Frank Stout (right) and his neighbor Megin Goetz comfort his dogs CoCo (left), Soju (background) and Saki after they were rescued by firefighters from a house fire on South Palm Springs Drive on Thursday. The fire spread to a neighboring home. The cause is under investigation.

A woman was injured Thursday morning in a house fire, but a firefighter was unscathed by debris from the home’s collapsing roof.

Four dogs found in the backyard of the East Side home escaped serious injury, Tucson fire Capt. Tricia Tracy said. A fifth dog that had been missing was found unharmed late Thursday morning running around the yard.

The pets may have saved themselves by fleeing through a “doggy door” leading to the backyard. Tracy could not tell whether the dogs were singed or just sooty from the fire’s smoke and debris.

Tracy couldn’t provide more information on the injured 64-year-old resident because of a federal patient confidentiality law.

The fire, reported at 8:29 a.m., spread from the home in the 2800 block of South Palm Springs Drive to a neighboring house, Tracy said. The cause is under investigation.

Tracy said the firefighter appeared to be unharmed, but he was sent to a hospital for a precautionary exam. None of the other roughly 50 firefighters sustained injuries.

The fire gutted the first home, causing an estimated $300,000 damage, she said. A sprinkler system in the second home halted the progress of the blaze, which caused about $50,000 of damage there.

Firefighters use a water cannon on a house fire in the 2800 block of South Palm Springs Drive early Thursday.

Tucson firefighter Kevin Unwin (right) hands Saki to the dog's owner, Frank Stout. Saki was rescued Thursday morning from a fire in the 2800 block of South Palm Springs Drive.

Eastside house fire

A woman was injured and five dogs were rescued in an early morning house fire on South Palm Springs Drive.

Producer: FRANCISCO MEDINA

Slide 1 of 9.
Tucson firefighters use a water cannon to try to extinguish the house fire in the 2800 block of South Palm Springs Drive Thursday morning. The fire left one female resident injured. Four dogs were rescued and one was later found safe.
Source: FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson CitizenSlide 2 of 9.
Tucson firefighters use a water cannon to extinguish a house fire.
Source: FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson CitizenSlide 3 of 9.
Tucson firefighters work to extinguish a house fire Thursday morning.
Source: FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson CitizenSlide 4 of 9.
Tucson firefighters work to extinguish a house fire Thursday morning.
Source: FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson CitizenSlide 5 of 9.
Tucson firefighter Kevin Unwin rescues Saki, one of five dogs, from a house fire in the 2800 block of South Palm Springs Drive.
Source: FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson CitizenSlide 6 of 9.
Tucson firefighter Kevin Unwin hands Saki to owner Frank Stout.
Source: FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson CitizenSlide 7 of 9.
Owner Frank Stout and his neighbor comfort his dogs CoCo, Saki and Soju after they were rescued by firefighters.
Source: FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson CitizenSlide 8 of 9.
Owner Frank Stout and his neighbor comfort his dogs CoCo, left, Saki and Soju after they were rescued by firefighters.
Source: FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson CitizenSlide 9 of 9.
A firefighter works to extinguish a house fire.
Source: FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson Citizen

The 340-megawatt plant would be built about 27 miles northwest of Kingman by Mohave Sun Power, LLC, on land it plans to buy from Las Vegas developer Jim Rhodes. The facility will use a solar-thermal design, with parabolic mirrors concentrating the sun’s energy on tubes carrying oil. The heated oil is piped to a central facility to generate steam to turn generators. Some of the energy will be stored in molten salt tanks for use after dark, and a secondary heating system using oil, gas or biofuels can also keep the plant running on cloudy days.

The $2.1 billion plant will be one of the largest of its type in the world, project director Greg Bartlett said Tuesday.

Another plant using the same technology is planned south of Kingman. That 200-megawatt facility is being developed by Albiasa Solar. A Mohave County housing development called The Ranch at White Hills is building a solar facility to power its homes, and a smaller solar project is slated for the Yucca area.

“This is proof that our (Arizona’s) renewable energy standard is finally bearing fruit,” said Arizona Corporation Commission Chairwoman Kris Mayes.

The company looked all over the Southwest before settling on Mohave County, Bartlett said. Some of the benefits to locating the project in Mohave County, as compared to Maricopa County, included a higher elevation, the remote area, the amount of water and the ability to acquire 4,000 acres from a private landholder. The company has a lease purchase agreement with Rhodes for the property.

