Cover Story
State of the Brew-nion
Five years of explosive growth in Tucson’s craft beer scene means change is coming
Talking Comics: Grant Morrison X Inception= NAMELESS edition!
Welcome back comic book folks! This week in Talking Comics, Cynthia and Malcolm review NAMELESS! Story by Grant Morrison, with art by Chris Burnham and Nathan Fairbairn. You’re going to want to pay attention to this one! It’s all about dreams and has a few parallels to the 2010 movie “Inception.” Also, there are fishpeople. Saving the world through…
Remembering Charles Bowden
Chicago writer Will Gosner pens a remembrance to the late Charles Bowden: “Nature” is a word that Bowden actively disparages, but his books are filled with dirt, plants, woods, rivers, and oceans, and Some of the Dead Are Still Breathing teems with animals. And while he couches his move west in all the seductive mythos…
Supporters of Rosa Robles Loreto Kickoff New Tactic Pressuring the Feds to Gut Her Deportation Order
Every wooden bench at Southside Presbyterian Church filled up today as supporters of Rosa Robles Loreto, who’s been living in sanctuary there for more than six months, launched a new tactic to pressure federal immigration officials to close her case so that she can go home to her two children and husband without fearing deportation.…
Catch the Trailer Park Boys at the Fox Theatre on Feb. 20
Bubbles, Ricky and Julian have left the trailer park and are coming to Tucson to present their comedic variety show “Still Drunk, High and Unemployed.” The actors from the cult Canadian TV show Mike Smith (Bubbles), John Paul Tremblay (Julian) and Robb Wells (Ricky) will be performing at the Fox Theatre on Friday, Feb, 20…
Howe Gelb, Gabriel Sullivan, Brian Lopez and More To Sling Cocktails at Downtown
Chances are you’ve been at a Howe Gelb show and thought “Man, I wish that guy would make me a cocktail.” Well, prepare to have all of your prayers answered on Thursday, Feb. 19 when Gelb and a handful of other local musicians go behind the stick to serve up drinks to benefit Downtown Radio.…
I’m Too Excited About This New Version of Settlers of Catan
Alright game geeks—and I know there’s a lot of you, I used to work at a local game shop—have I got some news for you. ICv2 says: In June, Mayfair will release Catan, Traveler Edition, a new geomorphic edition that folds to fit in a lockable, trapezoidal box with a carrying handle. The game board…
Lesbian Looks Brings ‘Tru Love’ to the Loft Thursday
Tru Love CDN Trailer from Tru Love The Film on Vimeo. It’s time for the 22nd annual Lesbian Looks Film Series kicks off tomorrow night at the Loft! The first film in the series this year is “Tru Love,” which has won a ton of awards and looks pretty good to me. From the Loft: Tru…
Settlement Hearing in Suit Against the State’s Prison Health Care System Happening This Afternoon
We might hear of a final settlement later today in the class-action suit against Arizona state-run prisons’ poor health care. The suit was put together on behalf of more than 34,000 inmates . A hearing is scheduled for this afternoon, where a federal judge will decide whether or not to approve the terms of a…
About That “Shadow Faction of Charter School Operators” Diane Douglas Talked About
Among the many inflammatory statements in the press release Ed Supe Diane Douglas shot off after the Board of Education employees she tried to fire were reinstated by Ducey, was this line: “Clearly [Ducey] has established a shadow faction of charter school operators . . .” Sounds very conspiratorial, which fits with Douglas’ Tea Party…
More People in Arizona are Getting Solar Industry Jobs
The solar industry in the state has more than 600 new jobs (a 7.2 percent growth), raking Arizona third in the nation in number of solar gigs, according to a report by the nonprofit The Solar Foundation. More than 9,000 Arizonans worked in the solar biz last year. “The findings highlight the enormous job potential in…
Homeland Security Sec. Jeh Johnson Not Happy About Temporary Block to Obama’s Immigration Actions
As we all know by now, a federal judge temporarily blocked Obama’s November immigration actions—one is an extension of who qualifies for DACA (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was supposed to start receiving applications tomorrow), and the other is deportation relief and work permits for parents of U.S. citizen and legal resident children, known as…
Pima County Can Continue to Hire Smokers
Smokers: you can still get a job with Pima County! The Board of Supervisors voted against a proposal that would have banned the hiring of smokers as an attempt to save money on health care costs. However, the supervisors did agree to charge an insurance premium surcharge (30 percent, but if you take a smoking…
Who Wants Tickets to a UA Basketball Game?
