Midtown Neighbors



58,274 Households are in the Tucson midtown area. Source: SRC/R.L. Polk/MapInfo, 1999 8 Live, potted trees adorn the Cactus Bowl bowling alley. Source: Cactus Bowl 11.3 The number of acres on which the DeAnza Drive-In Theater operates four movie screens. Source: Arizona Daily Star 1,250 Species of plants inhabit the Tucson Botanical Gardens. Source: Tucson Botanical Gardens

	“Ravin’ About Recycling” — Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1331 E. Adams St. A. J. Schnellar, director of the local recycling program, will discuss this theme today at 12:30 p.m. followed by bridge and table games at 1:30 p.m. 327-6857 Caught Between Wonderland and Oz — <30-9:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. Tours start every 30 minutes. Continues through May 13. 323-1331 $5; discounts available. Orts in the Park After Dark — DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center, East 22nd Street and Randolph Way in Reid Park. Orts Theater of Dance gives an outdoor performance 7:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday April 28-30. 624-3799 (free) Jim Becker — Borders, 5870 E. Broadway. The television reporter for KOLD-TV, Channel 13, and musician plays his assortment of rhythm & blues and folk music, on Friday April 28, 7-8 p.m. (free) Yard Sale — The Hermitage No-Kill Cat Shelter, 5278 E. 21st St., Saturday and Sunday April 29-30, 8 a.m.-3 p.m daily. Proceeds benefit needy cats and kittens. Groundbreaking Celebration — Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way. Celebrate the groundbreaking of the new education building at 10 a.m. Tuesday May 2. (free) Farmers Market — Plaza Palomino, 2970 N. Swan Road (at East Fort Lowell Road), 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays. Live music, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. 795-1177 Ballroom Dancing — Let’s Dance Club, Inc, 6245 E. Bellevue St. Every Wednesday night, 7-10:30. Dance lesson 7-8 p.m. Open dancing 8-10:30. Dance lesson included with admission. $7, $5 for members. Tucson Arts and Crafts Association monthly meeting — Streams in the Desert Church, 5360 E. Pima St. Wednesday, May 3. Hours: 6 p.m. social hour and new member jurying; 7 p.m. general meeting. Movie Critic Visits — Borders, 5870 E. Broadway, at the Park Place Mall. Vernon Neal centers his presentation on how we can lend a good influence to our children’s movie viewing habits on Saturday April 29, 1-2:30 p.m. (free) Beads! Beads! Beads! — First Evangelical Free Church, 4700 N. Swan Road. The American Needlepoint Guild, Tucson Chapter, will meet at 1 p.m. Sue Strause will lead a hands-on program teaching how to use beads to enhance your needlepoint. For information, call 529-6064. (free) Cooking Classes — Culinary Concepts, 2930 N. Swan Road. “Italian Salads and Other Green Delights,” Thursday April 27, 9:30 a.m., $35; “The Mighty Mussel,” with Judith Berger, Thursday April 27, 6 p.m., $40; “Aloha Summer” with Valerie Verkerke, Friday April 28, 6 p.m., $40; and “Rows of Ribs,” with Marilyn Davision, Saturday April 29, 10 a.m., $45. For reservations, call 321-0968. St. Matthew Passion — Catalina United Methodist Church, 2700 E. Speedway. University Community Chorus and Tucson Boys Chorus present Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” Sunday April 30, 2:30 p.m. 822-1870 $10; discounts available. Spring Concert — Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind, Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway. Catalina Chamber Orchestra performs Saturday April 29, 7:30 p.m. Ticket: $12, $10 for seniors, $5 for students. Typed calendar items must be submitted two weeks before publication to The Arizona Daily Star, Northwest Neighbors Calendar, Attn: RuthAnn Hogue, Neighbors Editor, P.O. Box 26807, Tucson, AZ 85726-6807.

Connected

Benjie Sanders / Staff
David Kha, creator of the Virtual Neighborhood Association and its community forum page was able to get bicycles donated to help his bike club.

Virtual Neighborhood Association Web site allows flow of ideas on community forum page

By Macario Juarez Jr.
Arizona Daily Star

Midtown neighborhood’s efforts have made it possible for members of other neighborhoods to stay connected, beyond the bricks and mortar of conventional meeting places.

Earlier this year, the Virtual Neighborhood Association — a Web site linking Tucson neighborhoods — launched a “community forum” page.

So far, neighbors from across Tucson have posted more than 50 messages, informing fellow neighbors about upcoming events, such as free computer classes, a recent adopt-a-street-sign dedication, and gardening workshops.

Other people have used the forum to advocate support for or against issues affecting Tucsonans, such as the living wage ordinance and the issue of “big box” building restrictions.

Some people have tacked up words of praise for the computer innovation.

