Citizen Staff Report
THE FINAL EDITION

James “Jimbo” Krakowiak, 56

Print supervisor

37 years at TNI, 15 printing the Tucson Citizen

“Everyone calls me Jimbo,” says Krakowiak, who is deaf and attended the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind. He worked in ASDB’s print shop as a student and discovered “that’s what I wanted to do.”

He started working for the newspaper company as an apprentice when the Citizen was located downtown and the paper was printed on a letter press with lead “plates” that weighed about 40 pounds each.

Now, the printing is done by digital computing; the aluminum plates are slim and weigh about 1 ounce. He worked the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift.

Krakowiak has been a pressroom supervisor for more than 20 years and the pressmen have learned to use sign language, gestures and facial expressions to communicate.

“He’s an awesome pressman,” said Tim Torres, who accompanied him to Detroit in 1995 to run the presses there during a strike.

Krakowiak said he’s sad the Citizen is closing.

L.G. Ward, 60

Pressman

30 years at TNI, 5 printing the Citizen

“It took me 24 years to get on the Citizen and five years later, they’re taking it away from me,” Ward says. “It’s like losing a relative.”

He works the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift. The Citizen was off the presses by 9 a.m., he said.

The remainder of his work day is spent printing sections of the Arizona Daily Star.

Ward started in printing working for a business forms company and got the TNI job through a softball team buddy who recruited him for the team and to TNI.

Ward said the automation of the printing system has made pressmen’s jobs much easier.

Colored inks were loaded onto the presses manually, through hoses and by the bucket. Now the inks are stored a floor below and move through hoses and onto the press.

Also, instead of the toggle switches used to adjust the paper while the presses roll, adjustments occur at the press of a button.

“You don’t just come in and figure it out in one day,” he said.

Bill Navarette, 59

40 years at TNI, 11 years printing the Citizen

Navarette started learning the printing business at Pueblo High School and worked for a local printer, printing the Arizona Daily Wildcat while he was still in high school.

He came to TNI in 1968 and had to learn to adapt to a computerized press when the newspaper moved to 4850 S. Park Ave. and a digital operation.

When the presses began to roll 35 years ago, they printed 1,000 papers a minute.

A 1-ton roll of newsprint is good for about 20,000 copies of the Tucson Citizen. Navarette moves the newsprint onto a trolley, which moves on a track to the presses and loads automatically.

“It’s like I’m losing a friend,” he said about the Citizen closing.

“It doesn’t seem possible. It won’t hit me until I won’t see it anymore.”

Tim Torres, 52

Pressman

25 years at TNI, 2 years printing the Tucson Citizen

Torres remembers his first day as a printing apprentice as “nerve-wracking.”

He had “the first day jitters, like with any job you go into. You don’t want to mess up.”

Since then, Torres has worked as a press operator, foreman and supervisor.

He’s printed both the Arizona Daily Star on the night shift and the Tucson Citizen on the day shift.

Torres enjoys his co-workers.

“The people make it interesting and I have fun on the job,” he said.

Like his co-workers, he said he’s sad to see the Citizen shut down.

Artie Gonzales,

ex-compositor, now a dispatch driver, 37 years at TNI, on the Citizen and Arizona Daily Star

“The Citizen was an icon,” Gonzales said. “I grew up here and used to deliver it when I was in sixth or seventh grade. His after-school route near Tucson High and Roskruge Elementary schools started at around 3:30 and took him about 45 minutes.

When he started at TNI, the paper’s pages were composed with hand-set “hot” lead type and the pages had to be read upside down and backward.

Now the pages are composed on a computer screen, a negative of the page is made and transferred to an aluminum page or “plate.”

It was fun in the old days, Gonzales said.

He’ll miss the editors he worked with in the “back shop.”

“I’ve known these guys for more than 25 years. It’s gonna hurt. You grew up knowing them, joking around with them, telling them stories. The fun’s gone now.”

Gonzales said the end of the Citizen makes him wonder what’s next for him.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen to us,” he said.

