Andrea Santa Cruz

Andrea Santa Cruz spent 16 years in drug-addicted hell. That turned two of her five kids into TV stars.

Her 13-year-old son, Frankie Santa Cruz, and her 12-year-old daughter, Aerica Santa Cruz, are main characters in this year’s public service announcements on TV for the region’s new anti-drug campaign.

“I feel sorry for the person who encourages any one of us to try some type of drug,” Frankie said to a room full of people who attended the Wednesday news conference to kick off the campaign.

Funded by a $258,000 federal Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, Methamphetamine grant, the campaign is a partnership of the Counter Narcotics Alliance, Tucson police and the Meth Free Alliance.

It includes five PSAs, posters and the message “Choose to Refuse.”

“As soon as you tell a kid ‘No,’ that’s what they want to do,” said Counter Narcotics Alliance Capt. Terry Rozema. “This campaign encourages kids to make wise choices.”

Tucson police Chief Roberto Villaseñor said the only way to tackle the problem is with involvement from everyone.

“We cannot arrest the problem,” he said. “The county attorney cannot prosecute away the problem. Everyone has to work together. The community needs to be part of the process. It’s the epitome of community policing.”

The policing has also hit the Internet, with a Meth Free Alliance page on Facebook.com and peer support groups that will Twitter motivational messages.

Seventh-grader Frankie has been speaking out against drugs for a couple of years and has appeared in past PSAs. Rather than getting ridiculed at school, he gets respected – and even imitated.

“In my school, I’m considered famous,” he said. “They will see the PSA and mimic me.”

He was a natural on stage, likening addiction to a monster full of empty souls.

It’s a monster both his mother and father knew well.

“He was pretty straight-laced when I met him,” Andrea Santa Cruz, 38, said of her husband. But meth, and other drugs, took care of that.

The couple, who still are married, spiraled downward until there was nowhere to go but up.

She hit bottom with her mom dying in January 2003 and Child Protective Services taking her children five months later.

“I was lost. My heart felt empty,” she said. “I just lost six of the most important people in my life.”

Her husband, too, entered a program and moved out of state until both were more stable in their recovery.

Major changes came with getting clean, she said. The couple got their five kids back.

Instead of fearing CPS, Santa Cruz now works for the agency.

She also staffs the phones for the Meth Free Alliance, tells her story whenever it will help and appears in public service spots from a previous campaign.

She’s recognized on the street.

“People have come up to me and said, ‘Because of you being so bold, my daughter has been clean for three months.’ ”

She also recalled how fellow motorists will pull their cars up to hers and give her a hearty thumbs up.

Rozema, of the Counter Narcotics Alliance, has had a different experience with motorists.

“I never had people pull up to me and give me the thumbs up,” he said. “It’s always a different finger.”

Frankie

Santa Cruz

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On the Web

Meth Free Alliance:

• www.meth-free-alliance.org

• Phone: 388-4711

• Also see its Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/pages/Meth-Free-

Alliance/74794503216?ref=s

Tucson Jazz Institute students will play songs from the 1930, '40s and '50s at the Mother's Day Big Band Bash.

There will be a swinging side to Mother’s Day this year.

With three separate groups planning jazz events, moms with happy feet can enjoy their favorite music from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Opening the day is the poolside Jazz Brunch at the Sheraton Tucson Hotel & Suites, 5151 E. Grant Road, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The hotel has a variety of pampering activities to celebrate Mom as the center of family life, including her own special drink: the Mom’osa. Music will be the bright and bouncy sort of traditional jazz played by the Arizona Roadrunners.

After that, it will be time to scurry downtown for the Mother’s Day Big Band Bash at 3 p.m., sponsored by the newly organized Tucson Jazz Institute, at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. The institute’s students are steeped in the sounds of big bands from the 1930s to ’50s. Their talents will be framed within ensembles named after jazz luminaries Stan Kenton, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson.

All the groups will be joined by Grammy Award-winning sax soloist Brice Winston, a TJI faculty member and a touring regular with New Orleans’ trumpeter Terence Blanchard. Special guests the Blue Note Jazz Combo will perform, introducing a new piece by Max Goldschmid, “Omar’s Enlightenment.”

The Mother’s Day Big Band Bash will include a special package of gifts for every mother and grandmother (and great-grandmothers, too).

