Cover Story
Soccer, Class & History
Back in the mid-1960s, the Los Angeles Times ran a story under the headline, “Is Soccer the Next Big Thing in the U.S.?” Despite gains at the youth level, the answer, nearly a half-century later, is still, “No, not really.” In the mid-1960s, the No. 1 professional sport in the country, in terms of paid…
At the Loft: Faith of the Abomination
In TQ&A this week, I interviewed Han Nguyen and Ceil Melton, about a great punk they pulled on an Austin, Texas church that doesn’t care much for anyone under the LGBT banner. For the past few years, the lesbian ministers have been on a spiritual journey looking for a church that reflected Melton’s evangelical roots,…
This Looks Like Fun: Calexico & Friends Rock The Barrio
What do you want to bet that Joey Burns somehow gets all 117 musicians who are performing that day to join him on stage at some point? Get your tickets now. Details here.
Farley Report: “Arizona Has Been Backed Into An Ugly, Dangerous, and Uncomfortable Corner”
The weekly briefing from the Capitol by Rep. Steve Farley: Howdy, Friends O’Farley… Let’s cut to the chase. As I’m sure you know, Governor Brewer’s sales tax referral passed out of the Legislature last week. I voted no, for the reasons I detailed last week. One of those reasons is that I think the Governor’s…
Artistic Range: Allyson Bennett at Epic Café
Allyson Bennett Ringtail “Ringtail,” by Allyson Bennett, is among the works on display in Mysterious Strangers, continuing through the end of February at Epic Café , 745 N. Fourth Ave. The café is open from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.
Super Collider Update!
Worried that the Large Hadron Collider may open up a black hole here on earth and swallow the planet? You can get the straight story tonight at tonight’s Science Café. Details here: Flandrau: The UA Science Center is holding its next “Science Café” at Cushing Street Bar & Restaurant in downtown Tucson on Tuesday, Feb.…
Welcome To Candyland
Lots of political observers are saying that the one-cent sales tax proposition that voters will decide in May is doomed. Voters, they say, are in no mood to hike their own taxes. But at the same time, voters aren’t ready to give up all the government programs—from classes for gifted students to state parks—that are…
Artistic Range: Laura Moriarty at Conrad Wilde Gallery
Laura Moriarty How Mountains Are Made “How Mountains Are Made,” by Laura Moriarty, is one of the works in Geologic Time, continuing through Feb. 27 at the Conrad Wilde Gallery, 439 N. Sixth Ave., Suite 171. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Border News From the UA School of Journalism
Video Interview: Sergio Mendoza of “Mendoza Y La Orkesta” talks about the future of his band, his sound and his love for music. The University of Arizona School of Journalism produces four student-run publications ranging from community newspapers to online magazines to 15 and 30-minutes TV-news magazine shows for KUAT and the Web. Among them:…
Chiming in on the ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ Debate
That’s it. I’m chiming in on the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” debate, because I served on a nuclear submarine with a guy who got kicked out of the Navy for being gay. His name was Chief Petty Officer Timothy McVeigh (he later became a Senior Chief) and he was a member of the crew of…
Friday Roundtable: The Sales-Tax Proposition, The County Nixes the 2010 Bond Election & The Faltering City Recall
Roundtable newbies John C. Scott and Sarah Garrecht Gassen join me to review the week with Arizona Illustrated anchor Bill Buckmaster. Watch it after the jump.
Friday Roundtable: RTA Boss Gary Hayes
Regional Transportation Authority boss Gary Hayes was our guest tonight on Arizona Illustrated’s Friday Roundtable. He talked about taking over the bus system, the downtown’s light-rail system and whether we’ll have freeways in our future. (Short answer: No.) Watch it after the jump.
Rosemont Mine Update: Star Follows Green Valley News
The morning daily catches up with the Rosemont Mine story broken by Dan Shearer of the Green Valley News yesterday: Arizona’s legislative chiefs frustrated a majority of Tucson-area legislators by writing the U.S. Forest Service a letter friendly to the proposed Rosemont Mine without consulting them – yet saying they were writing “on behalf of…
Loft Late-Night Classic: “Let The Right One In”
We caught the stylish vampire thriller Let The Right One In when it played at the Loft back in 2008 and thought it was great. It’s back this weekend for some late-night shows, so if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s your chance. Show times are 10 p.m. tonight and tomorrow. BTW: Tonight is also…
More Martian Dunes
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona A new batch of Mars photos from the UA Lunar and Planetary Lab’s HiRISE camera are up this week. The above shot features Martian dunes on the northern plains. Here’s a note from Ken Herkenhoff, a HiRISE science team member at the USGS in Flagstaff: This image shows dunes on the northern…
Pima County Democratic Boss Jeff Rogers: Institute a Strong Mayor!
