Readers

Seek true, root causes of Islamic extremism

Re: Sam H. Sharp’s Jan. 10 letter (“Terrorists have U.S. just where they want”):

This writer attacks the Quran and categorizes all Muslims as extremists who vow to destroy our country.

I wish for this writer to have basic knowledge of the world’s second-largest religion and one of its fastest growing.

Most estimates say there are more than 6 million American Muslims. If he is scared of us, he has been infected by a social problem called Islamophobia!

As for the Quran, any religious text can be misquoted to serve political, social or economic motives.

Islam is not the cause of Islamic extremism. If we want to defeat Islamic terrorists, let’s address the real root causes of their existence – political, economic and social injustice in the Middle East.

Amir Ahmed

Calhoun, Ga.

Islam chosen by God for all mankind

This writer – death, hate, dominance, caliphate? – seems very ignorant about Abrahamic faiths.

Islam is the religion God chose for all mankind since the time of Adam. Islam means peace, submission.

Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace upon them) were all Muslims; a Muslim is one who submits to the creator.

God sent messages time after time, according to need, through the Psalms, Torah, Bible and Quran.

The Quran is the divine message of mercy to all mankind for all times. Let us respect the word of God and try to learn its wisdom.

Jews, Christians and Muslims are brothers in faith. We have to live, love and unite to lead the way toward peace.

Muslims are good citizens, neighbors and friends, sincere, God-fearing people.

We uphold the U.S. Constitution and this nation’s true values – truth, civilized freedom, equality and justice.

May God Almighty guide us all to truth, peace and success, and may God bless America and others, too.

RAFI FARUKHI

Mesquite, Texas

Quran sacred book of compassion

Doesn’t the Bible say fire and brimstone will rain down on all nonbelievers?

Of course, the Bible’s chief merits are its lessons of compassion and instructions for how to heal the world and care for our fellow human beings.

The Quran likewise is a sacred document full of wisdom, even if some passages advocate violence or decry other religions.

If a messiah ever arrives on Earth, he or she will laugh at all the death and destruction we have wrought on one another for centuries, as we argued over which god is God.

Silly humans, every human being possesses the light of God and the capacity to do good or evil.

Arguing that anyone who does not believe in your God will be destroyed is about the least godly thing anyone can do.

Justin Goldberg

New York City

Zionists control our media, politics

I would like you and your readers to know that Muslim people mean this country well.

If you would like to know who is taking this country down, please take a look at the Zionist entity leading our country to endless wars and hate.

Please take a look at our international polices and whom they serve.

I think Muslims wanted to get involved so they could show us and the world that they mean well and want to be a part of this great country’s future.

Since the Zionists have a firm control on our country’s media, finance and politics, they will always try to lead our thinking into whatever serves them.

I urge you to learn about every faith and be good to one another.

O. Kosari

Santa Clara, Calif.

Quran teaches us patience, respect

I am amazed at the sheer ignorance about Islam. The attacks on Rep. Ellison have gone to the extreme.

Many of his critics refer to the Quran as the work of hate-filled extremists. That is so far from the truth.

I ask Americans to start doing their own research.

They will quickly learn the Quran teaches patience, tolerance, respect and love for all mankind. The Quran even commands Muslims to respect the holy books of Christians and Jews and treat them with the utmost kindness.

Shakil B. Zaman

Leon Valley, Texas

History shows Muslims have contributed to U.S.

Instead of celebrating an important point in history, Mr. Sharp chose to humiliate an entire religious community.

If he brushed up on history, he would know how much Muslims have contributed to America. I urge him to keep an open mind and learn about this great religion, which has roots in Judaism and Christianity.

Zeeshan Suhail

New York City

Ignorance the gateway to hatred, prejudice

It is sad how much bigotry exists against Muslims. The man who wrote the “Quran is a document of hate” needs to get an education.

It is only because of ignorance that hatred and prejudice exist. Knowledge is always the answer. Peace will only be achieved through understanding.

Nauman Siddiqi

Flushing, N.Y.

