A memorial is being held today for Alan Ward. According to a previous post by Mari Herreras, Ward was manager of the farmers' market that rotated from the Presidio to the library two days a week. He died Sunday, Oct. 18 in hospice care at Tucson Medical Center.

The memorial is being held from 3 to 6 p.m., at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave.

Read more about Alan Ward here:
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2009/10/19/good-bye-alan-ward

Robert and Walter Wick, the brothers whose company own the Tucson Weekly, make a compelling case for the passage of health-care reform.

BY ROBERT WICK AND WALTER WICK

Aside from war and death, Americans face few issues as immediate as access to health care, particularly during times of economic hardship and its accompanying stress. More than 47 million Americans younger than 65 lack health insurance.

All other major industrialized nations provide universal health care.

How many people do you know who are unemployed, self-employed, partially employed or retired who choose not to go to the doctor when sick, because they cannot afford to go?

The bills now before the House and Senate, if passed and reconciled by both houses of Congress, will be signed into law by President Obama. They are not terribly different and reflect many compromises, so reconciliation is likely.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, they will both slightly reduce the national deficit over the next 10 years and, with luck, pay for themselves.

Both bills would offer health care to more than 95 percent of Americans not already on Medicare. The proposals are actually less comprehensive as those made by President Nixon in the 1970s when bipartisanship was more of a reality. Democrats are often blamed for killing Nixon’s plan; Republicans will mostly be blamed if this reform fails.

Health-care reform is on the brink of reality, and for the first time in our nation’s history, this country has a chance to offer a health-care safety net to the vast majority of Americans.

What won’t either of these bills do?

They will not take away the federal Medicare program. The Medicare Commission proposed in the more-conservative Senate bill could, indeed, help stabilize it.

They will not force patients to go to some government-selected physician, although a public-health option may or may not be efficient, and may or may not prove to be less-expensive than private insurance. Neither program should impact the time patients wait to see a physician.

They will not force starving health insurance companies into bankruptcy.

For those who fear socialism, neither bill provides universal health care.

What will the law do? The public plan would negotiate payment rates for those who want to try it. In one bill, states can opt out of having a public plan; conservative states may do so if that is the law.

Both bills will make it possible—through government subsidies—for lower- and lower-middle-income families to pay for private or public insurance. Assisted living and nursing homes will be more accessible than they are today for the disabled and elderly. And employers will have to provide health insurance.

There would be and should be insurance portability, which means those who have insurance cannot be without insurance when they lose their job or move from one job to another.

Those who like their health insurance may keep it. The example for health reform is Massachusetts, where three years ago, similar legislation passed while being criticized as being clumsy and complicated. Today 79 percent of Massachusetts residents want to keep the state’s public plan, and only 11 percent want it repealed. And 98 percent of the state’s residents have health insurance.

How would national reform be paid for? The Senate bill envisions charging a fee for extremely comprehensive coverage, thus making it something available only to those willing to subsidize giving everyone the opportunity to have decent, basic health insurance. The House wants to tax individuals earning $500,000 or more and couples earning $1 million or more.

We are at a vital crossroads. We should call our senators and representatives and ask them to vote for the bills moving to the floors of both chambers, and for whatever comes out of each chamber.

If a reconciled bill becomes law, it will not be perfect. Unfortunately, given the political volatility of the United States, this opportunity to protect the health of our country may not come again.

Robert Wick is secretary-treasurer, and Walter Wick is vice president of Wick Communications Co., owner of the Tucson Weekly.

Steven Eye's Solar Culture Gallery is now in on the endangered list.

Dave Devine reports that developer Steve Fenton outbid the Warehouse Arts Management Organization at an auction this morning, buying the Solar Culture warehouse for $101,000.

See last week's Skinny for other information. More to come as news develops.

