A win for the anti-Rosemont Mine crowd as Pima County denies the Rosemont Copper Company a air quality permit, although they can appeal or reapply:

Pima County, Ariz. (Sept. 29, 2011) — Pima County’s Department of Environmental Quality has denied Rosemont Copper Company’s air quality permit application.

The company was notified by messenger on Sept. 28.

The application was denied because Rosemont failed to provide information that would show it could comply with air quality regulations required by the state of Arizona and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Information provided by Rosemont Copper Company during the permit process indicated there was a difference between Pima County code and federal regulations. Therefore Pima County had no choice but to deny the permit application as written.

Rosemont Copper can reapply for an air quality permit and demonstrate that it can meet federal and county regulations to operate an open-pit mine in Pima County.

It can also appeal the denial by Pima County to the Pima County Air Quality Hearing Board within 30 days.

The county issued a draft air quality permit to Rosemont Copper on Aug. 30, 2011 and opened a 90-day public comment period. The comment period will be closed as a result of the permit application denial.

Pima County DEQ staff has logged all public comments received during the open comment period. The comments will be considered as the process moves forward.

My favorite thing about these guys though is their acoustic sessions. Scattered amongst quirky videos and time lapse drawings, the band has recorded several sans-amp tracks and posted them on their Vimeo account. In my humble opinion, any group of people that can make inarguably good music without the help/modification of technology are definitely worth noting as awesome. Plus, keyboardist Ryan Neighbors plays a ridiculously miniature toy piano with a funky twang to it that makes the sessions that much better.
Portugal. The Man will be performing Sunday, Oct. 2 at Rialto Theater. Doors open at 7 p.m., tickets will be $15 at the door (if there are any left).

I don't personally see a lot of comic criticism and discussion, but I suspect that this video has one of the rare mentions of NAMBLA regarding the genre. Also, Eric and Arnie talk about the new Batman comic, which they like. So there's that, too.

We now have a name attached to the “suspicious” box truck parked downtown that had Tucson police all aflutter on Wednesday. We also have an arrest of said vehicle owner.

Sahuarita resident David J. Mitchell, 50, has been booked on a misdemeanor charge related to his violating a court order that said he couldn’t be around weapons and ammunition. That’s just what authorities found in his truck after hours of evacuations, street closures, bomb-sniffing dogs and bomb robots.

Mitchell’s truck had been parked outside the U.S. Bankruptcy Court downtown, and sparked suspicion. No information has been given to explain why Mitchell had all of those guns and bullets with him, or why he was downtown.

The land of child pornography possession is no longer an exclusive boys’ club, at least as far as the Tucson Police Department is concerned.

TPD announced Thursday the arrest of Carolina Portugal, whom it believes is the first woman the department has ever investigated for possession of child pornography.

Portugal, 27, had been under investigation by TPD since 2007, at which time police found images depicting sexual abuse of a minor in her Tucson home, according to a TPD news release. She was indicted that year, and had arranged through an attorney to surrender to authorities, but instead fled to Mexico.

That ended Monday when, after negotiating with Portugal’s attorney, U.S. Marshals were able to take her into custody at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Portugal, who was booked on five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, is now the in the Pima County Jail.

Michelangelo Ristorante Italiano will be donating the proceeds from all desserts sold in October to the the Southern Arizona chapter of breast-cancer-awareness group Susan G. Komen For the Cure.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. For more information on what that entails - which, put succinctly, is saving a whole lot of lives - you can click here.

Every once in a while I just stop and stand in awe of how much good restaurants do for this community. It seems every month brings news that some eatery is going about helping the less-fortunate with a fundraiser, and I salute this city's great restaurants for it.

There's more on Michelangelo Ristorante Italiano over here.

Loughner, who was wearing a white T-shirt and khaki pants and sporting short brown hair, sat shackled at the defense table with a blank look on his face throughout most of Wednesday’s federal court hearing to determine whether further treatment would allow him to assist in his defense against the 49 counts he is facing in federal court stemming from the shooting spree at U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ Congress on Your Corner event. Six people were killed, including federal Judge John Roll and a 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, and and 13 others were wounded, including Giffords, who is still recovering from being shot through the head.

Loughner’s somber appearance was a stark change from his earlier court appearances, where he often sat with a broad smile. In his last appearance, in May, Loughner disrupted the courtroom with an incoherent outburst that led to him being removed from the courtroom.

After a seven-and-a-half-hour court hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns ruled in favor of prosecutors, who had requested that Loughner continue to receive treatment at the federal facility in Springfield, Mo. But he shortened their request for eight months of treatment to just four months.

“The court finds that measurable progress toward restoration has been made,” Burns said.

In making his ruling to allow doctors more time to attempt to restore Loughner to competency, Burns said was relying on the likelihood of a “substantial probability” that they would be able to get Loughner to a point where he could understand the charges against him and assist in his own defense.

Burns noted that Loughner’s smirk was gone and he seemed to be paying attention to the proceedings.

“He appears to be more connected,” Burns said.

Much of the day’s testimony came from Dr. Christina Pietz, a psychologist who has been treating Loughner.

Pietz’s testimony provided a window into Loughner’s life since he was arrested after being tackled at the scene by several members of the crowd while he was attempting to reload his handgun after he’d emptied the first clip.

This just looks like fun, and mildly more cathartic than my side-of-the-knife-blade technique. My wife wouldn't be thrilled with the soiling of two bowls, but so be it.

If you enjoy pop music, dancing, cheap vodka and fun, you'll want to be at Club Congress tomorrow night to see The White Panda, a Chicago duo specializing in mashups. Their most recent mix, somewhat predictably titled Pandamonium, is on sale now, but you can also stream it from the Bandcamp player above.

Three bucks to get in tomorrow night, doors at 9, dollar vodka drinks until 12:30.

Oh, I loves me an ultra-early happy hour. There's something freeing about tying one on when the rest of the world is waking up, although nursing a hangover before the sun sets can be a drag.

But I digress. Shlomo and Vito’s New York Delicatessen at 2870 E. Skyline Drive now offers happy hour from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sundays, with $5 bloody Marys, mimosas and margaritas. The employee we talked to said there aren’t any food specials yet, but nobody said you had to eat.

Sam Hughes Place Championship Dining at 446 N. Campbell Ave. also offers early-morning drinking starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with a bloody-Mary bar and $3 mimosas. There’s also a pretty decent breakfast buffet available for $7.99.

Diablo’s Sports Bar and Grill over at 2545 S. Craycroft Road also offers breakfast starting at 9 a.m. on Sundays, and drink specials galore. An employee there says a bucket full of bottled beer goes for $15, and there are other specials on rum-and-cokes, bloody Marys and Budweiser bottles.