Cover Story
Preseason Preview
In Southern Arizona, two of the most competitive congressional seats in the country are up for grabs as U.S. Reps. Ron Barber and Ann Kirkpatrick seek to hang on to their jobs. The Nov. 4 election is more than eight months away, but the battle is already joined: Americans for Prosperity, backed by the big-spending…
What’s a “Redskin?”
Cleveland Indians Until yesterday, I must confess, the appropriateness of sports teams’ using “Redskins” or “Indians” as mascots was way, way far down the long list of humans rights issues that make me want to cry, and fight; to sign petitions and to post insinuating memes to Facebook. The Vince Lombardi era Washington Redskins will…
Arizona Republicans To Parents: We’ll Pay You To Take Your Children Out Of School
Image courtesy of shutterstock.com That headline must be a joke, right? Paying parents to take their children out of school? Unfortunately, the headline’s for real. It’s an incentive built into Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA)— aka Educational Savings Accounts, aka (according to me) Vouchers on Steroids. ESAs were created by the Goldwater Institute, passed into…
Republicans Push To Block Abortion Coverage in Private Health Insurance Policies
While most of the political attention yesterday was focused on the State of the Union, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would discourage private insurance companies from offering abortion coverage. The “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” passed on a 227-188 vote. Here’s what’s going on here: Under the Hyde Amendment, current federal…
Kirkpatrick Raises $270K in Fourth Quarter
Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick announced today she had raised $270,000 in the fourth quarter in 2013, putting her ahead of her three GOP rivals. (We rounded up the Republicans’ numbers yesterday.) The press release from Team Kirkpatrick: Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick’s reelection campaign announced today it has raised more than $1.2 million since the start of 2013,…
Andy Tobin: Has Obama Ever Seen The Constitution?
I got an email from Rep. Andy Tobin last night. He’s running for congress in CD-1, and he has to earn the right (emphasis on “right”) to challenge Ann Kirkpatrick by getting through a crowded primary. His favorite email tactic is to tie Kirkpatrick to Nancy Pelosi, but hey, it was State of the Union…
Want Free eegee’s for an Entire Year?
Photo courtesy of eegee’s Facebook Page. Find out how to win free eege’s for a whole year. So, we know you like free food, but you’re going to have to earn it. Local restaurant chain eegee’s issued a challenge on its Facebook page to the creative folks in Tucson. You have the chance to receive…
2014 Governor’s Arts Awards Nominates 17 Tucson Candidates
The Phoenix New Times shared the 33rd annual Governor’s Arts Awards nominees last week. Seventeen Tucson artist and organizations were among the 84 worthy Arizona nominees. Here’s the list of Tucson nominees: Artist:Daniel BuckleySimon KregarLuis MenaJoseph Rodgers Arts in Education – Individual:Dr. Suzette BattanAdrienne MageeMorgan Wells Arts in Education – Organization:Arizona Theatre Company Education ProgramsArts…
Win Sold Out 7″ Records by La Luz and Destruction Unit
Our fearless competitors and amigos at Jalph.net are giving away some rad limited edition sold out 7″ vinyls you can’t get anywhere else. All you have to do is share this link on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr (they suggest all three) and you can win two 7″ by La Luz and Destruction Unit. You have…
Gabby Giffords: “Congress Is Afraid of the Gun Lobby”
The Washington Post digs into the latest on Gabby Giffords’ fight against gun violence: In a new ad set to air before and after Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, former Rep. Gabby Giffords says it’s time to “tell Washington it’s too dangerous to wait” for gun-control legislation. The ad was produced by Americans…
Video of Vin Diesel Dancing to Music by Beyonce and Katy Perry
Vin Diesel decided to post a Facebook video of himself dancing, crotch grabbing and singing along to Beyonce’s Drunk In Love and Katy Perry’s Dark Horse. So this is what the Iron Giant does when he’s not stealing cars and blowing things up on the big screen. Apparently, Diesel was home alone and must have…
Art Benefit for Red Cross at Charlie’s Comics This Saturday
Art by Jon Morris There will be an original art auction at Charlie’s Comic Books from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 1, 5460 E. Speedway. Charlie Harris, owner of Charlie’s Comic Books, has rounded up some local cartoonist to draw their favorite comic book characters in the name of love and charity.…
Congressional Campaign Bucks: End of Year Edition
We’ve gotten our first glimpse of how much money is being stuffed into the bank accounts of our local congressional candidates. The deadline for the year-end reports is Friday, Jan. 31, but some candidates have done so well that they’re eager to share the details. Here’s what we know as of Tuesday morning: Republican Martha…
