Cover Story
Arizona Adventure
It seemed like a simple plan—visit 52 places in 52 weeks. But for author Ken Lamberton, a 45-year veteran of life in the Sonoran Desert, the entertaining results were anything but easy. “Chasing Arizona” takes readers on a year-long, 20,000-mile joy ride across Arizona during its centennial, racking up more than 200 points of interest…
Photographer Nika Kaiser Explores the Supernatural West at Hotel Congress
Recently, local artist Nika Kaiser has been more known for her video work, directing music videos for local favorites like Prom Body and Gabriel Sullivan. Her current photo exhibit, “Desert Varnish,” in the Hotel Congress bar and lobby area is like her video work in that it looks at spiritualism and metaphysics in the context…
AmeriCorps Launches Project in Tucson to Improve High School Graduation Rates
Starting this fall, eight Tucson high schools will get visits from more than 100 AmeriCorps members as part of a two-year project to improve graduation rates, and to make sure these students are aware of their higher-ed or post high school options—college, a job training program or even the military. “I’m delighted that we were…
Celebrate Director David Lynch at Loft Cinema Because Twin Peaks Is Nothing Without Him
This week Twin Peaks fans got some rough news on the series’ eagerly anticipated reboot. After two decades of being gone, the beloved cult supernatural crime drama was slotted to come back with full cast and writer/director David Lynch in tow. It sounded like the redux was on the right track until Showtime decided Lynch…
Borderlands Bacchanal to Host Two Days of Free Music, Art, Comedy and More
Google defines the word bacchanal as “an occasion of wild and drunken revelry” (please don’t look up what Webster’s defines it as), and Borderlands’ first ever Bacchanal promises to be just that. With two days of totally free music, art, comedy and, of course, beer (the beer isn’t so free), the brand new community event…
Ermanos Might Be a Beer and Wine Bar First, But You Should Definitely Eat There Too
Owner Mark Erman of Ermanos made it pretty clear in his interview with us in a previous article that his new bar was in fact a bar first and not a restaurant. However, with a menu touting locally sourced ingredients, seasonal selections and unique flavor combinations, it seemed like this bar was promising some of…
The Mixed Success News from NY’s Success Charter Schools
The NY Times has painted the most complete picture of New York’s powerful and controversial Success Academy charter schools I’ve read to date. The schools claim high test scores for low income students, and the claims bear out, with some clarification. Critics claim the charters use pressure cooker tactics to get students to perform and overwork…
Here Is Some Tucson Goodness You Could Support on Arizona Gives Day
Arizona Gives Day has arrived. It’s a great time to contribute to our favorite nonprofits, even if it’s just $5. What matters is the gesture and that, at least once a year, we are all on the same page with helping out. Here are my suggestions (not in any particular order) but Arizona Gives website…
Jeffrey Young Brings a Flurry of Violins to Exploded View
It’s violins, violins and more violins at Exploded View on Thursday, April 9. Leading the pack of violinists will be Jeffrey Young, an experimental violinist, composer, and laptop musician from Brooklyn, who will perform original works and a homage to fellow N.Y.-area violinist Paul Pinto. “I’ll perform a quirky selection of my own music for…
More Arrested Development! 17 New Episodes Coming Our Way
I’m too excited to write words about it, so you’ll have to read what Esquire wrote: Get away, get away from your pessimistic notion that Arrested Development is dead. Producer Brian Grazer says there’s more Bluth family drama on the horizon. Sitting down with Bill Simmons on the B.S. Report podcast, Grazer let it slip that at…
Hear the New Calexico Album on NPR
Ahead of the April 14 release of Edge of the Sun, Calexico performs “Falling From the Sky” on Conan. Meanwhile, NPR is now streaming the whole album here. NPR’s Tom Moon notes: The miracle of Calexico: Though the scenery of the American Southwest remains largely unchanged — give or take varying degrees of water panic…
Ridin’ the Broadway Gravy Train
I’ll tell you, in my next life I want to come back as a consultant. Doesn’t matter what kind‚—environmental, medical—hell, even toilet bowl technician will do. I just want a starboard seat on that gravy train of perpetual expertise. And hey, if my karma holds out, I might even reincarnate as a consultant on the…
What’s Behind Tucson’s International Wildlife Museum?