In the evening, jazzy families can add Latin spice to the day by taking their moms to St. Philip’s Plaza, 4280 N. Campbell Ave., at East River Road, for a 7 p.m. concert and dance presented by the Tucson Jazz Society. Headlining is the 10-piece Orquesta La Unica led by pianist Amilcar Guevara. Employing musicians from Venezuela, Guatemala, Puerto Rico and Mexico, the band’s repertoire includes traditional and contemporary sounds of Latin America and the Caribbean, including the Cuban-style charanga.

Dancing will be encouraged, with several of the city’s Latin dance clubs using the event to showcase their polished interpretations of these popular steps.

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IF YOU GO

What: Mother’s Day Brunch

When: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday

Where: Sheraton Tucson Hotel & Suites, 5151 E. Grant Road

Price: no cover; brunch and other events priced individually

Info: 321-7621, www.sheraton.com/tucson

What: Mother’s Day Big Band Bash

When: 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave.

Price: $20 adults, $15 students and senior citizens

Info: 514-0935

What: Mother’s Day Latin dance and concert, featuring Orquesta La Unica led by Amilcar Guevara, presented by the Tucson Jazz Society

When: 7 p.m.

Where: St. Philip’s Plaza, 4280 N. Campbell Ave. (at East River Road)

Price: $20 general admission, $15 TJS members, $10 students

Info: 902-1265, www.tucsonjazz.org

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OTHER MOTHER’S DAY EVENTS

“FESTIVAL DE REBOZOS” – THE BEAUTIFUL SHAWLS OF MEXICO: The event, presented by the Latin American Art Patrons, a support group of the Tucson Museum of Art, culminates with two public events: the Gala Celebration of Music and Dance and a Mother’s Day/Día de las Madres family celebration. A wide range of handmade rebozos from the finest silk to colorful cotton will be for sale in the museum store during the six-day event. All proceeds will benefit Latin American Art programs, exhibits and acquisitions at the Tucson Museum of Art. Viewing hours are: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, noon-4 p.m. Sundays. Here’s the schedule: • 6 p.m. Saturday: Gala Celebration will feature Mexican appetizers, and a program on the history of rebozos in music, poetry and dance. Mariachi Luz de Luna and Folklorico San Juan will perform and the night’s guest MC will be Lupita Murillo of KVOA News 4. A fashion show demonstrating the many ways of wearing them will conclude the evening. Tickets are $30 a person. No- host bar will be available. • Noon-4 p.m. Sunday: Mother’s Day/Día de las Madres. A family celebration in which people can bring in rebozos from their family for expert evaluation, and watch a master weaver demonstrate her craft. There will be booths selling aguas frescas, churros and paletas (fresh fruit popsicles), and a photo booth for a family portrait. Admission to the event and museum is free. Where: Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block, 140 N. Main Ave. Info: 624-2333, www.tucsonmuseumofart.org

MOVIES WITH MOM: “ALL ABOUT EVE”: Spend a special Mother’s Day with the woman who brought you into the world and the ever-fabulous Bette Davis in one of her more notorious roles. “All About Eve” is all about women clawing their way to the top. Davis stars as Margo Channing, a New York theater star whose protégée Eve (Anne Baxter) turns out to be quite the backstabber. But don’t worry, Eve doesn’t sit back and take it. All moms in attendance will receive a fresh-cut flower while they last, and there will be a free raffle for a basket of goodies that will make your mama feel special. The cherry on top? Mimosas will be for sale. (As the Loft says, “everyone in the movie is drinking, so why shouldn’t you?”) When: 1 p.m. Sunday Where: The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Price: $7 Info: 795-0844, www.loftcinema.com

SUNDAY

“MUSIC UNDER THE STARS”: Enjoy sweet music in the park with mom. The Tucson Pops Orchestra kicks off its “Music Under the Stars” 2009 season directed by Laszlo Veres. Performing with the orchestra will be local artist Crystal Stark. A magna cum laude graduate of UA, Stark was one of American Idol’s top 44 contestants in 2006. Adding to the entertainment, the Tucson Girls Chorus will perform under the direction of Marcela Molina. When: 7 p.m. Sunday Where: Reid Park – DeMeester, 900 S. Randolph Way Price: Free Info: 722-5853, www.tucsonpops.org

PHOENIX – Police are crediting a Phoenix-area mother’s tip for the dismantling of an Internet-based Ecstasy sales ring.

The unidentified woman’s call to the Maricopa County Methamphetamine Task Force early last week brought swift action from detectives, who within hours located the seller’s MySpace page online, including a complete price list, quantity and product review.