Jeff Rogers, chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party, tells us he’s preparing to roll out several proposed changes to the City of Tucson charter at the Monday meeting of Democrats of Greater Tucson. Rogers, who calls the program “Strong Voter,” will advocate for a public election to create a “strong mayor” form of government,…
Sierra Club Legislative Update
Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club has sent out her weekly bulletin from the Arizona Legislature. Our favorite part: HB2538 federal mandates; proof of constitutionality (Gowan, Burges, Lesko, et al) states that the legislature cannot enact any statute that appropriates state monies pursuant to a federal mandate or that complies with a federal mandate unless…
Rumors: City May Reject Water Recommendations
A City Council adoption of the Phase II study of water principles and policies endorsed in the Feb. 4 Weekly Guest Commentary may be in serious trouble. Scuttlebutt heard around the Tucson Water building recently was that the council is leaning toward “accepting” the report, not “adopting” it. If true, this could mean a couple…
Tax Tips Week on Arizona Illustrated
Are you ready to do your taxes? Arizona Illustrated, seen every night at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 6, will be having its annual week of tax tips next week. Here are the details: Arizona Public Media is teaming with The Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants and the National Bank of Arizona to answer viewers’…
Artistic Range: Catherine Eyde
“Flirt,” by Catherine Eyde, is among the works in Sweet Love, which continues through Wednesday, March 10, at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St. Come to the artist’s reception, featuring a performance by local cowpunk Al Perry, from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight.
Choose Your Own Adventure: Hike The Sales Tax or Crash State Government
State lawmakers have finally agreed to ask voters to hike the sales tax by one cent per dollar. In general, we support the idea because the fiscal situation is so very dire. But it’s hard to get too enthusiastic about the plan when Republicans in the House have already passed a whole new set of…
Rosemont Mine Update: Senate President Burns Backtracks; Giffords Weighs In
Dan Shearer of the Green Valley News, with help from a hardworking UA journalism student on assignment at the state Capitol, continues to follow the news that Republican leaders at the Legislature are pimping on behalf of the Rosemont Mine, much to the dismay of state Sen. Jonathan Paton, who is well aware that the…
Men’s Health: Tucson Is Ninth-Drunkest City in America!
Hey, barkeep! Did you hear that Tucson was declared the ninth-drunkest city in America by Men’s Health? USA Today has the news. We’re still trying to figure out how Boston got ranked the “least drunk.”
Wall Street Journal: McCain Vs. Hayworth
The Wall Street Journal takes note of J.D. Hayworth’s challenge to Sen. John McCain: It is the kind of intramural dodgeball playing out around the country as establishment-backed Republicans find themselves pelted by anti-big government, anti-spending, anti-tax populists. Among the battlegrounds are Senate primaries in Florida, where conservative darling Marco Rubio, a former state lawmaker,…
Reports of Jim Kolbe’s Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
A report from Roll Call: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) was eager to eulogize ex-Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) — until, that is, he realized Kolbe wasn’t dead. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) proposed a measure Wednesday on the floor to name a post office after the 11-term former Congressman. She waxed so eloquent that Hoyer…
Rosemont Mine Update: State Legislative Leaders Back Mine, But Local Lawmaker Objects
Dan Shearer of the Green Valley News brings us this bulletin regarding the proposed Rosemont Mine: State Senate President Bob Burns and Speaker of the House Kirk Adams said in a letter to the head of the Coronado National Forest that they support the Environmental Impact Statement process under way on Rosemont mine, and added…
Rally to Save Adult Education in Arizona
As reported in Jim Nintzel’s Jan. 21 cover story, Slashing the State, “adult education and GED courses would be zeroed out” in Gov. Jan Brewer’s budget. A rally has been scheduled for today from 5 to 6 p.m. at El Rio Learning Center (1390 W. Speedway Blvd.) to save adult education. Organizers would like to…
Jesus Says …
When Jesus said turn the other cheek, perhaps it was so he could kick your ass. From a recent New York Times story on Christian cage fighters: The outreach is part of a larger and more longstanding effort on the part of some ministers who fear that their churches have become too feminized, promoting kindness…
Danehy
When President Obama first took on health care, I actually sat down and wrote him a letter. As an American, I do stuff like that. I’m absolutely amazed that people looking like Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black didn’t show up at my front door. I urged him to look up Benjamin Disraeli’s famous…
Police Dispatch
NOT SO NEIGHBORLY WEST WABASH STREET JAN. 9, 7:22 A.M. A visit from law enforcement failed to get a foul-mouthed mobile-home-park nuisance to quiet down, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report stated. A woman in a foothills-area trailer park told deputies she was being harassed by her 35-year-old male neighbor. While she was trying to…
Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM (Because/Elektra)