Tay Bell, 49

Newspaper hawker, 10 years

Bell is an Army Special Forces veteran with a steel plate in his head from a four-wheeler accident. He would rather work than collect disability, he said.

He’s been selling the Tucson Citizen and the morning paper for 10 years at intersections in the county, north and northwest of Tucson city limits.

He’s worked for years with fellow hawkers Manuel Garcia, 53, and “Mo,” who always wore a Stetson and a crisply ironed shirt with his jeans and cowboy boots.

In March, Bell said, Mo told him he was done with selling the newspaper and going off to California to be with family.

“He has an aortic aneurysm,” Bell said. He came by to say goodbye.

The other member of their trio, Garcia, 53, used to work the same intersection at another corner.

Garcia, who had polio and whose legs are bent nearly 60 degrees, stood for seven hours a day, like they did.

But in November, Bell said, a Pima County sheriff’s deputy asked to see their IDs.

Garcia, who came to Tucson in 1990 from Mexico City, didn’t have any and the deputy called the Border Patrol, Bell said. A Border Patrol agent picked Garcia up at his bus stop and Bell presumes he was deported to Mexico. He hasn’t seen him or heard from him since.

Bell said his best tip was $165 from an older man who simply pressed the bills into his hand as he drove by, without a word.

Bell said he will be sorry to see the Citizen stop publishing.

“I’ve always been one to read the Citizen,” he said. “If I read the paper, I read the Citizen.”

Citizen Staff Report
THE FINAL EDITION

Citizen Staff Report

Arizona Citizen is born

Oct. 15, 1870

The first edition of the Arizona Citizen, then a weekly, rolls off the press. The first issue notes that a pair of valuable mules and a horse had been stolen from a ranch within sight of the city, and that sweet potatoes were selling here for 20 cents a pound.

When the paper debuts, the Civil War has been over for just five years and Arizona won’t become a state for another 42 years.

Camp Grant Massacre

April 30, 1871

Just before dawn, a group from Tucson shoot, stab and bludgeon to death more than 100 Apache men, women and children camped near Winkelman about 65 miles northeast of Tucson. The Citizen’s report notes the raid was in ‘self-defence’ because four settlers had been slain and stock stolen in the San Pedro Valley. But the killings provoke outrage across the United States. At a murder trial, all of the participants are acquitted.

The railroad arrives

March 20, 1880

“There was rejoicing in Arizona last night,” the Citizen reports on the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which would bring a wider variety of goods to Tucson – and at far cheaper prices – than by stagecoach.

“The iron horse panted into Tucson and with its neigh gave notice that a new order of things was about to be established.”

Shootout at the OK Corral

Oct. 26, 1881

The Citizen says the shootout between the Earps and the Clantons “will always be remembered as one of the crimson days in the annals of Tombstone . . . the bloodiest and deadliest street fight that has ever occurred in the Territory.’

Wyatt Earp kills Stillwell

March 1882

Earp suspected Frank Stillwell of killing his brother Morgan in Tombstone a few days earlier. He and “Doc” Holliday track Stillwell down near the downtown train depot and shoot him.

Ground broken for UA

Oct. 27, 1887

The Territorial Legislature appropriates $25,000 to help start the territory’s first university. But the money doesn’t cover the land purchase. The city is about to return the money when two gamblers and a saloonkeeper step forward and donate the land. Classes begin in 1891 with 32 students.

Arizona becomes 48th state

February 14, 1912

President Taft signs the proclamation making Arizona a state.

The Citizen reports that when a dispatch from the White House arrived with the news, Tucson greeted it “with an an outburst of whistles and bells.” The paper says the demonstration was as great as when the railroad first arrived in Tucson.

Lindbergh visits Tucson

Sept. 23, 1927

Thousands gather to greet the “Lone Eagle,” flier Charles Lindbergh, and his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis. Lindbergh, who months earlier became the first to fly solo across the Atlantic, speaks at the University of Arizona and helps dedicate Davis-Monthan Airfield.

