Cover Story
Guys Gone Wild!
Tiger and his mistresses! Gov. Mark Sanford and the Appalachian Trail! Sir Charles Barkley and his late-night blow jobs! We’re wrapping up the first decade of the 21st century in the same way we ended the last decade of the 20th: being preoccupied with the sex lives of the rich and famous. Sure, there was…
Picture This: Baby Steps
MARKUS STEINHAUSER Kim Pewitt lifts her daughter Presley up while skating on an ice rink on Union Square in San Francisco on Tuesday, Jan. 5. This was Presley’s first time on ice skates.
Iron Chef Tucson 2010
Reigning champion Chef Ramiro Scavo of Zona 78 and Harvest Restaurant will take on Chef Miciah Beard of Bob’s Steak and Chop House at Omni Tucson National Resort at this year’s Iron Chef Tucson competition. The competition goes down at 5:30 p.m., Sunday, January 17, at Desert Diamond Casino (Pima Mine Road and Interstate 19).…
No Rental Tax, No Public Safety Layoffs
The Tucson City Council has voted unanimously to block a rental tax and any public safety layoffs. They are still considering other options for balancing the city budget. More to come.
Political Face-Off: Rabago vs. Ash
Arizona Illustrated anchor Bill Buckmaster moderates the monthly throwdown between Republican Bruce Ash and Democrat Vince Rabago. It’s Vince’s swan song as he retires from Arizona Illustrated to prepare for a run for Arizona attorney general later this year. He’ll be replaced by Paul Eckerstrom, who used to sit in on the Face-Off when he…
Uhlich: No Support for Rental/Landlord Tax “At This Time”
It appears that City Manager Mike Letcher has not found much support from the Tucson City Council for a tax on residential rental payments, which raises the question of why he’d even bring it up, knowing that it would bring a mammoth crowd out the Tucson Convention Center for tomorrow’s City Council meeting. Ward 3…
Glassman: “End Discussion About the Rental Tax”
Ward 2 City Councilman Rodney Glassman has issued a statement expressing his opposition to City Manager Mike Letcher’s proposed tax on residential rental payments: This Tuesday the City Manager has proposed a “rentaltax” of 2% to be applied to properties with three or more rental units.I DISAGREE. I opposed the rental tax last time it…
Congratulations to Councilwoman Regina Romero
Congratulations to Tucson City Councilwoman Regina Romero, who gave birth to a daughter, Luciana Reyes, this morning. Romero is married to Ruben Reyes, an aide to Congressman Raul Grijalva. Best wishes to mother and daughter! (We gotta say: This is the best excuse we’ve heard to avoid tomorrow’s contentious council meeting over the proposed rental…
Rabago AG Announcement Imminent?
Democrat Vince Rabago is making his final appearance on KUAT’s Arizona Illustrated’s Political Face-Off tonight, against Republican Bruce Ash. Rabago, who now works as an assistant attorney general here in Tucson, is leaving the show so he can pursue new frontiers. We suspect that includes a run for Attorney General this year. We’ll post the…
Napolitano’s Dumb Political Move
Janet Napolitano is under fire from all directions after her dumb comment that “the system worked” following the assbomber incident in Detroit. But even more dumb may have been her decision to take the job in the first place. Here’s Ross Douthat of The New York Times: Why on earth did she ever take this…
Picture This: Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon
MARKUS STEINHAUSER Elephant seals bask in the warm sunlight on Highway 1 up the sunny coast of California.
Picture This: Happy New Year From San Diego
MARKUS STEINHAUSER Vien Ngo and Jennifer Davis watch the last glimpses of daylight, and the first sunset of the new decade, at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego, on Friday, Jan. 1.
Happy New Year From Mars
A few new HiRISE images of Mars from the UA’s Lunar and Planetary Lab to start the new year: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona NASA/JPL/University of Arizona The upper shot shows dark sand covering bright bedrock in the Terra Meridiani region of Mars. Nathan Bridges of the LPL tells us: The MER Opportunity rover is currently exploring…
Resistance to Rental Tax, AKA Landlord Tax
Trouble is brewing for City Manager Mike Letcher’s proposed tax on residential rent payments. The Arizona Multihousing Association is promising to bring a crowd to the City Council meeting next Tuesday, Jan. 5. The meeting, BTW, has been moved from the council chambers at City Hall to the Tucson Convention Center to accommodate the hundreds…
Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard: One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Music From Kerouac’s Big Sur (F-Stope/Atlantic)
This unlikely duo visits coastal California as well as a bygone era, reaching out in devotion to a shared hero. With lyrics plucked from Kerouac’s 1962 novel Big Sur, the songs mostly stick close to a laid-back country-rock formula. It’s no surprise that the Farrar-sung tunes lean toward his brooding style, while the Gibbard-sung tunes…
More Updates!
