Cover Story
The Krentz Bonfire
A little more than a month has passed since the death of Cochise County rancher Rob Krentz, and the emotion generated by his murder, the pure shock of it, has ignited a bonfire that still burns across Arizona’s borderlands—and all the way to Washington, D.C. Now everyone is demanding troops. Now, with Gov. Jan Brewer’s…
Visit The Valley of the Moon This Saturday
North-central Tucson’s hidden magical kingdom, the Valley of the Moon, has gotten a makeover, along with a bunch of new attractions from Magic Carpet Golf. See for yourself this Saturday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at an open house. Details here.
“A Special Cinco De Mayo Message … FOR ARIZONA!”
You can now add Hollywood to the list of places that hate Arizona. In a trailer for the new Grindhouse spinoff, Machete, actor Danny Trejo presents the Mexican-revenge-movie trailer as “a special Cinco De Mayo message … for Arizona!” If things keep going the way they are, “Arizona politician” will replace “corporate suit” as the…
Phoenix Suns Use Spanglish to Protest Immigration Law
The Phoenix Suns chime in on Arizona’s new contentious immigration law by wearing jerseys that say “Los Suns” at tonight’s playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs. Read all about it here.
This Week in Wine
Delectables has half-price bottles of wine all day today and every Wednesday at their Wacky Wednesday event. Owner Donna DiFiore says she also offers a daily special where three select bottles are discounted $10, and three other wines are marked down to $6 a glass. Also worthy of note is the Nimbus beer-tasting scheduled for…
Gabriel Ayala at the Amerind Foundation
Yaqui classical guitarist Gabriel Ayala performs an outdoor concert at the Amerind Foundation at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 8. Admission is $15 ($10 for members and free for kids under 12) and includes same-day admission to the Amerind. Arrive early and bring your own chair. Details here. Become a friend of the Amerind Foundation on…
Tucson’s Everyday People: Crops and Community
In this multimedia slideshow, UA student Katrina Arrington follows a few local farmers who started the Tucson Community Supported Agriculture.
Cunningham Appointed to Tucson City Council
Tucson City Council’s Ward 2 seat—which has been vacant since early April when former Vice Mayor Rodney Glassman announced his run in the 2010 senate race— was filled tonight after the council voted 6-0 to appoint democrat Paul Arthur Cunningham. Cunningham, 36, has worked for the Pima County Juvenile Court for more than 12 years…
Final Farley Report of the Session
From this week’s bulletin from state Rep. Steve Farley: At last the Legislature has adjourned, with no special sessions on the horizon (for now, anyway). Adjournment Sine Die was declared at 11:07pm last Thursday, April 29. Every year, the House runs a Sine Die pool, where a few hundred Capitol denizens pay a buck each…
Meet The UA’s Space Men on Mount Lemmon
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona Another spectacular shot of a dune field from the UA Lunar and Planetary Lab’s HiRISE aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Find the latest images here. Speaking of the Lunar and Planetary Lab: You can join the LPL gang for an open house up on Mount Lemmon later this month where you’ll be…
Journalist John Dougherty on his U.S. Senate Run: “Accountability Now”
Former Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman suddenly has a lot of company in his bid to run for U.S. Sen. John McCain. Freelance journalist John Dougherty, who uncovered former Arizona governor Fife Symington’s financial shenanigans and hammered Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio while he worked at the Phoenix New Times between 1993 and 2006, tells…
SB 1070: The Immigration Bill Takes Root Elsewhere
Americans for Legal Immigration has a list of a dozen other states looking at legislation similar to SB 1070.
Wednesday Night at the Loft Cinema: “People Are Strange: A Film About The Doors
This Wednesday, May 5: The Loft Cinema presents a movie no Doors fan will want to miss. Details here.
Tequila Anyone?