Dillinger gang captured

Jan. 26, 1934

Tucson police capture desperado John Dillinger and six gang members without firing a shot. Members of the gang had been staying at the Hotel Congress, where some of them were recognized when a fire forced the evacuation of the hotel. Dillinger himself is captured in a residential neighborhood a few blocks northeast of downtown. Dillinger, who eventually escapes, dies a few months later when he is gunned down outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago.

Raytheon’s ancestor

Feb. 2, 1951

Calif.-based Hughes Tools, owned by the reclusive Howard Hughes, announces plans for a plant in Tucson that will eventually employ as many as 10,000 people. The operation, now owned by Raytheon, is the city’s largest private employer.

Jet hits supermarket

Dec. 8, 1967

It was called a miracle when just four people died after an Air Force F-4D jet fighter crashed into the Food City supermarket at 1830 S. Alvernon Way.

Tucson celebrates 200

Aug. 20, 1975

Residents mark the 1775 founding of the Tucson presidio by Capt. Hugo O’Conor, an Irish mercenary working for the Spanish crown. It is the first European settlement in what is now Tucson, but the area had been inhabited for thousands of years by Native Americans.

IBM plans new plant

Oct. 12, 1977

The plant, located on the Southeast Side, opens in May 1978, with as many as 5,000 employees predicted. Ten years later, IBM announces it will cut 2,800 jobs there. The plant site is now also home to the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park.

Inferno claims Old Tucson

April 25, 1995

Fire destroys three-fourths of the movie studio and Western theme park, which had been a site for numerous Western films since 1939. The cause of the fire is never determined, although arson is suspected.

CAP water arrives

November 1992

Tucsonans get their first taste of Central Arizona Project water after the final link in the 336-mile-long project from the Colorado River is completed. The delivery means Tucson will no longer have to depend solely on its rapidly shrinking supply of groundwater. But many Tucsonans complain about the taste and the water’s corrosive effect on appliances. Delivery is halted while those problems are solved.

Wildcats win NCAA basketball title

April 1997

The University of Arizona Wildcats beat Kentucky in overtime for the school’s first national title in men’s basketball. The Cats become the first team to defeat three No. 1 seeds on the way to the title. Although the Wildcats had won national titles in baseball, the basketball championship brings attention on UA sports to a new level.

After the game, thousands of fans converge on Fourth Avenue to celebrate the win.

Citizen Staff Report
THE FINAL EDITION

Tucson reacts

Citizen Staff Report

The Citizen staff called area political, business and cultural leaders for their reaction to Friday’s announcement that the Citizen will cease printing a paper. Their comments follow:

“Well, it’s too bad it had to be you guys. I honestly have always thought the evening paper here was far superior to the morning paper.”

Bob McMahon

owner, Metro Restaurants

“It’s a sad day for our region. We’re losing an institution that was a watchdog of our local governments. We’re losing competition between newspapers that led to more aggressive reporting and better information. We’re losing a part of our history and our collective memory. The Citizen and all of Pima County deserved much better from Gannett.”

Ann Day

Pima County supervisor

“The Tucson Citizen is the oldest newspaper in Arizona. It’s a large loss for future readers and for us who have depended on the Citizen every day of our lives.”

Gabrielle Giffords

U.S. congresswoman

“That’s a dark day in Tucson’s history. The Citizen always gave balanced coverage. That has always been very healthy for Tucson. You lose a second voice, a second opinion. Two voices are better than one as far as I’m concerned.”

Jack Camper

executive director, Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce

“The presence of two daily newspapers in a city guarantees there will be accurate and objective news reporting. . . . The loss of the Citizen puts the responsibility on the Daily Star to do the task well. ”

Glenn Lyons

Downtown Tucson Partnership

“I just think it’s a real blow to the community, a real loss. I think it will diminish the level of balance and independent journalism that we need to keep the community informed.

“I think the Citizen has always done a good job of digging for the facts and making important information accessible. The quality of the local news reporting at the Citizen has always stood out. It’s a real loss.”

