Cover Story
Raising Arizona
Ranching is a controversial topic, with strong opinions on each side. Most conversations seem to divide ranching from environmentalism. But what if there was a happy medium? What if ranchers are actually the best stewards of our land? Drought used to be the biggest issue our historic grasslands faced, but with all the different goals…
‘Election Year’ Trailer Finally Out
At the last election season’s Pima County Republican Party fiesta, I remember watching a man and woman with a camera following former Tucson City Council candidate Lori Oien. I asked who they were and they said they were making a documentary. The documentary is called Election Year, and the trailer was just released. Sure enough,…
Sabino High Named a National Blue Ribbon School
Tucson Unified School District announced today that Sabino High School has been named a National Blue Ribbon School by US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and is the only high school in Arizona to receive the honor. From TUSD press release: Sabino, 5000 N. Bowes Road, is the sole Tucson school on the list, and…
New Documentary on Steroids, Body Building and Baby Oil
Generation Iron is screening in selected cities, and Tucson’s one of them. The documentary is written and directed by Vlad Yudin (sounds like a Russian mob boss). I think Mickey Rourke posses the perfect barely audible, masculine voice to narrate this muscle packed film. After watching the trailer I felt like this is the sequel…
Fashion Show to Benefit Tu Nidito Children & Family Services
In case you missed it or just didn’t get enough glitz and glamour after watching the Emmy’s, no worries! There’s more fashion coming soon, closer to home and attending will contribute to a good cause. The Monte Carlo inspired fashion show put on by the Tucson Ladies Council will take guests down their very own…
MMM. Hanson! Better with Age.
C. Elliott Hanson at the Rialto Theatre Sept. 22 Nothing about having a family and planning for your kids’ education seems to temper the lust for a hit. The Hanson boys always have had the right stuff, and their team’s Internet chops have only magnified their scope like a plague of tiny hearts on notebooks…
Come Down and Celebrate The 2013 Best of Tucson!
Come and celebrate the winners and losers of the 2013 Best of Tucson tonight from 6 to 9 p.m. at Borderlands Brewing Company, 119 E. Toole Avenue. Our fiesta is free (though you’ll have to buy your own drinks) and dancing is encouraged. Tucson Weekly staff will announce 2013 winners throughout the evening. Buy some…
How To Foil a Border Patrol Checkpoint
As much as I could relate to the girl asserting her constitutional rights at a border checkpoint in the above video, I really hate the damn “Hot Chick” title. Her snarky behavior accentuates the fact that she’s a white woman who would never have to experience what others have to when they are asked: “Are…
Join The Lonely Hearts Club
Happy Tuesdays Facebook Page Bridgitte Thum is hosting her monthly comedy show “Lonely Hearts Club” tonight at The Loft Cinema in the Mooney Backlot Bar & Lounge located behind screen #3. Thum is like the underground Delilah Rene, but with liquid courage to boot: In this busy town, there are lots of broken hearts and…
Reid Park Zoo Elephant is Expecting Another Cute Calf
TIM VANDERPOOL Reid Park Zoo announced on their website that 24-year-old female African elephant “Semba” is eating for two: Semba was observed breeding with the Zoo’s bull, “Mabu,” in October of last year, and Zoo staff have been anxious to find out whether the breeding was successful. It was! I wonder what kind of weird…
This Bro Makes Me Want To Storm A Castle
Flag football ain’t no joke, yo. Just ask this Drexel University washout alum as he pumps up his fraternity’s intramural team before it’s latest epic battle out on the flag football field. I’m ready to run through a wall now, bro. Pass me a Smirnoff Ice so I can shotgun it before heading out into…
Listen to Blitzen Trapper’s Newest Album Before They Come to Club Congress
Blitzen Trapper Facebook Page Portland, Oregon-based experimental country/folk band is performing at Club Congress on Sunday, Nov. 10. Blitzen Trapper is releasing a seventh album next Monday, but you can listen to the entire album right now at NYT Music. Buy your tickets here and learn the words to their new songs so you’re not…
Mortgage Lay Offs In Phoenix. Is Tucson Next?
