Cover Story
Dignity
At least between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., women can turn to Sister José’s. There, they have access to a shower and bathroom, a washer and dryer, clean clothes and underwear, shoes that fit, food and beverages. But at the core of it all is the feeling that, despite domestic abuse, poverty or addiction, they…
Local Musician Turned Veterans’ Advocate Releases Poetry Book, All Proceeds Go to Help Veterans in Need
A former local musician gone veterans advocate is having a release party for his first poetry book, and all proceeds are going to his program Pay It Forward Tucson—a nonprofit that helps low-income families and veterans in Pima County. The book, titled “Thoughts and Poetry for the Soul and out of Boredom,” was released on…
Who Wants Diamondbacks Tickets For Thursday Night?
We’ve got two pairs of tickets to Thursday night’s Diamondbacks game against the Milwaukee Brewers. The game starts at 6:40 p.m at Chase Field in Phoenix. We’ll draw the winner Thursday (“tomorrow” from when this was published, “today” if you’re seeing this in your newsletter) at Noon. You have to be able to pick the…
At Best, One in Eight Arizona Adults Eats Enough Fruits and Vegetables, According to CDC
According to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month, Arizonans are not eating their veggies—or fruits for that matter. The sampling of 3,269 Arizona-based adults uncovered that only 12.5 percent of those studied were eating enough fruit, which boils down to seven-eighths of the population not getting adequate…
ACLU, ACLU of Arizona Are Going After Pinal County Sheriff, Attorney Over Their Enforcement of Civil Forfeiture Laws
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arizona are suing the Pinal County sheriff and attorney over their enforcement of the state’s civil forfeiture laws. The lawsuit involves Pinal County resident Rhonda Cox. Her truck was seized by sheriff deputies, after her 20-year-old borrowed the truck one night and replaced the hood and cover…
Harper Lee’s Two Versions of Racism in America
It may be a sin to kill a mockingbird, but is it a sin to knock a Finch off his pedestal? It turns out Atticus Finch was a segregationist and a bigot before he was the ideal vision of a white southerner who was able to rise above the racism of his time. Of maybe…
Doug Ducey and Andy Biggs: “Don’t Tell Me What I Don’t Want to Hear.”
I’m sensing a pattern here. Arizona Senate President Andy Biggs sponsored legislation to audit the Department of Child Safety, to the tune of $250,000. Must have been pretty important if a fiscal conservative wanted to spend a quarter million dollars to figure out how to fix the agency. Well, the results of the study are in,…
Tap & Bottle Presents a Tasty Tasting Line-Up of Local Mead
Obscure and historical boozes are having more than a moment in the international booze consciousness which means mead isn’t just for the vikings of yesteryear anymore. In fact, up in Prescott, the brewers behind Superstition Meadery are making modern fermentations from local honey—resulting in some seriously delicious mead. If you’re curious just what mead might…
Stop Procrastinating on Best of Tucson, You Fools!
You know that intense, inescapable anxiety that comes with impending deadlines? The kind that is still stressful even when the source of the stress has temporarily been forgotten? Sometimes I’ll be sitting on my couch and suddenly I’ll remember that I’ve been worrying about … something. The rent is due? I need to call my…
Barrio Hollywood: If You Don’t Live in the Barrio, You’re Not Allowed to Vote in Our Neighborhood Association
Barrio Hollywood residents voted last week to change the rules of who’s allowed to be a voting member of the neighborhood association. Voting rights in the association are now exclusive to those who live in the barrio. Meaning, if you are a business or property owner whose home isn’t in the barrio, you can’t vote…
Immigration Rights Advocates Who Shut Down Operation Streamline for a Day Sentenced to ‘Time Served’
The immigration rights advocates who, for one day, shut down a federal immigration proceeding known as Operation Streamline were sentenced to time served for obstructing a highway and being a public nuisance. In March, the advocates were acquitted of five other criminal charges, including criminal trespassing, obstructing government operations and obstructing prosecution in the second degree. In…
Ducey Orders Investigation into Planned Parenthood Arizona
In light of the controversy over Planned Parenthood’s donation of fetal tissue and organs to medical researchers, Gov. Doug Ducey is ordering an investigation into whether Planned Parenthood Arizona participates in such a program. Ducey said that footage from a recent video about the use of fetal tissue for research is “horrifying and has no…
Josh Marshall: “Trump Is the Frankenstein’s Hair Monster”
Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall sizes up whether Donald Trump’s feud with Sen. John McCain will hurt his presidential campaign: Is Trump a joke? Of course, he is. But if we judge politicians by any other standard than their ability to garner votes and polling support, we’ll soon run out of candidates. If clowns are…
Kayla Needs a Home
Kayla is too sweet for her own good! Easily stealing the hearts of many since being at Humane Society of Southern Arizona for four months, Kayla is one darling pup! Kayla is gentle, playful, easy to walk, and has a beautiful temperament. Although this adorable girl can be quite shy in some situations, she is…
Arizona’s Teacher Shortage (and How To Fix It)
Another school year, another teacher shortage. This isn’t a TUSD problem or a Tucson-area problem. One estimate says that Arizona has 1,000 fewer teachers than it needs. Another, which seems high to me, says that Maricopa County alone has 1,000 teacher slots to fill. Either way, it’s a big, statewide problem. Emphasis on “statewide.” Why…
Goldwater Institute Seeks Protection for Native American Children
Recently, the Goldwater Institute held a press conference announcing the filing of a class action lawsuit challenging race based separate and unequal treatment regarding foster and adoptive placement of Native American children. Today’s existing problems can be traced back over one hundred years to the late 19th and early 20th Centuries when many Native American…