Karin Uhlich

City Councilwoman

As a small nonprofit theatre business owner it was writers like you, Rogelio (Olivas), and Chuck Graham that made a tremendous difference to our organization. The Citizen gave all live theatres in town an equal footing. The Citizen was willing to listen to a small organization in the Tucson arts community by covering or critiquing their next production. I for one, as an executive director of a 25-year-old community theatre, whose members worked thousands of hours to bring theatre to Tucson, will miss the Citizen for its support.

Priscilla Marquez

former executive director of Catalina Players

“Even when I was a reporter and anchor, one of the things I always told students was you don’t get all your news from television. I’m truly going to miss the Citizen. I always looked to the Citizen for clear, straightforward reporting of what was happening downtown.”

Nina Trasoff

city councilwoman

“As a Tucsonan, elected official and a proponent of citizen engagement, I am deeply saddened by the closing of our state’s oldest newspaper and will have the working families impacted by the shutdown in my thoughts during these though economic times.”

Rodney Glassman

city councilman

“Anytime you lose an institution in the media like a newspaper that’s been publishing more than 100 years is sad. There’s bound to be a void in the coverage. I understand the feeling of abandonment of employees, but also in the community, not getting information.”

Richard Elías

Board of Supervisors chairman

“The more media outlooks citizens have the better,” Romero said. “It’s really important that we have different perspectives from different newspapers.”

Regina Romero

Tucson councilwoman

Referring to the Web site, which will offer only opinion pieces: “That’s great. I’ll make sure I pay attention to that.”

“More and more people are getting their news online these days.”

Ray Carroll

Pima County supervisor

Citizen Staff Report
THE FINAL EDITION

Tucson native Edgar Suarez started his career as a newsboy selling newspapers on the street in 1936.

When he retired from Tucson Newspapers Inc. in 2003, he was 75 and had worked 62 years for the company.

He is its longest serving employee.

Suarez served in the Army for two years in the mid-1940s and TNI saved his job for his return.

In his last TNI post, he was a preprint coordinator in charge of scheduling and verifying the advertising inserts slipped into the newspaper before it hits the streets.

“I enjoyed it here very much,” he said at his retirement.

In his early years at TNI, one man ran the press, he recalled. “Now they need a lot more than that.”

Citizen Staff Report
THE FINAL EDITION

Citizen Staff Report

The Arizona softball team broke the national home run record as it beat Tennessee-Martin 9-3 on Friday afternoon in an NCAA regional game in Louisville.

The Wildcats advance to play Louisville at 7 a.m. Tucson time Saturday.

The record-breaking blast came from Stacie Chambers in the third inning. That was the 127th home run of the season for UA, breaking the record held by Arizona’s 2001 team.

“I do not think they give a national championship on home runs,” said UA coach Mike Candrea in a news release. “It is games that you have to win.”

Sarah Akamine (20-6) was the winning pitcher for the Wildcats. She pitched the first three innings and then re-entered in the seventh, allowing a run and four hits in four innings. She struck out three and walked one.

The Wildcats (42-14) had 12 hits, scoring four times in the second and three times in the third.

Senior Jill Malina started in right field in place of freshman Karissa Buchanan, who did not play because of a violation of team rules.

Host Louisville advanced with a 4-1 win over Purdue.

High school sports

GEOFF GRAMMER

and RAYMOND SUAREZ

At Tempe Diablo Stadium, the Canyon del Oro boys baseball team beat Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor 6-5 on Friday to advance to Saturday’s Class 4A Division I state championship.

It is CDO’s 10th trip to a state title game. The Dorados have won six, most recently in 2002 with an 8-6 win over Tucson High.

• Tanque Verde will play Bagdad in the finals of the 1A state tournament at Surprise Stadium at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The Hawks defeated Phoenix Valley Lutheran 2-1 on Friday to advance.

VOLLEYBALL: No. 1-seeded Sahuaro advanced to the finals of the 4A/5A Division II finals after beating No. 5 Ironwood Ridge on Friday.

