El Independiente

              Local family
faces p1'obe
Owners of a South Thcson tire shop
are among the subjects of a multi-agency
investigation which claims tons
of cocaine and marijuana were smug-gled
through tire shops in Agua Prieta,
Sonora, Douglas, and a third at 203 W
29th St.
In an affidavit filed last month in
Cochise County Superior Court, inves-tigators
allege Jose R. Ruiz, Guadalupe
Ruiz, their respective spouses Maria E.
Ruiz and Norma E. Ruiz, and Manuel
Ruiz illegally imported five tons of
marijuana and cocaine, accumulating
more than $ i million in the process.
"This is not a criminal case as of
yet. Only a civil racketeering case is
being pursued at this time," Cochise
County Deputy Attorney Tom Collins
said. "They can do business until the
forfeiture suit is resolved."
The investigation by state and fed-eral
agencies covers the past I 2 years.
Last month officials seized vehi-cies,
financial documents and bank
accounts belonging to the Ruizes.
Vote March 11
The primary election being held
to fill three city council seats will be
ihesday, March 11.
Polling stations located at the
Sam Lena library and the city coun-cil
chamber lobby on South Sixth
Avenue will be open 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
See related story page 3.
. Make rodeo
plans now
La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson
Rodeo il be held Feb. 19-23. A
parade will start at 9 am. on Feb. 20
with rodeo events starting at 2 p.m.
daily.
The rodeo grounds are located at
4823 5. 6th Ave., at the intersection
of South Sixth Avenue and Irvington
Road.
For more information, please call
741-2233.
Meeting cancelled
The city council meeting and the
regular meeting of the mayor sched-uled
for Feb. 17 has been cancelled.
EI
P VIE W:
Meet thefour candi-dates
running for
city council.
Page 2.
South Tucson's English/Spanish Newspaper
ct; SIXTI1
AVÑU.
Cruisers and South Tucson police
officers explain their perspectives
on Saturday night cruising.
«Page 6
KERR GINS
Staff Writer
After conducting two design work-shops,
designers are creatìngnew plans
to renovate Fourth Avenue in hopes of
attracting more people to the area.
"We will take all of the ideas from
the workshops and come up with a
functional, useful set of drawings for
Fourth Avenue," said Steve Shupper, a
landscape designer for Collins/Pina
Consulting Engineers, Inc.
The workshops held Thursday, Jan.
30, gave residents an opportunity to
express opinions regarding changes
theywant to see made to Fourth Avenue.
A mix ofabout 40 residents and city
officials were in attendance at the open
sessions.
Collins/Pina, principal contractors
for the project, presented plans to con-vert
Fourth Avenue into a pedestrian
mall with more parks, less parking,
more lighting, wider streets and more
shade, said Nanette Gerstenberger,
Project Manager for Coffins/Pina.
The $4.5 million Fourth Avenue
Revitalization Project began five years
ago after an 18 member advisory corn-mittee
was formed to improve condi-tions
on Fourth Avenue and the city of
South Tucson, said Richard Salaz,
Planning and Zoning Director.
Salaz said one intention of the reno-vations
is to attract people to the busi-nesses
and trade shops on Fourth
Avenue.
"The businesses should prosper
because by changing the outlook more
people will be attracted to the area," he
said.
Salaz said some of the ideas he
hopes to implement are eliminating
parking on the street by creating park-
- '. S
KERRI GINIS
Staff Writer
Después de conductar dos talleres
de diseño, los diseñadores están crean-do
nuevos planos para renovar la
Avenida Cuarto con deseos de atraer
ms personas a la área. Extraeremos
todas las ideas de los talleres y para
formular una colección de dibujos,
funcional y útil, para la Avenida Cuarto,
dijo Steve Shupper, un diseñador de
paisaje para los ingenieros consul-tantes
de Collins/Pina incorporados.