Local novelist Lydia Millet takes a look at Tucson’s International Wildlife Museum for the New York Times: On the outskirts of this city stands a fake-medieval castle with an elk statue atop its battlements. In the courtyard is a bronze relief of a man shouldering his rifle — one C. J. McElroy, a Texan who…
Review: BRYDES’ “Turquoise” Turns Folk to Pop Without the Bubblegum
BRYDES’ Kaia Mazza might be more familiar to you under her previous performing name: Kaia Chesney. When playing as Kaia Chesney, her music was light and ethereal but still powerful. It was delicate, acoustic guitar centered folk with Chesney’s brassy vocals over top. However, you wouldn’t really know any of this from her new project…
The New Yorker Borowitz Report: Ted Cruz’s Constant ‘Jesus’ Remarks Drive Millions to Atheism
The New Yorker’s Andy Borowitz published a satirical piece this morning saying atheist leaders allege Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz’s repeated “Jesus Christ” campaign remarks has driven millions of people in the U.S. to look into atheism. From the piece: Since Sen. Cruz (R-Texas) announced his candidacy two weeks ago with the words “God isn’t…
Keto Needs a Home
Keto, reference number 803178. 1-year-old, Domestic Short Hair Mix, Male. This dashing boy is a master at capturing hearts! Keto is a lively kitty that was transferred from another shelter last week. This precious guy is rambunctious, goofy, and very affectionate! Keto is looking for a family that wants a fun and feisty housemate, and…
ACLU of Arizona Wants You to Vote No on a Religious Freedom v. LGBT Phoenix Biz Journal Poll
The governors of Indiana and Arkansas recently signed amended versions of their “religious freedom” bills. The two states had passed versions that could have allowed businesses deny service to LGBT people and others based on religious beliefs. These new versions are supposed to protect people from discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The…
Watch the Diamondbacks Play the Giants on Chase Field
Update: And, they’re all accounted for. Thanks for playing! Busy tonight? We’ve got two pairs of tickets for tonight’s game—which starts at 7:10 p.m. at Chase Field in Phoenix—waiting for you. The first two people to email me (Chelo@tucsonlocalmedia.com) will each get two tickets. Make the subject line of the email read “Beat the Giants,” and…
Zona Politics: Pima County Econ Development, City Elections & Legislative Roundup
Zona Politics Eps.24 from Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel on Vimeo. On this week’s Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel: Pima County Republican Party Chair Bill Beard and attorney Jeff Rogers, the former chair of the Pima County Democratic Party, talk about the efforts to build an “aerospace corridor” near Raytheon’s headquarter, the city’s election system,…
Must-See Movies at the 2015 Arizona International Film Festival
You might be looking at the long list of films screening in conjunction with the 24th annual Arizona International Film Festival and getting a little overwhelmed. You can opt for an animated adult-themed retelling of the Bible story of Noah’s ark or you can try to relive the madness of your formative years. Well, never…
Send in Your Pictures of Valley of the Moon
Ever been to Valley of the Moon? What about your grandfather, did he ever go? Well, do you have any photos to prove it? Valley of the Moon is doing some repairs and bringing the Adobe House back into service. They want to have a book documenting the building’s life through the years. From and…
Carlos Arzate Releases Video Chronicling Louis Taylor and the 1970 Pioneer Hotel Fire
In 1970, Tucson’s Pioneer Hotel set fire, resulting in the deaths of 28 people. At the time, 16-year-old Louis Taylor was convicted of the murders. However, 42 years later Taylor was freed. From a cover story we did on Taylor two years ago: For more than 10 years, a team of volunteer attorneys and law…
Pasco Kitchen to Host a Mezcal-Centric Dinner
Calling all agave distillate lovers. On Tuesday, April 14, Pasco Kitchen & Lounge will be putting on a special four course dinner celebrating the food of Oaxaca and it’s smoky, sultry spirit: Mezcal. The Noche Oaxaca dinner will feature four different dishes, including fideo with BBQ pork belly and shoulder as well as a spiced…
Calexico Talks About “Edge of the Sun”
Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico talk about making their new album, Edge of the Sun, which drops April 14.