The Cougars won in three games 25-16, 25-15, 25-14 and will play either No. 2 Rincon/University or No. 3 Catalina at Mountain View High School at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Braves top D’backs

The Associated Press

ATLANTA – Yunel Escobar hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the bottom of ninth, giving the Atlanta Braves a 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night after blowing a lead in the top of the inning.

With one out in the ninth, Jordan Schafer hit a single to right off Tony Pena (3-1). Pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson walked and Omar Infante singled to center. Schafer, who hesitated between second and third to see if center fielder Chris Young would catch the ball, had to hold at third.

Tisdale dies at 44

The Associated Press

Wayman Tisdale, a three-time All-American at Oklahoma who played 12 seasons in the NBA and later became a top jazz musician, died after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 44.

Tisdale died Friday morning at St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, hospital spokeswoman Joy McGill said.

After three years at Oklahoma, Tisdale played in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns.

The 6-foot-9 forward, with a soft left-handed touch on the court and a wide smile off it, averaged 15.3 points for his career. He was on the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.

Manny apologizes to team

MIAMI – An “anxious” Manny Ramirez apologized to his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Friday, the first time he was around the club since being suspended for 50 games for using a banned substance.

Ramirez used the words “I’m sorry,” said Dodgers manager Joe Torre, although many players said the apology wasn’t necessary.

“It was uncomfortable. I’ll give you that,” Torre said. “We spent some time together before we went into the meeting room and he was a little anxious. That’s the human side of this thing.

“He basically went around, shook everybody’s hand. I think guys were happy to see him. I think there was a little uneasiness on both sides.”

The brief meeting took place in a conference room at the team’s waterfront hotel in South Florida before the Dodgers arrived at the Marlins’ stadium to start a three-game series.

The Associated Press

Phelps wins in return

The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Michael Phelps still remembers how to win.

The most decorated Olympian ever won two events Friday night in his first meet since Beijing, showing he’s moved on from the embarrassment of being photographed using a marijuana pipe and serving a three-month suspension.

Phelps touched first in the 200-meter freestyle at the Charlotte UltraSwim in a time of 1 minute, 46.02 seconds. He came back less than an hour later to win the 100 butterfly in 51.72.

In both races, Phelps easily broke meet records he set three years ago, and coach Bob Bowman proclaimed him ahead of schedule as Phelps looks ahead to the world championships this summer.

Preakness up for grabs

The Associated Press

BALTIMORE – Calvin Borel has complete confidence his horse will win the Preakness, the kind of certainty expected from the Kentucky Derby-winning jockey.

Except Borel won’t be riding the Derby winner on Saturday.

He made the unprecedented decision to get off Mine That Bird and onto Rachel Alexandra, the spectacular filly who is the 8-5 early favorite for the second leg of the Triple Crown.

“It’s hard to leave a Kentucky Derby winner,” jockey Robby Albarado said. “You’re the only one with the chance of winning the Triple Crown. It’s a hard decision to make.”

Mine That Bird is the co-third choice at 6-1 with Friesan Fire, the Derby wagering favorite who staggered home next-to-last on the first Saturday in May.”

The 12 other horses are going to have to run the race of their life or me fall off or something stupid happen,” Borel said by phone Friday from Louisville, Ky., where he took a break from mowing his lawn to chat. “I just got to point her in the right direction and she’ll get me there.”

If that happens, Rachel Alexandra would become only the fifth filly to win the Preakness. Ten have tried since Nellie Morse in 1924 was the last to wear the winner’s blanket of black-eyed Susans.

Favre talks to surgeon

The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS – With the Minnesota Vikings eagerly waiting, Brett Favre has sought the advice of a noted surgeon about his beat-up throwing arm, according to the latest report on the quarterback’s status.

Citing an anonymous source, ESPN.com reported that Favre consulted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews about options for healing the partially torn biceps tendon that has caused pain in his right shoulder. Andrews is one of the most consulted surgeons in pro sports.

Favre declared his retirement for the second time in February because of the injury, which he blamed for his poor performance in December while the New York Jets missed the playoffs.

