The latest bulletin from Sandy Bahr of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club:

The Legislature has still not conveyed the budget to Governor Brewer, but rather than just wait until June 30, she has filed a lawsuit to compel them to send it to her. This lawsuit will be heard by the Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday. While the Legislature’s budget is truly bad, the Governor’s is not much better. Her budget includes provisions to undercut voter protected measures as well as a provision for further tying the hands of the legislature relative to the budget, often referred to as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR). A TABOR provision in Colorado was a disaster for them and they later repealed it. We should just skip it altogether.

The number of bad bills as well as the number of just terrible bills moving through the process is staggering. I really thought they would let some of these bills die a natural death. Because of that, this update is again ungodly long. If are not interested in the schedule, please do take the time to contact your legislators on some of the bills listed first. Thanks!

This week please contact your Senator and ask him or her to oppose the following

Here are a few Father's Day Specials that didn't make it into this week's Noshing Around. Father's Day is Sunday, June 21; reservations are highly recommended.

Barrio Grill (135 S. Sixth Ave.; 629-0191) will have a mesquite-grilled 18-ounce porterhouse topped with Tecate Cholula Vidalia onion rings and a baked potato stuffed with garlic, spinach, cheddar and sour cream ($30), or king crab legs in a citrus bouillon, served with basil infused butter ($32).

Chad's Steakhouse (3001 N. Swan Road; 881-1802) will have a New York strip, three Guaymas shrimp, beans, cheesy bread and ice cream ($19.95).

The Cup Cafe at Hotel Congress (311 E. Congress St.; 622-8848) will have steak and eggs ($12.50) or a cannibal omelet ($10.50) for breakfast; a pastrami burger ($10.50) and prosciutto grinder with Willcox tomatoes ($7.50) for lunch; and a grilled filet and stuffed onion ($24), pan seared trout ($17) or bourbon raspberry barbecue chicken ($18) for dinner.

At Maynards Market and Kitchen (400 N. Toole Ave.; 545-0577) it's a 12-ounce dry-aged Angus beef ribeye wrapped in bacon and a twice-baked potato, salad and a 22-ounce beer for $36. (Those dining with dad get $2 off their meal if dad orders this special.)

Jonathan's Cork (6320 E. Tanque Verde Road; 296-1631) has surf and turf ($35) and veal Oscar ($29).

Hifalutin Rapid Fire Western Grill (6780 N. Oracle Road; 297-0518) has a 12-ounce New York strip with fixings ($21.95).

Bluefin Seafood Bistro (7053 N. Oracle Road; 531-8500) has a Maine lobster, 6-ounce tenderloin and fixings ($35.)

And if you REALLY wants to treat dad to some killer barbecue this weekend, head over to Juneteenth Festival on Saturday, June 20, at Kennedy Park (3700 S. Mission Road). Boss Hogg—the barbecue outfit that's manned the grills at the festival for 39 years—will again work their magic this year, and they do not disappoint.

What I like about Tucson is the heat, and the weirdness that the heat brings.

But, where is the heat this year? I feel almost sane, and that's insane!

I should be two-cacti-to-the-wind by now. My eyeballs should be chaffing. My chaffing should be on fire. My mind should be a cheese-melt. Instead, it's been in the 90s. What is this, Encinitas?!

I want my mind bent! I want to hallucinate! I want heat waves; mirages!

Once, in June, the rear-view mirror of my 1980s Chrysler LeBaron flopped down from the heat; the grease in the ball joint simply lost its viscosity, and the damn thing went limp. And, once, my Tupperware utensils snapped in half. I couldn't believe it! I didn't think Tupperware (registered and trademarked) would simply snap in half.

This season, however, has brought wimp-weather! I can still ride my bike without thinking about skin cancer. It's been downright spring-like, and I'm hardly a prune. Is this symptomatic of Global Cooling?

Of course, by the time I finish writing this, it'll probably be 120 degrees, and I'll be walking around downtown, going insane, imagining a giant Day of the Dead martini glass full of antifreeze and tequila ... oh, yeah ...

Friday morning update: Here's a pic, from P.K. Weis.

This just in, from the good folks up in Saddlebrooke:

At approximately 12:43AM this morning the Captain at Saddlebrooke Fire Station 373 was awakened by a popping sound coming from outside his bunk room. He opened his door to investigate and found the communications room at the front of the station fully involved in fire. Before he did anything else he alerted the rest of his crew at the other end of the station where they slept. The crew proceeded to the bay and the engines to prepare to fight the fire, and found the bay was also heavily involved in flame. There was insulation and debris falling on to the fire trucks and beginning to burn the hose and equipment on the truck. The crew quickly decided they needed to get the trucks out of the bay before any other efforts could take place. The fire had caused the power doors to fail and the engines had to be backed out of the rear of the station. It was then that the Dispatchers were alerted of the fire and additional Golder Ranch engines and equipment responded to the fire.

Additional units arrived within about seven minutes at which time the building was approximately 25% involved. Once firefighting operations were underway the fire was contained and under control in just over 30 minutes. There was extensive damage to the front of the building and bays, and the entire structure suffered smoke damage. The station will need extensive renovation to render it habitable again.

All crew members who had been asleep in the station got out safely and did not suffer any injuries throughout the ordeal. The quick thinking of the Captain to first alert his crew to safety was critical to the outcome of the event. The engines and other equipment had minor damage and will be returned to service as soon as the fire district mechanics release them.

