Cover Story
Radical Predictions
Most of us have figured out by now that we are toast: Humanity will be wiped out by an asteroid, supernova, massive volcanic eruptions, global axis shift, some untreatable virus, nuclear war or climate change. Our sun is going supernova. We’ve seen the disaster movies, read the books and laughed at the cartoons.
Celebrate 240 Years of Tucson at Mission Gardens with Breakfast and Heritage Plants
Tucson might be expanding and changing every day, but over at Mission Gardens they’re dedicated to keeping the city’s heritage alive through their work in maintaining heritage plantlife and native seeds. On Sunday, August 23, you can celebrate the garden’s growth and Tucson’s 240th birthday all in one go while donating to the Mission Gardens…
Tucson Author, Filmmaker Explores Changes Along the Borderlands in Book ‘The Haunting of the Mexican Border’
The present U.S.-Mexico borderlands bring documentary filmmaker and author Kathryn Ferguson tremendous melancholy. A Tucsonan by birth, Ferguson remembers the days when she and her family would drive down to Nogales for even the simplest craves, such as a cup of coffee. There were no walls or armed men in uniform patrolling the frontier; people…
EPA: TUSD is No. 2 on Top 30 K-12 Schools Generating Green Power
Tucson Unified School District is getting some national recognition for its renewable energy usage. The Environmental Protection Agency ranked the Old Pueblo’s largest school district number 2 of the country’s top 30 K-12 schools generating the most green power. The district also placed 12 on the top 30 for green power production in the entire country.…
Happy Birthday, Cup Cafe!
The Cup Cafe at Hotel Congress continues its 25th birthday celebration with a throwback special: the Maximilian, a roasted turkey melt with asadero cheese, avocado, chipotle line crema and New Mexico green chiles on a croissant. Available through Aug. 16.
As Goes Kansas, So Goes Arizona?
Governor Ducey hopes to eliminate the income tax. He wants to continue cutting business taxes, which, according to him and fellow conservatives, will bring businesses streaming to Arizona by the U-Haul-load. He wants to change the school funding formula to reward “success,” a term he hasn’t defined. Same with Kansas. An article in this week’s NY Times Magazine,…
Earn Your Treasure: Get in The Running For Our Summer Passport Giveaway
Do you love drinking and buying things with other people’s money? Of course you do, that’s The Dream. It’s also why you’re going to want to get started on your Summer Passport. We’ve talked about this a few times, but here’s the deal: We’ve got about $2,000 in gift cards and prizes from Tucson businesses.…
AzMERIT: Expect Increased Proficiency Inequality
The first shoe has dropped. The unofficial AzMERIT scores for the state have been released, and, as most people expected, fewer students made it above the cut score—were declared Proficient—than with the earlier AIMS test. We were told AzMERIT was going to be a tougher test, so it makes sense that the proficiency rate would go…
Marijuana Policy Project: 50,000 Signatures Down for Arizona Legal Weed Initiative
The Marijuana Policy Project has gathered 50,000 signatures in the past 10 weeks for its ballot measure to legalize recreational weed in Arizona. The initiative would allow for adults 21 and over to buy, posses and even cultivate marijuana. There’ll also be the opportunity to get retail licenses and revenue from taxation would go toward…
Christopher Guest Returns With a New Mockumentary
For those of you who have been re-watching “This is Spinal Tap” or “Best in Show,” quietly praying that mockumentary king Christopher Guest would return to his forte, rejoice. Netflix announced today that Guest would be joining their growing list of big time movie folks creating smart, funny and popular originals for their streaming service.…
STD Rates in Tucson Aren’t the Worst, But They Aren’t the Best
As a city we have received some big time press lately from the likes of the New York Times heralding Tucson as a hip place to live. From our vintage neon signs to rapidly growing Downtown, to our fine food and local beer establishments, we have gotten some pretty cool accolades. We were named fourth…
Chicago Teachers Union Pissed at Tucson Writer Over Political Erotica Novel
The Chicago Teachers Union is pissed at a Tucson writer—who goes by the pseudonym Gabby Matthews—over a political erotica novel he wrote about a teachers strike that shut down part of Chicago’s public school system for about a week back in 2012. The union has told the author they do not want to be associated with…
Garboski Celebrates Tucson Summer with ‘Nothing’s Funny I’m Broke’ Video