Citizen Staff Writer

By ERIC SAGARA

esagara@tucsoncitizen.com

The YWCA of Tucson is looking for teenage girls who have overcome obstacles in their lives to participate in a free leadership-development program.

The Bright Futures Program is designed for those teens who may not qualify for other leadership or scholarship programs.

To qualify, teens who will be seniors next year must have overcome an obstacle in life and have a GPA between 1.7 and 3.2.

Those accepted into the program will participate in a leadership seminar in August, attend another YWCA program and be partnered with a mentor.

They also will be honored at the YWCA’s annual Women on the Move banquet and be eligible for one of three $1,000 scholarships.

Applicants must be nominated by a teacher, counselor or principal. Schools can nominate more than one student.

The deadline for applications is Friday. Applications are available at www.ywcatucson.org or by calling 884-7810.

Citizen Staff Writer

By DAVID L. TEIBEL

dteibel@tucsoncitizen.com

U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 28 illegal immigrants, including a smuggling suspect, south of Tucson on Sunday night, a Border Patrol spokesman said.

Agents patrolling near Arivaca spotted two trucks that they determined were stolen, said Senior Border Patrol Agent Sean King. The drivers fled in the trucks after they spotted the agents.

The driver of a Ford F-250 pickup, stolen in New Mexico, stopped along Arivaca Road and ran into the desert. Ten suspected illegal immigrants in the truck were taken into custody and the driver got away, King said.

The other truck, a Dodge Ram, was stopped in the 11000 block of South Old Nogales Highway. The driver and suspected smuggler, was among 18 suspected illegal immigrants in the truck. All were taken into custody. The driver who made it to the highway was tracked by a Border Patrol helicopter, King said. There were no injuries in the incident, King said.

The names of those held were not available.

Citizen Staff Writer

By HEIDI ROWLEY

hrowley@tucsoncitizen.com

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a possible murder-suicide in a gated community on Tucson’s West Side.

At 3:45 p.m. yesterday, deputies were called to a home in the 1800 block of North Whispering Bells Drive, which is near Ironwood Hill and Painted Hills roads.

A woman had gone to the home to visit her 52-year-old female friend. She went inside and found that friend, along with a 41-year-old man, dead.

Investigators have not released the names of the pair, pending notification of next of kin.

Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Kimmins, said the two “died a traumatic death.”

When asked for details, he said, “They died violently,” but did not elaborate.

He would not say where in the house the bodies were found.

Deputy Dawn Barkman said homicide detectives are leaning toward ruling the deaths a murder-suicide but are waiting for autopsy results. She said they are not ruling out other possibilities.

Next-door neighbor Tina Ross said she last saw activity at the house Sunday afternoon, when she saw people in the garage with a pickup truck.

A small black pickup was in the driveway yesterday while detectives were investigating.

Detectives do not yet know what time the deaths occurred.

“My heart is racing,” Ross said after hearing what had happened. “I’m shocked that it was a violent death. It’s disconcerting.”

Ross, 37, said she has lived in the neighborhood since January, but her parents, who she is living with, have lived there for six years. She said her female neighbor lived alone and was a real estate agent.

“She was a peaceful person,” Ross said. “You just never think that would happen in our neighborhood.”

The neighborhood is called Los Arroyos de Oeste. According to the Tucson Multiple Listing Service’s Web site, houses in that neighborhood sell for between $500,000 and $800,000.

Neighbors said the brown adobe-style house where the bodies were found was recently for sale.

Citizen Staff Writer

By HEIDI ROWLEY

hrowley@tucsoncitizen.com

Marana police have identified two people involved in a fatal collision on Avra Valley Road during the weekend.

At about 7 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a head-on collision that involved a pickup truck and a minivan.

The driver of the minivan, who died at the scene, has been identified as Erin K. Leadbetter, 56, of the 6200 block of North Van Ark Road in Tucson. Her husband, Thomas, 57, was flown to University Medical Center with critical injuries. He is in fair condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The driver of the pickup, who also died at the scene, has not been publically identified, pending notification of next of kin.