The cause of the fire is under investigation at this time.

It should also be noted that Mr. Ed Robson of SaddleBrooke Development has offered 3 Villas for the crews to base out of so that there will be no loss of service and response time to the SaddleBrooke Community.

Temporary Station 373 will be located in the HOA #2 Villas near Holiday and Casual.

From the most recent batch of Mars photos taken by the UA Lunar and Planetary Lab's HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The upper photo features "the north wall and floor of a polar pit in the southern hemisphere," while the lower shot shows us the Grand Canyon of Gale Crater.

Photos by NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Remember the Bum Steer? Honestly, I thought it was still closed.

I know I'm not the only one who was more than a little surprised to see the posting on StarNet's home page today: "Original 1974 menu prices at Tucson's Bum Steer today."

Basically, this Tucson institution of our youth (Anybody else with me on fuzzy White Wednesday memories in college?), is celebrating its 35th anniversary by offering a half pound burger and fries for $1.89—along with other ridiculously low menu items like an 8 ounce sirloin steak for $4.99—until 11 tonight for two cans of food for the Community Food Bank.

That was all I needed: I talked my East Coast co-worker into stopping by Safeway and heading down for lunch.

I was rewarded with a trip in the Wayback Machine and a fairly decent burger.

Casey Newton and Mary Jo Pitzl of the Arizona Republic take a look at what would happen if we actually have a state government shutdown because Gov. Jan Brewer and GOP legislative leaders can't come to budget agreement by June. 30.

Among the things we may have to do without:

• All Motor Vehicle Division branches would close, preventing Arizonans from getting driver's licenses, having their cars inspected or registering their vehicles in person. The MVD is making arrangements to make at least some of those services available online.

• The state would be unable to take abuse reports for children and the elderly, provide child care or cash assistance to families, or provide services to victims of domestic violence.

• The Department of Health Services would suspend operations, preventing officials from conducting investigations and tracking disease outbreaks at the state level. Coordinating the response to cases such as the recent swine-flu outbreak would be left to counties.

• All 28 state parks would likely close indefinitely.

• All state highway construction and projects would be suspended.

• Visitation at all 13 state prisons would be suspended, as would

With a unanimous vote, the Tucson City Council last night asked developers Scott Stiteler and Don Martin for a few more weeks to work out details in the downtown development agreement they’ve been hammering out for the last six months.

Stiteler and Martin, in response, have told Rob O’Dell of the Arizona Daily Star that they’ll walk away from the deal. You can find details of the deal in O’Dell’s story on the council meeting, but the general outline had Stiteler and Martin redeveloping some of their own property and passing out some cash to various downtown beneficiaries (including Skrappy’s, the Warehouse Arts Management Organization and the Rialto Theatre), in exchange for about $4 million in city property.

A major sticking point was the future of the Rialto Theatre, which is owned by the city and leased to the Rialto Theatre Foundation.

Michael Crawford, an attorney who serves as president of the foundation’s board, has been pushing to include the Rialto in the development agreement. Two weeks ago, the City Council urged the developers to work out a deal with the Rialto Foundation, which wants two “bays” on either side of the theatre’s lobby and a building behind the theatre that’s used for a green room for the artists and office space for the Rialto staff. Those are important spaces for the Rialto to continue its successful operations.

We’ll admit upfront that we’re friends with the Rialto’s executive director, Doug Biggers, who is the former editor and publisher of the Tucson Weekly. That aside, we believe including the Rialto in the deal makes a great deal of sense because it’s easily the most successful element of Rio Nuevo and has succeeded in its mission: Bringing people downtown, who then spend money at the nearby bars and restaurants before and after shows.

The developers, who had originally said they couldn’t afford to include the Rialto’s requests in their proposal, capitulated somewhat and agreed to

If you need to dispose of your old television now that stations have gone digital, save the landfill space, and bring your television (and other electronics you don't need) to Reid Park, 1000 S. Randolph Way, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, June 27. There will be a $10 disposal fee for working or nonworking televisions, but there's no fee for recycling other electronics.

For more infomation, visit www.tucsonaz.gov/tcb. You'll find a handy list of businesses and organizations that buy, sell, trade or accept computers, tvs, cell phones, printer cartridges and other electronics. There's also a comprehensive "Reduce-Reuse-Recycle" directory for Tucson and Pima County at www.tucsoncleanandbeautiful.org/rd. E-mail tcb@tucsonaz.gov or call 791-5000 for additional info.

Pima County Democratic Party Chairman Jeff Rogers tells The Range that a lawsuit has been filed to knock Green Party candidate Dave Croteau off the ballot in the Ward 6 Council race, where Republican Steve Kozachik is trying to unseat Democratic incumbent Nina Trasoff.

Croteau, who got about 28 percent of the vote in a campaign for mayor in 2007, only needed to file seven valid signatures to make the ballot. But Rogers says that of nine signatures that Croteau filed, five of them don't live in Ward 6.

"If you can't get seven valid signatures, you're probably not somebody we want on the City Council," Rogers says.

Croteau wouldn't be likely to win the council race, but he could play a spoiler role and/or give Trasoff headaches by siphoning off votes from the left as Kozachik picks up votes on the right.

A hearing has been set for next Wednesday, June 24, according to Rogers.