It’s basketball time, everybody! We’re giving away two tickets to the UA basketball game against USC this Thursday. The winner will have to pick the tickets up at our office on the Northwest side of town. You’ve got until noon tomorrow to enter online. Good luck!
Check Out Chef’s Kitchen’s Last Brunch as a Food Truck at Tap & Bottle
It’s time to say goodbye to the Chef’s Kitchen food truck. Chef Chris Cryderman has been in the culinary game for over 40 years, though his solar-powered food truck has only been on the Tucson streets for two and a half years. Cryderman opened the truck as a fun supplemental project to his catering business with…
Catch the Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts Wednesday Night at the Loft
It doesn’t matter how busy you are Wednesday night, make time to see the animated Oscar nominated shorts. The photo above is for Disney’s “Feast”—about which I’ll promise you two things: 1. The short somehow manages to be even more cute than the trailer (below) and 2. That dog does not die from indulging in…
You Can Try These Rare Brews on the Tucson Craft Beer Crawl
Hopefully you haven’t beered yourself out yet because one of Tucson’s best beer week events is happening this weekend. The first ever Tucson Craft Beer Crawl will take brew enthusiasts to seven different spots around downtown to taste their way through specialty releases from over a dozen different breweries around the state. Here are some…
Federal Judge in Texas Temporarily Blocks Obama’s Immigration Actions; What’ll Happen to Tucson Sanctuary Cases?
Late Monday, a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked President Obama’s November immigration actions: one gave parents of U.S. citizens and legal resident’s children a work permit and deportation relief for three years, and the other extended Obama’s 2012 program for undocumented immigrants brought here as children, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (the…
Ever Wonder What All Those Train Horns Mean?
As someone who lived in El Presidio Neighborhood for most of the ’90s, I got used to the blare of the train horns (and enjoyed them for the most part, except when they drowned out the dialogue in my pre-TiVo days). But it never occurred to me to find out exactly what the horns meant,…
The World Already Misses Lesley Gore
"You Don't Own Me" PSA – Upworthy from The Department of Peace on Vimeo. Lesley Gore, who taught us all that we could cry as long as it was our party, died of lung cancer today at the age of 68. The video above is from an Upwrothy page, encouraging women to vote in November…
McCain Opposes Homeland Security Shutdown Over Immigration Fight
With Congress taking this week off from D.C., the opportunity to resolve the ongoing stalemate over immigration policy and Homeland Security funding is drawing short. Congress will get back to work next week and the funding runs out on Feb. 27. Talking Points Memo notes that McCain said Sunday on Meet the Press that Homeland…
Cocktailaoke Is Exactly What It Sounds Like and It’s Going Down at Playground on Tuesdays
It’s time to start warming up those pipes because Tuesdays at Playground means Cocktailaoke time. Granted, the very plain-dealing name isn’t the most clever thing I’ve ever heard, but it gets the job done. I doubt anyone will have a hard time conceptualizing what goes on at Cocktailaoke. Just in case you do have some…
Learn About What Makes Life So Interesting (From a Scientific Perspective) Tonight
The UA College of Science Lecture Series on Life in the Universe continues tonight with Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Associate Professor Anna R. Dornhaus speaking on “Complexity and Evolvability: What Makes Life So Interesting?” Dornhaus gives a terrific lecture, so it’s well worth your time to head on down to Centennial Hall on the UA…
Oh Hey, It’s Presidents’ Day—Celebrate With Some Historical Mischief
Here in Tucson, we hardly acknowledge Presidents’ Day. That’s why I was particularly surprised (and so, so delighted!) to hear this story on NPR on my drive to work. They were talking about Brian Abrams’ new book (with illustrator John Mathias) Party Like a President: True Tales of Inebriation, Lechery and Mischief—I know. History, booze and…
This Is What Happens When an Arizona Republican Goes On Fox News
It’s a variation on the old joke. “An Arizona Republican walks into a Fox News studio. So, he says to the bartender newscaster…” Mark Brnovich went on “Fox and Friends” on January 13 talking about Obama’s executive action on immigration, and in the course of the interview he said, “I know in states like Arizona…
DarkMatter Workshop Short but Worthwhile
The DarkMatter workshop was a success—if success can be defined as evoking thought and emotion from participants. Entitled “Protect me from what I want: a workshop on race, capitalism, and desire,” the just-over-an-hour workshop was well-focused on these topics, never getting too tangential. The queer transgender South Asian artist duo that comprises DarkMatter, Alok Vaid-Menon…
Cafe Passe To Stop Booking Live Music, Focus on Coffee, Brunch