The news in 2009 was full of lessons in patience and tenacity—traits that all good underdogs need. Having the right traits, however, doesn’t mean that you always win. Mike Hines has been leading a crusade to get the city of Tucson to allow BMX bicycles at the skate park at Santa Rita Park, and after…
It’s Over-Complicated
While there are some good laughs in It’s Complicated, the latest from writer-director Nancy Meyers, the film is actually done in by a surprising culprit of bad overacting—none other than the ever-reliable Meryl Streep. I could not stand Streep here. The movie is bubble-headed, and she treats it like bad Shakespeare. While others in the…
Danehy
It’s not every year that New Year’s Eve falls on a Thursday, the day the Tucson Weekly officially comes out (although I generally start getting hate mail late Wednesday afternoon). In fact, it’s not even once every seven years, although I assume that over an infinite number of years, it would average out to that.…
Now Showing at Home
The Cove; Family Guy Presents: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side; District 9; Paranormal Activity
Messina
Long before the phrase “Rio Nuevo” became part of the vernacular in the Old Pueblo, a true downtown success story was born. It was 1979 when a dreamer from Illinois arrived in Tucson with his wife, Paula, to bring collegiate ice hockey to the desert. Some people laughed, but Leo Golembiewski—or Coach G., as he…
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
Weekly Wide Web
Somehow, 2009 managed to be both a year of change and not enough change downtown. While it’s easy to focus on the lack of change (i.e., there’s still that giant hole) it was good to see the reopening of the Fourth Avenue underpass (even if it came in appallingly over budget) and the beginning of…
More or Less Abstract
The current exhibition at Davis Dominguez Gallery overlaps two time periods: It began in the old year, and will end in the new. Likewise, the two artists in the show are at a cusp, giving up former habits and moving into new terrain. But the two painters, Joanne Kerrihard and Tim Murphy, are going in…
Guest Opinion
I grew up in an old icehouse on Jackson Street in Phoenix that my parents had turned into a place where artists can exhibit experimental artwork. My parents, both working artists, have renovated the Icehouse consistently for 20 years, excavating the inside to expose cork walls, taking off the roof to fit my dad’s art…
Live
The Great Cover-Up
New Rules
A New Year is (almost here), so—with apologies to Bill Maher—it seems like a good time for some new rules. 1. Please spell-check your death threats before you send them in. Folks, it’s bad form to be incoherent and sloppy when threatening the life of an altweekly editor. (It’s also worth noting that death threats,…
Nine Questions
Matt Marcus
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Why in the hell does everything have to be in English and Spanish? I ride the bus/train to work (not because I must, but because it’s more efficient), and every time someone requests a stop, you hear, “stop requested,” then this parrar bullshit! Not to mention the schools are packed with ESL students…
Top Ten in Music
The 17th St. Guitar and World Music Store top sales for the week
Mailbag
Claim: Winterhaven Water Guest Commentary Needed Some Fact-Checking My husband and I have been Winterhaven neighborhood residents for the past five years. I am also the “new-comer chair” on the Winterhaven board, and my specific job is to welcome new neighbors when they move in and answer any and all questions. I was disappointed by…
T Q&A
Melissa Shaner and Jennifer McCaig
The Skinny
THE OLD PUEBLO BLUES Tucson City Manager Mike Letcher revealed his strategy to handle the city’s $32 million shortfall this week—and the options are grim. Letcher, who wants the City Council to vote on a plan next Tuesday, Jan. 5, laid out a framework most council members will not be eager to support. For starters,…
Police Dispatch
DOG FORGIVE YOU EAST MILTON ROAD DEC. 8, 7:50 A.M. An eastside homeowner fought with a passer-by—and his poor dog suffered when it intervened, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. The reportee said he had been inside his house when his dogs began “barking like crazy,” so he went into his yard to…
Media Watch
Citizen’s demise tops list of year’s big media stories
Irritated?
Lewis Black says he has been locked indoors for the better part of December, as he works on a new book—and he needs to leave the house before he gets too irritable. If you’re familiar with Black’s work, that statement might seem odd. His work—standup, television appearances, books, etc.—is basically one giant, irritated rant. Black…
Soundbites
NEW YEAR’S NOTES In case you missed it, most of the music-centric New Year’s Eve events going on around town were covered in last week’s issue, so we won’t be covering those here. But we will quickly mention a couple New Year’s Eve programming notes that came in after deadline for that article. (You can…
City Week
Eat Pizza, Buy Art Art for the Heart of Peace Institute 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily, through Sunday, Feb. 14 Eclectic Pizza 7065 E. Tanque Verde Road 886-0484 Does it sound fun to enjoy pizza and admire artwork, all while doing a good deed? That’s exactly what folks are doing these days at Eclectic…
Asian Treats
In her best-selling book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, Jennifer 8. Lee explores the complexities of Chinese food in America. Parts read like a text book (check there’s even a bibliography and chapter notes), but overall, the book is a great read and made me hanker for some Chinese food. Trouble is, until recently, the Chinese…
City Week: New Years Events
Old West for the New Year Santa’s Little Outlaws Stunt Show 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Trail Dust Town 6541 E. Tanque Verde Road 296-4551; www.wildweststuntshow.com So Santa came to town, and while he was using the outhouse, lovable outlaws Ringo and Darla accidentally knocked him out. Now the pair is dressed in Santa’s clothes and…
Noshing Around
Ai Bistro Check out the Art Institute of Tucson’s student-run restaurant, Ai Bistro (5099 E. Grant Road). Instructor Jenny MacArthur says the eatery/school serves lunch (reservations only) from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday. Three courses go for $10.95, and because the menu changes every week, and students are continuously graduating, “It’s really…
Hidden Agenda?
