The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Deterred by immigration laws and the lackluster economy, the population growth of Hispanics and Asians in the U.S. has slowed unexpectedly, causing the government to push back estimates on when minorities will become the majority by as much as a decade.

Census data released Thursday showed that the nation’s overall minority population continues to rise steadily, adding 2.3 percent in 2008 to 104.6 million, or 34 percent of the total population. But the slowdown among Hispanics and Asians continues to shift conventional notions on when the tipping point in U.S. diversity will come – estimated to occur more than three decades from now.

According to the latest data, the percentage growth of Hispanics slowed from 4.0 percent in 2001 to 3.2 percent last year. Their slowed population growth would have been greater if it weren’t for their high fertility – nearly 10 births for every death.

Asian population increases slowed from 3.7 percent in 2001 to about 2.5 percent. Hispanics and Asians still are the two fastest-growing minority groups, making up about 15 percent and 4.4 percent of the U.S. population, respectively.

Thirty-six states had lower Hispanic growth in 2008 compared with the year before. The declines were in places where the housing bubble burst, such as Nevada and Arizona, which lost construction jobs that tend to attract immigrants.

Arizona’s total population grew by 2.3 percent from 2007 to 2008, slightly below its 2.6 percent average growth rate for the eight preceding years.

Hispanics grew by 4 percent statewide from 2007 to 2008 compared to an average 4.6 percent growth rate for prior years and Asians grew by 4.8 percent during the same time frame compared to an average rate of 5.7 percent for the 2000 to 2007 years.

Trend also seen in Southeast

Other decreases were seen in new immigrant destinations in the Southeast, previously seen as offering good manufacturing jobs in lower-cost cities compared to the pricier Northeast. In contrast, cities in California, Illinois and New Jersey showed gains.

In Arkansas, manufacturing and poultry companies have cut hours and workers, leaving a growing number of Hispanics unable to cover their mortgage payments, said Maribel Tapia, a housing counselor in Fayetteville, Ark. Fathers are moving out of state, where other relatives have lines on menial jobs that support the families they leave behind, she said.

Police in northwest Arkansas created an immigration task force with the help of U.S. immigration agents.

“I don’t think it’s more likely they’re going back to Mexico or El Salvador or wherever they’re from,” she said. “They’re just calling different family members in different states and asking around about work. They just pack up and move.”

The political effects can be high. Minorities turned out in record numbers in November to vote, largely for Democrat Barack Obama for president, and Hispanic groups are expected to flex their growing clout in future elections as they push immigration reform.

More than a dozen states also stand to gain or lose House seats after the 2010 census depending on last-minute shifts in population.

“Not just whites are staying put, but minorities are staying put and immigrants are staying put,” said Mark Mather, associate vice president of the nonprofit Population Reference Bureau, citing in part a declining economy that has locked the U.S. population largely in place.

“I was surprised the drop in Hispanic growth rates wasn’t bigger given the decline in immigration,” he said. “Government policy will certainly have a major effect on future race and ethnic composition if Congress takes some action on immigration reform.”

The Census Bureau projected last August that white children will become the minority in 2023 and the overall white population will follow in 2042. The agency now says it will recalculate those figures, typically updated every three to four years, because they don’t fully take into account anti-immigration policies after the September 2001 terror attacks and the current economic recession.

The new projections, expected to be released later this year, could delay the tipping point for minorities by 10 years, given the current low rates of immigration, David Waddington, the Census Bureau’s chief of projections, said in a telephone interview.

“Policies changed,” he said, in explaining why the scientific estimates were no longer valid.

Blacks, who comprise about 12.2 percent of the population, have increased at a rate of about 1 percent each year. Whites, with a median age of 41, have increased very little in recent years because of low birth rates and an aging boomer population.

The migration shift could continue for a while, said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, citing the bursting of an unprecedented housing bubble in 2005-2006 that is helping reshape the economy.

“What this means is that the idea of creating new Asian and Hispanic enclaves in different parts of the United States will undergo a bit of a wall,” said Frey. “Those staying in these enclaves will be competing for jobs with long-term residents, while others will return to social support systems in major gateways.”

Six U.S. counties saw their minority populations become the majority, including Orange County, Fla., the nation’s 35th most populous county that is home to Orlando. Webster County in Georgia had a majority of minority groups in 2007 but reverted back to a white majority in 2008.

In all, about 309 of the nation’s 3,142 counties, or 1 in 10, have minority populations greater than 50 percent. Other counties that become majority-minority in 2008 were Stanislaus in California; Finney in Kansas; Warren in Mississippi; and Edwards and Schleicher counties in Texas.

Other findings:

• There are 48 majority Hispanic counties nationally; the top 10 were all in Texas. The gateway cities of Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston and Chicago had the greatest number of Hispanics.

