it clear that they would not change any aspect of their handling of this animal.”

Grijalva questions the protocol of the initial capture, the factors leading to the jaguar’s recapture, the animal’s health status prior to euthanization and why a more thorough autopsy was not performed.

The director of the state Game & Fish Department declined to give details about new information he said sparked the launch of the state agency’s investigation.

“The department’s investigative protocol requires careful protection of relevant information pending an outcome,” Larry Voyles said in a news release. “But once the process concludes, we will disclose information to the extent allowable by law.”

Macho B was accidentally caught in a Game & Fish snare set to capture bears and mountain lions on Feb. 18. He was released with a radio collar, then recaptured 12 days later after his movements slowed, hinting the aging jaguar was sick.

A Phoenix Zoo veterinarian put Macho B down after determining the animal’s kidneys were failing. Game and Fish was criticized for stressing Macho B by putting a radio collar on him. Stress can cause kidney failure in large cats.

Some environmentalists believe the stress of capture and collaring caused Macho B’s death.

“It was a high-risk activity, and they knew that,” said Randy Serraglio, a conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Serraglio offered the comment at a March 5 protest “memorial service” for Macho B. About three dozen people attended the protest outside Game & Fish’s Tucson office.

The center this week won a lawsuit aimed at reversing U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service decisions not to designate critical habitat or create a recovery plan for jaguars. A federal judge ordered the agency to revisit the decisions by Jan. 8.

Game & Fish officials could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

By Ryn Gargulinski, B. William Poole

Fish & Wildlife Service was sued by ‘green’ groups

A federal judge Tuesday ordered the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to revisit its decisions not to designate habitat and create a recovery plan for jaguars in the United States.

The decision in a lawsuit filed by Defenders of Wildlife and the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity comes just weeks after the agency killed what many believe was the last jaguar in Arizona.

U.S. District Judge John M. Roll ruled Fish & Wildlife did not “articulate a rational basis” for the decision not to designate critical habitat for the Western Hemisphere’s largest cat. That decision must be revisited, Roll said in the 32-page ruling.

The agency also must go back to the drawing board and decide whether to draft a recovery plan, the judge ordered, setting Jan. 8 as the deadline.

Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, was elated at the news.

“This is a lifeboat that has been extended to the jaguar, and it’s a much needed lifeboat,” Robinson said.

The court’s decision does not mean a recovery plan and habitat designation are a foregone conclusion, said Fish & Wildlife spokesman Jeff Humphrey.

“They didn’t order us to designate critical habitat or write a recovery plan,” Humphrey said.

The ruling only requires that the agency decide again whether to do those things, he said.

This is the third time Fish & Wildlife will decide on critical habitat, Robinson said.

Fish & Wildlife declined to designate habitat the first time because it determined that the process would harm the jaguars by highlighting their location.

After that was struck down, the service found the U.S. habitat was not critical to the species. That decision was shot down Tuesday, he said.

Robinson believes the service will now be forced to designate critical habitat.

“There is no other conceivable excuse under the law not to designate critical habitat,” he said.

Brian Segee, a Defenders of Wildlife attorney who argued for a jaguar recovery plan before the federal district court, also was buoyed by the decision.

“The United States is the jaguar’s home, and we should take the actions necessary for it to recover here. We are thrilled with the court’s decision and hope the Fish & Wildlife Service will now move quickly to initiate recovery planning and provide the jaguar with the full Endangered Species Act protections,” he said in a news release.

Species with recovery plans and designated critical habitat recover much faster than species without them, the center said in its news release.

The center had sponsored a “memorial service” protest March 5 in honor of the euthanized cat, Macho B.

The nearly 20-year-old jaguar had been photographed in Arizona since 1996, but was euthanized earlier this month after a veterinarian determined Macho B’s kidneys were failing.

The big cat was accidentally captured in February by an Arizona Game & Fish Department snare, then released with a radio collar. He was recaptured 12 days later after his movements abruptly changed, hinting he was sick.

Jaguars used to roam across much of the United States from the San Francisco Bay area to Appalachia. Sightings have been rare for decades in Arizona.

Robinson believes Tuesday’s ruling will lead to broad habitat designation for the cats, perhaps as far east as Louisiana and Mississippi. He is confident there will eventually be breeding pairs here.

Even if the agency decides to designate habitat and write a recovery plan, those things are likely years away, Humphrey said.