Marana police Sgt. Tim Brunenkant said investigators believe alcohol and speeding may have been factors in the crash. They believe the pickup driver, who witnesses say was driving without headlights, crossed the center lane and hit the van just east of Sandario Road.

Citizen Staff Writer

Pima County’s 88-CRIME program has been helping law officers solve crimes for 27 years.

Gary Dhaemers has been executive director of the County Attorney’s Office program for five years and in law enforcement for 26 years. He sees the program as invaluable to the community and to the families of crime victims.

Dhaemers recently sat down with Citizen reporter Heidi Rowley.

Q. What is 88-CRIME?

A. The Pima County Attorney’s Office crime-stopper program is unique in that we’re a government agency. All our staff is employed by the county attorney, and we’re a nonprofit. As that, we’re an anonymous tip line that provides callers with a reward up to $1,000 for any felony, if we get an arrest or indictment in the case.

Q. On average, how many anonymous calls do 88-CRIME’s five employees receive per month?

A. Eight hundred to 1,200 calls per month.

Q. Has the call load changed over the last few years?

A. Since I came in, five years ago, I’ve seen those calls double. It’s a direct result of working with the media.

Q. How do you know where to refer the tips that you receive?

A. We know all the law enforcement agencies and work with them daily. If it is a Marana Police Department case, we make sure they get the information. We’re usually on a first-name basis with all of them.

Q. If all the callers are anonymous, how do callers receive the reward money?

A. We give them a case number, and they give us an identifier that only they know. If they know something happened, they are told to call us. It is always up to the caller to come to us. We present the case to our board of directors (22 people) at the request of the law enforcement agency. They will discuss the case and vote on the award. When (the tipster) calls us, we let them know which lending agency to go to, and they can pick it up.

Our program is strictly anonymous.

Q. Since the program started in 1978, how much reward money has been given out?

A. $1,091,150.

Q. What is the average reward?

A. Most of them average $200 to $300. There are bigger awards when family members or friends add the money. The maximum award 88-CRIME gives out is $1,000.

Q. What happens when family members or friends want to give an additional reward?

A. We make an agreement that we’ll provide the money to the caller. We have found those additional rewards don’t work. We discourage them. We don’t want them to lose any of the money they need to take care of their family.

Q. How is 88-CRIME funded?

A. It’s all from donations from the public and fundraisers that we’ve held. We’re trying to think of new ideas to bring in funds.

Q. How valuable is 88-CRIME to the community?

A. I think it’s extremely valuable. It gives the community another way to provide information to law enforcement. You couldn’t put a money figure on how important it would be if we received a tip on an unsolved case for that family. There is no amount of money that could pay for that tip. To that family, it’s invaluable.

Q. What are the majority of calls that 88-CRIME receives?

A. Drugs are No. 1. Fugitives are right up there and then robbers. If law enforcement can get a photo in the news right away, we can almost guarantee we will get a call.

Q. What do you want the public to know or understand about 88-CRIME?

A. We do not identify our callers. They are anonymous. No one will know they called 88-CRIME unless they tell them. We guarantee their anonymity, and we will fight to protect it.

Citizen Staff Writer

By HEIDI ROWLEY

hrowley@tucsoncitizen.com

Four Tucsonans have been arrested as part of a state investigation into identification and document fraud.

Search warrants were served Sunday at two apartment in the 2600-2700 block of North Oracle Road and at an apartment in the 5800 block of South 12th Avenue, according to a release from the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control. The warrants were served by a multiagency task force composed of state, local and federal law enforcement.

Arrested at the apartments were Gabriel Ernesto Velasquez-Flores, 27; Edgar Alejandro Beltran-Chairez, 27; Luz Aide Almada-Ortiz, 28; and Espero Nunez Munoz, 34.

Information on their immigration status was not available.

Seized from the apartments were fake drivers licenses, resident alien cards, Social Security cards, vehicle titles, computer equipment, cameras, stolen weapons, drugs and cash, the release stated.

Velasquez-Flores has been charged with one count of theft, 10 counts of forgery and fraudulent schemes, illegal control of enterprise, possession of a weapon during a drug offense, possession of marijuana and possession of a narcotic for sale.