New GOP Dark Horse at the Starting Gate in CD2
A new Republican candidate wants to see if he can outmaneuver GOP favorite Martha McSally for the chance to take on U.S. Rep. Ron Barber in Congressional District 2 this year. Meet Chuck Wooten: Chief Master Sergeant, U.S. Air Force (Retired) Chuck Wooten is announcing his candidacy for the Arizona Congressional District 2 (CD2) on…
Mamma Mia! Win Free Tickets to See Arrival From Sweden Tonight
Congratulations. You made it to Tuesday. Photo courtesy of See Arrival From Sweden: the Music of ABBA. We would like to reward you with some tickets to see See Arrival From Sweden tonight. You don’t have to thank us, but you should thank the folks at the Rialto. We are giving away 5 pairs of…
Goldwater Institute Butchers The Facts On Empowerment Scholarship Accounts
The Goldwater Institute has an op-ed pushing Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) — aka Educational Savings Accounts, aka (according to me) Vouchers on Steroids — in Friday’s Arizona Republic and another in Saturday’s Sierra Vista Herald. It’s no wonder G.I. loves the vouchers-on-steroids program. The Institute created it and babied it through the Arizona legislature. And…
So You Think You Can Ref College Football? Here’s Your Chance
Anyone who’s watched a college football game knows that officiating isn’t always the most accurate of disciplines. There’s nothing more frustrating when calls get blown, penalties are ignored, and both fans and coaches flip out and go apeshit over a perceived bias from what’s usually an older man in a black-and-white-striped shirt with a whistle.…
Video of Pizza Underground’s Basement Performance in Jersey
The Pizza Underground, Velvet Underground meets pizza cover band, played a 15 minute — their entire set — show in front of 200 fans at the Outworld in New Brunswick, NJ on Sunday night. Apparently, the show wasn’t as rowdy as the opening band, but there were laughs and happy customers. The band had to…
Gabriel Sullivan: Man on the Move, at Club Congress with Lonna Kelley, Saturday, Jan. 25
C. Elliott Gabriel Sullivan with, left to right, Connor Gallagher, guitar and pedal steel; Thøger Lund, bass; Jack Sterbis, drums; Jason Urman, keyboards. The boy likes to stay busy. Last year between tour stops with Howe Gelb’s Giant Giant Sand, local gigs with his breakaway bar-land dance outfit, Chicha Dust, and midwifing an album by…
20 Photos from Amazing Arizona Comic Con 2014
The fourth annual Amazing Arizona Comic-Con was in full swing last weekend, and I had a blast. Comic con is heaven on earth. It’s the only place where I feel alright with the world and everyone around me gets it. Here’s 20 photos of some highly talented cosplayers that attended ACAC:
AZ Illustrated Politics: CPS Makeover, Road Funding, Carroll-Miller Feud
We had a slight techical problem with the the online edition of this week’s AZ Illustrated Politics, but it’s all fixed now, so if you missed it, here’s your chance to watch it online. Arizona Education Network President Ann-Eve Pedersen, former state lawmaker (and community organizer) Frank Antenori and Inside Tucson Business Editor Mark Evans…
5 Designing Tips for Your Desert Home Oasis
The Potted Desert Robellini Palm Creates a Tropical Look Designing Tips for your Desert Home Oasis 1. Plan your tropical garden near your home, part of your seating area. Since the majority of the plants require heavily filtered light, you can make the garden be part of your outdoor living area as you appreciate similar…
Teacher Preparation, Finland Style
Our conservative “education reform” movement loves to knock teachers, especially in what they call “failing schools” — read, schools with low income students. According to them, if only we had more “great teachers” — read, non-union teachers who don’t get pay raises unless they “perform” and who never have tenure — all our educational problems…
20 Straight: Cats Set New Record With 65-56 Win Over Utah
I finally got to the see our No. 1 Wildcats live on the court tonight. (Thanks, Curtis!) The Cats got off to a slow start and the game remained close until Arizona grabbed a double-digit lead late in the second half, but they never really seemed to be in serious peril. Not that I want…
Doodle Needs a Home
The Humane Society of Southern Arizona presents Doodle, a male, 2-year-old, Pit Bull mixReference No. 770787 Everybody loves Doodle! This social butterfly has a luminous coat and a radiant personality to match. He’s a big, goofy boy with an impressive physique and loads of energy. Doodle would do best with someone who equally enjoys physical…
Watch Bill Gates Lose a Chess Game in 79 Seconds
Watch Magnus Carlsen, No. 1 ranked chess player in the world, subdue the world’s second richest man in a friendly game of chess. The match only lasted one minute and 19 seconds. It just goes to show you that even billionaire geniuses like Bill Gates don’t win at everything.