shutterstock.com You know it can’t be good when you hear about job loss in the banking sector. Cronkite News reports some troubling economic news: JP Morgan Chase, which has been the subject of various federal inquiries, has laid off nearly 500 employees in Phoenix. The articles also says the bank is expecting to cut loose…
Somebody Please End The KXCI Membership Drive
KXCI Facebook Page I listen to KXCI on a daily basis, and nothing is more infuriating than the fall membership drive. This isn’t an ad, but more of a cry for help. I’m not saying that KXCI shouldn’t ask for money because they should, but I just want things to go back to normal and…
Porn Plot Halted at Area High School
We’re right in the middle of Banned Books Week in America, so be sure to break out a copy of The Kite Runner, Beloved or (if you’re not all that motivated) Captain Underpants, all of which were on the Top 10 list of books that were challenged in 2012 by the micro-brains who fear the…
Your Heart or Mine: Desert Potted Plant of the Month – Purple Heart
The Potted Desert Purple Heart You have most likely seen this plant in Tucson and surrounding areas of Southern Arizona—either as a ground cover or in raised planters or pots. Tradescantia or Setcreasea pallida is known as a Purple Heart or Purple Queen. Native of Mexico, the Queen is easy to grow even in our…
Rejoice, Tucson: Westerbrü, the Dragoon and New Belgium Brewing Collaboration Drops This Weekend
Weekly beer geeks, you may remember the As-Yet-Unnamed-Beer collaboration between Tucson’s Dragoon Brewing Company and New Belgium Brewing, which we informed you of back in July, and have been awaiting with bated breath ever since. Well, the beer finally has a name: Westerbrü (and yes, we are confident that the umlaut is the source of its…
Worst Tucson Kickstarter Ever?
shutterstock.com Day of the Dead Dominoes caught my attention for many different reasons. I could care less if project manager Art Paredes is trying to use Day of the Dead for monetary reasons but his execution is all wrong. I couldn’t stomach the six minute video describing the history of Day of the Dead and…
John McCain Doesn’t Like the L.A. Dodgers Very Much
No-class act by a bunch of overpaid, immature, arrogant, spoiled brats! "The #Dodgers are idiots" http://t.co/KfZZliBFBV— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) September 20, 2013 Senator McComplain knows a thing or two about coming in second and watching someone take a plunge in the pool (I mean poll) #POoLITICS— Brian Wilson (@BrianWilson38) September 20, 2013 In between pushing…
John McCain Doesn’t Like Ted Cruz Very Much
Don’t be fooled if John McCain refers to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as “my friend”—he does that with everyone. Half the time, it’s code for “you’re an asshole.” One of the big headlines coming out of GQ profile of Cruz is a tidbit about how much McCain dislikes his new colleague: For a while, veteran…
Laugh The Blues Away With Tom Potter
Tom Potter Facebook Page I try to find stuff to do that isn’t always located in the downtown/metro area, but nothing’s normally happening past Speedway on a school night. Tom Potter is performing at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Community Performance and Art Center, 1250 W. Continental Road, Green Valley. Tom Potter is a former…
Why Can’t We Have a Naked Nightfall Night?
shutterstock.com When I pay outrageous prices for a cheap scare I want those poorly paid actors to scare my pants off. Literally. It looks like the folks at Shocktoberfest in Sinking Spring, PA have the right, sick and twisted idea. The haunted house is hosting an after hours nude tour for adult exhibitionist looking for…
Tucson Man Attacks Pro Wrestler
shutterstock.com This is why we can’t have nice things, Tucson. Saturday night in Tucson, Arizona, during a TNA Impact Wrestling live event, an unruly fan actually tried to attack TNA star Frankie Kazarian as he and Christopher Daniels were leaving the ring. Security ejected the disgruntled fan from the show after tossing his expensive brewski…
Happy Belated Birthday, Lute Olson!
Hannah Nance Partlow It looks like we were caught with our pants down at the Tucson Weekly offices because we forgot to wish Lute Olson a happy 79th birthday yesterday. I blame Facebook for not reminding me. I remember the first and last time I saw good old Lute. I was sweeping the floor at…
Cold War Kids: The Kids Love ‘Em
C. Elliott Cold War Kids at the Rialto Theatre Sept. 20 Can Tucson kids afford both Cold War Kids and Hanson within a week of each other? Of course, they don’t have the added cost of booze. Still, shouldn’t they be stalking people their own age? Lots of crowd interaction helped make the relatively soul-free,…
AZ Illustrated Politics: City Council Races, Gay Marriage, Rosemont Delay & More
On last night’s AZ Illustrated Politics: Former Tucson City Councilwoman Carol West, former state lawmaker Frank Antenori and attorney Jeff Rogers sized up this year’s City Council races; got the legal scoop on the Goldwater Institute’s lawsuit to reverse Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion; unpacked the delay in the U.S. Forest Service’s approval of the…
What’s Going on This Weekend?