If you haven’t made Cinco de Mayo plans yet, we suggest the AgaveFest taking place at Hotel Congress tomorrow. It promises to be both intoxicating and informative, and from the sounds of it, you’ll be able to tie on a pretty good buzz for about $20. Aaron DeFeo, who runs the beverage program at Hotel…
Democrat Rodney Glassman’s Haul: More Than $500K For Senate Run
Democrat Rodney Glassman announced today that he had raised more than $500,000 in the first three weeks of his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican John McCain. Glassman put in $250,000 of his own money to reach the half-million, according to campaign spokeswoman Dawn Teo.
Today in Reasons the Rest of the Country Is Starting to Wonder About Arizona
This is already old news, but I’m pretty sure it never made it onto the Range. From the Huffington Post: Arizona’s new immigration law is just about crime, its supporters say, but given that the state’s new education policy equates ethnic studies programs with high treason, they may not be using the commonly accepted definition…
Tucson’s Everyday People: Disciple Coaching
Meet Cornerstone Christian Academy’s sports renaissance man David Scott, who is also a basketball coach at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy, in this multimedia slideshow by Jeffrey McMickell, a UA School of Journalism sophomore.
NYT on New Immigration Poll Numbers: “Slim Majority of Americans Support” SB 1070
The New York Times looks over new poll numbers on immigration and Arizona’s SB 1070: The overwhelming majority of Americans think that the country’s immigration policies need to be seriously overhauled. And despite protests against Arizona’s stringent new immigration enforcement law, a slim majority of Americans support it, even though they say it may lead…
TPAC’s “Day of Action in Support of the Arts”
Today Tucson-Pima Arts Council’s Arts Advocacy Network is hosting a “Day of Action in Support of the Arts,” as part of their campaign to save public funding. For a complete list of tonight’s downtown events, click here. Click here to learn more about the advocacy network.
Photo essay: May Day SB 1070 protest
Not one of the thousands who showed up to protest (or support) the Arizona immigration bill last Saturday at Armory Park? Here’s some of the sights at the SB 1070 event:
Coming Soon: May’s Counter Chicken and Waffles
John Foster, one of the people behind May’s Counter Chicken and Waffles at 2945 E. Speedway Blvd., says the restaurant is on track to open by the end of the month. May’s Counter Chicken and Waffles will specialize in Southern comfort food: Po’ boy sandwiches made with homemade bread, red beans and rice, chicken done…
Early Economic Impact of SB 1070: Tourism Takes $6 Million Hit in First Week
The hotels are feeling the pain of SB 1070 already. From a recent press release: The Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association has been notified of 19 meetings that have cancelled in Arizona due to SB1070 in the first week since the controversial legislation was signed into law. These groups represent more than 15,000 room nights…
Arpaio Not Running for Gov
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has ended his big tease of Arizona politicos and the state dodges a bullet. I can’t tell you how many people told me they would leave the state if Joe became governor. Josh Bernstein of Maricopa County’s ABC affiliate, who “broke a story” last Friday that Joe was planning on…
Dosh at Solar Culture Tonight!
Head on down to Solar Culture tonight to check out Minneapolis-based Dosh! Event details here, and click here to read Annie Holub’s review of the new album Tommy.
Krentz Killing Not Random?
The morning daily’s Brady McCombs has a story that could upend much of the recent border controversy: The killing of a Southern Arizona rancher that sparked an outcry to secure the border was not random, and investigators are focusing on an American suspect, the Arizona Daily Star has learned. High-ranking government officials with credible information…
Frank Rich: “Outbreaks of Nativist Apoplexy Are Nothing New in American History”
Frank Rich looks at the national politics of immigration in today’s New York Times: Outbreaks of nativist apoplexy are nothing new in American history. The last derailed George W. Bush’s apparently earnest effort to get a bipartisan immigration compromise through the Senate in 2007. At the time, the more egregious expressions of anti-immigrant rage —…
May Day Protest: Thousands Assemble Downtown To Protest SB 1070
Photo by Aleksa Brown UA journalism student and former TW intern Hank Stephenson delivers a dispatch from yesterday’s May Day protest downtown: Thousands of people turned out for a protest in Armory Park yesterday to denounce Arizona SB1070, which Gov. Brewer signed into law more than a week ago. Addressing the crowd, politicians and activists—ranging…
Tucson’s Everyday People: A Feminine Touch at the Mailbox
Just another day at the job for Irina Mortimer, a female mail carrier in Tucson, in this multimedia slideshow by Ziniu Chen, a UA School of Journalism junior.