• Seventy-seven counties are majority-black; all were in the South. Atlanta edged past Chicago in the number of blacks, ranking second after New York City. They were followed by Washington and Philadelphia.

• Honolulu County, Hawaii, was the only majority Asian county in the nation. New York City had the highest population of Asians, surpassing Los Angeles. Asians also numbered the most in San Francisco; San Jose, Calif.; and Chicago.

• California, the nation’s most populous state, also had the most number of whites. Maine and Vermont had the highest share of whites at 95 percent each.

In Nashville, Tenn., Maria Lopez, a 49-year-old Mexican immigrant, said business is down 80 percent at the restaurant she runs, and 10 to 15 people come in a day asking for jobs, mostly Hispanics.

Lopez said she had to cut back on the amount of money she was sending back home to her family in Mexico. Although she’s been in the U.S. for 13 years, she is thinking about returning to Mexico.

“I am just making enough to pay the lease and the bills,” Lopez said through a translator. “If things continue like that, I will leave.”

The 2008 census estimates used local records of births and deaths, tax records of people moving within the U.S., and census statistics on immigrants.

The figures for “white” refer to those whites who are not of Hispanic ethnicity. Since the government considers “Hispanic” an ethnicity, people of Hispanic descent can be of any race.

The Associated Press

PHOENIX – Travis Edmonson, a folk music singer and songwriter of the 1950s and ’60s who was considered a pioneer by artists such as the Kingston Trio, has died. He was 76.

Edmonson died Saturday at a Mesa hospital, said longtime friend Mike Bartlett. Although Bartlett did not know the cause of death, he said Edmonson, who had a stroke in 1982, had suffered from numerous health problems.

Bob Shane, founding member of the Kingston Trio, was in college when he first saw Edmonson perform in San Francisco. Edmonson became his idol.

“He was probably the finest solo entertainer I’d ever seen,” Shane told The Associated Press from his Phoenix home. “He had a command of the stage that was just unbelievable.”

Shane said he and fellow band member Nick Reynolds were inspired watching Edmonson, who at the time was a member of the Gateway Singers.

“When we were seniors, we used to drive up and catch the Gateway Singers quite often. I’d say he definitely had an influence on the Kingston Trio because we enjoyed watching what they did as a group. But we decided not to use a girl which they had. So we cut it down to the trio.”

Edmonson was born in Long Beach, Calif., and spent his childhood in the border town of Nogales. His family’s proximity to Mexico helped to shape his passion for Latin music.

Bartlett said as a boy, Edmonson would sleep outside by the border. After dark, he would go to Mexican restaurants to watch mariachi musicians.

While studying at the University of Arizona, Edmonson won an amateur performing contest and decided to pursue a career as an entertainer. He formed a folk music duo with Bud Dashiell called Bud & Travis. The two recorded eight albums between 1959 and 1965. After they split, Edmonson sang solo and then joined Shane, who had split from the Trio.

Their act, Shane & Travis, lasted only four weeks before Shane opted to start the New Kingston Trio.

“We had a lot of fun but, as I said, things were happening quite quickly from the singing. . . . We had some differences but not things we were upset about,” Shane said. “He wanted to go one way, and I wanted to go another. So, we said, ‘See you later.’ ”

Some of Edmonson’s signature songs included “I’m a Drifter” and “Malaguena Salerosa.”

In the 1970s, Edmonson moved back to Tucson where he continued to perform and advise younger musicians such as Linda Ronstadt. Shane said Edmonson was often thought of as an ambassador of music in the Tucson area.

The stroke left Edmonson paralyzed on his left side. He was unable to perform, but he still liked to write songs and meet with other musicians. Bartlett said Edmonson always cared about helping struggling, younger artists.

“Big people didn’t necessarily impress him, but the little guy was the one he always had his eye on,” Bartlett said.

He is survived by his wife, Rose Marie Heidrick, and one son and five daughters from previous relationships.

Funeral services will be private with a public memorial planned for a later date.

The Associated Press

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.

The Associated Press

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Lorena Ochoa is threatening to turn the Michelob Ultra Open into a runaway in another of her annual dominating runs.

She’s also probably the person least likely to say so.

“It’s never good to think that way,” Ochoa said Friday after shooting a 6-under-par 65 for a tournament-record 13-under 129 total and a three-shot lead.

“You always need to be ready and you always need to be humble and tomorrrow’s going to be a new day, a new start,” she said. “I’m going to play like if I’m behind for two or three shots. I never like to think I’m winning.”

But Ochoa is, and looking mighty comfortable.

The world’s top-ranked player and first-round leader took advantage of perfect playing conditions and soft greens to get eight birdies, matching her first-round total. Only two bogeys in her last four holes kept her from making the outcome look like a foregone conclusion.