I hate having that “I don’t know. What do you want to do” conversation every weekend. Here’s some interesting events you can partake this weekend. You know want to. Make some memories: Born and Brewed: Here’s a good way to gain some local beer knowledge to impress the ladies and/or fellas. Some of the featured…
Check out Dickman’s, Pet Treats and More
For those of you on the Northwest side or driving there tomorrow, Dickman’s Meat and Deli is having a party. Enter to win a $699 Traeger Grill, eat Dickman’s tasty sandwiches and sample Ozzie’s Naturals Healthy Pet Treats. This Tucson-based company makes dog and cat treats (and food in the future) that have NO preservatives.…
Grijalva Introduces House Immigration Reform Bill
All this talk of government shutdown, defunding Obamacare and going to war with Syria has pushed immigration reform the back burner. Today, Congressman Raul Grijalva announced he was introducing a new immigration-reform proposal. The press release from Grijalva: Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva and Filemon Vela today introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and…
Saint House Rum Bar Gets Some Esquire ‘Buzz’
Saint House Rum Bar Facebook Karl Goranowski, bar manager at Saint House Rum Bar, was highlighted for his drink mixing expertise in Esquire’s “7 Honey Cocktails to Start Your Buzz” list. Tucson joins the likes of New York City, Austin, San Francisco, New Orleans and Louisville, Kentucky when it comes to being a “staple for…
Rep. Ron Barber: Save the A-10!
Congressman Ron Barber has begun assembling a coalition to protect the A-10 Thunderbolt II, the Air Force attack jet. Barber blames sequestration for the threat to the jet, which is key to the mission of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Barber’s press release: The A-10 is the main aircraft stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in…
AZ Illustrated Politics Tonight: Impending Gov’t Shutdown, Rosemont Delay, Gay Marriage in AZ and More!,
On tonight’s AZ Illustrated Politics: Former City Councilwoman Carol West, former state lawmaker Frank Antenori and attorney Jeff Rogers talk about our upcoming City Council races, the latest delay in the approval of Rosemont Mine, the new push to build support for gay marriage in Arizona, John McCain’s suggestion that he may retire after this…
Grijalva, Barber Condemn $40 Billion Cut To Food Stamp Program
OK, so they’re not food stamps anymore—it’s the SNAP program. Whatever you want to call it, congressional Republicans yesterday cut the program by $40 billion over the next decade. Wonkblog dives into how the cuts would work. New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait observes: The upshot is that food stamps are a meager subsidy, of less…
Art, Wine & Dance: The Cure for an Empty Heart
I recently returned from spending most of the summer in the South of France. Namely, the exquisite and utterly incomparable region of Provence. My days were spent frolicking through endless fields of lavender, wandering aimlessly through art museums and slipping into azure waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Evenings were passed cheersing aperitifs and tasting heavenly…
Every Week is ‘Diaper Need Awareness Week’
shutterstock.com If it weren’t for the Diaper Bank of Southern Arizona, we’d all be in deep doody. On Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Pima County Board of Supervisors declared the week of Sept. 15-21 to be “Diaper Need Awareness Week” in honor of the Diaper Bank of Southern Arizona. That doesn’t mean the awareness should end…
Pedersen Prep Football Preview
Let’s be honest, alright? No one actually goes to a football game, whatever the level, in hopes of seeing a bunch of zeros on the scoreboard. Believe me, I’ve been there, having done my best to block out the memories of covering a 3-0 triple overtime game between Marana and Palo Verde in the late…
Grand Theft Anti-Social Nerd Freaks Out at GameStop
Grand Theft Auto 5 has been getting negative reviews for it’s misogyny, graphic sex and violence. So it’s no surprise that the die hard gamers are living up to the stereotype. This disgruntled customer tried to use his business card as proof of ID to pick up his copy of Grand Theft Auto 5 rather…
65 Bands to Perform at Southwest Terror Fest
Tucson’s music scene is growing at an alarming rate. There’s so many local musicians from many different genres performing at the second annual Southwest Terror Fest. The four day music festival will be held from Thursday Oct. 10 to Sunday Oct. 13 at The Rock, 136 N Park Ave. There are 27 local bands, 15…
Get Your Latin@ Pride On …
The end of Latin@ Pride Week is almost here, so you best get out there to enjoy the last two events — tonight’s Odyssey Storytelling evening (yep, I’ll be there telling a story among some other pretty fabulous people) and tomorrow evening EL TAMBO: Cumbia y Mas, which is shaping up to being an fun…
Best Pope Ever?