Someone Please Save Maria Conchita Alonso From Tea Baggers
Actress Maria Conchita Alonso did a commercial with the anti-immigration and Minutemen Project-affiliated California governor Tea Party candidate Tim Donnelly and the internets exploded—oh, and possibly Vagina Monologues’ author Eve Ensler. Some have said a little bit of theater possibly died, too. The result was that everyone forgot the name of the actress’s chihuahua. It’s…
Cinema Showdown: Dungeons & Dragons and Strother Martin
Saturday, Jan. 25 marks the end of the Loft Cinema’s Hitchcock Blondes series with my personal favorite Hitchcock flick, the 1958 schizoid shocker Vertigo. The film stars James Stewart as a retired police officer with a case of bad shakes when it comes to heights, Kim Novak as the diabolical blonde who may or may…
Star Wars: Episode VII Rumors and Stormtrooper Twerking
I’m reporting from Phoenix, Ariz., because I’m covering the Amazing Arizona Comic-Con at the Phoenix convention center this weekend. So, I’m really hoping to see some Stormtrooper cosplayers twerking like in this video that was posted five days ago. This Stormtrooper twerking video is better than Episode I,II and III combined. Speaking of Star Wars:…
Announcing: Tucson Weekly Presents March Radness
At the Tucson Weekly, with the help of the fine folks at Club Congress, the Rialto Theatre and Stateside Presents, we’re proud to announce March Radness, a great night of music taking over the east end of Congress on March 8. For just $15 (and there’s a limited number of presale tickets at that price,…
AZ Legislature: Highlights From Week 2
Daniel Desrochers of the Arizona-Sonora New Service rounds up highlights from the second week at the Arizona Legislature: On Tuesday morning, John Arnold, director of the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting, presented Brewer’s budget to a joint House and Senate Appropriations Committee. Rep. Chad Campbell [D-24] grilled Arnold about a provision to have…
Not-So-Comprehensive Immigration Reform: What Can Local Governments Do?
Yale Law Information Society Project Fellow and native Tucsonan Sam Kleiner looks at options to federal immigration reform: As immigration reform is stalled in Congress, progressives should look to the states and cities to take action to help incorporate immigrants into our the fabric of American society. Ultimately, we need an integrated system with federal,…
Election Law Repeal Hearing Gets Postponed Until Next Week
If you read The Skinny in this week’s print edition, you learned about the effort to repeal the election overhaul that lawmakers passed last year. It’s a complicated story, but here’s are the basics: The various provisions of HB 2305—making it a crime to gather early ballots from voters, tossing voters from the permanent early-voter…
FosterEd Launched in Pima County
Several Pima County education, child welfare, behavioral health and judicial agencies joined with the National Center for Youth Law yesterday to launch an educational pilot project called FosterEd, which is part of the national FosterEd Initiative to improve the educational outcomes of thousands of school-age foster children living in Pima County. Backers hope it will…
Cute Porcupine Evidently Has Lots To Say
I didn’t know porcupines talked this much, if at all. I don’t know what he’s saying, except maybe, “Help, this lady is crazy! Need more bananas.” Anyway, rather than viral cat videos, think of this as your porcupine video of the day.