According to information from Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson’s office, the plant will use about 1,500 to 3,000 acre-feet of water per year to wash the mirrors and generate steam. The plant intends to recycle some of the water. The company says it’s well aware of the water concerns in the county and is spending a lot of time upfront on the issue, Bartlett said.

The ACC is watching the water issue carefully, Mayes said.

Raneri

Bark Busters franchise owner and professional dog trainer Gerard Raneri added the rest of Tucson and also Catalina, Marana, Oro Valley and SaddleBrooke to his Bark Busters business, which previously encompassed southeast Tucson, Sahuarita, Green Valley and Vail. Raneri is an 18-year dog training veteran.

Long Realty Co. sales associate Sue Hill received the 2008 Samuel H. Woods Community Service Award, given to the sales associate who best exhibits a commitment to the community through service and values.

Also, Long sales associates Bill and Eloise Perry received the 2008 Barrington L. Long Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing those who significantly impact real estate, and whose exemplary character and leadership earned wide admiration from professional colleagues.

The A List gives props to the Tucson business community’s movers and shakers. Send information to alist@tucsoncitizen.com.

Border Patrol agent Alex Pulliza waves through northbound traffic on Interstate 19. Arizona uses random Border Patrol checkpoints, while Texas, New Mexico and California have permanent checkpoints.

GREEN VALLEY – Local business owners say a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 19 north of Tubac is killing tourism, putting residents in harm’s way and costing millions of dollars in home sales.

But Border Patrol officials credit the checkpoint with helping them seize tons of illegal drugs, make hundreds of arrests and boost security in the area.

Opposition to the checkpoint has heated up since an expansion was announced last week.

“The checkpoint is a safety hazard to the communities north and south of us,” said Carol Cullen, executive director of the Tubac Chamber of Commerce.

Cullen is concerned that smugglers looking to get around the checkpoint are driven up the Santa Cruz River, Anza Trail or along railroad tracks and gas lines, pushing them closer to homes and people.

The “temporary” checkpoint has been in place since 2007, when a rule requiring the Border Patrol to change sites every two weeks and championed by former U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe expired.

In June, the Border Patrol will add $1.5 million in “interim” facilities that include a modular building, outdoor lighting and a canopy to protect agents and their search dogs from heat, rain and wind.

A planned $27 million permanent checkpoint could be years off, but its funding is included in the 2008-09 fiscal year budget for the Department of Homeland Security.

Mike Scioli, a spokesman for the Tucson Sector of the Border Patrol, understands the opposition but points out that many residents are thankful for the “second layer of defense” against smugglers and other criminals.

Recently, the sector reported a decrease in arrests at the checkpoint, “which means it’s working,” Scioli said.

Even with a decrease, the numbers are formidable: From October 2008 through March 2009, agents at the checkpoint seized 19,000 pounds of marijuana and made more than 300 arrests, Scioli said.

Out of 20 sectors in the United States, the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector is the busiest, accounting for more than 50 percent of marijuana seizures and 44 percent of all arrests, he said.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” Scioli said.

After two years of having the temporary checkpoint in place, some business owners in the quaint, historical town of Tubac still eye it with disdain.

The Crowe’s Nest clothing boutique owner David Camet said he relies heavily on shoppers from communities north of the checkpoint. He said some customers, especially those from Green Valley, have called the checkpoint an inconvenience.

“People only come in now if they have to,” Camet said. “They don’t come to browse and enjoy a shopping day because they don’t want to have to wait 20 minutes in a line of cars to get home.”

Gary Hembree, owner of Old Presidio Traders, said the checkpoint has “done nothing to help business during these hard economic times.”

He said he has had Canadian customers ask if a passport is needed to get back through the checkpoint, and added that it creates an atmosphere of apprehension and confusion that drives away return customers.

But Don Stout of Tucson, who was shopping in Tubac last week with out-of-town company, said driving through the checkpoint doesn’t bother him.

“The checkpoint makes me feel secure,” Stout said. “I don’t think it should scare anybody, unless they have something to hide.”

Real estate agents said they have lost millions of dollars in sales because of the checkpoint.

“I’ve had people tell me, ‘I’m not going to drive through that thing every day,’ or that Tubac seems like a high-crime area,” said Zachary Freeland, director of new home sales for Brasher Realty in Tubac.

