Cover Story
Border Love
In 1988, Linda Valdez met Sixto Valdez in Mexico and fell in love. Her second book, Crossing the Line: A Marriage Across Borders, is a story about their love and how the immigration system failed them, forcing Sixto, like thousands of others, to cross the border illegally.
Casa Video Top 10
I’ll be honest: watching movies is kind of a new thing for me. Well, newer movies. Growing up, I’d seen every Ginger Rodgers film you could think of—but I wouldn’t have been able to pick Tom Hanks out of a lineup. I saw Ghostbusters for the first time in 2014, and I still haven’t found…
Check Out How These Mexican Young Women Respond to Sexual Harassment on the Streets
Ladies and Gentlemen, Whistling at a woman while she walks down the street to the local grocery store is not a compliment. Screaming things at us in the nature of, “nice legs,” “nice tits,” “smile!” Or, in Spanish, “mamacita,” “dame un beso” (give me a kiss)—not compliments. And, please, please, please, do not look at…
From the People Who Brought You Walmart: $1 Billion for Charter Schools
In honor of School Choice Week (yes, that’s really a thing), I’ll be writing a few posts about charter schools. Today’ post: The Walton Family Foundation plans to spend $1 billion on charter schools and other items on the school choice menu over the next five years. Don’t worry about the foundation funded by the…
Check Out Carlos Arzate’s Performance at the Bowen Stone House in the Tucson Mountains
It’s that time of year when bands are looking to get some national attention by submitting their short performances to NPR’s Tiny Desk contest. This year Carlos Arzate & the Kind Souls opted to give their submission some Sonoran soul by hiking a mile into the Tucson Mountains to get to a partially-finished structure known…
Border Patrol Reports Fewer Migrants Found Dead in Fiscal Year 2015
Border Patrol saw a decrease in the number of suspected migrants found dead in Arizona last fiscal year, and they attribute it to “enhanced efforts” to rescue and assist immigrants attempting to cross the desert. The agency reported 68 remains in fiscal 2015, down from 110 in fiscal year 2014—the figures include the Tucson and…
Who Wants to Go to a UA Basketball Game on Thursday?
That’s right, you do! We’ve got two pairs of tickets to the Wildcat game (UA vs Oregon) on Thursday, Jan. 28. Here’s the deal: We’re going to give the tickets away the day of the game, around noon. The winner will have to be able to make it to our Northwest office sometime before we…
Late Night TV is About to Get Better
February is going to pretty great in terms of late night television. Yes, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver will be back mid month and that’s wonderful—but I’m more excited about what is popping up on TBS. Samantha Bee, who left the Daily Show last year after more than a decade, is getting her own show: Full Frontal…
Report Gives Arizona a Surprisingly High Score for Its Treatment of Medical Marijuana Patients, Access to Weed
A report that evaluates medical marijuana programs nationwide says Arizona is doing pretty well in protecting the rights of medicinal weed patients, as well as giving patients easy access to their medicine. However, according to the patient-input-based analysis by the Washington-based nonprofit Americans for Safe Access, Arizona is in the dumps when it comes to product…
Ladies and Gentlemen, I Give You Today’s Republican Party
A new bill in the Arizona legislature would make it a felony for anyone to collect mail-in ballots and drop them off at a polling place. Because, Voter Fraud. Now, there’s plenty of evidence no evidence whatsoever of voter fraud when people pick up ballots. None. People could be sorting through the ballots they pick up…
15 Cool, Free Tucson Things You’ve Forgotten About
Sometimes people call Tucson the foot of Arizona because it’s boring, because it’s barren, because it’s “no Phoenix,” etc. Locals, you know that’s not true. If you need a reminder, the Tucson community offers up a LOT of cool, recurring weekly and monthly events. Not only are the events on this cool, though—they’re also free.…
Cinema Clips: Boy and the World
Writer-director Ale Abreu did his own drawings and paintings for this animated film, nominated for a Best Animated Film Oscar this year. Boy and the World tells the story of a little boy who goes on a big, color bursting journey in search of his dad, and it’s not your standard animated movie. The film…
Astronaut Scott Kelly Talks About Life in Space, Including the Creepy Toilet
#Italy and the #Alps last night were breathtaking! #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/Sgbkb1CPA4 — Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) January 26, 2016 Gizmodo collected highlights from astronaut Scott Kelly’s weekend Ask Me Anything session on Reddit. One, of course, involves the space station’s toilet: When asked what the creepiest thing he’s encountered on the job, Kelly admitted, “Generally it has…
Ducey, Democrats, Education Funding and the T Word