The woman looked at her 17-year-old son’s activity on the Internet and realized he was more than likely purchasing some sort of drug, said Lt. Steve Bailey, a Maricopa County sheriff’s deputy assigned to the task force. “She figured out it was Ecstacy, and put that together with how he was acting, lethargic and spacey, and called us.”

By Tuesday, 10 Ecstasy dealers who had a combined clientele of nearly 500 metro Phoenix high school and college students were under arrest, investigators say.

The network of small-time peddlers was coordinated and advertised through the social networking Web site, Bailey said.

Detectives were able to buy the drug from dealers in Mesa, north Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe and Fountain Hills, and in parks, restaurants and other public places. If a dealer ran out, he simply referred undercover agents to some other suppliers, police said.

“It’s sort of a loose-knit, somewhat organized group,” Bailey said. “There’s no sense of competition among them or anything. They got kids with pockets full of money who just want to get high on Friday and Saturday night.”

Detectives purchased more than 200 hits in their brief investigation.

Dealers said they bought the pills for $7 and typically sold them for $15 and could make as much as $3,000 each weekend selling the drug at parties and raves and other all-night dance parties held in large venues.

The ease of buying and selling the drug shows where Ecstasy ranks on the list of concerning drugs for parents and teenagers, investigators said.

“It’s very easy (to buy) and unfortunately, I hate to say, accepted. Parents hear about these rave parties and alcohol isn’t allowed at these rave parties because it’s a dangerous combination,” said Phoenix police Sgt. Don Sherrard, a member of the task force. “So the parents are kind of ignorant and kind of relieved that their kids aren’t out drinking and driving and don’t realize their kids are doing methamphetamine.”

Physicians say Ecstasy can damage the brain. It dumps all of the serotonin out of the user’s brain in one massive reaction that brings a state of euphoria, said Dr. Jeff Thomas, a clinical professor at Arizona State University.

The drug also blocks the brain from recycling that serotonin, leading to the depression that follows. “It takes a long time, 6 months, for your brain to get back where it was after one dose,” Thomas said. “This drug is actually more damaging than methamphetamine.”

Closing community centers also on hold

Neighborhood center coordinator Greg Rivera (left) leads an after-school program at the Joan M. Swetland Community Center at Sahuarita Park last month. The center faces closure to help Pima County deal with a budget deficit.

Families with children in after-school or summer programs won’t have to pay for services at recreation centers run by Pima County – at least for now.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday put imposing such fees on hold after receiving scores of protest letters from worried and angry parents who feared that such fees would put those programs economically out of reach for many.

Supervisors also put off closing some community centers and parks, and reversed actions taken two weeks ago to increase swimming programs and athletic field fees – at least until late June or early July.

“What we are recommending is that you somehow rescind that action and we start over again,” County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry told supervisors.

The county has not raised fees for Pima County Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation programs since 2003, Huckelberry said.

Since then, costs of department programs have significantly increased – from about $10.4 million five years ago to about $15.6 million in the fiscal year that ends June 30.

On Tuesday, the supervisors directed department staff and Huckelberry to come up with a proposed fee increase ordinance and return in late June or early July with the information.

The county also has added about $2 million in athletic fields lighting and officials anticipate sharply higher electric bills. Some of the proposed fee increases would help offset the cost.

Fee increases that could come at a later date include:

• At the county’s nine public swimming pools: Admission for those younger than 18 from 75 cents to $1.50 cents, and 50 cents per child for low-income households; 18 and older from $1.50 to $3.

• Unlighted athletic fields: Currently no charge. Would go to $5 per hour per field for for-profit leagues; $10 per hour per field for nonprofit organizations; and $15 per hour per field for for-profit teams at Sportspark, a field in Marana.

• Shooting range fees: From $4 per day to $6 per day at Tucson Mountain Park. From $6 per day to $8 a day at Southeast Regional Park Shooting Range.

The real lightning rod issue in the community was the proposal to charge fees for the after-school and youth summer programs.

County officials received more than 250 letters of objection from parents and officials of youth programs that use county community center and parks facilities.

The proposed fees would have been $195 per school semester for the Get Active! Afternoons program and $270 for an eight-week Stay Active! Summers program, with no reductions for families enrolling several children.

“That major issue is off the table,” Huckelberry told the supervisors.

It arose after the Arizona Department of Health Services told county officials that some of the facilities used would need costly physical upgrades because of state licensed day care regulations. To get around that, officials decided to impose fees for the after-school and youth summer programs and to end requirements that parents be either on-site or escort children to and from the centers – creating “at will” programs where children 6 and older could arrive and leave alone.