And it’s not as if the rest of the field rolled over. On the contrary, In-Kyung Kim, Song-Hee Kim and Cristie Kerr all finished at 10- under 132, and all three played better than Ochoa.

Still, coming off a wire-to-wire victory two weeks ago in her native Mexico, Ochoa has been the leader after six consecutive rounds and looks as if she might be on one of her rolls.

She has won at least three tournaments in a row once in each of the last three seasons, and last season won five of her first six events, including the last four in succession.

Teeing off around the time that Song-Hee Kim was finishing off a record-tying 63 and In-Kyung Kim was polishing off a 64 that put them in the lead at 10 under, Ochoa started with three straight pars and then made birdies on six of the next eight holes to retake the lead.

“I just thought ‘I need to be patient and take advantage of the easy holes and the par 5s and go from there,’ and that’s what I did,” Ochoa said. “And then right away, I started making birdies and felt very comfortable.

“It think it was important to get those first couple of birdies to get me going.”

It proved crucial, too, when others kept posting low numbers on a day when the fairways were still soft on the 6,315-yard layout, but soft greens made the pins popular targets.

Rookie Michelle Wie, eight back at 137 after an up-and-down 67, had one of the shots of the day, holing her approach for eagle on the par-4 10th, her first hole of the day. She immediately followed with a bogey, though, and had three more to minimize six birdies.

Song-Hee Kim, who tied the course record shared by six others, three times almost holed shots from off the green, and rolled in a 30-foot putt on the difficult eighth for birdie.

“I had a perfect day today,” she said through a translator.

The Associated Press

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – A week off did nothing to slow down former Arizona Wildcat Lorena Ochoa, and a month away from the game found Lindsey Wright in the same groove she was in before a vacation.

Ochoa picked up where she left off in winning two weeks ago in her native Mexico with eight birdies against one bogey Thursday. Her 7-under-par 64 gave her a one-shot lead over Wright after the first round of the Michelob Ultra Open.

“This is only the start,” said Ochoa, a three-time runner-up in the event. “We have three more days. One at a time.”

Wright, a nonwinner in five seasons, hadn’t played since finishing fourth in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the season’s first major in the first week in April, but was bogey-free on the soggy 6,315-yard River Course at Kingsmill that has received rain for several days.

Hee-Won Han, Sarah Lee and Minea Blomqvist shot 66s to share third place. Seon Hwa Lee, Na Yeon Choi and Amy Yang shot 67s and 2007 champion Suzann Pettersen was among seven at 68.

In all, 45 of 144 players took advantage of the soft greens and broke par.

Other notables making a run at the leader board included 2005 winner Cristie Kerr, who got to 4-under but then stumbled to finish at 2-under 69; rookie Vicky Hurst, who got to 4- under but gave two shots back on her last four holes to finish at 68; and Michelle Wie, who got to 3-under after her first 12 holes, but had two bogeys coming in to finish six shots back at 1-under 70.

The rainy start and sometimes gusting wind seemed to be of little consequence to Ochoa, the world’s top-ranked player. She made three birdie putts of 17 feet or longer while working on her putting alignment and said she’s starting to feel more comfortable on the greens.

“That was a big change for me because I didn’t feel comfortable aiming to the hole,” Ochoa said of her old putting style, which had her coming across the ball instead of hitting it head on. “It didn’t feel right in the beginning, but now I’m seeing a lot of good results.”

She finished with a flourish, hitting a booming drive on the 382-yard, par-14 18th that left her with about 100 yards to the flagstick, and then an approach to about 12 feet.

PGA Tour

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Ben Crane should have known what was coming when he rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the first hole of the day. He kept right on pouring them in until he had a 7-under 65 and a one-shot lead in The Players Championship.

Crane made four birdie putts longer than 20 feet, kept his ball on land throughout another wild opening round Thursday on the TPC Sawgrass and wound up atop a leader board devoid of the biggest stars.

Tiger Woods couldn’t make a putt outside 4 feet.

Phil Mickelson ran off three straight birdies early in his round, then couldn’t keep the ball in play.

Defending champion Sergio Garcia opened with a 71 and already was looking forward to going home to Spain.

Crane couldn’t relate.

He had a one-shot lead over John Mallinger, Alex Cejka and Richard S. Johnson, with a large group at 67 that included Retief Goosen, David Toms, Camilo Villegas and Scott Verplank, who had two eagles – one of them from 150 yards out on the 15th fairway, another with a putt that seemed about that long on the par-5 second.

Woods opened his round with four straight birdie chances inside 12 feet and missed them all. He wound up with a 71, keeping alive his streak of never breaking 70 in the opening round at this elite event. Mickelson hit iron off the 18th tee but it worked out beautifully with an approach to 5 feet for birdie to salvage a 73.

