Up In Smoke: As the Legislature Grinds On, Only Two Pot Bills Remain
It’s been an eventful legislative session, what with all the voter restriction bills and Republicans pretending to eat their own by “punishing” Wendy Rogers for hanging out with Nazis while they pivot on their love for Putin in the wake of the Ukraine invasion. Given that, all in all it has not been a completely…
Life Expectancy Fell a ‘Shocking’ 1.8 Years in 2020; COVID not Sole Culprit
WASHINGTON – U.S. life expectancy fell by an “unprecedented and shocking” 1.8 years between 2019 and 2020, a dramatic drop that experts say can only partly be blamed on the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The drop, from a life expectancy of 78.8 years to 77 years, could also have come from existing issues…
GOP Bills to Restrict Some Voter Registrations Clear Senate Committee
Senate Republicans on Monday advanced bills on voter registration that critics say will discourage some younger people — particularly college students — from registering to vote. On Monday afternoon, the Senate Government Committee considered bills from the lower chamber. One bill would ban same-day voter registration — something that doesn’t exist in Arizona. Instead, residents…
The Daily Agenda: Welcome to the Main Sideshow
It’s the primary we all deserve … What’s grosser than restaurant health inspection reports? … And some wise words from George. Editor’s note: The Arizona Agenda is a Substack newsletter about Arizona government and politics run by Rachel Leingang and Hank Stephenson. You can find their archives and subscribe at arizonaagenda.com. Sometimes, what should be…
After Mistakenly Scrapping Party Official Elections in 2022, GOP Lawmakers Scramble to Undo It
Undoing an emergency change to the way elected political party activists are chosen is proving more difficult than passing the law in the first place. Lawmakers last week approved legislation intended to standardize the number of signatures that congressional and legislative candidates need to get their names on the ballot. The process was thrown into…
New Report Highlights Roger Stone’s Efforts on Behalf of Trump Allies in Arizona
A new investigation by the Washington Post into Donald Trump ally Roger Stone sheds light on his push for pardons for two Republican members of Arizona’s congressional delegation and work behind the scenes to overturn the 2020 election with people who would later support the Maricopa County “audit.” The investigation by the Washington Post reviews…
Townsend Drops House Bid After Rebuke of Rogers Costs Her Trump Backing
WASHINGTON – Arizona Sen. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, dropped her bid for Congress Friday, after failing to get a “promised” endorsement from former President Donald Trump – and days after criticizing another Trump-backed candidate on the Senate floor. Townsend on Wednesday joined other senators who had voted overwhelmingly a day earlier to censure state Sen. Wendy…
U.S. Government Shutdown Days Away as Congress Struggles on Ukraine Aid, COVID-19 Relief
WASHINGTON — With just five days left before government funding expires, Democrats and Republicans are trying to reach agreement on $1.5 trillion in federal spending as well as billions more in assistance to Ukraine and COVID-19 relief. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote Monday morning that Democrats made “a reasonable global offer to Republicans”…
The Daily Agenda: Let This Be a Lesson to You
Reading first is easier than repealing later … Daniel Patterson is back (in Nevada) … And it’s Election Day for some of you! The Arizona Agenda is a Substack newsletter about Arizona government and politics run by Rachel Leingang and Hank Stephenson. You can find their archives and subscribe at arizonaagenda.com. Arizona Republican lawmakers showed…
Reversing the Desert: How an Arizona Engineer is Trying to Heal the Land and Protect Water
RED ROCK – All around Picacho Peak, the Sonoran Desert is brown and dry and rough. The soles of your feet could not tell the desert hardpan from an asphalt road. About 2,500 feet above the ground, water vapor streaming northeast into Arizona from the Gulf of California condenses into larger and larger droplets until…
Still No Evidence of Governor’s Claim that Victims Are Being Billed for Rape Kits
Gov. Doug Ducey’s claim that facilities in some Arizona counties are charging victims to process their rape kits is disputed by almost every county, and those advancing the claim refuse to reveal where it’s happening. On Jan. 11, Ducey announced that some Arizona jurisdictions were charging victims $800 in processing fees in violation of the…