That would invariably have resulted in more unsupervised children after school and in summer recess getting into trouble, Penelope Jacks of the Childrens’ Action Alliance said after the board decision.

“Allowing children to come and go at will was a very, very bad idea,” Jacks said.

Pima County should join with other jurisdictions in the state in talks with DHS to come up with regulations that would allow after-school programs without meeting the rigid – and prohibitively expensive – licensing requirements for for-profit day care centers, Jacks said.

Supervisors directed Parks & Recreation staff to continue to operate the programs without charge or change and await a response from DHS officials.

Increases in fees for athletic field use also won’t be coming soon. Both for-profit and nonprofit athletic organizations will be hit by increases, but not before February 2010.

It wasn’t the fee increases that were problematic for officials of those organizations. It was the proposed timing of July 1 that they objected to.

“We don’t have a problem with that,” said Earl Causby, director of Little League Baseball’s District 12 in Tucson.

“But we need to have time to budget for it.”

Supervisors did not address the proposed closure of some parks and community centers – including the Joan M. Swetland Community Center in Sahuarita and the Lew Sorenson Community Center on the East Side. The Swetland Center could be taken over by the Sahuarita Unified School District.

Children participate in an after-school program.

Youths play a game called flag tag at Sahuarita Park. Pima County is considering closing the park or transferring it to the Sahuarita School District to deal with increased expenses.

———

POSSIBLE TRANSFERS OR CLOSURES

Pima County Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation Department facilities and programs facing possible transfers or outright closures:

• The Joan M. Swetland Community Center, 15500 S. Sahuarita Road, could be transferred to the Sahuarita Unified School District. Savings: $217,000 a year.

• The Lew Sorenson Community Center, 11100 E. Tanque Verde Road, could be closed, with classes transferred to the Tanque Verde Unified School District.

• The Rillito Vista Community Center, 8820 W. Robinson Road, could be closed, for a savings of about $87,000.

• Catalina Regional Park, 4135 E. Trotter Place, could be closed to save about $76,500.

• Sportspark, 6901 N. Casa Grande Highway, could be leased to a private operator by July 1 to save about $500,000.

• The county’s Leisure Times parks and recreation magazine could be eliminated, saving $50,000.

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LAST FEES INCREASE

Pima County National Resources, Parks & Recreation Department last raised facilities and program fees in fiscal year 2003-04.

The department budget then was about $10.4 million – almost all from the general fund.

The 2008-09 department general fund budget ending July 1 was about $15.6 million – about a 50 percent increase over five years.

AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine’s governor signed a freshly passed bill Wednesday approving gay marriage, making it the fifth state to approve the practice and moving New England closer to allowing it throughout the region.

New Hampshire legislators were also poised to send a gay marriage bill to their governor, who hasn’t indicated whether he’ll sign it. If he does, Rhode Island would be the region’s sole holdout.

The Maine Senate voted 21-13, with one absent, for a bill that authorizes marriage between any two people rather than between one man and one woman, as state law currently allows. The House had passed the bill Tuesday.

Democratic Gov. John Baldacci, who hadn’t previously indicated how he would handle the bill, signed it shortly afterward. In the past, he said he opposed gay marriage but supported civil unions, which provide many benefits of marriage.

Debate was brief. Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, turned the gavel over to an openly gay member, Sen. Lawrence Bliss, D-South Portland, to preside over the final vote.

Republican Sen. Debra Plowman of Hampden argued that the bill was being passed “at the expense of the people of faith.”

“You are making a decision that is not well-founded,” warned Plowman.

But Senate Majority Leader Philip Bartlett II said the bill does not compel religious institutions to recognize gay marriage.

“We respect religious liberties. … This is long overdue,” said Bartlett, D-Gorham.

Maine is now the fourth state in New England, to allow same-sex marriages. Connecticut enacted a bill after being ordered to allow gay marriages by the courts, and Vermont passed a bill over the governor’s veto.

New Hampshire’s House was also expected to vote on a bill Wednesday and send it to Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat.

Massachusetts’ high court has ordered the state to recognize gay marriages. In Rhode Island, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage has been introduced but is not expected to pass this year.

Outside New England, Iowa is recognizing gay marriages on court orders. The practice was briefly legal in California before voters banned it.

A young inspired author, Dylan Blankenship of Desert Willow Elementary, wrote a story about "My Friend the Magic Box."

If doughnuts and Pop-Tarts had a smackdown, who would win? How about pizza and spaghetti?