The Goldwater Institute has spoken on its lawsuit on behalf of developer Michael Goodman vs. the city of Tucson, calling Pima County Superior Court Judge Paul Tang's ruling a victory for Prop 207, the Private Property Rights Protection Act passed in 2006:

"Arizona voters overwhelmingly embraced greater protection of private property rights," said Clint Bolick, director of the Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, "and this ruling vindicates that intent."

Mr. Goodman, a Tucson builder, buys run-down properties in the downtown area and near the University of Arizona, and replaces them with new housing that meets or exceeds zoning requirements and building standards. But in 2007 the City of Tucson enacted an anti-demolition ordinance that subjected property owners to a labyrinth of rules that limited property use and instantly reduced property values for thousands of homeowners and small business owners. This ordinance applied to Mr. Goodman after he had received building permits and begun the building process.

The next step in Goodman v. City of Tucson is to determine the amount of damages the City must pay. "[F]or every actionable injury there is a corresponding right to damages," Judge Tang added. Prop 207 is "part of a greater effort and movement in favor of individual rights."

We would quibble with Bolick's portrayal of Goodman as a heroic developer improving neighborhoods, but whatevs.

More importantly, Tucson City Attorney Michael McCrory says Bolick may be jumping the gun.

"We have a long way to go before we go to awarding damages," said McCrory, who is representing the city in this lawsuit, as well as other litigation Goodman still has against the city regarding his Feldman's and Jefferson Park neighborhood developments.

Since the anti-demolition ordinance has already been repealed, McCrory says Goodman no longer has any present damages. But next will be a discovery phase, and the Goldwater Institute will have to come before Tang and show specific damages.

McCrory says he expects to bring up a whole slew of legal issues regarding Goodman's claim, statutory interpretation and the question of whether damages can legally be awarded.

"We're not terribly upset by this ruling," quipped McCrory, who said that he expected to be back in the courtroom on the case early next year.

I think Frank Antenori just turned into the Howard Dean of the local Republican Party.

Antenori remarked to a still-upbeat crowd that even though Pima County had only 12 precincts counted (at the time), everyone needed to stay put and think positive.

Antenori has now gone from angry politician to aggressively happy politician.

It happened tonight, folks, at Chuy's.

Steve Kozachik is here with his kids, wife and his 83-year-old mom. I'm waiting to talk to his mom right now. I understand, from Steve's wife that she is a long-time reader of the Tucson Weekly.

OK, talked to Steve's mom, Miriam Kozachik. She told me she is a long-time reader of, yes, the Tucson Weekly. And she doesn't seem like the political-pandering type. Listen up art community folks: Steve’s mom has an MFA from NYU, and has shown her work in town.

When I asked her how she helped in the campaign:

"Mostly, I was there to talk and share opinions. He's an interesting person to talk to and has a lot of interesting ideas."

OK, folks, straight from a mother's mouth.

Remember the somber funerary atmosphere of the GOP party at Manning House last year?

Well, it seems the local Republicans have had a year to heal, or maybe all that tea-bagging has renewed their Lincoln spirit. This year, the Pima County Republican Party is having a grand ol' time at Chuy's on Tanque Verde. According to my finger and a quick head count, there are almost 300 people milling about.

Chair Bob Westerman is emcee for the night, passing the microphone to the likes of Tim Bee, Frank Antenori and Trent Humphries. Elections results are coming in right now on a big-screen TV, and while Prop 200 seems headed for defeat the room was full of smiles and cheer seeing Steve Kozachik in a early-ballot lead against Nina Trasoff.

The night is young, folks, and we'll have more to come. Until then, I'm keeping an eye out for the Republican gentleman who keeps feeling up our interns. They are working, GOP peeps. I know this is a happy time, but hands off.

According to an article in today's Telegraph, the paper had been running reviews by a staff writer using the pseudonym Mae Coleman, a Reefer Madness character.

However, the writer “wanted to return to the day job”, according to the paper, so the position was opened up to the public.