Beltran-Chairez has been charged with 30 counts of forgery and fraudulent schemes, illegal control of enterprise, possession of marijuana and possession of a narcotic. Almada-Ortiz has been charged with criminal possession of a forgery device.

Munoz has been charged with 17 counts of forgery and fraudulent schemes and illegal control of enterprise.

All four were booked into the Pima County Jail and are being held on $25,000 bail each.

According to the state release, the Fraudulent ID Task Force was organized in July 2005 by Gov. Janet Napolitano to crack down on crimes related to illegal immigration. Individuals with information about false documents should call (866) 932-5343 or (866) 9FAKE ID.

The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Republic

With taxes, probate court, guardians and other potential legal issues, estate planning is plenty complex, and that assumes you’re married.

Gays and unmarried straight couples face special complications when it comes to transferring property at death or naming others to watch after their affairs in case of incapacity.

The law accords married spouses many privileges and protections that unwed couples don’t receive.

“There are something like 1,000 rights that accrue to married couples under state law,” said Michael Tucker, an estate-planning lawyer at law firm Polese, Pietzsch, Williams & Nolan in Phoenix.

Unmarried partners, by contrast, “are legal strangers to each other,” he said.

That’s why it’s critical for people in nonmarried unions, gay or straight, to state their wishes, goals and other directives in writing.

Arizona doesn’t recognize common-law marriages, heterosexual cohabitation arrangements lacking a marriage license and ceremony, unless a couple can prove that this type of situation applied to the union at one time in Colorado, Texas, Utah or about a dozen other states that recognize such unions.

Forms of proof can include cohabitation, using a shared last name and filing joint income-tax returns. Rules vary by state.

When children are involved, estate planning for unwed couples can become even more complex.

When singles or unwed couples die without a will, trust or other directives that name beneficiaries, their assets will pass to relatives through the probate system.

In Arizona, spouses generally are first in line, followed by children or other descendants, parents, descendants of parents, grandparents and then descendants of grandparents.

“The state of Arizona has a plan for people without a will,” Tucker said. “If people want other results, they have to make it happen.”

Wills and trusts aren’t the only documents that can transfer assets to beneficiaries in Arizona.

Other options include pay-on-death titling for bank accounts, transfer-on-death titling for securities accounts and beneficiary deeds for real estate.

Citizen Staff Report

Citizen Staff Report

news@tucsoncitizen.com

Qualified taxpayers can file their returns electronically and at no cost Saturday at the Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona.

Intuit Inc. is sponsoring the event. Employees from the company will be available to help people with Intuit’s TurboTax program.

Taxpayers who qualify for the free IRS Form 1040 workup are those who served in the military in 2005, people with an adjusted gross income of less than $28,500 a year and anyone who qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The tax program will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the center, 924 N. Alvernon Way.

Appointments are encouraged and can be arranged by calling 881-3300.

The Associated Press

The Associated Press

A woman accused of abducting her two young children from their father, then dressing like a man so she could assume his identity, agreed yesterday to return to Arizona from North Carolina to face kidnapping charges, authorities said.

Shellie White, 30, was taken into custody Friday in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., where police said she and a woman lived together as the children’s father and mother.

“I haven’t lived the life of someone on the run,” White said in a jail interview with The Associated Press. “I never knew I was on the run.”

White was arrested more than two years after she was charged with custodial interference in the children’s disappearance, the U.S. Marshals Service said. Her ex-husband, Ernest Karnes, had custody of the children at the time and learned Friday that they had been found.

“The first thing that come out of his mouth was, ‘Did they get my kids, too? Are my kids OK?’ ” Gila County, Ariz., Sheriff’s Detective Johnny Holmes said yesterday.

The U.S. Marshals Service said White “radically changed her appearance to that of a man and assumed many aliases,” including her ex-husband’s.

“She even went so far as to tell her children, aged 3 and 5 at the time, that she was their father,” the Marshals Service said. “When she was arrested, the children, now aged 6 and 8, asked why they were arresting their Daddy.”

White told the AP that one of her children, scared by authorities breaking into their home on Friday, did say she was their father.