Stories that Soar, a local theater program featuring snippets of plays written by schoolkids, will answer those questions when it offers two performances at the University of Arizona on May 9 showcasing the best of its work this school year.

“When adults write about kids, it’s very different from when kids write themselves. It’s very entertaining for everyone, and it offers a great glimpse into the world of kids,” said Sharon O’Brien, artistic director for Stories that Soar.

The stories are collected over a period of several weeks at elementary and intermediate schools, then developed into plays with live actors, music and sound effects. The actors then return to the schools for assemblies featuring the submitted plays. The group has performed in 10 local schools and three in Phoenix this year.

Actors come from a variety of backgrounds and range in age from 19 to 50, O’Brien said.

Darby Blaker, who graduated in December with a UA bachelor’s degree in speech and hearing sciences, joined the group at the suggestion of a friend. She was quickly hooked, she said.

The plays are a great way to bring out kids’ feelings and thoughts, which are basically the same feelings and thoughts adults have, Blaker said.

“I think it’s every kid’s dream to see something they created brought to life,” she said.

The UA performances will offer two or three stories from each of the schools the group worked with this past year, O’Brien said.

Topics range from the serious – war and immigration – to the whimsical – a fight between spaghetti and pizza.

A reception with balloons, face painting, raffles and a silent auction to benefit Stories that Soar begins an hour before showtime.

Stories that Soar has been active for eight years. The group has a stable of about 20 actors, though only about 10 will be in the UA shows.

The food fights became part of the program after several kids submitted plays based on fights between their favorite foods, O’Brien said.

“It’s a three-round favorite food smackdown. Doughnuts and Pop-Tarts decide to be friends; it’s too hard to fight,” she said.

To find out the winner in the pizza-spaghetti matchup, head to UA on May 9.

Timothy Jones of Soleng Tom Elementary wrote about a mail carrier who gets lost in space.

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IF YOU GO

What: “Best of Stories that Soar!”

When: 2 and 7 p.m. May 9

Where: University of Arizona Marroney Theatre, 1025 N. Olive Road.

Price: $8 for adults, $5 for kids ages 12 and younger. Available at Mrs. Tiggywinkle’s Toys, 4811 E. Grant Road; Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave. or at the door May 9.

Info: 975-9970, www.storiesthatsoar.org

It’s time to think about summer programs for kids.

Summer school can be used as an enrichment program, and not just a makeup for classes that didn’t go so well the previous school year.

Alta Vista High School offers a variety of classes, from math and science courses to government and English. The session runs from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays June 1-18.

And the cost is only $5.

For more details, call 294-4922 or visit leonagroup.com/altavistahs.

For more parenting information, go to the Tucson nonprofit New Parents Network’s Web site, www.npn.org.

Group tells men: Make war? No love

NAIROBI, Kenya — Thousands of Kenyan women vowed Wednesday to begin a weeklong sex strike to try to protest their country’s bickering leadership, which they say threatens to revive the bloody chaos that convulsed the African country last year.

Leaders from Kenya’s largest and oldest group dedicated to women’s rights, the Women’s Development Organization, said they hope the boycott will persuade men to pressure the government to make peace.

Eleven women’s groups are participating in the strike. The groups have also called on the wives of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to abstain. It was not clear how either wife responded to the request.

“We have looked at all issues which can bring people to talk and we have seen that sex is the answer,” said Rukia Subow, chairman of the Women’s Development Organization. “It does not know tribe, it does not have a (political) party and it happens in the lowest households.”

Sex strikes are rare worldwide. Many men in Kenya are polygamous, as is allowed by law.

Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua said he was unaware of the strike.

The disputed election between Kibaki and then-challenger Odinga led to violence that killed more than 1,000 people and left more than 600,000 homeless. The two were installed after a month of mediation, but infighting has threatened to break apart the fragile coalition.

Divorce Recovery Inc. is 100 percent volunteer run, with more than 100 trained leaders serving the Tucson community. Most of them have experienced divorce – either themselves or as children of divorce – and bring a unique compassion and understanding to Divorce Recovery.

The group offers Education for Life Seminars, periodic educational support groups conducted by experienced leaders. In the April 25 From Abandonment to Healing workshop, Susan Anderson presents techniques that help regain balance and self-identity after loss. It will be 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 924 N Alvernon Way. Fees are $65 in advance, $75 at the door.

Divorce Recovery also offers regular groups free of charge led by the trained volunteers including:

• Divorce Recovery I – helps participants come to accept the end of a relationship, and to understand the divorce transition.