The job application involved writing a short essay on “What Marijuana Means To Me”. Apparently, the first response came within five minutes — “fast work for a stoner”, as Westword notes wrily.

A few minutes later, the first enquiry from the media arrived. “Really fast work for a journalist”, says Westword.

According to Westword's Patty Calhoun, their ad for a medical marijuana dispensary reviewer asked potential critics to write a brief essay on "What Marijuana Means to Me." First reply came in five minutes, and the media attention regarding the ad came a few minutes later.

Our first applicant replied within five minutes — fast work for a stoner. Our first media response came a few minutes later — really fast work for a journalist.

A week later, our quest has been captured by everyone from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times, and the essays continue to pour in — some silly, some actually spelled correctly (many potheads don't seem to care for punctuation), some very sincere. A sampling:

From an engineer who started with the great line "Hey, Joe, whatcha doin with that doob in your hand...What Mary Jane means to me: As a 'burner' of more than 14 years, I have spent many an hour pondering the importance of herb in my life... among other things. Recently, however, I have realized a new herbal importance to my overall quality of life. I am an outdoor sporting enthusiast and have experienced my share of injuries throughout the years, as many of us do. As I have aged (elegantly, damnit!), I have developed a couple of recurring conditions that have allowed me to legally indulge myself as an alternative to prescribed narcotics and the dangerous longterm effects. Long story short... (TOO LATE!) I have been frequenting many of our local dispensaries with mixed experiences. Most places are kind and professional. Others, though, are simply drug dealers that check your ID. I think that you have a great idea — a service, rather, that will help your readers make educated decisions and enjoy their 'medication' experience to the fullest..."

Just think of the possibilities if the Tucson Weekly was able to hire its own MMJ critic (Medical Mary Jane), allowing us to join in this... fun. Maybe it's a possibility if medical marijuana advocates get their way. Folks with the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project are currently gathering the needed 153,365 signatures to get another measure on the ballot next year.

Arizonans have been here before when a measure was passed in 1996 with 65 percent of the vote. That initiative said patients could use marijuna with a doctor's prescription, but federal law prohibits doctors from writing prescriptions for harmful drugs without medical value - although seven other state allow patients to receive marijuana through a prescription. In 1997, the Legislature overturned the initiative anyway and in 1998 a referendum reinstated the measure and then Arizona voters passed the Voter Protection Alliance Act, to prevent the guys in Phoenix from undoing voter-passed measures. Arizona's ongoing saga with the drug continued when another initiative was defeated in 2002.

Proving, even back then, that Democrats and those in chronic pain will never get a break with our state government.

According to The Huffington Post and The Arizona Republic, Maricopa County's Sheriff Joe Arpaio may have been stripped of his ability to do immigration sweeps by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

In response, Arpaio reportedly said this over the weekend on radio station KTAR:

"I'm going to tell you something, Jay," he said to (host Jay) Lawrence. "I don't need the feds to do my crime suppression to opt to arrest illegals. I can do it without the federal authority, and I'm going to continue to do it. It makes no difference. It helps us. Because I don't have to do all the paperwork for the feds, number one. And number two, I won't be under their umbrella, their guidance. So I will operate the same way, nothing is going to change." He added later in the show, "They just don't want me, I'm the poster boy."

Arpaio continued, telling the radio host, "Nothing changes because pursuant to our duties in these crime suppression [sweeps] we arrest anybody that violates the law. If we find during the arrests that that there are illegals, we arrest them. Now the only difference [is] we're going to take 'em down to ICE. I hope they accept them, if they don't, I'll bring 'em myself to the border. So nothing really has changed. This is all politics. They want to use me to get rid of this 287 agreement across the country."

Be sure to read the Phoenix New Times' Stephen Lemons here. Lemons wrote this morning that by going on the radio and making other ICE rants, Arpaio may be in violation of his last ICE jails agreement—one that remains unsigned by the federal powers-that-be.