Teamsters Local 104 and Sun Tran are trying to create a new contract for close to 465 Tucson employees that expires at midnight tonight. The union members’ executive board has the authority to strike if they can’t reach an agreement. The teamsters’ secretary-treasurer said that the earliest the strike could happen would be on Saturday after the union has it’s meeting to determine if the contract is acceptable. This could create even more transportation challenges in Tucson with the current closure of a portion of I-10.

The most up-to-date jet fighter the U.S. Air Force has to offer, the F-22 Raptor, is bringing more work to the state. Employees in Phoenix as well as the Tucson area in Oro Valley work on many of the components that operate the Raptor including the auxiliary power unit, environmental control system and the on-board oxygen system. The good news is that the F-22 is expected to be used for the next 40 years and will offer continued employment including after-market support. There have been 91 F-22 Raptors built with 183 planned for production which should last through 2011.

Some recent homebuyers are shocked to find that their properties may be worth less than when they purchased them. Now many are being faced with foreclosures due to the economy and the latest interest rate increases. It appears that they thought the housing boom would never end. They chose to ignore past housing declines as recent as the early 1990s that lasted close to 10 years before they were able to recover. Most everything related to the housing industry is in a slump only experienced before during the Great Depression. Hopefully, we will pull out of this during 2009 which has been forecast, though it is of little comfort to those now facing foreclosures.

It appears that bottled water is just tap water that has been purified and some home use water filters can do the same. Pepsi-Cola’s Aquafina that is bought in the Tucson area comes from a bottling plant here in Tucson using Tucson Water but is said to be put through a double reverse-osmosis process that purifies the water. Coca-Cola’s Dasani brand sold in Tucson is put through a purification process as well and is bottled in Phoenix. There are also a lot of water purification products on the market. So when considering what to drink, it is wise to check the price of your tap water and a purification product as opposed to the purchase of bottled water since both seem to come from the same source.

There is now question if the new employer sanctions law in Arizona is legal due to the federal court ruling regarding an illegal immigrant ordinance in Pennsylvania yesterday. Judge James Munley determined that the Hazelton officials went beyond their authority in the battle against illegal immigration and that this power belongs to the federal government. Businesses in Tucson, Phoenix and all over the state will be interested in seeing the results of Attorney David Selden’s filing in the U.S. District Court challenging the Arizona statute as being illegal.

The city of Tucson threatens to cut off fresh water to 9,000 Marana water customers if Marana continues with it’s plan to divert sewage from the regional wastewater treatment plant. Marana may not have the infrastructure or water supply to serve the nearby golf courses, Continental Ranch and Dove Mountain that are currently supplied by Tucson Water. The town of Marana does not have a reclaimed system either. There appears to have been a heated discussion on this topic since Marana said it wanted to take over the sewer system in the two subdivisions within the town limits. The city of Tucson does not want to provide the fresh water to Marana’s residents without getting the recharge credits they now claim from the county wastewater system and there is still the question of where this amount of water will be coming from, if it isn’t Tucson.

Local businesses have the opportunity to compete for a free assessment of their company with advice from local professionals and up to $1500 in matching makeover funds from September to February 2008. The Arizona Small Business Association is offering this program to their members only and is geared toward businesses affected by recent construction such as work on I-10 in the Tucson area. There is an August 10th application deadline. More information on this opportunity will be found at www.asba.com <http://www.asba.com/> .

Two more executives resign at Tucson Medical Center. One of the positions is the vice president of Human Resources, Maria Elena McElroy, and the other is the chief nursing officer, Terri Dupper Knoper. This is not new to the Medical Center since they have lost six executives at TMC in recent months.

People enjoying the Rillito River path have questioned the purpose of the heavy equipment seen working in the Rillito. It appears that the workers are tearing out vegetation and destroying the habitat. Now it is understood that this commotion is a sediment removal project clearing debris from last summer’s flooding. This activity is planned to continue during this year’s monsoon hoping to ensure that the river will be able to handle any normal flooding that may occur.

The point is to hire legal workers. The law is in question because businesses across the state, including Tucson will have their licenses revoked if they knowingly or intentionally hire illegal workers. But how is this proved? There is already a lawsuit filed challenging its constitutionality. Proving a company “knowingly” hired an illegal immigrant will require a laborious investigation. The law is filled with legal problems but the law is the law and should be enforced. County attorneys may not have the time or money to enforce it, which was said by Tibor Nagy, a Tucson labor attorney with Ogletree Deakins. LaWall’s office is creating ways to enforce the law such as posting a complaint form on the county Web site or requiring people to file it at the office and sign an affidavit making themselves available to answer questions from an investigator. Anyone could also file a complaint by letter or phone as long as they have evidence knowing that false complaints will be penalized. Again this is to protect businesses that follow the law from businesses that are breaking it.