Arizona News Round-Up

Picking up where we left off last week, the grassroots leadership in Willcox is working to make sure there's plenty to do during the summer.

Willcox Against Substance Abuse (WASA), Willcox Parks and Recreation and Southwest Transmission Linemen (AEPCO) sponsor the summer activities.

Total cost for the programs this summer will run about $9,000, said Sally White, director of WASA. "With the Southwest Transmission Linemen's donation of $4,500 from their charity golf tournament, their support means the difference between an "OK" summer program and a truly great summer program," White said. "We deeply appreciate the wonderful support we receive from this great group."

Arizona Range News

Heading south down to the Bisbee, Tombstone, Sierra Vista area, we can find plenty of heat - as in hot rods.

“When he rolled in, the car show just stopped. Everybody stopped and looked,” he said.

Ward’s enthusiasm for the cars hasn’t quieted since. He and his wife, Shari, are organizers of the 9th Annual National T-Bucket Alliance Nationals on June 21-23, with events in Bisbee, Tombstone and Sierra Vista.

Sierra Vista Herald

Taking the scenic route from SV, through Patagonia to the Nogales area, the history of Santa Cruz County is being presevered by the efforts of local initiative

David Yubeta has a passion for dirt-and that's not bad. He describes himself as "voracious" in his fervent goal to stabilize every aging, crumbling, adobe building and wall that is in peril.

Yubeta, a preservation specialist with the National Park Service at the Tumac‡cori National Historic Park, is recognized as one of the premier authorities in his field.

In 1998, he was presented with the National Park Service's top award in Washington, D.C., for cultural preservation.

Doubtless, Yubeta is at the right place to hone his adobe-preservation skills. The Tumac‡cori park protects Spanish colonial missions on three sites. The largest, with a mission church constructed of adobe, was established in January 1691 by Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino. The park includes the ruins of the circa-1691 Los Santos çngeles de Guevavi south of Rio Rico and circa-1756 San Cayetano de Calabazas in Rio Rico.

Nogales International

Meanwhile, on the Tohono O'odham Nation to the northwest, the Sonoran Desert is continuing to claim lives of economic refugees

Fewer illegal immigrants may be crossing the Arizona desert than last year, but more are dying.

Authorities found the bodies of at least six migrants along the border during the first six days in June, adding to a death toll that has outpaced last year's, despite falling arrest figures.

According to the U.S. Border Patrol, 96 illegal immigrants had died as of Wednesday, a 12 percent increase over the same period last year, when the Border Patrol counted 86 dead.

Tucson Citizen

Over in Ajo, watch out for wildcats (decidedly NOT of UA origin)

Rabies has been confirmed in a fox and a bobcat killed in Ajo during the past week. At least two people have started rabies shots after being attacked by the bobcat. Residents are urged to report any animal behaving oddly and to get pets vaccinated and keep them indoors.

Ajo Copper News

And since we're having chilly temperatures this week (it's 92 in the Old Pueblo at the moment), lets take our chances in Gila Bend before the real heat begins. The town's website alerts us to a Mark-Your-Calendar moment for November

5th Annual Desert Shrimp Festival

November 3, 2007
10:00 am - 10:00 pm
Community Center Park (Euclid Ave.)

More info at the Town of Gila Bend website

Hmmmm, I guess I'll have to put the "I'll try anything once" motto to the test.

What's going on in your part of the world?