• Children of Divorce – (ages 3-18) helps parents and children establish better communication about the divorce transition.

• Living in Step – helps those in or about to enter/form a stepfamily.

• Finances after Loss- provides an opportunity to talk with a certified divorce financial planner.

• Divorce Recovery II: Saying Goodbye – deals with the emotional and psychological aspects of divorce.

• Divorce Recovery III: Beginning Again – to help participants regain a stronger sense of their self-image, and to regain trust in their ability to make sound decisions.

Go to divorcerecovery.net for information on support group dates and locations, or call 495-0704.

For more parenting information, go to the Tucson nonprofit New Parents Network’s Web site, www.npn.org.

Question: I am a father who is very involved in the lives of my sons, who are 15 and 12. Their mother is not in the picture, and they live with me full time.

Last year, I started dating the mother of my 12-year-old son’s best friend, who I met at a school event. We got married in March, and my son was very excited at the prospect of living with his best friend.

Now the two cannot stand each other. They pick on each other, and are constantly at war. It’s hard for them to be in the same room.

I did not see this problem coming. I thought the boys would get along great.

Any advice?

Answer: Kids are always excited beforehand. It’s sort of like two older siblings getting excited when Mommy goes away to the hospital and brings home a little brother or sister. But once the thing comes home, the kids get it. This is for real.

What you are experiencing is not unusual. Kids at any age usually have problems when their parents remarry.

It’s just the way it is.

When little Sun Devil and Wildcat go after each other, the best thing for both of you to do is to refrain from placing a judgment on who did what and why, but to simply hold both of them accountable for fighting, with the suggestion that fighting occurs outside the home and not in the home.

You as a parent could escort kids to the back door and ask them to continue fighting outside.

When they’re done fighting, which usually isn’t more than a minute or two, trust me, they will be at the door, ready to come in.

Usually kids don’t actually duke it out. “You start it.” “No, you start it.” It usually ends with that.

The other obvious thing I would suggest is that you hold, for lack of a better term, family meetings on a regular basis, where family members can talk about what they think is so grossly unfair about the present arrangement.

Try not to be the one that offers solutions to those problems. Let the kids try to figure out how they are going to peacefully coexist.

Pull the 12-year-olds aside and say, “Listen, you have essentially six more years to serve in this prison. It really would be helpful for you guys to learn how to solve your problems. If you don’t, and you continue to act in a non-responsible manner, your mother and I will not be turning over car keys, for example, to kids who aren’t responsible enough to settle routine squabbles in a responsible way.”

That should get their attention.

Dr. Kevin Leman is a Tucson psychologist and author of more than 30 best-selling books, including “Have a New Kid by Friday.” E-mail questions to him at whatsupdoc@tucsoncitizen.com. Photo by Tom Spitz Photography.

Does a family need a collective spiritual life?

Shaunti Feldhahn: With God, our houses stand firm

Andrea Sarvady: Morals the mortar of many homes

Shaunti Feldhahn (scfeldhahn@yahoo.com) is a conservative Christian author and speaker, and married mother of two. Andrea Sarvady (ASarvad@gmail.com) is a writer and educator specializing in counseling and a married mother of three.

During a packed and joyful Easter Sunday service, I found myself wishing that it wasn’t so easy to let regular life get in the way of the New Life that many are so conscious of – and conscientious about – during holidays.

Most people believe in God. Addiction recovery programs such as AA have found that they don’t work without relying on someone greater than yourself.

Numerous studies have found that every member of a family is more healthy, has more friendships and a more positive outlook on life with more regular spiritual practice. And within a family, a collective spiritual life is very influential.

For example, a study sociology professor Sung Joon Jang found that children whose parents were more religious in practice were less likely to use drugs later on.

If belief was just a collective delusion, studies would have found no difference from children whose parents said, “Just Say No” a lot.

But it makes perfect sense if there really is a God who loves us enough to show us the path of life – and will help us stay on it, if we’ll listen.

Today, a growing minority – about one-third of adults according to the Barna Group – have begun to detach their beliefs from a regular spiritual practice. And some parents now assert that you can teach moral principles without religious belief.

But where do moral principles come from if not from absolute truth? And where does absolute truth come from if not from the Creator of that truth?

Rebecca Hagelin’s new book, “30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family,” demonstrates how simple establishing a collective spiritual foundation can be – and how important.

As she says, “When everything is negotiable, then nothing is dependable.”