CEDO Celebrates At Hotel Congress
Jim Nintzel Our friends at Rocky Point’s CEDO are celebrating their 30th anniversary of protecting the Gulf of California today at Hotel Congress. Will Ferguson has the details here.
Law Enforcement Officer Shot in Pinal County
In this morning’s news stories about the Pinal County deputy who was shot by drug smugglers, did you notice the location of the episode? it occurred in the same place as the 20-second drug-smuggling video we posted with “The Krentz Bonfire.” The stories say the location was near the intersection of Interstate-8 and State Highway…
Jell-O Wrestling for a Good Cause
On Sunday, May 2, 11 teams will wrestle in yellow and green jello to raise money for the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation. The yearly event, called the “Reno Gannon Memorial Jello-O Wrestling Extravaganza and Benefit Auction” takes place at Tucson Electric Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way. Doors open at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20. Raffle…
Picture This: Tucson Flexibility
JAZMINE WOODBERRY Betsey Kruse Craig warms up her pilates class at O2 Modern Fitness.
Immigration Law: Designed to Give Cops a Reason To Hassle Hispanics in Crowded Houses?
Evan Wyloge of the Arizona Capitol Times reports on an e-mail between state Sen. Russell Pearce and Kris Kobach, an attorney who helped draft Arizona immigration law: But an e-mail that Pearce accidentally sent to a Tucson resident, and which was then passed to lawmakers and media indicates that the slight change was intended to…
Former New Times Reporter Wants In On U.S. Senate Race: “Enough of this Bullshit”
Phoenix New Times reports that their former staff writer, John Dougherty, wants to run for Congress: In the we-really-aren’t-making-this-up department, our ex-colleague John Dougherty tells us that he’s filed documents today with the Federal Elections Commission as a first step to run in the upcoming Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat. Dougherty, who now…
Munger Asks Mills To Drop out of Gov Race; Mills Says No
Republican gubernatorial candidate Buz Mills got some bad press this week with the revelation that he had been sued by a former business partner for fraud. You can find more details here. Tucson attorney John Munger, who is also seeking the GOP nomination, has asked Mills to drop out of the race. “Frankly, the Republican…
Mr. An’s Teppan Steak and Seafood Sushi Bar
The owner of Mr. An’s Teppan Steak and Seafood Sushi Bar at 6091 N. Oracle Road says the restaurant will be open for business starting Monday, May 3. Kwang C. An, who also owns Great Wall China at 2445 S. Craycroft Road, says he spent about $1 million revamping the building, which now boasts a…
South Tucson Responds to Immigration Bill
Written by Nathan Mitchell/El Independiente NATHAN MITCHELL Isabel Garcia, the leader of Derechos Humanos, protests against SB 1070 at Raul Grijalva’s headquarters. With the global spotlight on Arizona’s new immigration law, South Tucson has begun preparations to enforce the aggressive and contentious “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” better known as SB 1070.…
New Poll: Brewer Out Ahead of GOP Opponents in AZ Gov Race
Public Policy Polling wraps up Arizona week with an examination of the GOP nomination for governor. Gov. Jan Brewer is looking good, as long as Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio doesn’t decide to run: Six months ago it looked like Jan Brewer would have a very difficult time winning nomination to a full term as…
It’s Over: Sine Die!
The legislative session has come to an end—and before the birther bill could get passed. On the plus side, lawmakers did ban human-animal hybrids. More analysis in the days to come.
Calexico: Over Your Shoulder
Arizona Public Media has posted several new videos of Calexico performing at downtown’s Eric Firestone Gallery that were shot for a recent episode of In Tune. Here’s an instrumental that shows off the amazing John Convertino’s drum skills.