Th-Th-Th-That’s All, Folks! AZ Legislature Wraps Up 2015 Session
We’ll be breaking down the takeaways from the legislative session over the next few days, but Mary Jo Pitzl, Ronald J. Hansen and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez of the Arizona Republic give a wrap-up of the session here: The Arizona Legislature crept to a middle-of-the-night close to its 2015 session, after a drawn-out final workday sapped…
These Three Bills Signed into Law Will Make the Lives of Low-Income, Homeless People Harder
Gov. Doug Ducey signed three bills into law Wednesday that will continue to make homeless people’s lives (really, the lives of anyone who is having a hard time making a living) harder. Two pieces of legislation involve panhandling and the other prohibits a city or county from forcing contractors to build affordable housing—”Also illegal would…
Yoga and Beer Finally Join Forces at Dragoon on Saturday
On a few magical Saturdays, Dragoon Brewing Co. will join forces with Exude Yoga to present a super relaxing morning of stretching and brews known as Bakasana & Beer. This month, Saturday, April 4 is the day to head to the brewery, located at 1859 W. Grant Road Suite 111, for your beer and yoga.…
Chick-fil-A Critic Still Looking for Work After Harrassing Drive-Thru Worker Over Company’s Opposition to Gay Rights
ABC News catches up with Adam Smith, the Tucson CFO who destroyed his career after harassing a Chick-fil-A drive-thru worker over the company’s financial support of organizations that oppose gay rights. From the report: Things haven’t gone too well for the former CFO who criticized Chick-fil-A in a video he posted on YouTu A former…
Catch Eugene Mirman of Bob’s Burgers on Old Tucson’s Grand Palace Saloon Stage
Are you into standup comedy, Bob’s Burgers, or joy? Because Eugene Mirman—the voice of Gene on Bob’s Burgers—is bringing his act to Old Tucson. The tickets are free, you just have to let them know which of Mirman’s two April 10 shows you’d like to attend. Mirman’s bio: Eugene Mirman is the voice of “Gene”…
Watch Steff and the Articles Perform “Call You Mine” in the Second T-Town Sessions Release
Tucson People just released their second video in a series of four featuring Arizona artists. This time Tucson’s Steff and the Articles perform their jazzy “Call You Mine” at St. Cecilia Studios. The T-Town Sessions, headed by videographer Abril Castillo, aim to showcase local music by using professional video and recording equipment, including Cloud Microphones.…
Valley of the Red Tape: Will Legler’s Legacy be Lost?
Back in 1923, an eccentric chap named George Phar Legler decided to build a fantasyland on scrub desert near the Rillito River. Ten years and thousands of stones later, his Valley of the Moon—inspired by the then-popular Spiritualism movement—opened as a quirky crescendo of serpentine paths, towering grottos, and a “wizard tower” high atop the…
A Rich Switch
Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill earlier this week that will give Arizona’s wealthiest citizens another tax break. The new law sets Arizona’s income-tax rates onto a permanent downward ratchet. HB 2001 indexes the income-tax rates to inflation, meaning each year, the income-tax brackets will expand a little so that people will owe less in…
What a Life
As he approaches 90, Seymour Bernstein is getting a re-introduction. A renowned pianist decades earlier, Seymour turned his back on the concert halls and adoring fans and critics to teach. He teaches more than piano, as it turns out. Just ask Ethan Hawke, who directed this documentary about a man he met at a dinner…
Dignified Displacement
Kyle Barber hasn’t had a home in close to a decade, partly due to a previous acute addiction to spice—synthetic marijuana—and partly due to a felony in his record that makes him unhireable in the eyes of many employers. About three years ago, the 32-year-old drifted to the Grand Canyon state from Wisconsin eager for…
B-Sides
HORSE CALLING THE KETTLE Set your watches because it’s going to be free-thirty p.m. on Friday, April 3 at Club Congress when mellow local indie group Horse Black releases their album “People and Places Not to See”—an apt sentiment following the band’s unofficial motto, which is “music for people that don’t like other people.” Part…
Letters to the Editor