Two thousand years ago, Jesus told a parable very relevant to today: That someone who hears his words and “does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand,” and cannot withstand the storms of life.

But, Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” – when the storms come, the house stands firm.

Shaunti Feldhahn (scfeldhahn@yahoo.com) is a conservative Christian author and speaker, and married mother of two.

Anyone who thinks teens are only good for goofing off in front of the TV or ignoring their parents when asked to take out the trash has not met Tucson’s Tiffany Wojtak and T.J. Quijada.

Wojtak, 16, and Quijada, 18, are in the running for the top honors bestowed annually by the Boys & Girls Clubs – Arizona State Youth of the Year.

That means they do a heck of a lot more than goof off in front of the boob tube.

The two will join seven other teens from across the state at Tuesday’s ninth annual Arizona Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs Legislative Breakfast in Phoenix to see who nabs the top honor.

The Tucson teens have long been involved with the club – Quijada couldn’t wait for his seventh birthday so he could join – and have given back everything they’ve gotten from the club.

Almost.

Wojtak, who lives with her dad, sister and two brothers on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, is not planning to give back some of the things she’s found during the club’s Rillito clean-up projects.

“Car pieces, bottles of urine,” she said. “There’s some pretty crazy stuff down there.”

Other efforts the Palo Verde High School junior has organized include the annual AIDS walk and any project that helps bring awareness to breast cancer.

“It’s a really big issue for me,” Wojtak said. Her mom died of the disease last year.

Getting through her mother’s death was made a shade easier by the club.

“They just kept me smiling, making me laugh,” she said.

“It’s a great way to help people, socialize and plan events.”

It’s also a great place to learn, especially the top two lessons Wojtak has walked away with.

“Work with what you have,” she said was the first lesson.

The second was: “There is always somebody worse off than you.”

Quijada, too, has learned much from the club, which is a draw for his family.

His two older sisters were nominated for state Youth of the Year when they were teens active in the club. His younger sister is a club member.

“I’ve learned to always be willing to serve,” said Quijada, a Desert View High School senior who plans to join the U.S. Navy. “Community service, giving back to the community is important.”

His favorite place to embark on such service was at a 2008 national conference, where he was among15 Boys & Girls Clubs members from across the country who ran the event.

“One workshop was for changing adults’ perspectives on teens,” he said, “getting rid of the stereotypes that teens are up to no good or having nothing to do but start trouble.”

Since Quijada joined the club more than a decade ago, he’s not had time to start trouble. He has had time to grow into the type of mentor he used to look up to.

“I am so excited to be the role model for the kids that used to be me,” he said. He also enjoys being the kids’ spokesman, representing them at conferences and lectures.

“This is my extended family,” he said of other club members, advisers and especially the kids who look up to him.

“When I was their age, the club was my life.”

Rides, critters and deep-fried Twinkies

Rondalyn Burnette (left) and Carol House hold on tight as their world is turned upside on the Speed ride at the Pima County Fair on Thursday.

Tucsonan Kristen Hatcher brought everything she needed to the Pima County Fair.

She had a sun umbrella, a camera – and a wagon full of kids.

Hatcher, 25, wasn’t the only one to take advantage of the family-friendly atmosphere, the rollicking array of rides or the deep-fried everything at this year’s fair.

The fair runs through April 26 and includes, as folks frolicking through the midway attested, something fun for every taste.

Even if the taste is for deep-fried Twinkies.

Hatcher and crew knew their first stop would be to visit the Cleaner family in one of the fair’s exhibit halls.

“We’re going to see their arts and crafts,” Hatcher said, gesturing toward her children Christian, 5; Caleb, 3; and year-old Ashlynn. “They made bead things and pipe cleaner people.”

Christian crafted the Cleaner family out of the latter. The crew included Mr. Cleaner, Mrs. Cleaner and their devoted dog, named, quite appropriately, Cleaner.

Others made a beeline for the food lines. Gargantuan smoked turkey legs competed with Colossal Onion Blossoms and the deep-fried Twinkies for olfactory attention.

Erik Barnard, 20, had a quick answer when asked if he’d try a deep-fried Twinkie.

“God, no, that looks disgusting,” he said. “The only thing I like deep fried are fries.”

But he and his wife, Michelle, 20, admitted to digging the funnel cakes, which took first place in a random poll of favorite fair foods.

When it came to the rides, Masen Gromer, 5, did not hesitate to describe his favorite.

“I like the one where the boat goes up and down,” he said with the confidence of someone who had already ridden it four times since it opened about an hour before.