A Pre-K Playground Fight I’d Love To See In Arizona
Photo courtesy of shutterstock.com New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are arguing like a couple of kids on the playground, and I’m loving it. We could use a little more — actually a lot more — of this kind of fight here in…
Chinese New Year Festival at Centennial Hall this Saturday
Chinese New Year Festival Teaser Trailer from Julian Ybarra on Vimeo. If you are looking for something to do on Saturday, be sure to check out the Chinese New Year Festival at the University of Arizona’s Centennial Hall. The Confucius Institute at the University of Arizona and the Tucson Sino Choir presents a festival that…
This New App For Pot Smokers Is Appropriately Simpler Than Facebook.
Mr. SMith Look for s steady stream of Mr. SMith memes on MassRoots. There’s a new app in town that aims to connect cannabis users – ostensibly medical – around the globe. MassRoots, which is available only as a phone and tablet app, lets you post status updates and photos to document your stoner life.…
A Last Brew-Ha-Ha: Ike’s Closes Speedway Location – UPDATE
Photo courtesy of Ike’s Coffee & Tea Facebook page. Ike Isaacson is closing his second coffee shop in the Whole Foods Shopping Center this Sunday. The Speedway Ike’s Coffee & Tea location will shut its doors next week to make way for a new restaurant. The coffee lounge has been located in the Whole Foods…
Family Fun: The Concert for Civility in Pictures
A sea of civility flooded the Hotel Congress patio on Sunday, Jan. 19 — the kind of day that makes nearly everyone cordial: sunny, 75 degrees and filled with music to make all ages dance. It was the sort of afternoon where everyone knew everyone, whether you’d ever met them or not. And it benefited…
What Will We Tell The Children? Philadelphia Edition
Of course, cheating on standardized tests hasn’t, and doesn’t, and couldn’t happen here. At least, no one has proved any cheating in Arizona because our Department of Education doesn’t think it’s worth looking into. (See Carpe Diem charter school note at the end of this post.) But in Atlanta, teachers and principals have pleaded guilty…
Yarbrough and Herrod Need Your Freedom Hugs Today
We’ve always known Arizona lawmaker Steve Yarbrough as a defender of public education, and now the Republican is showing us that he’s also a defender of freedom. The senator recently introduced SB 1062 because our state’s religious-freedom laws just needed an extra boost, or what he calls a “modest clarification,” according to a report in…
Danehy
As I was saying last week before I was so rudely interrupted by my own long-windedness and that pesky print-edition word count, I had gone to the northwest-side Costco right before Christmas to buy a few items. Having seen the apocalyptic movie This Is The End, I felt the need to buy two of those…
A Dickens Delight
There was a time when The Invisible Woman—a movie that takes a speculative look at an affair Charles Dickens had towards the end of his life—would have had Oscar written all over it. Oscar used to love these ornate period dramas so very, very much. The film, released in a limited number of theaters, did…
Police Dispatch
MUST’VE SCARED THE HORSES SHITLESSRINCON BEATDEC. 13, 12:50 P.M. Someone used an explosive device to blow up a toilet at a horse stable, according to a PCSD report. A deputy responded to a criminal-damage call at a large stable bordering the Tanque Verde Wash. The stable’s trainer said most of the toilet in an empty…
Down Under Dining
While Tucson’s food scene is fairly representative of a wide range of cultures, to my knowledge there hasn’t been an Australian restaurant in the mix recently, if ever. Now, we have the Aussie Cantina on Sixth Street, near Arizona Stadium. Of course, you might be hard-pressed to find someone in Tucson who has any idea…
Media Watch
FEEDING THE HAND THAT BIT THEM With the departure of John Humenik to Madison, Wis., the Arizona Daily Star is searching for a new president and publisher. Among the locations it is advertising this position: craigslist.org. If the historians responsible for chronicling the demise of the daily print journalism model don’t spend a lengthy section…
Hard Work, Easy Drinking
