Cover Story
The Castro Chronicles
Raúl Castro, the former Arizona governor, opens the front door of his Nogales home even before I can ring the bell. He’s been waiting behind those grand wood doors. Castro is 93. Am I wrong to think that old people, those of a certain generation, those who’ve accomplished things, are just this way? Punctual. Organized.…
Pita Jungle Coming To Tucson
We just heard that Pita Jungle, which has a collection of Mediterranean-smoothie fusion cafés in the Phoenix area, is planning on opening a Tucson branch in the old 58 Degrees & Holding location at Williams Center, Broadway Boulevard and Craycroft Avenue. Andy Seleznov of Larsen Baker tells us the restaurant is optimistic about an April…
State Budget Meltdown: Antenori Vs. Lopez
Rep. Frank Antenori and Sen. Linda Lopez hash out their differences and fill viewers in on the state budget crisis on tonight’s episode of Arizona Illustrated. I stop by to help Bill Buckmaster question our lawmakers. Antenori says a special session is not likely this month. Watch it after the jump.
Grampa Just Needs More Kimchi
I always knew kimchi must have some special powers, because when eaten with brown rice and a little soy sauce, it makes the world a better place. A new study you can read about here says pickled cabbage—kraut or kimchi—is the new Viagra. But wait a sec. According to this article in Wired, rotten eggs…
Center for Biological Wins Alaskan Forest Fight
The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity is one of the environmental groups that have staved off timber sales in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. A key point int the legal fight: The Orion North plan would have cost taxpayers $1,579,880 to build roads into a pristine area for a timber sale in a national forest that…
So This is What a Movie Filmed in Arizona Looks Like
As the No. 4 site for news on the upcoming Arizona-filmed movie Piranha 3-D, we’ve got aerial photos of the gigantic “tank” that was used earlier this summer in Lake Havasu City for the controlled water shots. With a cast that includes Elisabeth Shue, Richard Dreyfuss, Christopher Lloyd and Ving Rhames, it’s the best of…
2010 Homeless Street Count Needs Your Help
Every winter, a group of volunteers does a one-day count of homeless in Tucson–but this winter, the count changes from early morning to evening. Organizers with the Tucson Planning Council for the Homeless recently announced that the 2010 Homeless Street Count will take place next year on Tuesday, Jan. 26, from 6:30 to 9 p.m.…
Grijalva on Senate Health-Care Reform Package: “We Need a Public Option, Period.”
Congressman Raul Grijalva isn’t happy with what he sees happening with health-care reform over in the U.S. Senate. Today’s press release: Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today declared the widely reported compromises in the emerging Senate health care bill “troubling” and “not even reminiscent of a public option.” Senate and White House leaders, he said, “have…
The State’s Fiscal Meltdown Continues
State Treasurer Dean Martin, who may or may not be challenging the troubled Gov. Jan Brewer in next year’s Republican primary in August, shouted out a warning last week: The state has blown through its $700 million dollar credit line and had to dig into some internal accounts for another $73 million. By the way,…
Saguaro Ranch Update Update!
On Thursday, The Range mentioned a Marana Town Council meeting during which neighbors of the Saguaro Ranch development announced they’d filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the town and staff. In an update, we also mentioned neighbors’ concern over Town Manager Gilbert Davidson showing up at the development’s restaurant to a champagne toast—two days after…
Az Gov Race: Trouble Brewing
Gov. Jan Brewer’s fellow Republicans are hammering away at her this week. Yesterday, Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker filed the paperwork for a political committee to oppose a sales-tax hike. (Kudos to Howie for noting the Clean Elections wrinkle that Parker’s committee raises.) Parker’s move here strikes us as a bit of a stunt, since…
Saguaro Ranch Dispute Heads to Federal Court (Update)
On Tuesday night (Dec. 1), neighbors of Stephen Phinny’s Saguaro Ranch development went before the Marana Town Council to not only let them know that they continue to be dismayed at the town officials’ bend-over-backward approach toward a bankrupt developer; they also handed out copies of a 54-page federal lawsuit filed the same day at…
