Here are a few events that were received too late for inclusion in our print issue:

• Friday, April 27 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

  Cottonwood Elementary School

  9950 E. Rees Loop

  Annual Carnival. Enjoy games, prizes, inflatables, food and entertainment. A silent auction to benefit the student body will be held. Punch cards are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.

• Saturday, April 28 from 9 to 11 a.m.

  Hotel Congress Lobby

  311 E. Congress St.

  Armory Park Walking Tour. Take the last tour of the season. Explore the architecture of Armory Park and its relationship to the railroad. Conducted by Dave Devine. Bring water and a hat. Wear walking shoes. $5. Call 623-2223 or visit www.tucsonhistoricdepot.org for information.

• Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

  T.O.P.S.

  39 N. Tucson Blvd.

  Talking Tough Topics With Teens. Counselor Bob Conway will lead a workshop with topics including goal setting, decision making, sexual health issues and healthy relationships. Free. Call 888-2881 for info.

• Sunday, April 29 at 11 a.m.

  Pima Air and Space Museum, hangar 4

  6000 E. Valencia Road

  Astronaut Speaks. NASA astronaut Major General Joe H. Engle, USAF retired, will speak about his career experiences, including his 225 hours in space. $5 payable at the entrance to hangar 4.

In case you missed the mention of this YouTube clip on KVOA News the other night...

The Skinny noted this week that Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi had resigned from the House Intelligence Committee but was hanging onto his other assignments. Between the time we filed that report and it saw print, Renzi had already quit his other committees.

In the meantime, we learned from Paul Charlton, the dismissed U.S. attorney for Arizona, that he'd received a phone call from Renzi's chief of staff inquiring about leaks into an inquiry into Renzi's wheelings and dealings, which were briefly summed up in The Skinny this week. Arizona Democrats--and others--have suggested that Charlton was fired for launching the Renzi investigation, although the Justice Department has come up with several other reasons. We're sure Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is searching his memory for details about the Renzi investigation.

Now both lefty blog Rum, Romanism and Rebellion and righty blog Espresso Pundit are suggesting that Renzi is on his way out altogether. If that's the case, then the voters of District 1 will have a special election to replace him. Given the general mood toward the GOP these days, that could mean another Democratic pick-up in the House--and a Democratic majority of 5-3 in the Arizona House delegation.

County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry has released a proposed budget for next year. In light of increasing property values, he proposes cutting back the primary property tax rate, but his more audacious idea is providing even more property tax relief--as long as the Board of Supervisors agree to a new half-cent sales tax, which can be created with a unanimous vote from the supes.

Huck says that the county is too reliant on property taxes.

"Since being appointed county administrator, it has consistently been my judgment that the county's general fund revenues are insufficiently diversified to provide a stable, predictable and efficient tax base for the institution or the community," he bureaucrats in his budget intro. "The county is far too reliant on property tax. Historical circumstances that have developed over the past 13 years within the county have reinforced this opinion and illustrated the critical need for enhanced revenue diversification."

If the supes agree, the sales tax would rise to 6.6 percent in unincorporated Pima County and 8.6 percent inside the Tucson city limits.

Huck points out that all the other counties in Arizona have a half-cent sales tax.

In the past, Huckelberry's half-cent sales tax proposal has been blocked by Republican Supervisor Ray Carroll. We're waiting for Carroll to call us back to see where he stands this year.

Arizona ranks No. 1 when it comes to young people suffering brain damage.

In a recent survey, our state ranked first out of the 12 states surveyed. Dr. Andreas Theodorou, UA professor and chief of pediatric critical care with the UA Department of Pediatrics, says that Arizona has 105 young people per 100,000 who are brain damaged, which blows all of the other surveyed states out of the water. And this number doesn’t even account for all of the brain-damaged youngsters who are unidentified because they suffer milder brain injuries. 

Dr. Theodorou thinks, however, that we can all contribute to decreasing this number. By wearing seatbelts, avoiding sports injuries, opting not to drink and drive, and prohibiting young ones from acquiring access to machinery such as ATVs, Dr. Theordorou thinks many of these accidents can be prevented.

In a surprise decision, Sen. John McCain has announced he'll seek the presidency.

McCain's announcement comes one day after a new Cronkite-8 Poll by ASU Prof. Bruce Merrill shows that McCain has slipped from 44 percent to 32 percent among Arizona Republicans. Not exactly good news in your ostenstible home state, but these are early numbers that remain soft because the candidates have not yet begun to fight.

Also:

George W. Bush's approval rating has hit a new all-time low of 36 percent. Nearly one-third of voters surveyed say that Bush will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in history.

Just more than half--51 percent--tell pollsters there should be a timetable for leaving Iraq, while 42 percent were opposed to the idea.

It looks like the state's photo-radar program is taking shape, according to the Associated Press.

Note this detail at the end:

While one potential vendor reportedly wants Arizona to switch to having vehicle owners instead of drivers held legally responsible for citations, Woodward said DPS is not considering that measure. "At this point we would leave that to the Legislature," he said.

The East Valley Tribune reported April 16 that Scottsdale-based American Traffic Solutions was trying to gather legislative support for a switch in the citation liability.

Are too many scofflaws finding ways to slip through the legal cracks? And should we really be shifting the blame from guilty parties to property owners so that a private company can increase their profits?

On Wednesday, April 25, El Rio Community Health Center is hosting a health fair, and the 100,000 Tucsonans who are uninsured are invited to attend.

The event is held at the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center at 101 W. Irvington Road., at Sixth Avenue, and runs from 2 to 6 p.m.

The health fair is free and will include food. More than 30 different agencies will be on hand to share information about healthcare, dental services, social services, outreach and childcare. Currently in Arizona, 20 percent of the population is uninsured.

For more information, contact 309-2294.

I have to agree with Supreme Commander JB on this one--waiting hours in line for an In-n-Out burger and fries is absolute lunacy. Then again, I had my fix last week, while passing through Phoenix on my way to the Flagstaff bureau. Funny thing is, as I was sitting in my car with newshound Cricket, I thought to myself: "This is good, but it's not great."

The In-n-Out mania got me thinking: Where can you find the best burger in town? I don't mean to step into Best of Tucson™ territory, but my vote goes to Kingfisher. That's a healthy slab o' meat, topped with bacon, cheddar, gorgonzola, red peppers, green chiles, lettuce, tomato and onion. It's hard to even eat the thing without it, well, getting all over the place. I usually ask for the man fries instead of those little lady fries that normally accompany it. It ain't healthy, but it is sensational--and it takes a lot less than two hours to get it.

What's your pick?

So Garrett and I just drove by In-n-Out (which is fairly close to the Southcentral Bureau), and I am alarmed to report that THE LINES HAVE GOTTEN LONGER.

The drive-through line snakes around the parking lot, past the main El Con entrance and down Randolph Way to the intersection with Broadway Boulevard. The line of people stretches out the door westward, to within about 20 feet of the former Krispy Kreme.

OK, now, I like In-n-Out burgers. I really do. But it is STARK RAVING LUNACY to wait lines these long, people. If you are in this line, were in this line, or were tempted to get in this line, GET HELP NOW.

UPDATE: As of 11 p.m., the car line still snaked back past the Krispy Kreme and almost to the mall entrance/Randolph Way, although helpful unformed In-n-Out employees were directing traffic, albeit with stunned looks on their faces. Meanwhile, the line of people out the door was only (*ahem*) 40 feet long or so.

I fear for the future of our planet at times like this. I really do.