White also said she told her son to tell children who made fun of her appearance that she was his dad.

But Deputy U.S. Marshall Dennis Harkins said White had posed as her husband and other men since leaving Arizona.

“She was playing it off for all the world to see that she was a man,” Harkins said.

Under the terms of the divorce, Ernest Karnes of Globe had custody of the children, a boy and a girl, but his wife had visitation rights, Holmes said.

He said Karnes’ wife could take the children to Tucson when she lived there, but neither parent could leave the state with them without the other’s permission.

White, who signed a waiver of extradition on the fugitive warrant yesterday, denied kidnapping her children.

“I didn’t steal my children and I didn’t take my children,” she said. “When I left Arizona, I had custody.”

Holmes said that after charging White with custodial interference in January 2004, authorities were able to trace the children to various schools, but always came up empty.

“It kept going in a circle,” he said. “So she was aware of it. It was just a matter of time, because she wouldn’t keep them in a school no more than maybe six months.”

Holmes said he was contacted about a month or two ago by a police officer in North Carolina who had received a letter from Ernest Karnes, who said he believed his ex-wife was in the area. Karnes contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children earlier this month.

Karnes told WRAL-TV the break came when a bill collector led detectives to the home in Roanoke Rapids, about 85 miles northeast of Raleigh.

He and his current wife flew to North Carolina on Sunday to seek custody of the children from Halifax County authorities.

They hoped to see the children yesterday and take them back to Arizona, WRAL reported.

“I just want to see them and hug them and love them,” Karnes said. “I just want to take my babies back home. They need to be with their family.”

Citizen Staff Writer

By DAVID L. TEIBEL and HEIDI ROWLEY

news@tucsoncitizen.com

A man apparently killed in a fire just before midnight Sunday and a woman apparently killed in a fire yesterday morning had at least one thing in common: Both were heavy smokers.

The causes of the fires are under investigation, Deputy Tucson Fire Chief Pat Quinn said.

Fire Department Capt. Paul McDonough said the victims did not have smoke detectors in their homes.

Joseph Scott, who with his wife, Pamela, co-manages the Town House East Apartments, 3601 E. Second St., where a woman was found dead in a burned apartment, said he makes sure there are smoke detectors in each apartment in the two-story complex and inspects them twice a year.

If the deaths are confirmed as fire-related, they will be the ninth and 10th Tucson fire deaths over the past 2 1/2 to three years of people over 50 with no smoke detectors in their homes, McDonough said.

Friends of the victims said both were heavy smokers.

McDonough will not release the victims’ names until families can be told of the deaths.

The first fire was reported at 11:59 p.m. Sunday in a studio apartment in the 800 block of East Drachman Street.

The body of a 51-year-old man, McDonough said, was found lying in the kitchen, where the fire appeared to have started. The cause still is under investigation.

The fire at Town House East was reported at 8:40 a.m. yesterday, McDonough said.

A woman in her mid- to late 50s was found dead, lying half on and half off her mattress in her studio apartment, McDonough said.

McDonough said the fire apparently started near or on the mattress.

Town House East residents said they heard a smoke alarm in the woman’s apartment, but McDonough said no smoke detector was found in the apartment and residents may have heard other apartments’ detectors going off as smoke spread.

Joseph Scott said when he learned of the fire, he rushed to the apartment, threw open the door and called for the resident. He got no reply and was forced back by heavy smoke, but, he said, he clearly heard her smoke detector.

Neighbor Porfia Gallegos said the woman who lived in the apartment “was real friendly.”

She worked at Wild Oats Market, 3360 E. Speedway, and was “just very friendly, very well liked. Everyone in the store thought she was great,” said Randy Scott, Joseph and Pamela Scott’s son, who also works at Wild Oats.

Randy Scott said he knew of no family the dead woman had in Tucson.

Alan Shoebridge, who lives in the cluster of tiny apartments where the fire broke out yesterday, said of the dead man: “He was a very nice guy, real nice, very quiet, kept to himself.

“Sometimes he’d prepare a meal and come over and see if I wanted some.”