PGA Europe

TURIN, Italy – Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin shot a course-record 7-under 64 to take a three-shot lead after the first round of the Italian Open.

PHOENIX – University of Arizona medical school professor Yvette Roubideaux is the new director of the Indian Health Service.

The White House says the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Roubideaux’s nomination Wednesday night.

Roubideaux, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, was an assistant professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at UA’s College of Medicine when she was picked by President Obama to head the IHS.

The White House says she has conducted extensive research on American Indian health issues, with a focus on diabetes and Indian health policy.

The IHS provides health care to American Indians.

The Associated Press

The Associated Press

PHOENIX – Arizona should keep the AIMS test as a high school graduation requirement but add other tests to measure students’ readiness for college and careers, a state task force recommended Wednesday.

The task force created as a result of 2008 legislation submitted its report to Gov. Jan Brewer, top legislative leaders and the state Board of Education.

The seven-member task force, consisting mostly of educators, said the high school AIMS test is an important measure of students’ proficiency of 10th-grade standards. But it said the reading, writing and math exam doesn’t do enough.

The task force recommended steps that include requiring 11th-graders to take a college and career readiness test but giving parents the option of exempting their children.

Also, a current test for ninth-graders should be replaced with one measuring career and college potential, the task force said.

AIMS measures student achievement and provides accountability measurements for teachers and schools but it can’t meet the need for a “credible, robust test of college and career readiness,” the report said.

“Our goal is to provide opportunities for students that open rather than close doors,” it stated. “For example, tests that provide information to students and parents as they choose their college or career pathway are an incentive that opens doors for further success.”

All of the testing should have “feedback loops” so that students can assess their progress and make timely corrections to meet their academic objectives, it said.

The 2008 bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Rich Crandall of Mesa, said he hadn’t read the report and could not immediately comment on it. He said last year the state should revamp its testing program.

AIMS, short for Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards, is designed to measure students’ knowledge of math, reading and writing.

The State Board of Education and the Arizona Department of Education developed the AIMS test under a mandate in state law. High school testing began in 1999 and testing of grades 3, 5 and 8 began in 2000. Testing in other grades has been added since.

Starting in 2006, high school students have had to pass the AIMS test to get a diploma. Students begin taking the high school graduation test as sophomores and have multiple opportunities to take it.

The Associated Press

NEW YORK – A group of lenders accused shopping mall operator General Growth Properties of including eight properties in its bankruptcy filing that do not need court protection.

The shopping centers, including Tucson Mall, are financially stable and do not need to be rehabilitated through a Chapter 11 reorganization, according to a filing Monday by ING Clarion Capital Loan Services LLC, a loan administrator.

The creditors claimed General Growth had “swept” the properties into bankruptcy to benefit from their slightly better financial condition.

General Growth filed for protection from creditors last month in the largest U.S. real estate bankruptcy case in history. The Chicago-based real estate investment trust has $27 billion in debts.

The malls in question are in San Francisco, Bakersfield, and Visalia, Calif.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Lancaster, Pa; Tucson; Bartlesville, Okla.; and Murray, Utah.

The Associated Press

Health officials on Tuesday afternoon confirmed another four swine flu cases in Pima County, bringing the total to 10.

The newly confirmed cases include an infant, two teenagers and a young adult, according to Pima County Health Department spokeswoman Patti Woodcock. All four have recovered from the virus. Woodcock did not release any more information about the new cases.

Statewide, the number of confirmed swine flu cases rose to 49 Tuesday.

Pima County officials on Sunday confirmed the first six cases of the H1N1 influenza virus, including four on the Tohono O’odham reservation and one each in Marana and in Tucson.

County health officials continue investigating the most recent confirmed cases.

Although the swine flu turned out to be less serious than originally feared, Arizona officials learned vital lessons that will help the state if an epidemic hits in the future, Arizona’s interim public health director Will Humble said Tuesday.

Humble said he doesn’t believe state officials overreacted to the swine flu by shutting down schools. They were simply reacting to data coming from Mexico that indicated a possible pandemic.

He said the lessons officials learned during their response will help in the event of a truly serious virus.

Arizona has been relying on the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to test its suspected cases, and an additional 150 to 200 possible cases are outstanding. But the state laboratory will take over those duties later this week now that new tests for the specific strain have been received from the federal lab.

Citizen staff Writer Ty Bowers contributed to this article.

The Associated Press

Pima County health officials could learn as early as Saturday whether any of about 20 patient samples sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention test positive for swine flu.

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.

Citizen staff writer Ty Bowers contributed to this article.

On the Web

Arizona Department of Health Services:

http://www.azdhs.gov/