My family is Roman Catholic and (used to) attended mass at the Santa Rosa Mission off of Grant and i-10. The Priest never really talked about gay marriage or abortions, but he always preached against alcoholism and infidelity. It’s not really safe, but drive around “OP” during the Fariseos and see why these are topics…
Sneak Peek of Marvin Gaye Biopic
In my home, Jesse Martin is not the dude from Law and Order, but Tom Collins from the original stage (and movie) production of the musical Rent. Due out on April 1, 2014 (which would have been Marvin Gaye’s 74th birthday), is the Gaye biopic Sexual Healing. Martin replaced Lenny Kravitz as Gaye. We can’t…
Blame Samuel L. Jackson
It’s not your fault that your kid shouts on planes, chains up sexually abused woman to radiators, and likes to make up bible quotes. Everything is Samuel L. Jackson's Fault from Samuel L Jackson I will blame Mr. L. Jackson if the Robocop remake sucks.
Oracle’s Glowing
It was 12 years ago that Sharon Holnback pulled the trigger and moved from Tucson. Little did she know that Tucson would soon be paying her a visit one weekend each year. What was originally intended to be a small gathering of like-minded artists in a quaint desert setting—which just happened to be at night,…
Live
An open letter to Sammy Hagar: I have an untold amount of issues with your 1981 hit, “There’s Only One Way to Rock.” First and foremost, if there was only one, I wouldn’t look to you for instructions. But I digress. You see, there’s plenty of ways to rock, and while you’re perfecting recipes for…
City Week
Fairy Tale on Tiptoes Ballet Continental Presents The Sleeping Beauty 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21; 2 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 22 Sahuarita District Auditorium350 W. Sahuarita Road, Sahuarita 609-8919; balletcontinental.com There are so many different ways to tell the story of Sleeping Beauty, one of the most well-known fairy tales—even before getting co-opted years ago by…
The Orwells: Who Needs You
The Orwells have the essential garage-punk attitude—brash, mischievous and ready to charge through a wall. Who Needs You, the second EP of the summer from this fast-rising quintet of suburban Chicago teens, rises and burns like a flare, four songs streaking across the sky, gone quick, but with a burned-into-the-memory presence. Two of these songs…
T Q & A
Retired physician Barbara Warren says it’s taken the local chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility a year to plan the Climate Smart Southwest conference developed to address public health impacts of climate change in the Southwest. The conference kicks off on Friday, Sept. 20 in the Unisource building conference room, 88 E. Broadway Blvd., with…
Hanson: Anthem
The former teen-idol brother trio, still making albums as grown-ups, sounds on this new record tougher, grittier and altogether alt-rockier than the kids who released the infectious hit single “MMMBop” 16 years ago. The album begins with Zach’s rugged guitar riffs on “Fired Up,” while singer and keyboards player Taylor demonstrates how rich his pipes…
Editor’s Note
Complaining about awards seems like the most petty thing to do in the world, but the whole process can be a little tedious. Some awards are better than others, but getting together the entries themselves can take up nearly an entire work week (larger newspapers often assign someone to that task and nothing else when…
Faculty in Focus
Nature is not always as benevolent we might hope. Especially lately. Over the weekend, storms pounded Colorado, and torrents of water poured down the Rocky Mountains. Outside Boulder, floods nearly drowned the small community of Jamestown. Just to the north, around Fort Collins, the Poudre River overflowed its banks, knocking out roads and flooding backyards.…
Danehy
I have a fun quiz question for you. Don’t cheat. Don’t Google it or look it up on your phone. As a matter of fact, if you do cheat, I hope your mother never gets out of prison. Unless, of course, she is in prison, in which case, I hope she eventually gets out…unless you…
Totalitarian Trauma
Anna, an editor at the Soviet-style Ministry of Information, is not one to complain and certainly not to the Director. But the man has summoned her and is now standing much too close. And if you must know, this new project might just be the death of her. Anna and her comrades, black markers in…
Hopefulness and Heaviness
There’s a lot to like about the Rogue Theatre’s season opener, Mistake of the Goddess, a play by Indian writer, actor and filmmaker Girish Karnad. Joseph McGrath, artistic director of Rogue and director of this production, explains in his director’s notes in the program that he discovered this play when the Rogue’s cast of its…