He said he had known the dead man for about two or three years and knew of no family the man had in Tucson.

Pamela Scott said the woman who died at Town House East was a heavy smoker who rolled her own cigarettes. She had lived there since 1998.

Scott said the woman’s husband died in December, and “she hadn’t grieved.”

McDonough and Quinn said they did not know who owned the apartments on East Drachman, but Shoebridge said his landlord was Roger Putzi.

Putzi was cited in October 2001 by city building inspectors in connection with 34 suspected building code violations found at rental units in the 2600 block of North Balboa Avenue.

He had been cited in August of that year for alleged code violations at the Balboa Avenue property that was owned by the Ryan Rasey Trust, of which Putzi was the beneficiary, the Tucson Citizen reported at the time.

Those alleged violations included work done without permits, hazardous electrical wiring, plumbing fixtures that lacked hot water and various structural problems.

City inspectors looked at the Balboa Avenue property as part of a slum abatement program. Putzi appealed 18 of the alleged violations. A city appeals board upheld 12 of them.

The property at 811 E. Drachman is owned by two trusts, the 809 Trust and the Drachman Trust, Pima County records show. Records show Roger Putzi and his wife are the beneficiaries of those trusts.

The Tucson Department of Neighborhood Resources, which operates the city’s slum abatement program, has no record of any building code violations or complaints against the property at 811 E. Drachman, said Richard Draves, the department’s acting administrator for code enforcement.

McDonough said after a building code inspector looked at the East Drachman apartments, the only violation he mentioned was a lack of working smoke detectors on the four remaining units.

But, McDonough said, the tenants could have disabled the detectors if they kept going off.

In the apartment that burned, McDonough said, no evidence of a smoke detector was found, but it was a hot fire and the detector could have melted and its remains could be found later.

Citizen Staff Writer

By CLAUDINE LoMONACO

lomonaco@tucsoncitizen.com

Fifteen-year-old Anais Lopez was a good student who rarely missed school.

That changed in early February when U.S. Border Patrol agents took her mom away after a routine traffic stop.

Anais went from high school student to primary caregiver for her two little sisters, 5-year-old Sarais and 10-year-old Irais. Worrying about how to help her mom get back in the country, keeping up the household and shuttling her sisters to school, she barely had time to go to school herself.

Left to their own devices, the girls began selling their belongings, along with donated clothing, at a garage sale to raise money for a coyote, or smuggler, to bring their mom home.

“We thought she’d have a better chance if we could pay somebody,” Anais said.

They raised around $45.

Their mother made it back on her own at the end of February, only to find Anais in trouble for truancy.

The school told Anais her mother would have to come in for a meeting.

“But there was a police officer there, so I was scared to call my mom,” she said. “I thought they might take her away again. But they told me they would arrest me if she didn’t come in, so I called her.”

The Lopez siblings are among the 345,000 children living in immigrant families in Arizona, according to the Migration Policy Institute. They make up 25 percent of all children in Arizona.

With poverty rates estimated to be twice the national average, these children, most of whom are U.S. citizens, face steep barriers, according to a panel of Tucson leaders who spoke at a forum on the children of immigrants last night at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 1431 W. Magee Road.

Rising anti-immigrant sentiment has led to a culture of fear among immigrants who are reluctant to seek services, said Pima County Supervisor Richard Elías, who spoke at the forum.

The No. 1 calls the county gets are reports of domestic violence, Elías said.

“When people are scared to pick up the telephone to say, ‘Someone’s beating up my mama,’ that’s a problem,” he said.

The dozens of immigration and enforcement bills up for debate in the Arizona Legislature will simply exacerbate the problem, said Petra Falcon of the Pima County Interfaith Council, who spoke at the forum.

“Anything that’s going to impact a working mom or dad in the household is going to impact a child,” Falcon said.

The bills would, among other things, prevent Mexicans from using Mexico-issued matricula consular cards to open bank accounts, prohibit adults from taking publically sponsored English classes without proof of in-state student status and create strict guidelines for employment eligibility.