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Pima County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Dennis Chavarria (left) and Sherry Graham carry a wreath during a memorial service for law enforcement officers on Thursday at the Tucson Convention Center. Graham is the widow of Timothy Graham, who was struck and killed by a vehicle while pursuing a suspect on West Ajo Way on August 10, 2005.

About 350 people honored the 41 law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty in Pima County since 1878.

They gathered Thursday morning for the second annual Pima County Regional Law Enforcement Memorial Service at the Tucson Convention Center.

Representatives of all branches of law enforcement attended.

“A law enforcement officer is assaulted every day” in the United States, said former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona.

A law officer is killed in the line of duty “nearly every other day,” said Carmona, who served as master of ceremonies for the memorial service.

Keynote speaker Terry Goddard, Arizona’s attorney general, said “today we are here to honor Pima County law enforcement officers who lost their lives” in the line of duty. They are everyday heroes.

“It is for the rest of us, as we do today, to honor those who have fallen,” Goddard said.

Newly selected Tucson police Chief Roberto Villaseñor said “we need to remember the families of the fallen so they will never walk alone.”

Goddard said of the 41 officers “their devotion to duty inspires us all.”

Wednesday evening, a memorial service was held on the front lawn of police headquarters for slain Tucson officers.

Both services noted the death of Tucson police Officer Erik Hite in June.

Hite was shot and killed on the East Side last year as he pursued a shooting suspect.

Hite was the eighth Tucson officer killed in the line of duty since 1892.

“Eric had lived according to his faith and according to his convictions,” Villaseñor said.

David “Nick” Delich, 26, was arrested in Hite’s killing and is facing 10 criminal charges, including first-degree murder.

Hite’s name is to be inscribed on the wall of the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C. His family did not attend Thursday’s memorial.

Villaseñor said Hite’s widow, Nohemy Hite, was exhausted and emotionally drained after attending two other memorials this week for her husband. Erik Hite also is survived by his son, Roy David Hite, who is in the Air Force, and a baby daughter, Samantha Hite

Villaseñor said he and a contingent of officers will accompany Nohemy Hite to Washington next week for a ceremony in which Erik Hite’s inscribed name will be unveiled.

The cost of the trip will be covered by the Tucson Police Foundation, a nonprofit police support organization, Villaseñor said.

U.S. Border Patrol Agents J. Pour Toujuours and Juan Amaya attend the memorial service at the Tucson Convention Center Thursday.

Addictive Racing Motorsports relocated and expanded into 6,307 square feet at 432 W. Prince Road. Paul Hooker of PICOR represented the landlords, Gerald and Donna Kauffman.

Arizona Stone & Architectural Products leased 5,024 square feet at 4975 N. Shamrock Place, Suite 101, from Eighta Builders/Shamrock 3 LLC. Pat Welchert of PICOR represented the landlord. John Ash of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant.

The e-luminate Group renewed its lease with TA Building Corp. for 1,868 square feet at 177 N. Church Ave., Suite 305. Rick Kleiner of PICOR handled the transaction.

Pathology Biomedical Consulting Inc. extended its lease for 2,800 square feet at 2484 E. River Road from Jane Barton Revocable Trust. Rick Kleiner of PICOR handled the transaction.

The Prudential Real Estate Co. leased 2,100 square feet at 7231 E. Speedway Blvd. for its new office. Greg Furrier of PICOR represented the landlord, Sunrise Speedway LLC. Robert Curcio of Prudential Foothills Real Estate Co. represented the tenant.

Finishline Tools leased approximately 1,000 square feet of office space at 7481 E. Broadway, Suite 200, from James H. Bishopp. Michael Gross of Tucson Realty & Trust Co. represented the landlord. Kathyrn Wiseman of Key Group Inc. represented the tenant.

Georgia Tech Research Corp. leased approximately 5,440 square feet of office space at 6451 S. Country Club, Suite 111, from ABP LLC. Michael Gross of Tucson Realty & Trust Co. represented the landlord. Bob Davis of Grubb & Ellis represented the tenant.

Real estate transactions run each Tuesday here and online at tucsonbusinessedge.com. Send your listing to edge@tucsoncitizen.com.

Ed Ackerley was awarded the ASUA Bumps Tribolet Award for his outstanding commitment, dedication and service to UA students. The award, presented by the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, is named in honor of Charles “Bumps” Tribolet, a legendary athletics and student services administrator at UA. Ackerley is a faculty member in the marketing department in the Eller College of Management as well as the School of Media Arts. He is also the faculty adviser for the American Advertising Federation UA Chapter. He and his family own Ackerley Advertising.