Although Cafe Passe has hosted some great concerts in the last couple years, the time to see live music at the Fourth Avenue cafe is nearly over. In the past, the spot has given everyone from jazz acts to country crooners to local indie bands a place to play, but now, according to a Facebook…
What Happens When You Sip Your Way Through a Scorpion Bowl at Kon Tiki
There are a number of reasons to patronize any specific bar. It could be that you’ve been going to the same dive for years and you love the jukebox. It could be that the place has the best craft spirit selection in town. Maybe you think your bartender is cute. I don’t know—that’s all between…
Thoughts on the Ducey-Douglas Dustup
Man, have there been a lot of stories about Douglas firing Board of Education employees and Ducey reinstating them! It’s a rock-’em, sock-’em, Republican-on-Republican cage fight with constitutional overtones. What’s not to love if you’re in the media? I want to make a few observations about Diane Douglas. We pretty much know what to expect…
Diane Douglas: I’m Not Wasting Tax Money in Dispute Over Who is Responsible for Board of Education Duties
There is bad blood between Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas and Gov. Doug Ducey. As discussed yesterday, Ducey overturned two dismissals Douglas made in the state Board of Education, to which Douglas replied with a press release titled, “Arizona Superintendent of Public Schools Diane Douglas Did Not See Doug Ducey’s Name on the Ballot for…
A Galentine’s Day Love Letter
This might be entirely self-indulgent, but let me have a moment. I wrote a lot this week about Valentine’s dinners and such, but, thanks in large part to “Parks and Recreation,” the day before V-Day is a day for ladies to celebrate the other ladies in their lives. It’s Galentine’s Day, friends. This year, I…
State Health Director Will Humble Leaving Office Next Month
Arizona Health Director Will Humble has announced that he is stepping down March 3, and that he already notified Gov. Doug Ducey of his plans. Earlier this year, Ducey said he wanted to keep Humble as head of the state Health Services, but Humble has decided to move on. He’d been worked for the agency…
Huffington Post Just Read My Mind About the Future of the Daily Show
It’s been a rough week for journalism. We lost Bob Simon and David Carr. Brian Williams’ life is kind of a mess. And Jon Stewart is breaking our hearts and leaving the Daily Show. Looking forward, it’s tough to imagine the Daily Show without Jon Stewart. He’s been such a huge part of our culture since I was…
If You Haven’t Been to Cashew Cow Yet, It Might be Time
Vanilla Raspberry Swirl! Happy Friday :)) #icecream #nondairy #tucson #vegan pic.twitter.com/9XUc516KCX — Cashew Cow (@cashewcow) February 13, 2015 I was innocently scrolling through our Twitter feed when this photo popped up, reminding me that I owe a friend (and myself!) a trip to this delicious-looking establishment. The vegan ice creamery, located at 16 S. Eastbourne…
League of Women Voters Asks: Is Democracy for Sale?
I recently joined a League of Women Voters discussion with fellow reporters, politicians and political consultants about the 2014 elections, the influence of dark money on the campaigns and the reluctance of some Republican candidates to debate in the run-up to Election Day last year. On hand for Is Democracy For Sale? Can the Voters…
Skip the Sitter and Head to Mercado San Agustin for a Kid’s Valentine’s Dance Party
Valentine’s Day is expensive enough as it is with dinner and drinks and flowers and presents and whatever else people are expected to splurge on to prove they love each other. That’s why parents out there should take advantage of Mercado San Agustin’s offer to watch your kids while you get dinner on site on…
UPDATE: UA student robbed on campus, suspect found
UPDATE: University of Arizona Police Department has located and IDed the suspect thanks to tips and leads from the public. No other information is currently available. ———————————————————————————————————————— The University of Arizona’s UAlert text messaging alert system warned students at 4:00 p.m. about a robbery that occurred on campus. A student was approached by a man…
Senate Committee OKs Bill To Prohibit Obamacare Insurance Plans From Providing Abortion Coverage
Here’s another route the state Legislature is trying to take to continue its attack on women rights: The Senate Health and Human Services Committee has passed a bill that would prohibit health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act to include elective abortion coverage. The Center for Arizona Policy, of course, celebrated the vote. The…
Diane Douglas to Ducey: You Are Not the State Superintendent So Don’t Act Like It
Earlier today we heard that Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas had fired Arizona Board of Education Executive Director Christine Thompson and Assistant Director Sabrina Vazquez. Gov. Doug Ducey then said Douglas had no legal right to do this, and overturned the layoffs. To what Douglas replied: “Governor Ducey apparently views himself as both Governor…
Diane Douglas Announces Who She’d Like in Her Latino Education Advisory Committee
When TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez met up with Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas to discuss the notice of noncompliance the district received in January, Douglas invited Sanchez to be a member of her Latino Education Advisory Committee—their job would be to infuse the state’s schools’ content with studies on the contributions Latinos have made…
Board Member Michael Hicks Wants to Cut TUSD Funding by $64 Million
That would have made for a headline-grabbing slogan if TUSD Board member Michael Hicks used it during the 2014 campaign. “If elected, I promise to cut $64 million from the TUSD budget.” I’m guessing he knew it would have hurt his election chances, which is probably why he saved it for later. SB1371, discussed by…
Credit Card Firm: Tucson, You’re So Romantic
Congratulations, everybody! A credit card company has dubbed the Old Pueblo the City Where the Most People Try to Buy Love Most Romantic City. Are you blushing? Apparently, in the first two weeks of February, spending jumps 68 percent in our city—making us way more romantic than those inconsiderate jerks in Portland whose spending only jumps…
Media Watch
Russell moves On the Menu Live to KEVT 1210 AM Talk radio in Tucson is filled with a smorgasbord of paid programming, referred to as brokered shows. Hosts pay for the air time, and in exchange cut a deal with the station to sell advertising in an effort to make back their costs. Generally speaking,…
Dance Awareness
Something about a cumbia doesn’t love a chair. The music makes for a crowded dance floor, be it the polished wood of a ballroom, the asphalt of a street fair or the packed dirt of a rodeo ground. That transient micro-community, shuffling in close quarters with our sexiest wiggles, always makes me want to learn…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Can you please explain to me the basis as to why some Chicanos and mexicanos get offended when you speak to them in Spanish? As a fellow Chicano, I find it hard to believe that raza gets offended by this genuine approach to them. Have you noticed this behavior yourself? That little dirty…
B-Sides
THE NEED FOR WEED Everybody knows that up in Vancouver it’s a lot easier to get your hands on some Weed, but that’s just because the BC is where the wonderfully muddy, feedback-prone band comes from, silly. Well, you won’t want to miss your chance to catch the lo-fi act that balances effortlessly between happy…
Danehy
First off, let me state as clearly as possible that if you believe that you have a philosophical right to keep from vaccinating your kids against measles, you’re an idiot. You’re not a free thinker or a maverick or a concerned parent. You’re an idiot. That “philosophical” exemption was granted by an Arizona State Legislature…
On the Road
It’s not exactly the most relatable issue when musicians complain about touring. Sure, some tours are better than others and it’s hard to be away from home and family, but there’s really no denying that being a professional musician is the kind of job people would sell their souls to the devil for just to…
Smoking and Stranded
Shabreta Peterson got a medical marijuana card in December to legally treat her severe social anxiety, extreme nausea and excruciating back pain. All it takes is a puff or two, or some edibles in the morning, for her to get through the full-time work day comfortably. In the mornings, she has to decide, “Should I…
That Loving Feeling
Valentine’s Day is the one time of year that you don’t want to be like Anthony Bourdain—you know, no reservations. So if you haven’t booked yet, take a deep breath and pray to the culinary gods that there’s still a table open for you and your sweet significant other. While there’s no guarantee on availability…
Quick Bites
FOR THE LOVE OF BACON Ladies and gentlemen, it’s about to get pretty un-Kosher on the Northwest corner of Broadway Boulevard and Kolb Road. That’s because the Phoenix-based Oink Cafe just opened their second porkatorium at 7131 E. Broadway Blvd. The restaurant has made a name for itself already up north by putting all things porcine on…
Challenged Memory
We will never forget that day. Sept. 11, 2001. We have stumbled, floated and trudged through more than a decade since that day of horror. We recall many particulars, some of them rather curious. We remember that when we learned that United Airlines Flight 93 had taken an inglorious nosedive into an isolated field in…
Remembering Nancy
The late Nancy Tokar Miller, painter of marvelous abstracted landscapes, was the inspiration for a new show at the Louis Carlos Bernal Gallery at Pima Community College West Campus. “Breaking Down Surface Tension,” an exhibition of work by five artists, had its genesis in conversations curator David Andres had with Tokar Miller, a close friend,…
Shimmering Surrealism
There’s nothing traditional about Henry Halem’s glass art. His glass has been painted, inked and scribbled on, sandblasted, shot with acid and even shattered into a thousand spidery cracks. And the pieces are not in the lovely curves of traditional vases or bowls or in the wild firework abstractions of contemporary artists like Dale Chihuly.…