Music about life’s pains and sorrows is nothing new, but rarely is it presented so directly. Largely shunning metaphor and other songwriting veils, Charlotte Gainsbourg delivers an album that unravels the fear, disorientation and panic she felt in suffering and recovering from a brain hemorrhage in 2007. From the album’s title—the French term for an…
Downing
As our ancestors realized about 100,000 years ago, there are good reasons to have a dog. The big bonus for ancient humans was probably that dogs freed them up from having to listen for or smell their prey—or, even more important, their predators—because, yea!, now they had a sidekick who was all over that. Scientists…
About the Orchestration
When the Chicago Underground Duo plays jazz, what’s important is not the number of musicians, but the sound they create. And the duo—Rob Mazurek on cornet and keyboards, and Chad Taylor on drums and vibraphone—make some serious sound. “Some people have told us, ‘You guys sound like five people up there,’ so that’s cool,” said…
The Lonely H: Concrete Class (Control Group)
Been waiting for that ideal combination of garage and Southern rock? Then the third album by this maverick Washington state band, released last June, might fit the bill. Combining reckless power-chording and Allman Brothers-style roadhouse blues, The Lonely H seems to want to revive classic rock. Just don’t tell ’em the Black Crowes have already…
Guest Opinion
This past December, a volunteer citizens’ committee, in conjunction with a large, multi-disciplinary array of city and county staff members, wrapped up a 20-month study of the water and wastewater resources of the city and county; the goal was to “develop a common understanding of the basic facts and critical factors related to planning for…
Interactive Art
Ever had something that you no longer needed—but you thought it was too cool to just throw away? Well, you’re not alone. Artist Ned Schaper makes sculptures entirely out of things that people drop off at his door, and whatever other objects he can find. Schaper, a kinetic-sculpture artist, is the creator of the Mat…
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
City Week
Screening of The Gore Gore Girls; “In Person: Documentary Filmmaker Noland Walker”; Eb’s Camp Cookin’ band; “Sugartime! An Evening With Deborah Lederer”
Noshing Around
Iron Chef Tucson Is … Chef Miciah Beard of Bob’s Steak and Chop House at Omni Tucson National Resort beat Chef Ramiro Scavo of Zona 78 and Harvest Restaurant to earn the title of Iron Chef Tucson 2010. The secret ingredient at the Jan. 17 competition was pork bratwurst, which Beard incorporated into four Pacific…
Signature Skirmish
Michelle Graye hugs her petition clipboard close, like an old friend. After all, she’s carried that board many miles in her quest to place a medical-marijuana initiative on the November 2010 ballot. As secretary for the Arizona chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Graye is a tireless signature hunter.…
All-American Pizzeria
The fact that Tino’s Pizza has been in business for 25 years and has slipped under the radar of a pizza fanatic like me is amazing. Well, now it’s on my radar; after all, Tino’s was a staff pick—and I don’t know who made the pick—for Best Eastside Pizza in last year’s Best of Tucson®.…
Smoking Gun?
When Denis Boaro testified about his ex-employer in a Jan. 7 deposition, the former general manager of McClintock’s restaurant also handed over a jump drive with more than 700 work-related e-mails to support his claims that Marana town officials were up to no good. Marana officials respond that Boaro is lying—and they are prepared to…
Now Showing at Home
Che (Blu-Ray); A Serious Man (Blu-Ray); Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Blu-Ray);
Prominent Figures
Military veterans, entrepreneurs and service providers constitute much of the community’s current labor force. Many of the few hundred black inhabitants of 19th-century Tucson also fit those descriptions. One of them, Henry Ransom, drove freight wagons for a living more than 110 years ago. “Through faithful service and honest dealing,” James Walter Yancy notes of…
Too Much Production
Let’s clarify: [title of show] is the actual title of the play that Arizona Theatre Company opened last week at the Temple of Music and Art. The title is not the only quirky thing about this one-trick-pony of a play. Oh, [title of show] is youthful, energetic, good-natured, high-spirited and often very clever; it also…
Luck and Fear
Howard and Rosie Hunt might be the luckiest people in Arizona—and that’s saying something for an elderly couple who lived through a home invasion on Jan. 20. Two young men from Chihuahua, Mexico, one carrying a machete, allegedly pushed their way into the Hunts’ home, bound them and searched for valuables. The Hunts live right…
Showbiz Origins
Imagine Cinderella’s Prince as a 1950s-style rebel without a cause. That’s what Val Caniparoli did. His Prince is “a James Dean type,” says the choreographer, who re-imagined the fairy tale for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. “He gets kicked out of Arthur Murray.” And the ball that Cinderella so longs to go to? “It’s a sock…
The Whole Picture
On a clear day, you see almost forever on the Tohono O’odham Nation. Climb up high to take a look—any peak in the Baboquivari Mountains will do—then turn west, and you’ll see an impossibly long sweep of desert disappearing into a range of distant blue hills. “The Great Plain,” a photo by David Taylor in…
University of the Desert
John Alcock has watched saguaros sprout arms. He has a first-name relationship with several palo verde trees, and he can smell the rain coming for days. He’s a scientist, but he may as well be a holy man. If this were a suitably romantic world, Alcock would be found sitting atop a ridge in the…
Review This!