Michael Shriver was named manager of Presidential Pools & Spas, 12060 N. Thornydale Road. Shriver will oversee all day-to-day activities of the office and continue to manage the company’s satellite offices in Maricopa and Surprise. Shriver is joined in the Tucson office by longtime pool sales designers John Keller and Carlo Colombino. The Thornydale office is the company’s first in Tucson and fourth in Arizona.

The A List gives props to the Tucson business community’s movers and shakers. Send information to alist@tucsoncitizen.com.

It’s not unusual for agents who capture illegal immigrants to discover someone with a suspicious cough or illness, and migrants have been found with diseases such as tuberculosis.

But the swine flu outbreak first reported in Mexico did heighten awareness for agents in the field.

“First of all we take the situation with H1N1 (swine flu) very seriously. We share the view that people should be aware but not alarmed or in a state of panic,” said Doug Mosier, spokesman for the patrol’s El Paso, Texas, sector. “We have been the first line of defense between the ports of entry since 1924, so being exposed to various communicable diseases historically is something we’ve always been vulnerable to and been a part of.”

The Border Patrol follows a standard procedure in which immigrants who have been arrested and who show obvious symptoms are given a breathing mask to keep others from continued direct exposure. Border Patrol vehicles used to transport illegal immigrants to processing centers are equipped with separate ventilation systems to protect agents, said Lloyd Easterling, a Border Patrol spokesman in Washington.

The Border Patrol on Friday couldn’t immediately provide any reports on how many illegal immigrants with communicable diseases they encounter or other specific diseases they’ve seen.

The flu outbreak has brought a reaction from some federal workers who regularly screen migrants. A labor union representing Customs and Border Protection officers who man border crossings asked this week that its officers be allowed to wear masks and other protective gear while checking travelers who might have been exposed to swine flu.

But the union for Border Patrol agents, who look for those who have crossed illegally, didn’t follow suit. Agents already have such equipment available and use it at their discretion.

“Name the disease, and since we catch people from all over the globe, there is the risk of encountering someone with a communicable disease,” said T.J. Bonner, a Border Patrol agent and president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing agents.

Samples from around the country have flooded the CDC lab in Atlanta, delaying results, according to health department spokeswoman Patti Woodcock.

Arizona has sent 56 samples to the CDC for testing. So far, only four Phoenix-area children tested positive for the virus. Three Phoenix-area schools have been closed for seven days because of the results.

Public health officials say Arizona has enough courses of antiviral medicines to respond to swine flu cases, even though the state’s stockpile of flu-treatment doses are lower than the recommended level.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that each state have enough antiviral medicine on hand to treat 25 percent of its population. But a survey by The Associated Press of all 50 states and the District of Columbia found that 29 states, including Arizona, were below that mark.

Arizona’s estimated 258,000 treatment courses of antivirals would cover about 4 percent of the state’s population.

State health department spokeswoman Laura Oxley pointed out that the treatment courses are for people who are extremely ill and aren’t intended as a way to prevent an infection.

The state was supplementing its 58,000 treatment courses with an estimated 200,000 from the federal government’s strategic reserve. The 200,000 figure represents a quarter of Arizona’s full allocation from the reserve.

State and local health officials believe they will not need to request more from the national stockpile. They anticipate a drop in illnesses as regular flu season ends and summer approaches.

Public health officials in Arizona say it appears the swine flu that has spread across the nation in the past week isn’t any more severe than normal influenza.

April McMahon kept her 14-year-old daughter, Shealan Lester, home from Tucson’s Gridley Middle School on Friday because she had 102-degree fever.

A doctor diagnosed the eighth-grader with the flu, but said the family would have to wait until next week to learn if Shealan had swine flu.

Until the results get back, “the doctor said she needs to be quarantined to her room,” McMahon said in a telephone interview.

Aside from the fever, Shealan seems fine, her mother added. “I’m not worried at all.”

In letters and in e-mail and Web site updates, education officials throughout the region have told parents that a school might close for up to seven days if a student or employee contracts swine flu.

Despite concerns of a local outbreak, most here seem calm.

Catholic churches in the area will employ a little “common sense” during Mass, according to Fred Allison, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson. During flu season, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops typically advises its ministers of Holy Communion to wash their hands before Mass begins.