It may not be a clip from Tucson’s official visitor’s bureau, but the new music video from Garboski certainly captures that je ne sais quoi of a summer in the heat-baked desert. Directed by Dave Mertz, the video for “Nothing’s Funny I’m Broke” is all frolic, all the time for Garboski and friends. But that frolicking—like this…
Twisted Tandoor to Open Brick and Mortar Location
It’s no secret that one of Tucson’s top food trucks and also tastiest purveyors of Indian cuisine are all one thing called Twisted Tandoor. What you might not know, though, is owner Mukhi Singh is planning to turn his popular roadside eatery into a full blown restaurant. According to Singh, Twisted Tandoor just penned the…
Obon To Offer Sushi, Ramen, Steam Buns and Craft Cocktails Starting Thursday (MENU)
There isn’t any sushi in downtown Tucson since On a Roll closed off Congress Street in July and there definitely isn’t any ramen. But that’s all about to change with Goodness Juice Bar owner Brandon Katz’s newest venture. Obon, a casual Japanese fusion dining spot located in the former Gio Taco space, will offer both…
Momma, Big Boy and Gri Gri Need a Home
This entrancing trio will steal your heart! Momma, Big Boy, and Gri Gri have been looking for their forever home since March of 2014! This bonded trio is very well mannered and has lots of love to give. They will snuggle their way into your family! Momma, Big Boy, and Gri Gri all have to…
The Great, The Bad and The Ludicrous
I asked readers to name movies and TV series with teachers in prominent roles or important secondary roles. Here’s what you’ve offered so far, in chronological order (the TV show dates are when they first aired). More! More! Keep ’em coming. Boy’s Town (1938) Good-bye Mr. Chips (1939) How Green Was My Valley (1941) Our…
The Humane Society is Getting $5k (and 50,000 Meals) Thanks to Your Votes
Remember a few weeks back when I told you to go vote for Tucson as the “Top City for Pets.” Well, thanks for listening! We won! And now the Humane Society of Southern Arizona is getting some cash! Woo! PetSmart’s Pet360.com hosted its first “Pet Parents’ Choice Awards.” Based on user votes, Tucson took the top…
Two Nights of Entertainment at the Tophoy Brings Bands, Food, Beer and More to Hoff Avenue
There’s quite a bit going on off Hoff Avenue these days. You might have thought of the small side street just east of Fourth Avenue as an alley, but with the recent openings of both Ermanos and Public Brewhouse, the tucked back street is starting to take shape as something more. To celebrate, the new…
Phoenix TV Station Gets It Right About BASIS
CBS 5 – KPHO KPHO Phoenix has the kind of report about BASIS charter schools I’ve wanted to see in the MSM for a long time. Yes, it says, BASIS schools are strong academically and have a rigorous curriculum, but they shouldn’t be compared directly to other public schools because of their selective student bodies. It’s…
Acacia Offers Three Courses on the Cheap for Early Eaters
Although I’ve already rounded up some of my favorite spots to drop in for happy hour downtown, those definitely aren’t the only spots in Tucson where you can enjoy some evening eats on the cheap. Through the end of August, Acacia Real Food & Cocktails is serving up a Sunset Menu every day that will…
Meet Tucson Republican Candidate for Ward II Kelly Lawton
Recently, Kelly Lawton, Republican candidate for Tucson City Council in Ward II, held a campaign event. It was a sort of meet and greet the main event being a bicycle ride. I wondered, “What might a Republican bicycle ride look like? Will they pull $99 department store bikes from the beds of their 4WD pickup…
Raúl Grijalva: Hey Postal Service, Consolidation & Closure of Cherrybell Mail Center is Bad News, Don’t Do It
U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva wants the U.S. Postal Service to acknowledge that back-scaling operations (and ultimately closing) at the Cherrybell mail center has had a terrible effect on the Tucson community. Grijalva led members of the Arizona congressional delegation in sending a bipartisan letter to Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan, asking her to respond to the…
Tucson’s 240th Bday Coming Up: Check Out UA Exhibit Showcasing City’s History, Urbanization
Tucson’s 240th birthday is approaching, and you should head to this new exhibit with historic photos, maps and memorabilia of the Old Pueblo to celebrate it. The University of Arizona Libraries’ Special Collections Gallery is hosting “Tucson: Growth, Change and Memories” starting Aug. 18—two day’s before Tucson’s b-day on Aug. 20—through January of next year,…
Pleasure Activist
Jessy Schmidt is here to teach us about pegging.
Editor’s Note
Mari says she and her ex-husband are lucky their kid actually likes spending time with them. The mother-of-one has been bracing herself for today, her son’s first day of high school.
