In the kiva-shaped sanctuary at Southside Presbyterian Church, Tucson's long-running center for progressive causes and rallying center for immigrants' rights, a gray-haired visitor stood solemnly at the podium and leaned into the microphone. With the speaking skills of a preacher, Javier Sicilia spoke in a subdued voice about the incessant and deafening violence in his native Mexico. There, some 50,000 people have died since Mexican President Felipe Calderon, at the blunt insistence of the United States, unleashed that country's military against the Mexican drug mafia nearly six years ago. [continues 563 words]
SAN DIEGO -- Cydon Wells Tonini, a 25-year-old Cardiff resident, is lying on his back at UCSD Medical Center, fighting for his life. Less than two weeks ago, he was a strapping young man full of vigor, family and friends say. Today he is nonresponsive and in critical condition, the result of ingesting GBL, a designer drug made from an industrial solvent. Friends and family members say Tonini ingested it unintentionally. Tonini was with two friends at a San Diego nightspot Aug. 27 when he swallowed a clear liquid he thought was water, his friends say. His companions swallowed some, too, but they sipped small amounts while Tonini took a longer drink. [continues 453 words]