Here’s the background. Gov. Ducey wants us to vote in $300 million a year to fund K-12 schools. His plan is controversial because he wants to use money from the state land trust and put in all kinds of economic triggers that could cut the extra funding back to zero. And it’s money the state…
Red Needs a Home
Hey there! I’m Red! I have lived at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona for over three months and I’m really ready to find my forever home! I know that my perfect family is out there somewhere, I just have to be patient! I’m looking to be a great companion for a family, I’m very…
Cinema Clips: The 5th Wave
The 5th Wave is based upon the young adult novel by Rick Yancey, the first in a trilogy. God willing, this movie will be the only one to receive a movie adaptation. Further cinematic installments will cause me to punch myself in the face and hurt my standing at the workplace, in social gatherings, etc.…
GNO, Yoga Style
Looking for something to do on Friday night without hitting the bars? Head to lululemon’s Girl’s Night Out event at La Encantada on Friday, Jan. 29. This free event offers attendees aromatherapy, eyebrow advice, pastries, alcohol, and general wellness-centered endeavors. “#GNO” starts at 6 p.m. and promises raffle prizes along with marked-down and full-price lululemon…
This Week in Music: Emo Rock and Feel-Good Pop
There’s something for everyone, this week in music. On Jan. 29, artists ranging from pop icons to Brit-emo originals will release new LPs. BASEMENT — Promise Everything Ah, yes, good ‘ol Basement—comforters of insecure adolescents everywhere. The British alt-rock band (which has a pretty pop-punk sound, IMO) is back after a 2013 hiatus. Based off the singles from…
Into the Mild: Journal From a Refugee Camp: My Final Week
Lesbos Island, Greece – January 2016 This is part seven of a journal I’m keeping during my time working at a refugee camp in Greece. Part six, covering my first week working as an interpreter at a medical clinic, can be found here. I started this week with the same job as last week, working…
Dillinger Days (SLIDESHOW)
Photos from the 22nd annual Dillinger Days event at Hotel Congress on Saturday, Jan. 23. The notorious bank robber John Dillinger—also known as Public Enemy No. 1—and his gang were captured in Tucson in 1934, 82 years ago.
Zona Politics: How Will Climate Change Affect Us in the Years To Come?
ZonaPol1-21Final from Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel on Vimeo. On this week’s episode of Zona Politics: UA College of Science Dean Joaquin Ruiz talks about climate change and previews the UA’s Spring Lecture Series, Earth Transformed, Then Kacey Ernst, a UA associate professor of public health, joins me to talk about how climate change will…
Grapes in Winter: Have We Sold Our Souls (or The Earth) To the Devil?
I hadn’t revisited Dr. Faustus by Shakespeare contemporary Christopher Marlowe since I read it as a high school junior, but I often think of it when I walk down the produce aisle in winter and see fresh grapes and berries on display. After my most recent visit to Sprouts, I decided to take my first look at…
Paranoia Strikes Deep: Stoned Weed Smugglers Call Cops on Themselves
EastIdahoNews.com has posted the audio of two pot smugglers who got a bad case of The Fear after smoking their own stash: Authorities have released a 911 phone call from a drug trafficking arrest that has people shaking their heads. The call, released by the Rexburg Police Department and obtained by EastIdahoNews.com, details an incident…
Stephen Colbert and Sarah Palin are up to Their Old Tricks
On last night’s Late Show, Stephen Colbert declared “the Original Material Girl” was back. And, sure, Sarah Palin and her quotable face are trying to “Make America Great Again,” but the person I was most excited to see in last night’s segment was sassy Stephen Colbert. The Colbert Report was all sass, all the time.…
Guatemalan Consulate Hosting Legal Forum for Central American Immigrants Amid Ongoing Raids
In lieu of the federal government’s plans to continue apprehending and deporting immigrant families from Central America, the Guatemalan consulate in Tucson is hosting a legal forum this weekend to ensure Guatemalan and Central American citizens are prepared to face any interaction with immigration officials. The Department of Homeland Security raids began on the first weekend…
Positives and Negatives in Douglas’ State of Education Address
Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction doesn’t have much power or authority. An Ed Supe can work with the legislature to pass legislation, like Huppenthal did putting an anti-Mexican American Studies statute on the books, then declaring TUSD’s MAS program out of compliance and demanding that it be dismantled (Douglas has done nothing similar, and I…
Legal Divide
Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled this fall that individuals have the right to grow marijuana for personal use, but on the border many are divided over the issue.