Attorneys Question Legal Argument in AZGOP Challenge to Early Voting Law
The Arizona Republican Party is relying on “stray” language in the Arizona Constitution in what attorneys describe as a longshot challenge to overturn the state’s 31-year-old early voting law. A lawsuit filed earlier this week by the AZGOP and one of its officials argues that a provision in the constitution stipulating that “electors may express…
A ‘Punitive Model’ For Failing Schools: GOP Proposal Would Let Charters Take Over District Schools
In 2019, there were 180 Arizona schools that received a D or F rating and new legislation given preliminary approval by the House would hand over their operations or shut them down if they don’t improve. House Bill 2808 establishes the Arizona Achievement District. This district is made up of high-performing district and charter schools…
The Daily Agenda: Reading Is Fundamental
This why we can’t have nice laws … We still have questions … And the end of graffiti as we know it? Editor’s Note: The Arizona Agenda is a Substack newsletter about Arizona government and politics run by Rachel Leingang and Hank Stephenson. You can find their archives and subscribe at arizonaagenda.com Republican lawmakers are…
Chugging Along: Collectors of Garden Railroad Trains Show Off Their Layouts
G-scale train collectors are opening their gardens to the public for the 20th Rails in the Garden self-guided, self-paced driving tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 5, and Sunday, March 6. “This is a great, fun-filled weekend for the young and old,” says Chuck Cook with the Tucson Garden Railway Society. G-scale…
Not Fade Away: One Woman’s Journey to the Barber Chair
It is like you’re caught in a long, narrow aquarium full of cicadas. These cutters and their pitched clippers buzz, loop and carve out on heads. The half-ironic cardboard barber pole standing inches inside the front glass doors says everything, but 2-year-old Dapper Barber Studio sure ain’t your grandad’s tonsorium. The interior reveals a fetching…
GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake: Arizona First Unless It’s Cheaper To Get T-Shirts from Honduras
Kari Lake, the former Phoenix TV news anchor who is now a Trumpette seeking the Arizona governor’s office, is a big proponent of America First and Arizona First. If you watch Lake in action, you’ll see a cold-blooded candidate who spreads lies about the 2020 elections and delights in cruel attacks on undocumented immigrants, schoolteachers, healthcare…
Crooked Tooth Brewing hosting MJ Expungement Clinic
On Saturday, March 5 from 3 to 6 p.m., Southern Arizona Legal Aid is hosting a free “marijuana expungement clinic” at Crooked Tooth Brewing (228 E. 6th St.). These free clinics aim to assist people in filing for expungement of previous marijuana possession charges, as part of Prop 207 passed in 2020. SALA’s statewide effort,…
Bill to Strip Derogatory Term for Indigenous Women from State Land Wins Senate Approval
A bill that would prohibit the Arizona Board on Geographic and Historic Names from naming any geographic feature, place of historical significance, or specified road using the derogatory term “sq***” has passed the Arizona Senate and is headed to the House. “Words like this have no place in our language and on our state lands,”…
Bills To Increase Scrutiny of School Library Books, Access to Classrooms Advance
Schools would be required to publicly post every new book bought for their libraries, have elected governing board members approve all new book purchases and let parents know every book their child checks out under a proposal Senate Republicans advanced Tuesday. Critics said the new requirements would decrease diversity of viewpoints by adding library books…
U.S. House Panel Hears from DHS About Problems with ‘Remain in Mexico’ Immigration Policy
WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials outlined to House members on Wednesday problems with a Trump-era immigration policy that federal courts are forcing the agency to follow. One of the Department of Homeland Security officials, Blas Nuñez-Neto, said that the court-ordered Migrant Protection Protocols is a flawed policy program and the agency believes…
Wendy Rogers Refuses to Condemn White Nationalist Leader After GOP Senator Challenges Her
A day after the Arizona Senate voted to censure Flagstaff Republican Wendy Rogers for comments she made at a white nationalist conference and a string of inflammatory social media posts, another one of her colleagues challenged her to condemn those she had praised in a fiery speech on the Senate floor. “I contend that this…
The Daily Agenda: Did We Just Write About Baseball?