Citizen Staff Report
RealFAST SCORES AND MORE

Citizen Staff Report

Arizona placed three players on the All-Pacific 10 softball team: sophomores Stacie Chambers (catcher) and outfielder Brittany Lastrapes (outfielder) and senior Jenae Leles (third base).

Junior shortstop K’Lee Arredondo and senior first baseman Sam Banister earned second-team honors, while designated player Lini Koria and second baseman Kristen Arriola were named to the all-freshman team.

On the honorable mention team were junior pitcher Sarah Akamine, sophomore outfielder Lauren Schutzler and Koria. Outfielder Karissa Buchanan was all-freshman honorable mention.

Lastrapes and Leles were repeat first-team picks.

The Pac-10 named ASU’s Kaitlin Cochrane athlete of the year. Other top players were Washington’s Danielle Lawrie (pitcher), Stanford’s Ashley Hansen (freshman), Stanford’s Rosey Neill (defense) and UCLA’s Kelly Inouye-Perez (coach).

• Cats start another NCAA journey, 1A

Citizen Staff Report
THE BOUNCE

Citizen Staff Report

The Pima Community College women’s 3,200-meter relay team set a meet record with a time of 9:20.93 at the two-day Region I Championship in Mesa.

The team of Brittany Delker (Desert View High), Danielle Higgins (Benson), Cherise Price (Catalina) and Leandra Treusch (Catalina Foothills) already had qualified for the national junior college championships May 21-23 in Hutchinson, Kan.

Monica Honyumptewa (Hopi) won the 10,000 meters in 44:59.47, while Priscilla Urquides (Tucson High) took second in the 400 hurdles (1:08.16). Both qualified for the nationals meet.

On the men’s side, Jeremiah Korn (Sahuaro) earned a regional title in the men’s hammer throw of 151-7 and a spot in nationals.

Korn qualified for the national meet earlier this season in the shot put.

Matt Lundstrom (Mountain View) took second in the 10,000 meters (33:25.48) to also qualify for nationals.

Both Pima squads were in third place going into Thursday’s final day of Region I competition.

Citizen Staff Report

Citizen Staff Report

news@tucsoncitizen.com

AGM Container Controls Inc. was named the Small Business of the Year for 2009 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The award, presented Tuesday, honors the Tucson-based manufacturer for being a leader in the community, demonstrating intelligent business judgment and showing true commitment to its employees and customers.

“There is no secret to AGM Container Controls’ success,” Thomas J. Donohue, U.S. Chamber president and chief executive, said in a news release. “They continue to provide quality products and first-class service. AGM encompasses the attributes that any company needs to succeed in a tough economy – business judgment, customer service, and a commitment to their employees.”

AGM produces items used to protect missiles in transit or storage, and its Ascension division produces vertical and portable wheelchair lifts.

“We are highly diversified for a small company,” CEO Howard Stewart said in a 2007 interview with Tucson Business Edge. “It is hard to be good across a wide spectrum, but we do it much better than our competitors can or would. We are constantly asking ourselves how we can achieve more.”

In 1970, his father was given the opportunity to buy part of what was Arizona Gear Manufacturing. Howard Stewart became president of the family-owned business in 2000.

The business is 34 percent employee-owned, and AGM has serious roots in the community.

“To move would tear the social fabric of this business,” Stewart said. “There is a social contract between myself and my employee-owners and it would be selfish to move. It just wouldn’t make much sense.”

Citizen Staff Report
HIGH SCHOOL STATE PLAYOFFS

Citizen Staff Report

It will be an all-Tucson final four Friday in the Class 4A/5A Division II boys volleyball tournament, but one team not making the cut is three-time defending state champion Catalina Foothills.

Sahuaro, Rincon/University, Catalina and Ironwood Ridge won quarterfinal matches, including Ironwood Ridge’s road upset of Foothills in four games to hand the Falcons their first state tournament loss in more than three years.