Immigration Reform in the U.S. Senate
The American Prospect has a rundown of the immigration reform plan emerging in the U.S. Senate: Today, Sens. Lindsey Graham and Chuck Schumer released their extended plan for immigration reform. I still need to read over the document more carefully, but just a glance gives you an idea of what they have in mind: Their…
No SB 1070 Sulking: Shondes at Plush Tonight (Thursday)
Doing some SB 1070 sulking? Just be glad the Shondes decided to keep Arizona in their cross-country tour and play at Plush tonight, 340 E. Sixth St. At 9 p.m., Monster Pussy opens and Seashell Radio is there, too. For $5, there’s no excuse to stay home and sulk. See you there.
Picture This: Urban Art
ASHLEY JAMES Joe Pagac, a local artist, finishes his mural for Cypress Hill on the Rialto Theatre.
New Poll: McCain Has 11-Point Lead Over J.D. Hayworth
Yet another new poll this week from Public Policy Polling shows U.S. Sen. John McCain leading GOP challenger J.D. Hayworth: Republican primary voters in Arizona are down on John McCain, with a majority of them thinking he’s too lenient on immigration and a plurality feeling that he’s too liberal in general. But his saving grace…
Live
The Avett Brothers, Truth and Salvage Co.
Prime Time
If you’re the sort of person who balks at forking over $32.95 for a steak dinner (albeit a great steak dinner), you may want to skip this review—because $32.95 is the least you’ll get away with paying at Bob’s Steak and Chop House at the Omni Tucson National Resort. That’s the cost of a 12-ounce…
White Hinterland: Kairos (Dead Oceans)
Kairos, the second album from White Hinterland, is a stripped-down, atmospheric record with up-front, bright vocals. For vocalist Casey Dienel and producer/multi-instrumentalist Shawn Creeden, it’s an effective combination, and ultimately a bold one, for the fact that most like-minded acts bury the vocals. Musically, Kairos makes much out of the slow, drip-drip beat of trip-hop…
T Q&A
David Quist
Mailbag
Legalize Marijuana, Because God Says So; Legalizing Drugs Leads to Lower Drug-Use Rates
Drive-by Truckers: The Big To-Do (ATO)
The Drive-by Truckers have created some of the most memorable perverts, drunks and assorted lowlifes of their career on The Big To-Do, an album packed with stories and characters presented with a photojournalist’s detached honesty. That truthful, slice-of-life songwriting has become the hallmark of the Drive-by Truckers. Patterson Hood once again contributes the majority of…
Nine Questions
Lew Barbieri
Not Going Backward
When Chris Hillman, now 65, plays at the 25th annual Tucson Folk Festival, he’ll have come full circle, back to the acoustic music of his youth. Hillman helped create the genre of country rock, giving rise to bands from the Eagles to Alabama. Along the way, he hung out with the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Gram…
Soundbites
Slutes and Hopkins = silver anniversary; celebrating cinco; on the bandwagon
Battered and Bruised
Baroness plays music in which keen melodic sensibilities and progressive touches result in what sounds like a cross between a hungry indie-rock act and a classic 1970s metal band. Based in Savannah, Ga., Baroness last year saw the release of its widely acclaimed second album, Blue Record, and is currently on tour with the mighty…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I live in a Northeastern city, and I play a game with myself during the cold, wintry months: counting how many Mexicans I see without a heavy coat or an appropriate outer-garment. Believe me, I’m not prejudiced (I, too, am a minority, and this game is lightweight compared to some of the games…
Life Underwater
You don’t learn much watching Oceans—until it’s over. Then it finally hits you: You’ve learned how marvelous nature is, and how fortunate we are to see it unfold. A continuation of the Earth Day documentary series that Disney began last year with Earth, Oceans is a prohibitively expensive documentary, reportedly costing upward of $80 million.…
Top Ten in Books
Mostly Books best-sellers for the week
Mercenary Mess
In the weeks leading up to the release of Iron Man 2, studios have been releasing big movies based on relatively unknown comic books. First came the immensely enjoyable Kick-Ass; now we get the convoluted and generally uninteresting The Losers. The Losers are a ragtag team of mercenaries—sort of like the A-Team, but without most…