No one can knock the numbers. In recent years, students at Tucson’s Sonoran Science Academy have secured stellar scores in math, science and other categories. The academy has earned glowing mentions in national magazines such as U.S. News and World Report, and in 2009, was deemed Charter School of the Year by the Arizona Charter…
Watching the Skies
As Las Vegas unveils its latest bunch of light-polluting mega-hotels, it’s comforting to know that, especially in Tucson, there’s still plenty of opportunity for Southwest denizens to stroll down the street at night, gaze up at the stars and be in awe of something greater than our little green globe. More to this point, a…
Holopaw: Oh, Glory. Oh, Wilderness. (Bakery Outlet)
After two albums of wispy, hushed folk with electronic atmospherics, Holopaw, for all intents and purposes, disbanded. Only vocalist John Orth and guitarist Jeff Hays remained. Yet after recruiting a handful of new members and a smattering of additional players, the group fleshed out its sound with the usual suspects (guitars, bass, drums) and further…
Purple Haze
When Sadie Pendleton dyed a streak of her hair purple, she was just trying to express herself. But she did the dye job right before the beginning of the school year, and once she walked through the halls of Desert Sky Middle School in the Vail School District, Sadie and her parents learned that her…
Top Ten in Books
Antigone Books best-sellers for the week
Loren Dircks: Killing the Magic (Oranguitwang)
Loren Dircks knows how to keep listeners guessing. The singer-songwriter and wild-guitar tamer, who for years led Gila Bend, recently released a new solo CD on his own imprint, Oranguitwang. And the first two tracks on the album are enough to make longtime G-Bend fans wonder, if only briefly, whether Dircks has put aside twangin’…
Updates!
In tumultuous economic times, added attention is often given to the fundamentals of American life. These basics—food, shelter, employment and democracy—were the focus of numerous stories during the past year. One article looked at the growing number of people relying on nonprofit agencies for assistance (“More Poor,” March 12). It noted the Community Food Bank…
Making More Lists
Our annual saga of music Top 10 lists kicked off last week, and now we present to you the thrilling conclusion of Our Favorite Albums of 2009. JARRET KEENE (in no particular order) A.A. Bondy, When the Devil’s Loose (Fat Possum) Christ-haunted doom-folk with one hand on the Bible and the other on a loaded…
Picture This: Markus Steinhauser’s Winter Wonderland, Con’t
MARKUS STEINHAUSER Light shines into Antelope Canyon in Paige, Ariz., on Wednesday, Dec. 23. Antelope Canyon attracts thousands of visitors each year MARKUS STEINHAUSER A snow-covered Bryce Canyon, Utah, offers a nice view of the canyon.
New Restaurants at Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain
The new Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain (15000 N. Secret Springs Drive, Marana)—which opened Friday, Dec. 18, with a ceremony that included an address by Gov. Jan Brewer and the release of 72 white doves—has three new restaurants that are open to the public. Check out CORE Kitchen and Wine Bar here. Information about Ignite, a fire-themed…
Picture This: Winter Wonderland by Markus Steinhauser, Con’t
Markus Steinhauser The first glimpses of the morning sun illuminate rock formations at Inspiration Point in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, on Thursday, Dec. 24. Markus Steinhauser Patches of snow cover the trail to the Canyon Lookout in Zion National Park, Utah, on Thursday, Dec. 24. Markus Steinhauser Icicles cover the walkway to the Weeping…
Picture This: Winter Wonderland by Markus Steinhauser
Markus Steinhauser Madeline Madilynody covers her face against the blowing snow as her father Jeff carries her to Mather Point at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Ariz., on Tuesday, Dec. 22. The Madilynodys, from Los Angeles, were visiting the Grand Canyon the first time. Markus Steinhauser A view over the Grand Canyon at…
Picture This: Markus Steinhauser
markus Steinhauser Markus Steinhauser John deDios from the UA School of Journalism sends over some student work for you to check out. He tells us that Markus Steinhauser “is an exchange student from Switzerland and he is studying Media and Communications at his school. He did his project on Life In America through the eyes…
