Cover Story
The Road to UNESCO
The winding, rocky road up to Gary Nabhan’s Patagonia home is definitely not suited for a sedan. It gets pretty hairy a couple of times while creeping up the path going just a few miles per hour upward, but there, at the top of a hill with a beautiful vantage of a couple local farms,…
Janos Wilder’s Carriage House to Offer Cooking Classes, Dim Sum Brunches and More
The James Beard award winning chef and owner of Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails, Janos Wilder, is cooking up something a little different for his newest venture. Rather than opening another restaurant space, Wilder is focusing his efforts on a multi-purpose event space that will host everything from Sunday dim sum brunches to wedding parties to…
REVIEW: Miss Lana Rebel & Kevin Michael Mayfield’s The Midtown Island Sessions
The new album from Miss Lana Rebel and her trusty side-kick multi-instrumentalist Kevin Michael Mayfield is a journey through the past from start to finish. You can hear the ghosts of those nights of excess and the realities of cruel hungover mornings. You can feel the sorrows of your missed chances, sleepless nights and restless…
“Irish Christmas in America” Brings Celtic Cheer to Tucson
“Can you bear with me for 30 seconds?” Oisín Mac Diarmada, Irish fiddler and storyteller par excellence, says by phone from freezing Columbus, Ohio. “I’m after ordering a cup of tea.” Mac Diarmada and his team of Irish musicians—and one California step dancer—are on the “Irish Christmas in America” tour this month, bringing their seasonal…
McCain Would Support Trump If He Were To Win the GOP Nomination
Sen. John McCain tells the Washington Post he’d support Trump if he were to become the GOP’s nominee for president, while Sen. Jeff Flake says there’s no way Trump will win the nomination: The response from the GOP leaders illustrates the tricky position in which Republican leaders find themselves when it comes to the unpredictable…
Cinema Clips: The World of Kanako
The concept is very solid: a disgraced cop faces his toughest and most important case, finding his missing teenage daughter. As he begins to learn that she was no angel, his mission becomes even more heartbreaking. The World of Kanako starts with that premise … and then goes completely nuts. As manic as it is…
City Council OKs Ordinance Requiring Permits to Feed Homeless, Limits Size of Stuff Allowed on Sidewalks
Under a new set of rules approved by the Tucson City Council Tuesday night, the city’s homeless residents are not allowed to have items bigger than 4-cubic feet on the sidewalk, faith groups and others cannot distribute pre-packaged food or beverages at parks without a permit from the city and sidewalks are off limits between…
Win Wildcat Basketball Tickets
We’ve got two pairs of tickets to Wednesday night’s Wildcat basketball game. The game starts at 7 p.m. We’ll draw the winner Wednesday (“tomorrow” from when this was published, “today” if you’re seeing this in your newsletter) at Noon. You have to be able to pick the tickets up at our office (located near the…
YWCA, Partner Organizations Distributing Tampons, Sanitary Napkins to Women in Need
Several local organizations are partnering up to distribute tampons and sanitary napkins to women throughout Pima County living in poverty. Many women and girls in this community cannot even go to work or school when they get their period, because they cannot afford these products—which are quiet expensive, are taxed by state and local governments…
Sometimes I Wish . . .
All kinds of people out there think our classrooms are filled with rotten teachers doing a lousy job with their students. If teachers knew what they were doing, these folks say, if they were anything like what a good teacher should be, they’d get those kids whipped into shape in a hurry. Everyone would work hard, everyone…
Tucson’s Only LGBT Art Space Fluxx Moving Amid Financial Struggles
Tucson’s sole lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community arts space, Fluxx Studio and Gallery, is moving from its current location on 414 E. 9th St.—which has been Fluxx’s home since opening in 2011—amid rising rent, financial struggles, and, well, because the locale is up for sale. In April 2014, Dante Celeiro, executive director of Fluxx,…
Whack A Log, See If It Poops A Treat!