The Skinny
MEET THE NEW BOSS—AND HIS STAFF Democrat Nina Trasoff’s term as the midtown Ward 6 councilwoman comes to an end next Monday, Dec. 7, as Republican Steve Kozachik is sworn in. Kozachik, who doesn’t plan to quit his day job—managing the facilities over at the UA Athletics Department—says a prime focus will be the city’s…
Loss of a Legend
Legendary dancer George Zoritch, who danced with Ballet Russe and other pioneering ballet companies from the 1930s to the 1960s, will be memorialized Sunday in the UA studio where he taught for 14 years. Zoritch, 92, died at St. Mary’s Hospital on Nov. 1, two weeks after a fall at his home on Tucson’s westside,…
Mailbag
Libertarian, Green. Green, Libertarian. Jonathan Hoffman: Are you open to Green Party perspectives (Guest Commentary, Nov. 26)? The key to cooperative residences in any neighborhood is communication. The fact that the Feldman’s Neighborhood Association did exist before developer Mike Goodman planned the mini-dorm development (with the aid of Tucson Development Services) doesn’t mean he ever…
Converge: Axe to Fall (Epitaph)
Converge set the metal-core bar so high with 2001’s Jane Doe—a sci-fi-tinged concept album exploring the idea that heartbreak, at times, is akin to brutal first-degree murder—that the Salem, Mass., quartet has struggled ever since to again reach an epic and unforgettable plateau for aggressive music. Clearly, Axe to Fall aims to recapture a bit…
Humans Are Evil
There are certain movies that, though true works of art, are simply unpleasant to watch. Antichrist is not, for most of its duration, one of those movies. It’s ceaselessly compelling, and though the final sequence is as gruesome as anything in modern cinema (or at least as gruesome as anything outside of the murder-porn genre),…
Police Dispatch
IS THAT A BIKE TUBE IN YOUR PANTS, OR ARE YOU JUST HAPPY TO SEE ME? NORTH LA CHOLLA BLVD. NOV. 8, 11:45 A.M. A drunk and belligerent alleged shoplifter was arrested after stuffing an array of large items into his pants, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report stated. Deputies responded to the Walmart SuperCenter,…
Downhill History
Warren Miller’s Dynasty at Fox Tucson Theatre
Coop Coup
Wes Anderson’s cool quirks and characteristics follow him into the land of stop-motion animation with Fantastic Mr. Fox, an eye-popping, hilarious adaptation of the Roald Dahl children’s book. This is essentially a Wes Anderson movie (Rushmore, Bottle Rocket) with eccentric humans replaced by eccentric figurines. It even has the trademark awesome Wes Anderson soundtrack, featuring…
Return of the Scream
When guitarist Casey Calvert died suddenly at the start of a 2007 tour, Hawthorne Heights naturally came unglued. They had lost a close friend, and their music had lost an important reconciling element: Calvert’s visceral, tormented screams had held the glee-club lilt of the band’s vocal harmonies together with the contrasting despair of their lyrics…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I used to frequent a cantina in Chicago where half the bar patrons were Polack, the other half beaner. The Polacks would speak in their native tongue and either start or finish all of their sentences with the word kurwa. I understand this to mean “whore” in their language. On the other half…
Almost Famous
For many years, Tucsonan Chris O’Dell lived in the magic world of rock ‘n’ roll, surrounded by and friends with musicians many of us have only admired or idolized. It’s all there in her new lively book, Miss O’Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights With The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and…
Soundbites
PRATTLE ABOUT SEATTLE What are the odds that two up-and-coming Seattle bands would each play a free show on successive nights in Tucson? This week, I’d give you even money. First up, on Tuesday, Dec. 7, the Starlings set up shop in the lounge at Plush. The trio—Joy Mills, Tom Parker and Aimee Zoe Tubbs—is…
T Q&A
Dan Brock
Now Showing at Home
Thirst; Public Enemies (Blu-Ray); Paper Heart
Live
Garboski, Mr. Gnome, The Gentlemen of Monster Island
Top Ten in Music
Zia Records top sales for the week
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
Nine Questions
Keli Carpenter
City Week
Backyard Chicken Coop Tour; One-Man-Band Fest; BICAS 14th Annual Art Auction; Phyro-Giants!