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
Now Showing at Home
The Descent: Part 2; Avatar (Blu-ray); Crazy Heart (Blu-ray);
Top Ten in Music
Toxic Ranch Records top sales for the week
Chekhov and Simon
Sweet Charity is a musical with a spectacular pedigree. It has a book by Neil Simon (The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park), music by Cy Coleman (“The Best Is Yet to Come”) and lyrics by Dorothy Fields (“The Way You Look Tonight”). It was directed and choreographed on Broadway in 1966 by Bob Fosse…
Live on the Radio
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something … pretty cool. This is no bride’s checklist. It’s a spot-on description of Old Time Radio Theatre, a fairly new addition to the impressive variety of theatrical offerings which abound in our town. Hosted by Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, the group has been shepherded by Sheldon Metz, who…
Imagined Places
Matt Cotten is best known around town as a co-founder of Tucson Puppet Works, a puppeteer extraordinaire who helped usher in a new era of puppetry in the Old Pueblo. He is also a compassionate teacher who spends the autumnal months helping the bereaved make giant puppet heads of their late loved ones to wear…
Gulf Guardians
As the Colorado River spills into the Gulf of California, extreme tides hit the warm sea. A constant upwelling of nutrients from the ocean floor feeds an abundance of life in the dynamic ecosystem surrounding Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. For 30 years, Peggy and Richard Boyer have acted as international stewards of this extremely productive yet…
The Skinny
Is Arizona really the meth lab of democracy? … Why your taxes will go up and your job opportunities will go down if you don’t approve Prop 100 … The Southern Arizona Leadership Council has some ideas on how to fix city government … and more
Unequal Opportunity
Truth be told, two pages into this new book on the lives of contemporary Navajo women, I was about to send it back to Tucson Weekly headquarters to be swapped out for a new assignment: It was too arcane, too professorial. “Indian survivance,” “prevalent discourse” and “Foucault” might not grab a whole lot of reader…
Media Watch
Bob Lee joins Silver Circle
City Week
Juice Box art exhibit; My Addiction Gallery grand opening; Orchestras Feeding America benefit concert: “Vive la France!”: “Living in Harmony With the Sun”
Have You Seen Kobe?
Nicole Schwartz didn’t think twice about taking her English bulldog, Kobe, along for the ride as she made a quick trip to pick up some takeout at P.F. Chang’s. Since Schwartz got Kobe in early February, the puppy had been her constant companion. He’d join her for drinks on the patio at Hotel Congress and…
Danehy
As I was telling you last week before I was so rudely interrupted by that word-count thing, I went to the Tea Party rally at El Presidio Park on Tax Day. They had gathered—about seven years too late, by my estimation—to protest what they consider to be excessive government spending, a skewed tax system and/or…
Weekly Wide Web
It’s the social-networking equivalent of someone handing you a note in grade school saying, “Do you like me?” Facebook is asking you to click its new “Like” button. Like, a lot. The button is nothing new to Facebook obsessives; it started appearing on the site a while back as a way to show solidarity with…
Putting Down Roots
May is National Preservation Month, and according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the focus this year is: “Old is the new green.” Supporters of the Mission Gardens on South Grande Avenue believe the proposed project is a perfect example of that theme. “What’s more green than involving and educating the community on the…
Downing
Two weekends ago, while half the Western world was grounded by the volcano in Iceland, it felt good to be hanging around talking aphids in a community garden in east-central Tucson. Somebody had brought an urn of coffee and a dozen cinnamon rolls, and as the giant dill plants came down and the hot-weather vegetables…
Noshing Around
Coming Soon: Sweet Things Cupcake Shoppe; Harvest Moon Moving; CaffeNation Expands; AgaveFest; In-N-Out Burger Update
Sympathy vs. Truth
Even in a room filled with budding barristers, you won’t find many people eager to argue with Trent Munson. The man was nearly killed on March 21, 2008, by a drunk and drugged driver who careened into his motorcycle at more than 100 mph. Today, standing behind the podium at the UA’s James E. Rogers…