“That one makes me sick,” he said while pointing to another ride that featured small, twirling teacup things painted bright yellow.

Sydney King, 13, and Marana Middle School classmate and friend Katrina Malfitano, 12, left school early to get to the fair.

“We came for the rides,” Sydney said, while handing Katrina a freshly coated caramel apple. The duo feasted on the goodies and were planning to enjoy the rides, but were making sure to steer clear of the livestock arena.

“I used to come here when I was younger,” Sydney said. “But then one of the animals gave me hives. I had hives for about three months.”

Others had no such qualms about getting up close and personal with all kinds of critters in the livestock arena or the popular petting zoo.

Barbara and Phillip Sanderson, both 76 and married 56 years, came to the petting zoo with their grandson, 8-year-old Dennis Sanderson.

But they may have been enjoying it more than he was.

“I love this,” Barbara Sanderson said. “This is the best part of the fair. I’m a kid myself.”

The Sandersons, and everyone else in the petting zoo for that matter, were entranced with the little piglet who would lie blissfully on her side when an employee scratched her belly with a rake.

“We love the piggies,” said Savannah Whitney, 12. Her twin brother, Levi, and their friend Lexi Watins, 12, heartily agreed as they knelt on the zoo’s hay- strewn floor with piglets in front of them and goats nibbling at their hair and ears.

The livestock arena, too, was a hit, full of newly groomed rabbits and frizzy-haired sheep.

Even those who didn’t seek out the animals could find them in pockets around the fairgrounds.

Bengal tigers lurked in one of the side exhibits while a parade of horses tramped down the center aisle.

“The Clydesdales are always crowd pleasers,” said Keith Smith, who was working daytime fair security.

Elephant duo Kitty and Dixie were a hefty highlight, with a line of folks waiting for a ride.

The elephants, owned by Kari Johnson, 69, and the family business Have Trunk Will Travel Inc., have appeared in movies and on the cover of Vanity Fair.

It all began when Johnson married an elephant trainer. Her daughter, too, married an elephant trainer.

While Johnson was able to provide a brief family history and the elephants’ résumé, she could not clear up a nagging question that may have been on every fairgoer’s mind.

“I don’t know what they do with the poop,” she said. “We just pay someone to come haul it away.”

The fair offers an eclectic array of services and stuff. Folks can get a back massage, a face painting or an airbrushed tattoo. They can also buy a hot tub, acrylic latex interior paint, a Samurai sword, the as-seen-on-TV Shammy and painless hair clips called Hairzings.

Security man Smith said even the nighttime scene is family friendly. The night security crew includes his youngest son, who just returned from Afghanistan where he served as an Army sniper.

“I told him, ‘Your job is to keep the carnies and the 4-H kids away from each other,’ ” Smith said.

“He said, ‘No problem.’ ”

Ready for the fair's Thursday opening were (from right) Christian Hatcher, 5; Ashlynn Hatcher, 1; Parker Gideon, 2, (in green hat) and Caleb Hatcher, 3.

Rachael Simons, 21, said she loves the food at the fair as she dug in to a beef barbecue sandwich on Thursday.

Hundreds of people attended the opening of the Pima County Fair on Thursday.

Masen Gromer, 5, (center) talks about the rides at Thursday's opening of Pima County Fair. He was at the fair with his dad, Mark Gromer, 30, and his dad's grandson, Damien Macomber.

Bengal tigers draw a crowd the opening day of the fair.

Fairgoers enjoy the Sky Flier on Thursday, the opening day of the Pima County Fair.

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IF YOU GO

What: Pima County Fair

Where: 11300 S. Houghton Road

When: Through April 26

Hours: Main gate opens noon on weekdays, 10 a.m. weekends; carnival opens 3 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. weekends

Admission: $7; $2 for ages 6-10; free for ages 5 and younger. Parking is $5.

More info: www.pimacountyfair.com

The seventh annual Fiesta Grande Street Fair takes place on the West Side roadway all day Saturday and Sunday.

The fair runs from 9:30 a.m to dusk on Saturday and from noon to dusk on Sunday.

The fundraiser for the Barrio Hollywood Neighborhood Association fills Grande between Speedway and St. Mary’s Road, four blocks west of Interstate 10.

The fair mixes a Ferris wheel, jumping castles and other games with a car show, arts and crafts and music from local bands. Local restaurants will serve up Mexican food. Entrance is free.

Fair sponsors include Golden Eagle Distributors, Pepsi, Qwest Communications, Food City and Pima County Public Works