In the Game
If for no other reason, you should like Gooch’s Grill because of this statement on Gooch’s MySpace page: “Tucson Weekly is the only reading material we allow in Gooch’s Bar!!” Thankfully, there are also plenty of other reasons to like this Sixth Street sports bar, in the spot formerly known as Belushe’s. There are numerous…
Yellow Fever: Yellow Fever (Wild World)
This little duo from Austin, Texas, is all about reviving the spirit of stripped-down, ’60s California garage on their debut, Yellow Fever. Yellow Fever’s a kitschy band, and sometimes that works in their favor, like on “Donald” or “Joe Brown.” They do come off as gimmicky in some places, especially in their more self-referential moments.…
Danehy
At any stage of life—and particularly at the one I’m currently wandering through—if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. I know this to be true, and I try to live my life accordingly. Why, then, did I find myself standing in a 1,000-person line at a Target store in Marana two hours before sunrise?…
Noshing Around
Pecan Festival The first Sahuarita Pecan Festival is chock full of pecan goodness, but we only have room here for a summary: There will be pecan cooking contests, pecan-flavored horchata, pecan-roasted turkey and chicken, and pecan-laden sweets aplenty. Nut-themed activities will be liberally sprinkled throughout, and there’ll be stands selling everything from fried catfish to…
Orenda Fink: Ask the Night (Saddle Creek)
While 2009 has revealed several incredible indie-folk releases—A.A. Bondy and Imaad Wasif, to name just two—there’s an inevitable saturation point. Sure, recording an intimate set of songs in a weathered barn in upstate New York or in a cramped Williamsburg apartment possesses inherent charms, but how much longer can those of us in search of…
Messina
Spooning takes on a whole new meaning with artist Dale Strong. The 78-year-old landscape painter uses a unique tool to create his works: iced-tea spoons. Strong uses the flattened, shaped spoons instead of brushes or palette knives to paint Western landscapes. I learn about Strong’s life on a sunny Wednesday morning at his home in…
Scrooge No More
Humbug! There. I’ve said it. Not everyone loves this time of year, you know. Oh, people light candles. They chop down perfectly lovely trees; they eat fudge and fruitcake and latkes and sour cream until even the seams of their banquet pants are seriously strained. But this is all a diversion: Darkness is descending, people.…
Guest Opinion
When I was young, my brother Patrick and I were always close. We would play Zelda together, or eat buttered tortillas and watch The Emperor’s New Groove. In 2005, all of that changed. He stopped hanging out at home, and he spent more time with his friends. One night, I was in my room, and…
Top Ten in Books
Antigone Books best-sellers for the week
Last Chance to Kick Out
Some holiday housekeeping matters this week: • If you have not sent in your readers’ Get Out of Town! submission yet, then get on it ASAP, because this is your last chance: The deadline is noon, Wednesday, Dec. 9. Here’s a quick recap of the rules: Try to keep submissions to 150 words or fewer.…
The Latas Paradox
After Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords dispatched former state Sen. Tim Bee by 12 percentage points last year, there weren’t many A-list Republican candidates ready to challenge her in 2010. Instead, four Republicans that few people have even heard of are sniffing around the race: Jesse Kelly, Brian Miller, Andy Goss and Tom Carlson. Of the four,…
Greyhound Runaround
On Oct. 15 (“Ordinance Ignored”), we reported that a Tucson Greyhound Park veterinarian was routinely injecting dogs with anabolic steroids, in direct violation of a new city ordinance forbidding the practice. Those steroids contain hormones that keep female greyhounds from going into heat, but are also believed to cause genital deformities and severe urinary-tract problems.…
Coronado Conundrum
For almost two decades, the historic Coronado Hotel at Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street has provided 42 units of affordable housing to low-income people. But in October, the property was put on the market by its co-owner, the Downtown Development Corporation (DDC), with bids being accepted through Dec. 10. The DDC is paying the Downtown…
Weekly Wide Web
Most of us can’t paint very well—let alone paint very well using eating utensils. Dale Strong does both. For her column this week, Irene Messina spoke with the artist and watched him paint a landscape from start to finish using spoons. Strong has them flattened and shapes the iced-tea spoons himself. He once stuck a…
Media Watch
‘Explorer’ owner close to buying ‘East Valley Tribune;’ KUAT, Tucson 12 clean up at Rocky Mountain Emmys; Media orgs ramp up holiday fundraisers
Masha, Clara or Maria?
The biggest Nutcracker news this year is that the crowded season is extending clear past Christmas. Ballet Tucson, the city’s only professional company, normally stages its classic Victorian version in mid-December. But this year, pushed out of Centennial Hall by the UA budget crisis, Ballet Tucson has decamped downtown to the Tucson Convention Center Music…
Gullies on Mars
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona Different types of gullies Here’s one of the latest photos released by the HiRISE team at the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. This week’s theme is gullies. Ingrid Daubar Spitale tells us: This image covers parts of two different craters, both with gullies in the inner walls. Gullies are a popular target…
Glenn Boyer at Bookfair
Glenn Boyer On Friday, Dec. 4 (6 to 8 p.m.) and Saturday, Dec. 5 (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.), 48 local and regional authors and publishers will be on hand at a bookfair. The event takes place at Arizona History Museum, 949 E. Second St. Visit www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org for more info. One of the authors present…
Jesse Kelly on War, Health Care Reform, Federal Spending and the Rosemont Mine
Republican Jesse Kelly on Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford’s opposition to the Rosemont Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains: “Why does a congresswoman care about what’s going on there when the local politicians and local officials can handle that? Why is she sticking her nose in that, when we have all the business in the world to…
Author Max Blumenthal at Drinking Liberally
Journalist Max Blumenthal, columnist for the Daily Beast, will be the guest at Drinking Liberally this Thursday, Dec. 3. Blumenthal is the author of Republican Gomorrah: Republican Gomorrah is a bestiary of dysfunction, scandal and sordidmess from the dark heart of the forces that now have a leash on the party. It shows how those…
Hotel Coronado Update
Dave Devine files the following report from yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting: The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to move forward with bidding on downtown’s Coronado Hotel. For the last two decades, the building has been used as affordable housing for low-income residents. But in October, the Coronado was put up for sale…