Well, here’s my story, but this isn’t just about me—4th Avenue and the Street Fair have been sliding down the “show-us-your-papers” slope for decades, much to many people’s dismay. A skilled local artist and longtime member of the Tucson arts community, I have lately taken up face painting, as one of my income streams, to…
Arlo Guthrie
“Alice’s Restaurant,” says Arlo Guthrie, is not like riding a bike. The 18-minute, talking blues, surprise anti-Vietnam War hit has taken on such a life of its own that Guthrie could never quite shake it. So he’s dusted off the quirky tune again and again, perfecting that precise comedic timing that made an absurd story…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Why do so many cholos like the song “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify? Is there something about this song or is it all oldies they like? —Aspiring Puppeteer Dear Gabacho: It ain’t just cholos who are down with oldies-but-goodies. Mexican-Americans of all social classes have largely kept alive that particular…
Robert Rich
For more than three decades, electronic composer Robert Rich has explored a wide palette of expansive sounds, categorized under a variety of terms—”new age,” “dark ambient,” “tribal,” “industrial,”—but when the 51-year-old Californian discusses the kinds of music he makes, he mostly uses two terms: “active music” and “quiet music.” Rich’s latest albums explore both sides,…
Q&A with Ken Lamberton
In 1980, Ken Lamberton graduated from the UA with a bachelor’s degree in biology and soon joined the creative writing workshop of poet and author Richard Shelton. In January 2000, Mercury House published Lamberton’s first book, “Wilderness and Razor Wire.” The book won the 2002 John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. The University of…
Responsible Legalization?
A second group aiming to put marijuana legalization on the 2016 ballot filed paperwork Friday with the Secretary of State’s Office. Calling itself Arizonans for Responsible Legalization, the group said in a news release it wants to allow adults to purchase small amounts of marijuana for private use and tax marijuana sales to help fund…
Crispy’s Fish and Chips: Hot and Hot
Crispy’s Fish-n-Chips 736 E. Ft. Lowell Road 622-5111 Open Daily 11:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. Pros: Sizzling hot food at more than reasonable prices Cons: Wings need some work, or maybe just a few more minutes in the fryer. A fish and chips joint isn’t supposed to be fancy. Joints are never fancy. And believe…
The Pleasure Activist
Perhaps you have come across a dental dam during a dental procedure? It’s a rectangular latex membrane, about the size of a folded sheet of letter paper, used to isolate the tooth within the operative site. (They also come in latex-free polyurethane for those with allergies.) If you’re anything like me, your first and only…
Jim Murphy of Kingfisher: “We’re Not Done”
When speaking to chef Jim Murphy or Murph as he’s more commonly known, it’s pretty clear from the get go that he loves two things a lot: sarcasm and cooking in Tucson. While the first is given away by the occasional side-eyed glance to see if you’re keeping up, the second is apparent by how…
Media Watch
When Arizona Daily Star cartoonist David Fitzsimmons unleashed a Facebook tirade criticizing Christianity, he probably didn’t anticipate a ripple effect that enveloped conservative talk show host Chris DeSimone and Daily Star columnist Tim Steller. Fitzsimmons’ comments were pointed out to DeSimone by listeners of Wake Up Tucson, the show he cohosts weekday mornings at 6…
24 Hour Utopia
1 Block 1 Day will attempt to do the impossible: create a hate-free environment for 24 hours that is devoid of crime, gender bias, racial tension, class conflict or any of the systems that separate us—kind of like the inversion of The Purge’s 24 hour free-for-all. In downtown Tucson, 100 N. Stone Ave., from 7…
The Skinny
Street Dreams A Broadway widening plan is on the way to the Tucson City Council At a tense meeting last week, the Broadway Citizens Task Force came up with a final recommendation for the future of the corridor between downtown and County Club Road: The street will be expanded to six lanes, but fewer building…
Occupy the Farm Film