Look at us, we’re sports reporters! … Ducey dodges Rogers questions per usual … And a new job for school librarians. We wouldn’t call ourselves sports fans by any stretch of the imagination, but we’ve paid attention to the Major League Baseball lockout because it’s a huge labor story and an underappreciated government story. If you’re…
XOXO: Mark Your Calendars
Mark Your Calendars… THURSDAY, MARCH 3 Virtuoso pianist and vocalist Jon Batiste has spent his career “bringing music back to where it started, with the people.” Born into a legendary Louisiana musical family, his pedigree may have predestined his path. He’s a graduate of The Juilliard School of Music, where he founded Stay Human, a…
Layers of Learning: UA Science Lecture Series Puts Minerals Under a Microscope
The University of Arizona College of Science is hosting its 17th annual lecture series, exploring the significance of minerals in mankind and our daily lives. Over the next five weeks, distinguished UA faculty members will present on a variety of topics, from their cosmic origins to their function in smartphones. Each year, the series is…
Split Scenes: Annie Jump Cannon Examine Relationships From Every Angle on New Album
A lot has changed in the two years since Tucson rock group Annie Jump Cannon last performed, especially for a band so aligned with youthful energy and anger. Aside from the pandemic and all its upending of the music industry, the trio signed to national label No Sleep Records, shuffled some members, and recorded a…
Marijuana Makeover: A Remodeled Botanica Opens in Marana
Botanica Marijuana dispensary reopened Thursday, Feb. 24, after a 10-month interior design renovation. It was well worth the wait. With the new renovation, display cases line the walls with gold frames and unique purple tiling. The tiling focuses your eye on rotating joint holders and green flower samples. Throughout the store are smoothed wooden displays…
Screen Time: Tucson Restaurants Continue Experiencing the ‘Fieri Bump’
I can always tell when the food network rebroadcasts a particular episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives when texts from my friends across the country start blowing up my phone. In early 2018, against the backdrop of bright lights, cameras, and other production gadgetry that transformed Inca’s Peruvian Cuisine into a makeshift sound – stage,…
Hearts of Darkness: The Latest Shows at PCC’s Bernal Gallery Explores Violence and Cruelty Here in Southern Arizona
The day I stopped in the Bernal Gallery at Pima College West Campus turned out to be the same day Russia began attacking the Ukraine. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported a harrowing 137 dead that first day; one of the casualties was believed to be a small child. The senseless loss of life was horrifying.…
City Week: Weekly Pics
Editor’s Note: While we are delighted to see Tucsonans once again gathering for fun events, we are also aware that variants are in widespread circulation. Please consider getting vaccinated against COVID if you haven’t yet. Sundays in the Garden at Tohono Chul: Tucson Guitar Quartet. Guitar quartets are pretty much inarguably pleasant. Who doesn’t like…
So Not Normal: Wendy Rogers Said White Nationalists Are ‘Patriots’ and Called For Hanging Political Enemies
A republican state senator fawned over the leader of a white nationalist movement on Friday and told his followers that she fantasizes about hanging her perceived enemies from gallows. “I’ve said we need to build more gallows. If we try some of these high-level criminals, convict them and use a newly built set of gallows,…
Mystery of the Monarchs: Western Butterfly Populations Stage Remarkable Comeback
PISMO BEACH, Calif. – From a distance, trees draped in monarch butterflies would glow orange and flutter in the sunlight. In the 1980s, overwintering sites along the California coast would attract more than 10 million of the long distance migrators, which could be seen spraying from branches with an especially stiff gust or at the…
Swing and A Miss: MLB Delays Spring Training, Cancels Early Season Games After Talks Stall
PHOENIX – There won’t be a “Play Ball” on baseball’s Opening Day. In what will be a hit to the Arizona economy and baseball fans throughout the Valley, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association could not come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement by the league’s imposed deadline of 3…
Into The Youniverse: An Afternoon At the Selfie Museum and A Defense of Vanity
Once, while visiting a real, live castle in Spain, where there were gorgeous gardens and art around every corner, I watched one woman find the plainest wall she could, then pose in front of it for a series of pictures with her Starbucks cup. At a castle! I don’t have a fully formed opinion about…
