Grijalva urges TUSD to reopen negotiations
The Associated Press
A Pima County supervisor has urged Tucson Unified School District to reopen contract negotiations as requested by the teachers' union.
Raul Grijalva, who served on the TUSD board from 1974 to 1986, also urged the district board by letter on Monday to accept a mediator's recommendations on salaries and other issues.
TUSD Board President Brenda Even didn't return calls seeking comment. A board member who has opposed new talks, Gloria Copeland, said ''Grijalva doesn't have all the fact. If there was something to go back to the table for, I would go back.''
The union decided last week to stage a one-day ''shutdown'' Nov. 28, during which they will refuse to work to protest the board's refusal to negotiate.
Fort Huachuca development prompts lawsuit
The Associated Press
An environmental group fighting development around Fort Huachuca is suing the government for refusing to provide more information about the impact of development at the Army post.
The lawsuit Ÿ latest of several by the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity Ÿ alleges that the government violated the federal Freedom of Information Act. The group says the Army has failed to respond to a March 1 request for information on how development at the post will affect the underground water table in the area.
Studies suggest that development in and around Fort Huachuca will cut flows in the San Pedro River, a prized riparian ecosystem.
Saguaro Park East residents limit development
The Associated Press
Owners of 62 percent of the parcels in a 2-square-mile area near Saguaro National Park East have signed covenants eliminating the ability to split lots for housing.
The covenants filed with the Pima County Recorder's office Monday include a limit of one residence per 3.3 acres through 2020 and are intended to prevent expanded development.
''We hope this will deliver a strong statement to the county, the city and to owners of large vacant parcels that the people living here want to maintain the (current) density,'' said Ellen Barnes, who pushed for the agreement.
Residents protest Tallow over noxious odor
The Associated Press
About 50 retirees demonstrated on Monday outside Tucson Tallow Co. Inc.'s plant to protest odors and related problems.
''The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality made us promises, but it hasn't done anything,'' said one of them, John Rawlings.
Jeanne Loomis, another area resident, said the odors associated with sooty black smoke coming from the tallow plant usually are worst from noon to midnight: ''It smells like rotten meat, so bad it just makes you gag.''
The Board of Supervisors, which threatened to close the plant in April 1994, was to hear neighbors' complaints yesterday.
David Esposito, director of the county's Department of Environmental Quality, said the odor has lessened since his agency issued an order to Tucson Tallow on Aug. 16 and the company installed a chlorine dioxide scrubber for its air emissions.