ElIndeNews.com

Peña Blanca Lake has come back to life, and all it took were some winter desert storms.

Thanks to more than four inches of rain in Southern Arizona this year, Peña Blanca Lake is full again and reopened to the public.

Created in 1957, Peña Blanca Lake was a hotspot for fishing, boating and camping. Northwest of Nogales at an altitude of 4,000 feet, the lake was a cooler oasis for Tucsonans seeking refuge from the valley heat.

But the lake was drained in September 2008 to filter out deadly mercury which had leached in from surrounding mines. Once empty, the lakebed was lined with clean soil and the winter storms have since refilled it to the brim.

Outdoorsmen and families can find themselves on the shores of this revived Southern Arizona treasure an hour's drive from Tucson.

The 50-acre lake was recently stocked with rainbow trout, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department has plans to add other species as well. Fishing is open to any angler with an Arizona fishing license.

Currently, boats that can be carried by hand to the water can use the lake. There are plans to build a new dock and boat ramp in April to allow the use of motorized boats.

View Peña Blanca Lake in a larger map

 

Nuestras Raíces, the Pima County Public Library program that celebrates Mexican-American culture, is joining the Tucson Festival of Books this year.

Historically, the library has held a single festival for Nuestras Raíces (Our Roots) every year in March, says Adriana Rendon, a librarian and the co-chair for Nuestras Raíces.

This year, the library joined forces with other groups to showcase different aspects of Mexican-American culture, such as music, language and arts during the UA-based Tucson Festival of Books, March 13 and 14.

A recent study found that immigration reform is capable of reviving the nation's struggling economy.

With a comprehensive reform model, the report shows that alternative immigration policies could "yield at least $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years."

By legalizing unauthorized workers and basing immigration limits on the U.S. labor demand, comprehensive reform would "raise the 'wage floor' for the entire U.S. economy - to the benefit of both immigrant and native-born workers," according to "Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform," conducted by UCLA professor Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda and released through the Center for American Progress and the Immigration Policy Center.

Construction began Jan. 4 on an interim U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 19 and should be completed in early April, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. But as of yet, there is no timeline for the construction of a permanent facility.

The $1.5 million interim facility will include a third lane for semitrailers, a secondary area for vehicles requiring further inspection and a canopy to cover the entire facility, said Omar Candelaria, a Border Patrol spokesman.

It is 6:30 a.m. and 10 men stand shivering outside the Southside Presbyterian Church in the dark on a cold Tucson morning.

For many of them, this is a daily routine. Their only way to earn a little money is to join the Day Laborers Program at the church in hopes that someone will need to hire a few men for landscaping, construction or moving for the day.

But Rigoberto Polanco, a day laborer for five years, says that it has recently become a more difficult way for him and the others to earn a few dollars.

Polanco, originally from Sinaloa, Mexico, said that he has been a day laborer for so long because it's hard to find a full-time job.

"The city of South Tucson could probably throw a rock and hit someone that Sol knows," says Aaron Valdivia, branch manager of the El Pueblo Library. "He's a man of the people. It sounds cliché and corny, but that's Sol."

Sol Gómez, 32, is the branch manager of the Sam Lena Library and the winner of the 2009 "I Love My Librarian" award. The award recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding librarians nationwide.

Keeping tabs on all U.S. residents is a tricky job that census workers undertake every 10 years, and it's time to start counting.

The U.S. Census Bureau is gearing up for Census 2010 and one of the first orders of business is hiring census workers.

A south side Costco store could go up as early as March 2011 if the city approves plans that have been submitted by developers Eastbourne Investments Ltd. and Retail West.

The store is part of the long-term, 350-acre Bridges Project, which will include retail and residential developments, as well as a University of Arizona biosciences park. The project is located on the southwest corner of Kino Boulevard and 36th Street.

A controversial state Senate bill moved forward in January that would allow police to stop and arrest anyone "reasonably" suspected of being in the country illegally.

The 85th annual Tucson Rodeo Parade will begin at its usual time, 9 a.m., on Thursday, Feb. 25, but there is a new change that visitors should be aware of before they put on their boots and head down to watch the country's longest non-motorized parade.

This year the parade will be a half mile shorter than usual. Instead of starting at Ajo Way and Park Avenue, the parade will begin at Park Avenue and Fair Street, eight blocks south of Ajo Way. From there, the parade will travel south on Park Avenue, turn west on Irvington Road and then turn north to Sixth Avenue, ending at the rodeo grounds, 4823 S. Sixth Ave.

Census outreach programs around the country, including those in Tucson, are trying to figure out the best way to persuade people trying to stay off the government’s radar to participate in the upcoming 2010 U.S. Census.

The Hispanic population in the United States has historically been difficult to tally because of common misconceptions about how the government uses the collected data, said Magdalena Barajas, a partnership specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau working in Tucson. Partnership programs work on a local level to inform people the census is fast and safe.

Barajas said that places with large minority populations, including Hispanic communities, are hard to count.

This spring, Tucson Electric Park and the Kino Sports Complex will be the host to a Major League Baseball team's training headquarters for the last time.

March 4 will be the first game of the last year of the Arizona Diamondbacks' spring training in Tucson when they host the Colorado Rockies at Tucson Electric Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way.

The Diamondbacks will play 16 games at the park during March. All games start at 1:05 p.m.

Next season, the Diamondbacks and Rockies will move to a new spring training complex east of Scottsdale.