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LP Journal

DIOCESE AND PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLASH

Teresa Santiago, a board member of Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona, says that the Corona Ranch owners got into hot water with Catholic Bishop Thomas Olmsted over the nonprofit’s fundraiser Noche Latina on Nov. 18. Santiago says Alex Corona informed her that he got a message from the diocese that no priest would step on the ranch grounds because of the Planned Parenthood fundraiser. That would prevent the Coronas from celebrating their annual tradition of Dia de la Virgen Mass on Dec. 12. Santiago also reported that Catholic heckers ringing the event were yelling, “Are you going to eat babies for dinner?” A good argument for the separation of church and state. Phone calls for comment to the diocese were not returned by press time.

LATINA BEAUTY

Vanessa Ramirez, with Arvizu Advertising & Promotions, took fourth runner-up among 30 contestants at the Miss Arizona USA pageant. She was the only Latina to make the top five. “I am very proud that I accomplished a goal and just went out there and tried something new,” Vanessa says.

NEW JP 

Judge Barbara Rodriguez Mundell swore in new Maryvale Justice of the Peace Hercules Dellas at the Matador restaurant on Nov. 2. Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox said she nominated Dellas for the appointment because he is bilingual.  Dellas is an attorney and an appointed Justice of the Peace pro tem.  He has been working at the Maryvale Justice Court since the end of January.  The position he fills has been vacant since the previous JP resigned. 

YOUNG VOZ

Tania Torres, communications director for the Thunderbird, Garvin School of International Management in Glendale, says she will be re-launching a weekly column in La Voz weekly newspaper titled La Voz Joven.  Torres wrote for La Voz about five years ago. “Recently, the editors of La Voz requested that I start writing my column again.  I would gladly, and with most appreciation, accept any suggestions or ideas for topics that I may cover,” she says. The column, written in Spanish, will deal with issues from a bicultural, bilingual perspective.  Tania can be reached at  (602) 614-5686, or e-mail torrest@t-bird.edu.

EAGLES TO FLY

AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute will hold a presentation and dance honoring its first senior cohort (59 Latino high school seniors) representing over 20 schools around the Valley this month at the Estrella Vista Reception Center in Avondale.  The evening will also introduce the incoming class, which will begin in January, 2006.  Information and tickets are available by contacting Rosemary Ybarra-Hernandezxat rhernandez81@cox.net, or by calling (602)x518-0612.

SPORTING CHANCES 

Organizers of the Grand Canyon State Games will hold the first Olympic-style sporting tournament targeting Hispanic athletes in the Valley in March. More than 2,000 Latino athletes are expected to compete. The National Hispanic Games will feature recreational basketball, soccer, baseball and boxing competitions over Memorial Day weekend, drawing participants nationwide, according to Grand Canyon State Games Executive Director Erik Widmark. He estimates the tournament will field at least 50 soccer and basketball teams each, plus an additional 25 baseball teams. The National Hispanic Games will be open to participants who are one-quarter Hispanic, although there will be no system for checking heritage or ethnicity, Widmark says. For more info or to see if you qualify as a Hispanic, call (480) 517-9700.

LATINO CHALLENGES

Pete Dimas and the Southwest Studies Program at Phoenix College organized a public forum with a heavy line-up of distinguished speakers on Nov. 18.  Raul Yzaquirre, the ASU presidential professor of practice, Cordelia Candelaria, former chair of the ASU Chicana/o Studies Department, and Alfredo Gutierrez, radio show host and former candidate for governor, all discussed issues, challenges and the future of the Latino community. For more information, contactxDimasxat (602) 285-7181.

PRESTIGIOUS NOMINATIONS

Speaking of Candelaria, the former chair was one of a handful of professors recommended to the board of regents to become ASU Regents’ Professors for 2006. Also selected were Carlos Castillo-Chavez, director of the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute, and Joaquin Bustoz Jr., a professor of mathematical biology.

ARTISTS’ OUTRAGE

On Nov. 2, the Day of the Dead, artists in Tucson rallied around Stop the Deaths’ volunteers Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz  at Southside Presbyterian Church. The two face trial on Dec. 20.  They  face potential 15-year maximum prison sentences for transporting undocumented workers who said they needed help. The artists and authors who presented their works were Pancho Medina, Ana Maria Vasquez-Restrepo, Deborah McCullough, Sylvia Woods, Valerie James, Byrd Baylor, Richard Shelton, Ted Warmbrand, Father Daniel Groody, Michael Hyatt and Joseph Nevins. The artists demanded that Paul Charlton, the U.S. attorney for the district of Arizona, drop the federal felony charges the volunteers face. A record-breaking number of migrants − 282 − died in Arizona and Sonora’s deserts in the 2005 fiscal year. 

CHARGE DISMISSED

Southern Arizona Republican claims that Pima County’s Democratic leader improperly participated in partisan politics during work hours were dismissed by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. Pima County Democratic Party Chairman Paul Eckerstrom shook off a claim by the local Pima County GOP leader that it is illegal for him to hold the Pima County party post while serving as an assistant attorney general in the agency’s Tucson office. James P. Walsh, chief deputy attorney general, wrote in an opinion that Eckerstrom was not covered under state law. Pima County Republican Party Chair Judi White had GOP attorneys file the complaint with the Attorney General’s Office.

CASTRO PAPERS

Former Arizona governor and U.S. ambassador Raúl H. Castro has donated his manuscript collection to the University of Arizona’s Center for Latin American Studies. The papers are being housed at Special Collections in the UA Library and will be available for future use by historians and students. The papers include official documents, photos and memorabilia from Castro’s career as a teacher, judge, governor and U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, Bolivia and Argentina. Recently, the center announced an endowed scholarship in Castro’s name, which will be awarded annually to a student from the center who is studying international relations or local politics.