Just days from Sentinel Peak Brewing Company’s grand opening, brewer Jeremy Hilderbrand was surprisingly calm. It’s not that he didn’t have anything to worry about. For one, the interior touches at his brewpub were unfinished, with painter’s tape still lining the walls. The staff was going into a grand opening after an incredibly short soft-opening…
The Skinny
FAIR AND UNBALANCED Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller appears determined to appoint a new member of the Pima County Fair Commission. Miller, who was elected in 2012, tried last year to get her political crony, talk-radio host Joe Higgins, appointed to the fair commission, which oversees the management of the county fairgrounds. But the three…
I Need That Record
“We share this space with a few other sellers—they do most of the vintage (antique) stuff,” Lana Rebel says as she invites me into Old Paint, the record store she recently opened with co-owner Kevin Mayfield. Shopping at Old Paint, in the southern portion of downtown’s Old Town Artisans, 201 N. Court Ave., feels like…
Giving Alliance
The LGBT&S Alliance Fund started in 1999 with $50,000 in seed money to the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona from the National Lesbian and Gay Community Funding Partnership. According to Alliance Fund chairperson Kristen Birner, almost 20 LGBT organizations from across the country received the funding, aimed to address the chronic pattern of underfunded LGBT…
Sharing a Split
Ryne Warner and Benjamin Ford-Sala have worked together on farms, their bands have shared members and they’ve explored the same themes in their music and lyrics. So when Warner and Ford-Sala found themselves each with a few stray songs, they decided to forge a split release, a cassette with Ohioan on one side and Young…
The Buffelgrass Battle
At 7:15 a.m. on a Saturday in late October, the only people out and about are dog-walkers, mailmen and people on their morning drives to retail jobs. But also hard at work in a South Tucson wash is a group of about 50 people armed with shovels and digging bars. The army of volunteers, working…
Soundbites
WANT YOU TO KNOW Musical legends, some interesting local shows, buzzy punk bands … looks like we’ve got ourselves a well rounded week of musical fun, folks. Let’s have a look-see, shall we? BEEN SO LONG The last time the legendary Leon Russell visited Tucson was all the way back in … well, October. So,…
Sports
This issue of the Tucson Weekly is so chock-full of great stories, so jam-packed with thought-provoking discourse, so overflowing with information and analysis about what’s going on in our region that it would be a shame to overwhelm you with yet one more column that causes you to reconsider your outlook on life. Instead, here…
Magic Happening
To call Cheap Time mastermind Jeffrey Novak obsessive is an understatement. It’s also a compliment. The Nashville-based Cheap Time’s new album, Exit Smiles (In the Red), in its abrasion, fearlessness, and perfect collision of inspiration and craft, cuts through the chatter of a thousand garage-revival bands by leaving it behind. The ambitions of Cheap Time…
Live
John Isaac Watters, Plush, Sunday, Jan. 19 Raised in nearby Catalina, John Isaac Watters now calls Los Angeles home. The singer-songwriter played two mostly solo sets for a sparse crowd at Plush. Losing the monotony and hopelessness that mars his records, Watters’ performance lightened the atmosphere of his songs with enthusiasm, and the other kind…
Back in Time
It’s kind of sad to think that many of the historical events that Tucson is best known for, at least on a national level, have to do with violent crime. Even before the tragic events of Jan. 8, 2011, our community had been linked to notorious acts, including the 2002 shooting that left three professors…
Dead Meadow: Warble Womb
D.C. sludge psych-rock trio Dead Meadow have been decamped in L.A. for some time, yet its resulting sixth album, the inexhaustible Warble Womb, is almost obdurate in its commitment to the formula the group has cultivated for 15 years: wailing, droning guitars, smothered by stalwart percussion, and draped in hazy, oozing vocals. A kind of…
City Week
The Creative Process Explained Xaviera Simmons Lecture 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 29 UA Center for Creative Photography1030 N. Olive Road 621-7570;cfa.arizona.edu/vase Artist Xaviera Simmons is the latest speaker in the University of Arizona School of Art’s Visiting Artists and Scholars, or VASE, lecture series. Simmons is a 2004 graduate of Bard College who specializes in…