We’re in the market for a new, local freelance film reviewer. James DiGiovanna—who has won Arizona Press Club honors as the state’s top film/video/TV critic for three years in a row—is cutting back on the number of reviews he does (but never fear; he’ll still contribute), so we’re looking for someone to supplement the fine…
Top Ten in Books
Mostly Books best-sellers for the week
Mailbag
Huckelberry: Ranching Is a Key Part of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan I have the following comments in response to Tim Vanderpool’s article concerning cattle-grazing on county-owned land and managed conservation areas (“Bovine Blues,” Currents, Jan. 21). It should be obvious to anyone who looks at a land-ownership map of Pima County that the only…
Live
New Found Glory, Saves the Day, Hellogoodbye, Fireworks
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: How can a formerly proud Latina like myself feel proud to be Mexican after my beloved relative was murdered while visiting Mexico by narcos? I still have love for my heritage, and I understand that many Mexican people live in desperate situations because they have no opportunity. But on that day, I was…
Nine Questions
Eric Holland
The Skinny
As the state teeters toward bankruptcy; Antenori to Star editorial page: Drop dead; The District 30 dominoes
T Q&A
Jarita C. Holbrook
Soundbites
CALM BEFORE THE STORM After an unusually fertile January—that saw the first local appearance by the Residents; Sonic Youth’s first visit to Tucson in decades; and a victory lap for Girls, who, in my opinion, released the best album of 2009—February gets off to a rather slow start regarding big-name shows. It won’t last long.…
Media Watch
Dan Ryan joines Rosemont Mining effort; Lee makes a profit, but problems remain; Baltosiewich parts ways with Belo
A Man’s Man
If there’s anything better than revenge, Mel Gibson doesn’t know what it is. And I think that we, as a nation, have established that the most sacred relationship is the one between a single dad and his recently gunned-down daughter. So when Mel Gibson plays a police detective whose only daughter is gunned down by…
Top Ten in Music
Toxic Ranch Records top sales for the week
Weekly Wide Web
It may seem unthinkable now, but there will probably come a day when the word “iPad” will not make you simultaneously think of both the new Apple computer and a feminine napkin. In the Darwinian evolutionary chart of electronic devices, the iPad falls somewhere in between a smartphone and a laptop. Like with any IT…
Fountain of Failure
When in Rome is the latest film to squander the charms of Kristen Bell. Bell kicked major ass in Reefer Madness, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and, of course, TV’s Veronica Mars. Since Marshall, she’s shown up in the deplorable Fanboys, the embarrassing Couples Retreat, the stupid Astro Boy (in voice only) and now this crap—which has…
The Magnetic Fields: Realism (Nonesuch)
The Magnetic Fields bandleader Stephin Merritt has always been invested in gimmickry and guiding concepts, and Realism is being billed as the group’s “folk album.” To review a Magnetic Fields album feels almost like a perfunctory act: Point out the brilliance of the songcraft and lyrical bon mots; call attention to the central joke (like,…
Picture This: David H. McErlean
DAVID H. McERLEAN Karl W. Hoffman, a border photographer, explores the railroad fence on the U.S.-Mexico Border. Hoffman has spent the past few years covering border issues dealing with immigration. David H. McErlean, a Laguna Niguel, Calif. transplant, is an advanced photographer at the University of Arizona School of Journalism. McErlean excells in underwater photography…
Are There Enough Votes in the AZ House to Pass the Brewer Budget Package?
We hear that the Brewer budget package will be heard in the House Appropriations Committee tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. and will be heading for the House floor later that day. Does this mean that someone has rounded up enough votes to put a sales-tax question on the ballot? We explained here why it was…