Los talleres que presentaron, el jueves
dei 30 de enero, dió a los residentes la
oportunidad de expresar las opiniones
con respecto a los cambios que
quisieran haber hecho a la Avenida
Cuarto. Una mezcla de cerca de 50 res-ing
lots, creating bike lanes and bike
lockers, adding one to three public
restrooms and adding shade trees and
pedestrian benches.
Salaz said once construction starts
this October some of the businesses
may be inconvenienced but they will
always be accessible.
Miguel Ortega, a resident who has
lived in South Thcson for three years,
said he wants to ensure the new plans
for Fourth Avenue are beneficial to res-idents
and businesses in the area.
Residents expressed their desire to
have Hispanic and Native American
influences reflected in the structural
changes implemented and the artwork
di
PHOTO BYJORCE GONZALEZ GARCIA
A view of Fourth Avenue from 22nd Street. This area and others w11 be affected by renovation pkins.
Fourth Avenue plans near completion
that is displayed, Gerstenberger said.
Alex Garza, who works for a youth
program in the area, wants to see
Fourth Avenue create ari image that
shows the pride that is already in place
in the area.
Garza said youth from the area will
be helping with some of the artistic
designs for Fourth Avenue.
"We want to make this a special
piace for kids with more youth activities
and events," he said.
Another resident, Brian Flagg, said
he is concerned that not enough resi-dents
are informed of the proposed
changes to Fourth Avenue.
See RECONSTRUCTiON, page 2
El plan avanza para mejorar
el diseño de Cuarta Avenida
identes y oficiales municipales
asistieron las sesiones abiertas.
Collins/Pina, contratantes prinicpales
para el proyecto, presentaron los
pianos para convertir la Avenida Cuarto
a volverse en un paseo pedestre con
más parques, más iluminación, calles
más anchas, y más sombra, dijo
Nanette Gerstenberger, la gerente dei
proyecto por Collins/Pina.
El proyecto de $4.5 millones para la
revitalización de la Avenida Cuarto
comenzó hace cinco años después que
un 18 miembro comité asesor formó
para mejorar las condiciones en la
Avenida Cuarto y la ciudad de Sur
Tucson, dijo Richard Salaz, el director
de la proyeción y la división en las
zonas. Salaz dijo que una intención de
las renovaciones es atraer los clientes a
Véase AVENIDA, página 2
BASKETBAL
Pueblo High School's
boys' basketball team
lookingforward to a
neu' season Page 8
Renovation woes:
Residents waly of
for ted Ihenefits
CARRIE HOWE
Staff Writer
She
stands near the middle of
her small, three-room apart-nient
and indicates the door
that doesn't close tightly, the heater
that doesn't work and the space
where the missing bedroom door
should go. . She motions out the
window in the direction of a nearby
apartment, where a man had been
stabbed the night before.
These are the conditions in
which Maria Lujan and lier two chil-dren
live, in an apartment complex
on South Sixth Avenue.
Within the last few years, the city
has put millions of dollars into the
beautification of this street, but
Lujan does not see the benefits of all
those expenses, she said.
Versión en español: pág. 5
Instead, she sees prostitutes
roaming the streets and individuals
selling drugs in front of her homè.
She wants the city to solve housing
and crime problems before.
However, the city will be using
funds to renovate South Fourth
Avenue as it did Sixth Avenue.
Lujan said the beautification
projects are just benefitting city offi-cials
when she feels it should be the
other way around--residents should
be benefiting.
S Residents are angry with the
city's actions because they feel they
have not been included in the dcci-sion-
making process, Pima County
Interfaith Council member Amy
Lawless said.
Lujan, a three-year resident of
the area, said she received no
notice of any public meetings about
the plans.
Lujan, a member of the interfaith.
council as well, has been active in
the area for about a year. She said
most people feel they cannot do
anything to change the actions city
planners.
"People are tired of going to
meetings because the city doesn't
take our input," she said.
Lawless said she has been
attending the city's economic devel-opment
meetings for more than a
year, where the main topic has been
the Fourth Avenue renovation pro-ject.
She said about IO people
attended the meetings; five of them
See WOES, page 2