Dum Dum Girls: Too True
After channeling the Pretenders heavily (and to good effect) on 2011’s Only in Dreams, Dum Dum Girls sound much slicker on Too True, a record in the vein of marketable but bland “indie” bands like Metric. Every song has the veneer of a hybrid car commercial or a party sequence from a teen soap airing…
T Q&A
As chairman and founder of Startup Tucson, Justin Williams has worked to foster a vibrant startup community in Tucson through nurturing, networking and good ol’ entrepreneurship. Startup Tucson recently merged with the Gangplank Tucson co-working space to form CoLab Workspace downtown at 17 E. Pennington St. Startup Tucson has also joined forces with local entrepreneur…
Big Business
If you laid all the weed sold in Arizona dispensaries last year end to end, you could make a line of joints from Tucson to Rocky Point. I’m not sure why you would do it, but you could, because it was roughly 170 miles of fatties. That estimate comes from deep in the recesses of…
You Should Be Dancing
Although Matt Baldoni’s training was in classical and jazz guitar, he’s a rock ‘n’ roll guy through and through. He has been playing professionally, often as a sideman, since his late teens. In fact, he was in the orchestra pit so much that he stopped shaving and getting his hair cut because his appearance wasn’t…
Ask A Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I have a question for you about los mexicanos and the TSA, my most hated useless government agency. I heard that TSA does illegal ICE dragnets at airports to catch illegal aliens. My problem with TSA is that I get pulled aside for “special screening” every single time that I fly. It is…
Now on Shelves
The Unarmed Truth: My Fight to Blow the Whistle and Expose Fast and Furious By John Dodson Simon & Schuster $26 hardcover; $13.99 e-book; 284 pages; Non-Fiction So, you’ve gotta ask, whose marketing idea was it to use the words “scandal,” “unpatriotic,” and “Obama” in one sentence on the dust jacket of this new book…
Without Papers
In the era of SB 1070, Alejandra, an undocumented immigrant in Tucson, does whatever she can to avoid detection. First she turns to God. “I’m always praying, ‘Please, God, allow me to end this day, to go and pick up my kids from school'” without getting arrested, she told documentary filmmaker Jason Aragón. She has…
Noshing Around
Cartel Comes Downtown Cartel Coffee Lab’s grand opening of its downtown location starts at 5 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 25. The new spot is at 210 E. Broadway Blvd., at Herbert Avenue. The event will feature free pizza and sandwiches from Cartel’s wood-fired oven, along with $4 craft beers. Several bands, including Sun Bones, will provide…
Something Missing
All Disney kids grow up eventually. From the 1990s Mouseketeers with Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling and Christina Aguilera to the cast of High School Musical, the performers become young adults and they look to break from their past. So there’s Britney declaring she’s not that innocent at age 17, Miley Cyrus devolving or…
Editor’s Note
It might not be an actual concern to the rest of the universe, but inside the hallowed halls of the liberal media compound, the main topic of discussion the last few days has been a long form article on Grantland.com ostensibly about the inventor of a putter sold via infomercials. Certainly, that doesn’t sound like…
True TV
Lawyer Up American Idol Wednesdays & Thursdays (Fox) New Season: Last week, reality-competition artifact American Idol had its lowest-rated season premiere ever. Related, same-show-but-let’s-all-pretend-it’s-different The X Factor is not a lock to be renewed for a fourth season by Fox, also thanks to eroded viewership. The Only TV Column That Matters™ is jumping straight to…
Brian Lopez Brings the Big Sound to Plush, Jan. 18
C. Elliott Brian Lopez at Plush Jan. 18 Modestly populated for opener Maria del Pilar, the Plush music room filled with fans as Lopez took the stage. He brought a crowd with him onstage, too, for fully fleshed out renderings of new material and some songs we last heard solo-gypsy style at the Casa Maria…