Messina
The location is a 1928 renovated warehouse in the heart of the city. A few steps away from the building on East Toole Avenue, trains rumble by at a frequent pace. A hot breeze blows over the brick-and-concrete landscape. It’s an ordinary afternoon in our urban, desert downtown, but I’m here to discuss a sport…
Obsession
The first chapter of Tucsonan C.E. Poverman’s new novel will bowl you over. You won’t know what’s building till it hits you, and then you might want to take a deep breath before you move on. Love by Drowning is Poverman’s fifth novel. Collections of his short stories have been recognized by the Iowa School…
Media Watch
When Dave Hatfield accepted a communications position with Pima County government, the magnitude of that career decision did not go unnoticed. “You always hear the stories about the last-minute jitters,” said Hatfield, who concludes his stint as the editor of Wick-owned Inside Tucson Business this week. “If there’s one thing I’m having last-minute jitters about…
Family Despair
Luc Besson’s The Family tries to be too many movies at once, and none of them are any good. It’s an overcooked mafia meatball comedy laced with jarringly inappropriate violence and jokes that only its writers would enjoy. It wants to be a comedy, but it isn’t funny. It wants to be a sometimes scary…
By the Numbers
It’s not uncommon for Susan Scherl to find skinny dogs or unwanted kittens dumped outside her HOPE Animal Center in midtown Tucson. Like other rescue outfits across town, HOPE absorbs these little surprises by stretching its already meager budget just a little thinner. That’s why Scherl was flabbergasted recently when the Tucson City Council groused…
Bang Bang
A show of hands: Who played war games growing up? Capture the Flag was essentially an evolved hide-and-seek, with toy guns and mouthed sound effects, group play instead of an every-kid-for-himself approach, and maybe more strategy than ducking behind a neighbor’s car. So there’s a part of a lot of us that will instantly connect…
The Skinny
SIGNATURE EFFORT, PART I We suppose last week’s preview of the Prop 201 campaigns was a bit of a waste, given that the Arizona Court of Appeals booted the initiative from the city’s ballot shortly after our print edition hit the streets. As you may recall, the initiative would have scraped Tucson’s pension program in…
Still Fresh
Fifteen years ago, Sam Fox opened Wildflower, a Tucson restaurant that featured American food with style. Since then, the Fox restaurant empire has grown to more than a dozen concepts in cities from California to New Jersey. Sam Fox is a hometown boy who’s made it big. And Wildflower, where it all started, continues to…
Noshing Around
It’s Getting Chile The 12th annual Roasted Chile Festival will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Rincon Valley Farmers & Artisans Markets, 12500 E. Old Spanish Trail. This event features Arizona-grown chiles, both roasted and raw; chile ristras; and other organic produce. The family-friendly festival is free. Entertainment …
Phoned In
When Mark Stegeman attended last week’s Tucson Unified School District governing board meeting by phone, no announcement was made that the two-term school board member was calling in from Ann Arbor, Michigan or that he was there on sabbatical. According to TUSD board president Adelita Grijalva, she knew the number provided to call Stegeman was…
Rip ‘n’ Roll
After being unceremoniously fired from his job, a carpenter buys an arsenal of Mickey’s 40s, downs most of them, and proceeds to urinate over everything, including golf balls, a dog and the Hollywood sign. In the background, screeching guitars blare and a guttural voice bellows “Cocaine runnin’ ’round in my brain!” The carpenter, however, is…
Thoughts About Things
Most weeks, a good topic comes along and it’s almost second nature to turn it into a long-form piece of description, analysis and massively informed opinion. Other times, nothing significant steps up enough to warrant an entire detailed, nuanced … oh, whatever. I was lazy this week. Therefore, mental notebook dump time! T-Town soccer surge…
Soundbites
Music editor Stephen Seigel is away from his desk for a couple of weeks. He will return to action with the Oct. 3 issue. In the meantime, the concert season is in full swing. WEST TEXAS WALTZING In the second decade of the 21st century, we pretty much take for granted the concept of progressive,…
EIGHT Questions
Although not exactly the talkative type in our interview, Nathan Willett is the frontman, guitarist and pianist for the California-born indie rock band Cold War Kids. With a teaching credential under his belt, Willett was on a path to standing in front of kids in an English classroom. Nowadays, he stands on the stage before…