Kim VanPelt of the Children’s Action Alliance, which advocates for children’s welfare throughout Arizona, said the state must look at how its practices limit or encourage access to resources for the children of immigrants.

Kids Care, a state program that provides health care to uninsured children, requires monthly co-payments but accepts only checks or money orders.

“Many immigrants don’t have checking accounts,” she said. “So it’s just one more barrier.”

Anais and her two sisters, who are U.S. citizens, participate in Kid’s Care, but their older brother, who is not a U.S. citizen, can’t. Every time he gets sick, it means a lengthy wait in an emergency room.

Anais said her mother moved to this country with her brother from Magdalena, Son., 18 years ago to join her grandmother, who lives in Tucson. She said her mother and brother have been trying to get a green card, which provides residency status for years, but they lack the estimated $4,500 needed to complete the paperwork.

Managing daily finances is tough enough.

Earlier this month, the family was evicted from its small, two-bedroom apartment on Tucson’s South Side.

The home is empty except for a few garbage bags full of pots and pans. The family cannot afford the $600 monthly rent and is moving to a cheaper rental.

Anais didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up – before federal agents took her mom away.

Now she knows.

“I want to be a lawyer,” Anais said. “I want to help people like my mom. Give them a better life.”

Organizers of last night’s forum say they want her to get that chance.

For information on how to advocate for children of immigrants, contact Don Grant at 744-4064.

Citizen Staff Report

Citizen Staff Report

The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration will host an evening of prayer and meditation at their chapel, 800 N. Country Club Road, at 7 p.m. Friday.

The prayer is in honor of the French town of Taizé, home to an ecumenical religious community founded in 1940 for war refugees, orphans and prisoners of war.

For more information, call the monastery at 325-6401.

Citizen Staff Writer

By TEYA VITU

tvitu@tucsoncitizen.com

The Dunbar/Spring neighborhood wants affordable housing, as called for in the Stone Avenue Corridor Plan from 2000.

That clashes with a proposed $27 million condo development at the southwest corner of Stone Avenue and Speedway Boulevard that would bring in about 105 upscale units costing $350,000 or more – and six units that fall under the “affordable housing” label.

The Dunbar/Spring Neighborhood Association recently insisted that One West developers rethink a housing project so that 33 percent of the units fall into the “affordable housing” definition, with mortgages no higher than about $110,000.

“This presents a new round of challenges in terms of trying to get a new level of understanding between us and the neighborhood,” said David Ollanik, a One West partner. “What we have to do is open a dialogue and discuss any options to come up with a consensus on affordable housing.”

Ollanik may meet with neighbors April 8. The association could conceivably block the project because half the land still belongs to the city, which bought the former First Interstate Bank property in 2003.

At a recent meeting, dozens of members of the Dunbar/Spring Neighborhood Association called the One West proposal unacceptable.

The “affordable” units are only 750 square feet, while the rest of the complex would typically have 1,500-square-foot condos. That led several to say the six affordable units really are only three.

“There is no affordable housing in this proposal,” said Jeff Simpson, a two-year Dunbar/Spring resident and a labor organizer. “Gentrification will destroy this community if we let it. Property values will rise. That only benefits you if you sell.”

Dunbar/Spring falls between Speedway and Sixth Street and Main and Stone avenues and includes about 400 homes with a household median income of about 77 percent of the Tucson overall median income. Census 2000 data indicate Dunbar/Spring had a 30.7 percent poverty rate compared to 18.4 percent for the city of Tucson, said city planning administrator David Taylor.

But it also has champions intent on preserving its character and history.

“A lot of people like the neighborhood because it has a history of being eclectic and diverse, ethnically and economically,” said Jim Cook, president of the neighborhood association.

Cook has helped finesse several compromises.

One West agreed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, so-called “green” standards, match the prevailing architectural design in the neighborhood, minimize light pollution and enclose the parking within the condos.

But the affordable housing issue emerged as the flashpoint at a March 20 neighborhood meeting attended by about 60 people.

“This is the whole thing this hinges on,” said Robert Redding, a two-year Dunbar/Spring resident and an associate real estate broker. “I’m OK with it being a deal breaker.”