In track, University of Arizona football recruit Ryan Milus tied a state record in the 100 meters in 10.33 seconds on Day 1 of 2 at the 5A-I track championship at Chandler high School.

In baseball, Canyon del Oro beat Cienega and is the lone southern Arizona team remaining in the big school playoffs.

Thursday’s HS playoff schedule

Softball

• 4A-I semifinals: No. 12 Catalina Foothills vs. No. 1 Cienega, at Hillenbrand Stadium, 6:30 p.m.

• 4A-I semifinals: No. 3 Scottsdale Chaparral vs. No. 2 Canyon del Oro, at Rose Mofford Softball Complex in Phoenix, 6:30 p.m.

Track

• 5A-II preliminary heats: at Chandler High School, 4:15 p.m.

Citizen Staff Report
IN BRIEF

Citizen Staff Report

news@tucsoncitizen.com

Eastbound Interstate 8 just west of Interstate 10 will be closed briefly Wednesday night to install an overhead message board.

The state Department of Transportation will restrict eastbound I-8 to one lane starting at 9 p.m. Wednesday and about 1 a.m. Thursday will close all eastbound lanes for about a half hour, an ADOT news release said.

All lane restrictions will be lifted at 5 a.m., the release said.

Citizen Staff Report
HIGH SCHOOL STATE PLAYOFFS

Citizen Staff Report

Kenzie Fowler did it again, tossing her fourth straight no-hitter to help Canyon del Oro High become one of three Tucson-area softball teams to advance in the Class 4A Division I playoffs Tuesday.

Fowler struck out 16 in an 8-0 win over Glendale Cactus, leading the Dorados into Thursday’s semifinal against Scottsdale Chaparral. The tournament’s No. 1 seed, Cienega, shut out visiting Scottsdale Saguaro 5-0 to advance to the semis against No. 12 Catalina Foothills, an 11-4 winner over No. 4 Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor.

Sunnyside, Sierra Vista Buena and Salpointe Catholic each had their seasons end in 5A tournament action.

More high school softball coverage, Page 4C

Wednesday’s playoffs

Baseball

• 4A-I quarterfinals: No. 5 Nogales vs. No. 4 Scottsdale Chaparral, at Tempe Diablo Stadium, 4 p.m.; No. 8 Catalina Foothills vs. No. 1 Glendale Cactus, at Tempe Diablo Stadium, 7 p.m.; No. 6 Cienega vs. No. 3 Canyon del Oro, at Hi Corbett Field, 7 p.m.

• 4A-II quarterfinals: No. 3 Sahuarita vs. No. 6 Phoenix Greenway, at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, 4 p.m.

Boys volleyball

• 4A/5A-I quarterfinals, 6:30 p.m.: No. 5 Gilbert Mesquite at No. 4 Salpointe, 6:30 p.m.

• 4A/5A-II quarterfinals, 6:30 p.m.: No. 8 Cienega at No. 1 Sahuaro; No. 5 Ironwood Ridge at No. 4 Catalina Foothills; No. 6 Tempe McClintock at No. 3 Catalina; No. 7 Phoenix S.D. O’Connor at No. 2 Rincon/University

Citizen Staff Report
THE BOUNCE

Brandon Smith, an eighth-grader at Old Vail Middle School, was one of nine finalists in Major League Baseball’s “Breaking Barriers” essay contest.

Smith, who suffered a head injury after an accident, wrote that “baseball has taught me about determination.”

“It is so hard to stay focused when you have a head injury. But it seemed like baseball was the one place that it was easy for me to focus. It was a quiet place in my life where everything started to make sense.

Baseball has changed my life. I have actually forgiven the driver that crashed into me. . . . If I met him today, I would have to thank him.”

Nearly 8,000 students in grades 4 through 8 entered the contest.

Smith plays in the Rincon Little League.

Citizen Staff Report

Citizen Staff Report

Dr. Jeff Monash leased 2,000 square feet at 1845 W. Orange Grove, Suite 115, from Orange Grove Medical & Dental. Rajan Lal of PICOR represented the tenant. Dave Volk of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord.