Pleasure Activist
Join the sexual resolution.
Editor’s Note
We love our Weekly dose of flash fiction.
Dust Devil
loose pages and a battered plastic water bottle
Corridos Migrantes: Vox Urbana
Once an immigrant crosses the Rio Grande or the massive, unforgiving Sonoran Desert, the smiles and sorrows they carry from their native lands are stripped away.
Jams Amplified: Mike Gordon
It seems like it’s going to work out.
B-Sides: Ian Moore
You don’t have to do the whole Dillinger Days thing again this year to have a good time this weekend at Hotel Congress.
Too Vulnerable
At Casa Alitas, most of the women and children say they are escaping violence, which includes death threats from gang members.
Latino Documentary Series
Borderlands was awarded grants to screen three episodes from the Latino Americans: 500 Years of History documentary series, produced by the NEH and ALA, a nationwide public programming initiative that supports the exploration of the history and experiences of Latinos the last five centuries.
B-Sides: Dazed & Bank Notes
The electronic and house music scenes are really having a moment right now.
Public Enemy No. 1
Every year, Tucson people get dressed up in 1930s-era costumes and celebrate the day mobster John Dillinger was captured.
Police Dispatch
A man claimed he’d been smoking table salt after being apprehended for performing a perilously provocative presentation in the street—including air-guitar riffs and dancing.
Weed killers, unite!
Time to Beat Back Buffelgrass with others obessed with this invasive weed taking over our desert
Planet in Peril
The first speaker in UA College of Science Spring Lecture Series is Joellen Russell, an 1885 Society Distinguished Scholar and associate professor of geosciences in the UA College of Science, who will discuss “The Ocean’s Role in Climate: Heat and Carbon Uptake in the Anthropocene.”
Back to Chicago
It’s worth noting that the AmoSphere is back at the Chicago Bar.
B-Sides: Brenna Sahatjian
There’s a decent amount of early ’90s lo-fi riot nostalgia woven into The Ruby’s discontented vibe, which seems to offer empathy and apathy side-by-side.
Climate Justice
Rising Tide, the Bus Riders Union and other local groups are getting together to talk climate, justice and watch Naomi Klein’s new documentary, This Changes Everything.
Media Watch
GOP debate viewers would like to put most of the establishment in a bbq pit and KIIM registers third troubling ratings book of the year
Troubled Waters
The second scariest moment in Kathleen Velo’s long photographic odyssey along the Colorado River happened high in the Rocky Mountains.
Danehy
Tom once told a friend of mine that 50 percent of all Americans will never read a book after their formal education comes to an end. He chuckled and said, “Ha! Make that 51 percent!”
Just Jokes
Sometimes you do get what you pay for, and in the instance of Live Theatre Workshop’s most recent production, Old Jews Telling Jokes, the show is exactly what it says it is. Except, perhaps, that not all of the players are old or actually Jewish.
Action Entertainment
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is Bay’s best film yet. Is it the great film this true story deserves? No it isn’t. It is, however, a strong, competent effort from a guy whose action films are usually incomprehensible and schmaltzy.
Invierno en Guadalajara: Birrieria Guadalajara
As the cold nights wane into the impending spring (read: summer-lite), make sure you take the time to soak in the season.