As of Friday afternoon, diocese officials had not urged churches to forgo communion, Allison said.

On the Web

Arizona Department of Health Services:

http://www.azdhs.gov/

Citizen staff writer Ty Bowers contributed to this article.

The Arizona Board of Regents on Thursday approved Robert N. Shelton’s request for a temporary tuition surcharge, but at a lower rate than the UA president initially proposed.

Shelton decreased the UA surcharge from $1,100 for all enrollees to $766 for resident students and $966 for nonresidents.

Regents approved it by a 7-1 vote, with Student Regent David Martinez III voting no.

The surcharge – combined with the $545 tuition and fee increase approved in December – means in-state UA students will pay $6,842 next school year, a $1,310 increase over this year’s tuition. This represents the largest year-to-year dollar increase in tuition and fees in UA’s history.

Students from out of state will pay $22,251 instead of the $21,285 price tag approved in December.

A modified proposal from Arizona State University passed 6-2, with Martinez and Regent Robert Bulla voting no. A modified proposal from Northern Arizona University passed 7-1 with Martinez voting no.

ASU lowered its proposal from $1,200 for all students to $600 for residents and $800 for nonresidents, with an $80 health and wellness fee for all students. A regent motion, however, cut that to $510 for residents and $710 for nonresidents.

NAU’s proposal for a tuition surcharge of $350 for all students was approved for residents, but raised to $450 for nonresidents. Students who started on NAU’s guaranteed tuition plan will see no increase. All students there will be charged an information and technology fee of $72.

The surcharges will expire in one year. Of the revenue generated by their surcharges for need-based financial aid, NAU and UA will set aside 20 percent; ASU, 22 percent.

Shelton said UA’s surcharge will generate $18.7 million after $4.7 million is set aside for financial aid.

University presidents said Gov. Jan Brewer’s pledge of stimulus funding enabled them to lower proposed surcharges. Brewer announced she would give the universities maximum shares of the more than $1 billion in federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

About $830 million of the $1 billion is earmarked for K-12 and higher education. Brewer has discretion in dividing those funds, after federal requirements are met regarding backfilling a certain percentage of previous budget cuts.

University leaders had originally estimated about $225 million would be allocated to the state university system. After the meeting, Shelton said Brewer’s allocation is closer to $280 million of which 40 percent can be spent in fiscal 2010, beginning July 1.

The remaining 60 percent will be spent in fiscal 2011 – most of it to mitigate tuition increases, with a small percentage for “modernization and reform” required by the federal stimulus law.

Though lowered, the surcharges still amount to a midyear tuition increase for students, who opposed the fee no matter how small. A few dozen students showed up to silently protest the tuition increase, holding signs that read, “Do you value my future?” “No books for a year” and “Don’t turn away future teachers.”

UA political science sophomore Emily May appreciated that the surcharge was nearly halved but said it was small comfort.

“Everyone is going to have to start budgeting for more tuition, more tuition, then just cross our fingers,” she said. “Hopefully, it won’t get too high that I have to stop coming to school.”

Regent Fred DuVal, however, warned that more tuition increases and possible surcharges are likely.

“We’ve heard the message from the e-mails,” DuVal said. “And today is a response to the pain that exists with Arizona families. We get it, we heard it, but we haven’t avoided (increases). We’ve simply deferred a bigger price tag at the back end of the three-year stimulus.”

Modeling presented by the regents estimates that if state funding for the universities remains stagnant, UA would need to raise tuition about $600 in the 2010-11 academic year and then $2,799 for 2011-12 to fund expected increases in enrollment. The large increase between those years represents the “funding cliff” predicted when federal stimulus monies run out.

Brewer was at the meeting for about 20 minutes and gave a statement committing the money to the universities, saying she wanted it used specifically to mitigate tuition increases. In addition, the governor said the universities need to present plans by fall for new business models.

“The fact of the matter is once these federal dollars are used up, our university system will likely face another huge financial shortfall,” Brewer said. “Thus, you need to begin preparations immediately for the day that these federal dollars disappear.

“By this fall, I want to see a new business model that is accountable, predictable and affordable to taxpayers, parents and students.”

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TUITION INCREASES

Students OK’d in Dec. With surcharge

Resident undergraduates: $6,076 $6,842

Nonresident undergraduates: $21,285 $22,251

Resident graduates: $6,866 $7,632

Nonresident graduates: $21,578 $22,544