Political Insanity
So here’s the situation in Southern Arizona. The Arizona Legislature approves, and Gov. Jan Brewer signs into law, Senate Bill 1070, which was primarily pushed by state Sen. Russell Pearce, who is a racist (or at least someone comfortable with throwing terms like “wetback” around). This all happened even though SB 1070 is blatantly unconstitutional…
Dosh: Tommy (Anticon)
Instrumental music is all about ambiance. Without words, meaning has to be built through sound alone. The large number of choices available through technology creates a challenge: How does one choose wisely and not overload the songs? Dosh, aka Martin Dosh, would answer: through consistent consideration of ambiance. Dosh is a master of construction, using…
Sheriff Dupnik on SB 1070: “I Think It’s Just Racist”
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik talks about SB 1070 on Keith Olbermann’s Countdown. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Update on 47 Scott, Downtown’s Newest Restaurant
Nicole Flowers, the former manager of 58 Degrees and Holding Company, says she and Travis Reese, formerly of the B Line, are teaming up to open the new downtown eatery 47 Scott. Flowers says renovations to the space at 47 Scott Ave. are nearly complete, and the menu is finalized. Expect steaks, burgers, rotating seasonal…
Tucson’s Everyday People: The Furniture Man
Don Dingwall, the furniture man of Arizona Wicker Rattan Workshop, shows off his “rare commodity” of a skill in this multimedia piece by Kevin Cottingham, a UA journalism sophomore.
Welcome to AZ
From cartoonist Mike Peters:
Picture This: Urban Artist
ASHLEY JAMES Joe Pagac, a local artist, gets ready to create a new mural for the Rialto Theatre.
Eclectic Pizza Featured on Sundance Channel
Eclectic Pizza, which won a Best of Tucson® staff pick last year for its gluten-free options, will make an appearance on the Sundance Channel next month. Renee Kreager, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Steve, says the restaurant will be featured in an episode of The Lazy Environmentalist slated to air Tuesday, May 11.…
Artistic Range: George Douglas Belcher
George Douglas Belcher presents Suns Shine, his first solo art show, at 439 N. Sixth Ave., No. 179 (in between Conrad Wilde Gallery and Lulubell Toy Bodega) on Saturday, May 1, from 6 to 10 p.m. Painting, steel and wood sculpture, text work, fabric work, lights and neon. For private viewings on Sunday and Monday,…
Margaret Regan on SB 1070: “The New Law Will Do Nothing To Solve Arizona’s Real and Pressing Border Problems”
Tucson Weekly arts editor Margaret Regan, author of The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona-Mexico Borderlands, weighs in on SB 1070 in the Washington Post: If the law survives the expected legal challenges, SB 1070 will clog the courts and the jails, and tangle the state in turf disputes with the federal government.…
Blood Into Wine Screening Tonight
The Loft screens a documentary about Maynard James Keenan and Eric Glomski’s mission to bring notoriety to Northern Arizona’s wine industry. Blood Into Wine screeningWednesday, April 28 at 7:30 p.m.Loft Cinema3233 E. Speedway Blvd.$8.75 adults The film’s directors will be in attendance. Arizona Stronghold wine will be available by the glass. Here’s a summary, courtesy…
Writer’s Block: K.C. Rolek
My Quest for CreationBy local author K.C. Rolek398 pages$19.99 paperback and $29.99 hardbackXlibris. Summary (per press release): My Quest for Creation reveals that early in life, the author became curious about some of the great aspects of Catholic teaching which his entire family follows. After finding no clear answer to the question, “How did God…
Chris Hillman Talks Bass, Mentoring
Chris Hillman is one of the headliners of this weekend’s Tucson Folk Festival. You can read a full article about him in the April 29 edition. Here are some tidbits we did not have room for in the main story. On the bass:Chris Hillman first came to prominence in 1965 as the bass player for…
New Poll: McCain’s Approval Rating Collapsing
Public Policy Polling has released a new survey in the Arizona Senate race. The numbers are not good for Sen. John McCain: John McCain has had a Charlie Crist like drop in his approval numbers over the last six months, seeing double digit declines in his popularity with Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike. As a…