The neighborhood association has greater say than it might otherwise have because One West wants to buy the half-acre at Stone and Speedway that the city bought a few years ago. One West already owns the L-shaped half acre to the south and west of the city lot and needs no neighborhood approval to develop that property.

“We were rather surprised at the outcome of this meeting,” Ollanik said.

Ollanik and his One West partners decided not to attend the neighborhood meeting, though they have met many times with association officers during the past year.

Redding was the only person at the neighborhood meeting to suggest a way for One West to meet the affordable housing requirement: Build a second complex, with affordable housing, on another city-owned lot in the neighborhood. Ollanik, in an interview two days later, found possibilities in that suggestion.

Ollanik said deciding on six affordable units came about through consultation with the city’s Real Estate Division, headed by John Updike. Updike said construction costs have increased drastically since the 33 percent affordable clause was written into the 2000 corridor plan.

“Should we revisit that goal?” Updike said. “It is a challenge sticking to the affordable (clause).”

Dunbar residents Simpson and Redding dismissed that notion.

“I think that’s ridiculous,” Simpson said. “We need to adhere to that. Other communities have done it.”

Added Redding: “I disagree with (Updike). I think we can still hit 33 percent.”

Redding said he bought into a four-plex two years ago for $165,000, and now the lowest home listing he sees in Dunbar/Spring is $235,000.

That reflects soaring home prices overall in Greater Tucson, where average resale home prices have risen by 66 percent from 2000 to 2005 – to $236,011 from $141,856. Dunbar/Spring home prices have likely seen comparable increases, said John Strobeck, author of the Southern Arizona Housing Market Letter.

“We’ve seen no spot immunity from the rise,” Strobeck said.

Affordable housing is targeted for families of four in Tucson with an income below $41,900, a couple earning less than $33,500 or a single person earning less than $29,000, said Emily Nottingham, director of the city’s Community Services Department.

The city’s Real Estate Division advises developers that projects on city land need the neighborhood’s blessing – or at least not an association objection..

City Councilman José Ibarra attended the neighborhood meeting last weekand met later in the week with Ollanik.

“You all get to decide what goes on in your neighborhood,” he told residents. “If you want to go in a certain direction, I’m going to follow.”

Democracy, Dunbar/Spring Neighborhood Association style

The association on March 20 voted against an upscale condo project at Stone Avenue and Speedway

The issue: not enough affordable housing in the 105-unit complex

• Voted 27-2-5 to reject six affordable housing units at 750 square feet.

• Voted 24-16 to insist on 33 percent affordable housing in the complex.

Citizen Staff Writer

By HEIDI ROWLEY

hrowley@tucsoncitizen.com

A 3-year-old is in serious condition but recovering after being pulled out of an apartment complex swimming pool Saturday by a quick-thinking neighbor.

Ryan Lunsford, 26, moved to Tucson last month from Huntington Beach, Calif., where he spent the last four years as a lifeguard.

Lunsford said he heard someone yell there was a child in the pool in the 300 block of West Yavapai Road. His lifeguard training kicked in and he ran down the stairs and scaled the pool fence.

“I jumped in there and scooped him up and took him out, laid him on the side, tilted his head back and he vomited the water,” Lunsford recalled. “He started screaming for his mom.”

The boy was taken to University Medical Center, where he was in serious condition last night.

“In Huntington Beach, I never pulled anybody out of the water,” he said yesterday. “I didn’t even think about it. I guess all that training did pay off.”

Tucson Fire Department Capt. Paul McDonough said the fence surrounding the pool at the complex did not meet code because it was missing a vertical bar and had a horizontal bar that made climbing it easy. The pool will be closed, he said, until the fence is replaced.

As summer approaches, McDonough said this is a good time to check fence perimeters to make sure the ground hasn’t shifted so that children can climb under the fence and that trees haven’t grown near the fence, making it easy to climb inside the pool area.

“Start thinking about getting kids into swim lessons, and also learn or refresh your CPR,” he advised. “The fence is really a last resort. Make sure our barricades between children and the water are up to code and working properly.”