Posted October 7, 2022
Coach Roland LaVetter passed away last week. He had a shelf full of honors coaching basketball at both Pueblo and Rincon-University High Schools. He was such a well-respected coach (a two-time state champion, by the way) that Lute Olson brought him in for his early basketball camps.
He was also my coach and teacher.
Coach was my government teacher and student council advisor. As student council advisor, he encouraged me to run for student body president. I played basketball at Rincon during his time as coach as well.
He was always encouraging to me. Growing up with an example like him had a lot to do with my getting into both politics and teaching. He was a great leader in our community.
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The Ward 2 office will be moving.
Not right away, but my colleagues and I formalized the city’s acquisition of Centre East, a complex south of the corner of Broadway and Pantano.
My hope is that other city services, including police, can have offices there as well. My staff has already been working with facilities to talk about what we need there. A priority for us has been making sure that there is accessible public meeting space in the new location. The public meeting space, which our constituents use for everything from quilting groups to homeowners association board meetings, is a valuable public good that we can offer and I want to make sure that can continue.
Another thing that I hope can happen in the new location is a return of the recycling center. We had a lot of issues with the center in our current parking lot, and with a bit more room and attention to design, I think a lot of those problems can be solved.
There are still a lot of details to be worked out and preparation needs to be done at the new location. The move will likely not happen until next spring. I’ll keep you up to date.
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Tucson Meet Yourself is this weekend. It’s your chance to sample the cultures that make up our Tucson community.
It’s also been called “Tucson Eat Yourself” because of all the different kinds of food that’s available. It is, however, a full “folklife” festival. That means it’s a chance to learn about music, dance and folk art of our various communities, from Yaqui to Vietnamese to Polish and everything in between.
The festival was started in 1974 by certified National Heritage Treasure Big Jim Griffith. Unfortunately, this will be the first festival since his passing, but his vision lives on.
Tucson Meet Yourself starts today and runs through Sunday. It can be found at Jácome Plaza downtown and surrounding streets.