2011’s “Word of the Year” is coming to Tucson in a fresh way—so fresh that it’s practically straight from the farm. Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd., will be showing the documentary “Occupy The Farm” on Tuesday, April 7, at 7 p.m. The film documents the journey of 200 urban farmers determined to keep farmland…
Danehy
Mike Hein is leaving Tucson. I, for one, am going to miss him. If you won’t, you’re on Regina Romero’s side of the line. Mike’s wife, Anne-Marie Russell, is leaving her job as executive director of the Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art to become director of an art museum in Florida. Mike, who apparently really…
Beer Gives Back
The third annual Arizona Gives Day, hosted by Watershed Management Group, is upon us again. The day helps to raise funds for local non-profits who find their support declining in the months after the holiday season. Just as importantly, it reminds us to give back to our communities in whatever ways we can. Borderlands Brewing…
Guest Opinion
We need to stop playing games with the issue of climate change. The situation is deadly serious. We have just come out of the warmest year on record, and all the recorded 10 hottest years on the planet have occurred since 1998. The online journal Science Advances has predicted that the Southwest is entering a…
Mindfulness
Famous sports psychologist George Mumford, who helped to lead the Bulls and Lakers to a total of 11 NBA championships and worked with star athletes Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, is coming to share his expertise. On Wednesday, April 8, at 7 p.m. in the Gallagher Theater, 1303 E. University Blvd., Mumford, a motivational speaker…
Hippie Celebration
Beverly Seckinger has spent years taking an extra look at how hippie values transformed their lives, the people around them and in many cases the communities they lived and worked. On Sunday, April 5, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Hut, 305 Fourth Ave., Seckinger will host a Hippie Family Values Indiegogo launch party…
Wilde Art
Artist Daniella Woolf likes to work with discarded materials that no longer have a use elsewhere. Old string, reclaimed paper, aging family artifacts all make their way into her artworks, which are on view in “High Strung,” a solo show, opening Saturday night at Conrad Wilde Gallery. Woolf’s “Yellow Totem,” a highlight of the exhibition,…
Editor’s Note
In an interview in The Stranger, Seattle’s alternative newsweekly, writer Sherman Alexie talks about why he recently cancelled two Indiana speaking engagements. He’s happy to visit Nortre Dame and the Kurt Vonnegut Library in the future, but only if the so-called religious freedom law is repealed. Déjà vu anyone? Remember when the Los Angeles City…
Shear Participation
So, whodunIT? (Hint: there’s a clue there.) The Invisible Theatre (IT) production of “Shear Madness,” will call upon audience members to help solve a murder mystery, so you better hone your clue-identifying skills. It is you who will be in the spotlight and counted on to identify the signs which will help track down the…
Dust Devil
1973 Heavens we were high back then; watching another girlfriend dance alone at the end of the Chap’s first set. Which I missed, pulled over trying to convince the officer hemostats were de rigueur for the introspective cadets in the Poetry Program at the U of A circa 1973. I did get back. We piled…
Snakes That Strike
Not long before her death by suicide, a teenage girl in Afghanistan composed a poem. It was just 22 syllables long, in her native language of Pashto, but each syllable was packed with rage and despair. Here’s what it looked like in English: I call. You’re stone. One day you’ll look and find I’m gone.…
Police Dispatch
Date Me or the Dog Gets It Foothills Area Jan. 30, 7:20 p.m. A man’s scorned ex-girlfriend crawled through his house’s doggie door to steal his dog—plus a bunch of drugs as a bonus—after she’d allegedly held the dog hostage (in a very sick way), according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. The victim told…
Dance Easy
The late-night world of Prohibition-era gin joints is conjured up in this weekend’s “Speak Easy,” a dance-music extravaganza staged by Tucson’s Artifact Dance Project. A reprise of a concert that premiered last year, “Speak Easy” is easily the best of Artifact’s evening-length narrative dances. The ambitious company has tackled stories from “Alice in Wonderland” to…