Logs can poop gifts! Who knew? Press release of the day is from Tucson’s Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum and includes this detail: Unique to the event is the Traditional Tio’ de Nadal of Catalonia (“Pooping Log”), a Catalan tradition dating back several centuries. Beginning with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8), the…
Tucson Might Look Into Mandatory Paid Sick Leave, But the Arizona Restaurant Association Isn’t Happy About It
It’s a scenario most of us are familiar with: you’re working at a restaurant or two or three, trying to make enough money to get through college or life in general, and flu season hits. One of your coworkers is out of town, the other is also sick and another just won’t answer their phone.…
Cinema Clips: Don Verdean
Jared Hess makes weird movies. Napoleon Dynamite remains his calling card, although Nacho Libre and the terrible Gentlemen Broncos also fall in that category. Don Verdean is no different: it’s all quirk. However, it’s also borderline unwatchable. It also wastes so much talent, with Sam Rockwell, Amy Ryan, Danny McBride and Jemaine Clement foundering while Hess creakily…
Charlie Needs a Home
Hi I’m Charlie! I’m a 1.5 year old box mix who looooves to play! I love treats and toy and snuggles. I’m a little bouncy boy and very silly but when it comes to treats I’m all business! I know how to sit, lay and shake on command! Everyone calls me a good boy! If you want…
GOP Candidates Lose Lawsuit Attempting To Overturn the City Council Election
This afternoon, after Democrats Shirley Scott, Paul Cunningham and Regina Romero were sworn in for new four-year terms on the Tucson City Council, Pima County Superior Court Judge Gus Aragon ruled that he would not order a new election or declare two of three Republican candidates to be the real winners of the election. Aragon’s…
Let the AzMERIT Shaming Begin
Imagine I’m a public school math teacher, and I just gave my students a test worth 100 points. These classes of mine don’t have strong math skills. With the students needing 50 points to pass, only 14 percent of them make it, and most of the passing students squeaked by just above the cut line,…
McSally Slams Obama’s Address to the Nation: ‘Wasted Opportunity To Show Real Leadership’
Arizona’s U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-CD2) hammered President Barack Obama’s speech on terrorism last night: What we saw tonight was a wasted opportunity to show real leadership on this issue and present a stronger strategy to defeat ISIS. We have not contained ISIS. They’ve grown and metastasized, fueled by our weak efforts to destroy them.…
Govs. Doug Ducey and Jerry Brown Are Fighting Over Guns
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey isn’t happy that California Gov. Jerry Brown criticized Arizona’s lax gun restrictions. AP reports: Asked if stricter gun control laws were warranted, as some activists have argued, the fourth-term Democrat replied, “California has some of the toughest gun control laws of any state. And Nevada and Arizona are wide open, so…
Message From Space: Astronauts Aboard the ISS Urge World Leaders To Save the Planet
Astronaut Scott Kelly and the rest of the crew of the International Space Station have a message for the world leaders gathered in Paris for climate change talks: Save the planet! You can see just how fragile our atmosphere is from way up there. Meanwhile, international correspondent, UA School of Journalism professor and recently crowned…
U.S. Supreme Court Set To Hear Arguments on AZ Statehouse Redistricting
Evan Wyloge of the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting digs into the issues related to the redistricting case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday over whether Arizona’s redistricting commission illegally diluted the voting power of nearly two million Arizonans – specifically Republicans and non-minority voters…
Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel: McLeod and Paton Look Ahead to 2016
ZonaPol12-3-15_1 from Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel on Vimeo. On this week’s episode of Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel: Former state lawmaker Jonathan Paton and Democratic strategist Rodd McLeod look back at some of the biggest stories of 2015 and share a political forecast of 2016: We unpack the rise of Trump and what it…
Wilko’s New Menu Serves Up Intricate French-Inspired Fare
There’s this unique thing that happens when you try a dish that’s so well composed and executed that it instigates a weird little epiphany (comme “la petite mort,” n’est-ce pas?) of what food can be. It’s the kind of experience that, once you’ve had it, you’re forever chasing the moment to come across it once…
Blow Your Mind at Exploded View Saturday Night
Legendary erotica photographer Eric Kroll is presenting a show tomorrow night featuring the work of Nam June Paik, as well as Kroll’s own photos of Paik. Kroll explains Paik’s influence on him: When I was a young man in Manhattan taking photographs of anything that moved, for myself and for anyone that would publish the…
Ducey and His Ed Council Have Some Education Beachfront Property They Want to Sell You
We should pay our teachers more, Governor Ducey says, so long as it doesn’t cost the state any new money. We’re getting little bursts of information out of Ducey’s Classroom First Initiative Council about proposals they plan to make to the governor, and the bursts often sound pretty good. The council makes all kinds of pro-public…
Video Premier: BRYDES’ ‘Catcall’ Melds Upbeat Pop with ’80s Style
Tucson electro-pop trio BRYDES are back with their second music video, and this one, directed by Caleb Jackson, puts an aesthetic to that ’80s pop revival sound BRYDES (à la Haim, Chairlift) has been working with. Starting with VFX that’d be at home in any “Miami Vice” episode and bookended by two freeze frames, the…
Spend 45 Minutes Drinking Whisky With (a Video of) Nick Offerman
Having a tough time getting into the holiday spirit? Get your hands on some whisky (it doesn’t have to be the one in this 45 minute advertisement), an arm chair and a fireplace and stare into Nick Offerman’s eyes for almost an hour. Then try and tell me you’re not feeling jolly.