“This is the greatest idea and should really help to coordinate neighborhood efforts in a big way,” one person wrote.

Another, a neighborhood preservation specialist for the city of Sunnyvale, Calif., said she was “really impressed” with the virtual neighborhood concept.

“It is wonderful to see the use of technology,” Laurie Aguinaga wrote.

The Virtual Neighborhood Association and its most recent addition, the “community forum” page is the brainchild of David Kha and fellow neighbors of the Midtown Neighborhood Association.

“We are trying to use it as a tool to exchange ideas and as a tool to learn from each other,’’ Kha said.

Through the forum, Kha recently received donations of bicycles for his Midtown bike club.

“Because of the community forum, one guy asked me if I could help him with his bike club,” Kha said.

In 1995, he helped create a Web page for the Midtown Neighborhood Association, which gained the attention of several other neighborhood groups.

“In 1996, so many people called me. They wanted to do the same thing,” Kha said.

“I figured the only way to do it was to create the Virtual Neighborhood Association as an umbrella to all the neighborhoods,” Kha said.

The city of Tucson recently backed the idea by sponsoring the Virtual Neighborhood Association Web site and community forum.

“People really are participating; I see a lot of stuff on the notice board,” said Mark Taylor, Internet Webmaster with the city’s Information Technology Department.

Kha said he hopes the forum will encourage more neighborhood partnerships to foster ideas and solutions on issues involving education, youth, crime, neighborhood beautification, housing rehabilitation and public funding.

• Reporter Macario Juarez can be reached by phone at 573-4663 or by e-mail at mjuarez@azstarnet.com .

Selected incidents from police files. Anyone with information about any of the following crimes or incidents is asked to call the appropriate local police department. ROBBERY — Three men wearing ski masks broke into a home in the 5200 block of South Campbell Avenue Friday at 8:06 p.m. A 31-year-old man and a 9-year-old boy were home at the time of the robbery. The three men took a cellular phone, witnesses told police.

NEGLECT — Last Thursday at 5:40 p.m., police found a 2-year-old boy in a car in the 1800 block of South Rosemont Avenue with his mother, 43-year-old Luz Erkel, and a man, who were both accused of being drunk and unconscious. Police reports said the temperature in the car was high, and that the child also had bruises on his face. Police reported that the mother was unresponsive, and the man, who was in the driver’s seat, was combative. The report did not state what happened with the boy beyond notification of a family member.

BURGLARY — Reported April 19 at 1:13 p.m. A police report states that at an optometrist’s office at 5720 E. Broadway, a robber pried open a window to enter the building and stole $75 in cash.

QUESTION: How can I prevent graffiti on my property?

• Graffiti artists don’t want to be caught in the act, but they will try to display their work where it will be noticed. To protect your property, keep it well-illuminated with security lighting. Check with your local police agency about possible gang activity in your neighborhood and alert your neighbors. Paint over graffiti as soon as possible, and check into graffiti-resistant paint products.

— Becky Mendez, public information specialist, Oro Valley Police Department

Send questions to:
Crime Q
Arizona Daily Star P.O. Box 26807, Tucson, AZ 85726
or e-mail http://www.azstarnet.com/neighbors/MT/mailto.

Mykle Raymond
Search-and-rescue volunteer

By Glenn Weyant
Arizona Daily Star

On a grassy patch of lawn behind the Southern Arizona Rescue Association headquarters, Mykle Raymond remembers a man who had disappeared along the trail to Finger Rock in the Santa Catalina Mountains.

It was night and as the team scoured the area, Raymond said he “had a feeling” he knew where to find him.

Securing a position with a fellow volunteer atop a bluff near a popular waterfall, he began to shout his name.

A short time later they heard the man call out faintly from far below.

“It was very weak, but it was all we needed,” Raymond said. “Just by the sound of him I knew he had a head injury. When we got to him it turned out he had cracked his skull open on the rocks. We were able to package him up and get him out of there once the helicopter arrived. In the end it turned out he was OK. That was one that I will always remember.”

A modest man with a friendly gaze, Raymond is quick to downplay his role in search-and-rescue efforts, quickly praising his fellow volunteers, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the Department of Public Safety, which fly the helicopters.

To nominate someone for the "Meet Your Neighbor," "Business Neighbor," "Meet the Teacher" or "Good Neighbor" columns, send a one-page, type-written explanations of why they deserve a little extra recognition. Send submissions to the Arizona Daily Star, Northwest Neighbors, Attn: RuthAnn Hogue, Neighbors Editor, P.O. Box 26807, Tucson, AZ 85726-6807.

If you represent a non-profit, school or community organization, send us an e-mail telling us about your Web site. Tell us which page you’d like us to link it to, and we’ll do the rest.

Send e-mail to Shelley Dougherty, deputy StarNet editor, at mailto:shelley@azstarnet.com