MMJ/Legalization Opinion
Law enforcement was designed to protect our communities, but marijuana prohibition—and the drug war as a whole—has become an overbearing distraction towards the maintaining of public safety.
Dust Devil
Yearning for an enlightened future where all energy is harvested and recycled and never wasted.
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Gabacho: While I’m sure you’re asking this from a good place in your corazón, this is the exact sentiment expressed by Know Nothings like Donald Trump—you know, his whole “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best.
Police Dispatch
An elderly woman, indubitably drunk and on drugs, caused a scene in a pub using a pool ball and some pretty rough language—before fleeing to her car to scream in the parking lot, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report.
For the Birds
The natural beauties of our state, the unique plants and animals, are something to be proud of.
Police Dispatch
A north-side apartment dweller buddied up with an odd-seeming neighbor only to become the victim of regular beatings (on her door), a PCSD report stated.
All in the Hips
Perhaps the most famous pelvis of all belongs to the King, Elvis Presley.
Total Recall
With roughly 15,000 signatures needed for each member by Nov. 19, Brian Sauber knows it’s a challenge. But his discontent for what he sees as a corrupt board majority is fueling his effort.
Wear your Love on your Book Sleeve
Hey book lovers, if the Festival of Books can’t come soon enough for your literary desires, fear not
Guest Opinion
The Barrio Hollywood Neighborhood Association President writes the area has received attention lately regarding a change in the membership of the Barrio Hollywood Neighborhood Association. Local media aired and published accounts and I credit them for time extended to seek out my perspective as president of the association. Not so with the Tucson Weekly.
To Book or Not to Book
If someone told you there was an exhibition of paper works at the UA Poetry Center, you’d mostly likely expect to see books. With poems in them. Written on paper.
Letter to the Editor
A reader writes the proposal by Joe Boogaart to raise the sales tax to pay for road repairs seems be driven more by polling than by logic.
Epic Musical
Writer Germaine Shames was once asked by an interviewer, “When did you become a writer?” “I’ve always been a writer,” she replied. I asked Shames about that declaration in a recent telephone interview. “I’ve always had a sort of narration going on in my head. I’ve always felt like I was a little on the…
Danehy
This political season is going to be different from the past. Tired of having their candidates embarrassed by tough questions, the Republican Party and Fox News (if you’ll pardon the redundancy) have taken control of the process. From now on, the questions will run the gamut on the hardness scale all the way from beach…
Awful Places
For the second time in a year, a Gillian Flynn novel has been made into a movie. While David Fincher’s (Gone Girl) was some kind of masterpiece, Dark Places, based on Flynn’s second novel, is bloody awful.<
Media Watch
Brett Spigel, who worked in radio in Tucson and Phoenix, died last month from complications related to a brain tumor. Spigel was an instrumental component of the short-lived but popular hip-hop station Power 1490 AM.
B-Sides: REVERIE
Blending ambient, dreamy keys, hard beats and some fluid real talk, REVERIE makes underground hip hop accessible.
B-Sides: Lindsey Stirling
Frenetic, energetic and new with moments of timelessness, Phoenix-area violinist Lindsey Stirling puts on a show like no one else.
5 O’Clock Somewhere
As the dog days of summer fill out their final days this month, you might find yourself on a tight budget. Just because your funds are low, though, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some of Tucson’s best food and drink.
B-Sides: Amanda X
With their 2014 release amnesia, the Philadelphia trio known as Amanda X showed a range of moody, jammy, yet still upbeat tunes that dart from post-punk to riot grrrl and garage with droney guitars, pounding drums and wailing vocals.
Thrifters Rejoice
For antique and thrift shoppers, the thrill comes in the hunt. Searching through the racks of thrift stores for that one special treasure at a bargain is true living. For four days every month, Gather A Vintage Market, 657 W. St. Marys Road, ensures antique hunters find a treasure every time. The market works a…
Summer is For the Dogs
For many of us, there is no better walking partner than a dog.
Homecoming King: Gabriel Sullivan
In the recent past, Tucson singer-songwriter Gabriel Sullivan has become somewhat of a ghost. No, maybe not a ghost, but let’s call him a part-time ex-pat working behind the scenes. Maybe ghost was better.
Emotion Unveiled: Marriages
Multi-instrumentalist and composer Emma Ruth Rundle is in a mood. It may change in the span of a heartbeat or two, but it’s never far from something like a storm-clouded beach with a single seagull circling, perhaps screaming. There may or may not be a carcass involved. Or a brooding flock of carnal impulses.