Clean Water Products leased 1,440 square feet at Exchange Place Business Park, 1870 W. Prince Road, Suite 3, from Presson Corp. Rob Glaser and Paul Hooker of PICOR handled the transaction.

Chariot Italian Bistro extended its lease for 2,100 square feet at Midpoint Business Plaza, 1835 S. Alvernon Way. Rob Glaser and Paul Hooker of PICOR handled the transaction.

Burger City leased 1,920 square feet at The Plaza at Williams Centre, 5350 E. Broadway, Suite 128/130, from Larsen Baker. The restaurant is scheduled to open in June. Andy Seleznov of Larsen Baker represented the landlord.

Heavenly Feet has leased 1,668 square feet at Tucson Place Shopping Center, 595 E. Wetmore Road, Suite J-101, from Larsen Baker. The salon is scheduled to open in July. Andy Seleznov of Larsen Baker represented the landlord. Rita Perez of Tucson Realty & Trust represented the tenant.

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

Citizen Staff Report
RealFAST LOCAL NEWS

Citizen Staff Report

Jobing.com is hosting another Career Expo Tuesday at the Tucson Convention Center.

Dozens of local companies will be on hand from 2 to 6 p.m. to meet with prospective employees. Register online and find more information on the companies at jobing.com.

Parking at the TCC, 260 S. Church Ave., costs $4 to $5.

Citizen Staff Report
LOCAL SPORTS

Citizen Staff Report

The University of Arizona softball team snapped a three-game losing streak with an easy win Friday.

Stacie Chambers and K’Lee Arredondo both homered to back pitcher Jennifer Martinez as the No. 6-ranked Wildcats (40-14, 12-7) beat Oregon State 10-0 in five innings.

Chambers blasted a grand slam in the first inning to put UA up 4-0, raising her totals 28 homers and 85 RBIs for the year.

Arredondo, who went 3 for 4, hit a solo homer in the second to put the Wildcats up 5-0.

UA added three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth in the mercy-rule win.

Chambers and Brittany Lastrapes both had two hits for UA.

Martinez allowed three hits in five innings. She struck out two in improving to 10-4.

The Wildcats conclude their regular season with a game at Oregon State at noon Saturday.

UA will find out if it hosts an NCAA regional when the brackets are announced at 7 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU.

UA women’s golf

The Wildcats are tied for ninth place after two rounds of the NCAA West Regional Tournament in Tempe.

UA has a 12-over total score. Leader Arizona State is at 20-under.

Arizona sophomore Alejandra Llaneza leads the Wildcats with an even-par 144. ASU’s Carlota Ciganda leads all individuals with a 9-under 135.

Other Wildcat totals are Isabelle Boineau (2-over), Margarita Ramos (3-over), Nikki Koller (8-over) and Amanda Wilson (10-over). The final round starts at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Cycling

With five top-10 finishes in his last 10 starts, including a first and second place, Tucson’s Nick Schreiber holds third place in the Arizona Bicycle Racing Association’s Copper Cup season point standings.

Schreiber has totaled 218 points, with Brian Forbes of Mesa leads with 404 in the men’s Category 1-2.

Other Tucsonans in the top 30 are David Swanson, ninth (155), Thomas Jondall, 13th (127), Kyle Colavito, 26th (45) and Tim Carolan, 27th (35).

In the women’s Pro 1-2, Tucson holds five places in the top 10, led by Tammy Lamb, fifth (51). She’s followed by Spring Clegg and Sarah Swanson, tied for seventh (27), Kathryn Bertine, ninth (26) and Chloe Black, two-way tie for 10th (20).

Scott Baker has totaled 298 points to lead the masters men’s 45-49 group in a Tucson 1-2-3 placing. He’s followed by Peter Brown (293) and Jesus Lamb (215).

Lisa Ribes, recovered from winter bicycle injuries, holds a comfortable lead in women’s Category 3, with 60. Jo Roberts tops Carolyn Carbone 58-36 for the women’s masters 45-49 lead.