Tucson is the Best Place for “Everyday” and “Bearded” Biking
Good news for people who like to creep on bearded dudes on bikes all day, every day: you’re right where you need to be to maximize your creepability. That’s because People for Bikes released the results of their newest cycling statistics, and Tucson ranks highest on both bearded bikers and everyday cycling. According to the…
Forget the Marathon, Refresh Your Star Wars Knowledge in Three Minutes
Break out the lightsabers, nerds, because it’s almost time for the next Star Wars film. Can’t squeeze in a seven movie marathon in the next few weeks? Don’t want to get Star Warsed out before the new movie is released? Or perhaps you can’t bring yourself to watch Episodes I, II and III? Well, Eclectic…
Flora All Aglow
Kick off the holiday season at Tucson’s favorite public garden with Luminaria Nights.
Police Dispatch
A man apparently loved his job so much that he refused to leave when fired—even though he was only a minimum-wage worker at a fried-chicken fast-food joint.
Cultural Multitude
The Santa Cruz Valley has always been full a multitude of rich cultures throughout it’s history, and you can celebrate them all this weekend.
Police Dispatch
A brave homeowner stood up to a massive man with a big truck and several guns when that man started shooting pigeons in his quiet neighborhood.
Transportation Artwork
Celebrates everything bicycle at BICAS annual art auction
Solution Wanted
Frustration is building among a group of UA employees over the exclusion of transgender-related care in the university’s health insurance plan.
Heart of Darkness
On a rainy gray day in the late 1960s, a new black prisoner arrived at a Texas penitentiary. Flanked by a pair of white officials, his hands in cuffs, the man held his head down as he walked past the guard tower, through the puddles in the yard, on toward the living nightmare where he…
The Jokes of Christmas Past
Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!) makes fun of the holiday classics that are trotted out every year for our Yuletide pleasure from Frosty the Snowman to It’s a Wonderful Life.
Editor’s Note
Hey there, teachers.
Cry, Cry Baby
In some quarters, the free concert at Altamont Speedway marks the end of the 1960s. Chronologically, it’s very close—Dec. 6, 1969—but the argument goes that the optimism and spirit of the 1960s died that day, along with four concertgoers. The violent concert took place fewer than 120 days after Woodstock, perhaps the late high point…
Fly Girl: Katie Haverly
After two records fronting the groove-and-R&B-oriented Copper & Congress, Katie Haverly set her sights on a new sound that would fit an intensely personal set of new songs.
¡Viva La Tradición!
Longtime mariachi musician and admirer Jesús “Chuy” Guzmán is afraid commercialism will end up killing the beautiful traditions of his Mexican heritage.
The Skinny
Unsuccessful Republican candidates ask a judge to toss out the results of last month’s city election, Arizona Attorney General wants to remove chairwoman of the Arizona Corporation Commission over telecom lobbying gig
B-Sides: Pushing Buttons
It’s the driving force behind your favorite song that makes you move, intentional or not—it’s the beat.
Media Watch
The Millennial generation often gets a rap for its relentless focus on self. With access to social media and other technologies, no group in the history of the species has seemed more internally focused and in need of constant affirmation than Millennials.
B-Sides: Lluvia Flamenco
Coming down from Phoenix, Flamenco Por La Vida is showcasing their third annual works in traditional flamenco music and dance stylings with Lluvia Flamenco.
Danehy
Have you ever come across something in your community of which you were previously unaware and then, with a little digging, found that it has not only been around for a long time, but it has its own little thriving sub-society?
B-Sides: Tucson Rock Lottery
You might not be the gambling kind, but it seems several of Tucson’s musicians from a range of different musical persuasions are.
Pleasure Activist
If you’re lucky, you may have some down time over the holidays to sink into your favorite spot on the couch under a warm blanket while catching up on some of your cherished reading. I thought I’d share a review of one of my favorite sex & relationship books: Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel.
Gone Gourmand
Like the book’s author says, “I’ve been eating since I was a child.”
Dust Devil
A slight wince means they define “desert” as sand and thorns.
Docs at the Loft
Our city is home to plenty of interesting people, but only 14 were chosen for visual short’s by the UA School of Theatre, Film and Television students
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Tell us about the origin of the grito. No, not the one done in September to celebrate independence, but the one belted out during passionate rancheras like Chente’s “Volver, Volver.” Where did they start? What’s their purpose?
Patron saint of celebration
Celebrate the patron saint of Mexico
Tucson Salvage
They swing open the glass door and step inside, sometimes in groups, or sometimes solo, and sometimes an hour passes and no one shows at all. There are stoner skateboarders and soon-to-be career drunks procuring St. Ides in the can and ex-cons with teardrop tats holding diapered babies. There are blue-collars pulling up in tool-stuffed…