Best Bets for Beer Week
Check out this week’s cover story for more info on Tucson’s craft beer scene. YOUR BEST BEER WEEK BETS Seeing as how “Arizona Beer 10 or So Days” doesn’t have a particularly nice ring to it, it’s understandable why the name doesn’t quite paint the full picture of the scope of this celebration. If Beer…
Darkmatter Duo Tackles Race, Capitalism and Desire
The two that comprise DarkMatter, both queer transgender South Asian artists, will be bringing political and social justice issues to the University of Arizona on Friday, Feb. 13 as part of their #ItGetsBitter tour. The title is a play on what many marginalized individuals are told when they’re younger: it gets better. From 1:30 to…
Food City: A Valentine
The other day I ran into Food City to pick up five avocados for a dollar, and a crumbling chunk of leche quemada, which is basically cajeta on meth, everything wholesome burnt out of it, leaving only sugar and sin. I was walking briskly through the produce department when a donkey-bray of a sneeze suddenly…
Music Lovers Meet-Up
Vinyl’s recent resurgence among youth, largely thanks to hipster-corporation Urban Outfitters’ ubiquitous presence, ensures the 4th Avenue Delicatessen and Che’s Lounge Saturday, Feb. 14 vinyl swap meet, located at Che’s Lounge on 350 N. Fourth Ave., will be a hit. With a full range of analog music for sale from 2 to 6 p.m., there…
Editor’s Note
Last week, sitting in the Dusty Monk Pub with my love having beers with his ex-partner of 22 years and her beau of three, it’s not hard to think about the love and lives we make for ourselves. To those lurking on the edges, it may seem strange, when it’s actually quite amazing. This relatively…
Varied Valentine
Maker House, the home of quirky and cool community events, will not disappoint locals looking for a unique Valentine’s celebration. On Saturday, Feb. 14 from 7:30 to 11 p.m., guests can experience the Love Makers and Heart Breakers show hosted at 283 N Stone Ave. Tucson Variety Society will be performing circus arts, dance, comedy,…
Police Dispatch
Hippie Fight San Xavier Beat Jan. 25, 1:27 a.m. After a heated political argument, a peace-loving man was beaten up by an anger-prone female who perhaps didn’t belong at his commune, where she lived in a bus, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. Sheriff’s deputies drove to the incident location, described as “a…
Happily Ever After
Children and adults alike will enjoy this outdoor viewing of “The Princess Bride,” presented by the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum at Cinema La Placita, 110 S. Church Ave., on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 5:45 p.m. The classic film has all the elements of a true fairy tale—princes, villains, giants and a white horse rescue—with humor…
Grant Road Rage, Redux
It’s been a few long years for Rebecca Garcia and her family as they’ve tried to sell their home on Grant Road. The Garcias, who have owned the home since 2003, have certainly outgrown the two-bedroom bungalow. Rebecca and her husband, Javier, have three kids, ranging from 16 months to 7 years old. But unloading…
Handmade Water Lily Books
Artist Esteban Silva handcrafts books out of water lilies from Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan. His sustainable practice removes the contaminating lilies from the lake while also repurposing the plants into durable multicolored pages. On Saturday, Feb. 14 from 6 to 10 p.m. Microgallery Mandibula, 35 E. Toole Ave., will display and sell his one-of-a-kind, environmentally responsible…
Environmental Interference
About two weeks ago during a trip to New Mexico, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced that after six years of debate and study, the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, a high-voltage, 515-mile long transmission corridor from central New Mexico to Southern Arizona, had received the federal government’s green light. The department authorized a…
Oscar Time
Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease steals the mind of a very smart woman in “Still Alice,” a movie that is sure to garner Julianne Moore her first Academy Award. Moore plays Alice — a professor at Columbia University who leads a very organized and regimental life of lectures, dinner parties and runs in the park. Alice starts…
The Skinny
On Hold McSally’s first border-security bill stalls in the GOP Congress Congresswoman Martha McSally’s first border-security bill is on hold in the House of Representatives as conservatives complain that it’s a distraction from an upcoming showdown with President Barack Obama. McSally promised to lead the fight to secure the border in Southern Arizona, but it…
Psychedelic Swan
The name Mute Swan can be wildly interpretative, which is seen as a perk for the Tucson psych rock quartet who chose the moniker, but their fondest reference to the common, white water fowl (Cygnus olor, family Anatidae) is how the bird was tamed, its voice purposely and slowly silenced over the years. “A mute…