Loft Cinema’s Kids Fest Starts Tonight
The Loft Cinema is once again entertaining the children of our community with the Loft Kids Fest, featuring everything from Harry Potter to Spongebob Squarepants. The films start every morning at 10 a.m. beginning Saturday, July 18, and continuing through Sunday, July 26. You can see the whole schedule here, but our favorite is the…
You’ve Only Got Two Weeks to Vote in Best of Tucson
I could write something cute, but we both know you’re just here for the link. Email me (chelo@tucsonlocalmedia.com) if you’re having trouble logging in. Do your due diligence and make sure you can back up each of the (minimum 30) votes you submit. Ballots are due August 2. Here’s to a weekend of monsoons, Ice Cream…
“I’d Like To Buy a Euphemism, Pat”
This may be one of the best lines of dialogue I’ve read in the paper in a long time. According to Howard Fischer’s article about Arizona’s continuing effort to deny drivers licenses to Dreamers, one of the federal appellate judges got a bit testy—maybe “truthful” is a better word—with an Arizona assistant attorney general trying to…
Arizona Back in 9th Circuit Court Today Defending No Driver’s Licenses for DREAMers
The state and immigration rights advocates were back in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today for a hearing against a district court judge’s injunction that allowed undocumented youth protected under Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival to get licenses in Arizona. After years in and out of court, U.S. District Judge David Campbell issued…
Feds: Undocumented Youth Who Got a 3-Year DACA Work Permit Have to Return It Immediately, Get a 2-Year Instead
Undocumented youth who got a three-year work permit under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals have to return them immediately or face getting the relief revoked, according to the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services. More than 2,000 of these were approved and sent out after U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen of Texas issued on Feb. 16…
Orange is the New Black Fans: Read This Essay, Be Aware of the Reality of Women’s Prisons
Ms. Magazine just published an essay written by one of them women who served time in prison alongside Piper Kerman. After a relatively short prison sentence, Kerman wrote about the experience in her book Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, the book the popular television show of a similar name…
Win Gift Cards to (So Many) Tucson Businesses With Our Summer Passport
Every summer, as even lifelong Tucsonans hide away near their swamp coolers or run off on beach vacations, things slow down here in the Old Pueblo. In an effort to get you out of the house and running* around town, our advertorial team dreamed up a “Summer Passport.” If you are one of our super…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I’ve been on sex-offender registry websites a couple of times, and it seems there are a lot of names ending with -ez. Is there an elevated rate of sexual deviancy amongst Mexicans? If so, why?
Rocking Down the Street
Still contemplating if the streetcar is the right mode of transportation for you? Let’s go down the check list: cool AC, a relatively good availability of comfortable seats, music. Check. Live music?
Police Dispatch
A woman’s friend left her a sarcastic parting “thank-you” note by etching an insult directly onto the woman’s big-screen TV after she let the subject stay as a guest at her home, a PCSD report stated.
Loft Kids Fest
The Loft Kids Fest, sponsored by Trail Dust Town, celebrates its ninth year from July 18 to July 26.
Aliens on the Big Screen
The Fox Theatre will let fanboys and girls relive, or experience for the first time four sci-fi gems in their big-screen glory.
B-Sides
You’ve got a busy weekend ahead, music fans.
The Skinny
The Donald comes to Phoenix, says dumb things about Latinos and McSally raises a million dollars for congressional campaign while Kirkpatrick brings in $700,000 for Senate bid
BYOM?
Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) and attorney Brian Vicente are two of the champions of the 2012 Amendment 64 (The Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol Act) which legalized and regulated the use and sale of recreational marijuana in Colorado.
Media Watch
Buckmaster named to Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame and KGUN has new twist on Trump speech
Editor’s Note
Luckily for us, there’s an organization with a Tucson office that’s been rattling cages and making a difference when it comes to the politics of Arizona and the private prison industry—the American Friends Service Committee.
Fusion + Focus: The Jons
After four years of work, sometimes steady and sometimes slow, The Jons are ready to unveil El Rey Mojado, the band’s most cohesive musical statement yet.
PY Steakhouse Bar: No-Limit Libation
The bar’s upscale digs house folks looking for the classics, puffing on cigarettes inside—a luxury afforded in a dwindling few bars in the United States at this point.
The Pleasure Activist
One disclaimer about pleasing the clitoris: These are just tips. It’s not a definitive instruction manual. And where would the fun in that be anyway?
Make haste to “Bad Dates”
Prepare to be charmed.
Unprocessed Server
Megan Kimble is the author of Unprocessed: My City-Dwelling Year of Reclaiming Real Food. The book chronicles Kimble’s efforts to take one year off from eating processed food and what she learned from the experience.
Indubitably
Mr. Holmes offers a slightly different and welcome twist on Sherlock. Decades after the Barry Levinson flick, “Young Sherlock Holmes,” we finally get a film featuring the master detective at the end of his life.
Pay Sweetness Forward
We all need a helping hand sometimes. Even the hands of a skilled baker and master of sweet treats could use some aid now and again.
Police Dispatch
A mysterious vandal repeatedly sneaked onto the property of a local Drug Enforcement Agency officer at night and performed very odd pranks, from pouring various foodstuffs on his yard and plants to “borrowing” his pet reptile, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report.
Get a Grip: Death Grips
Why do people still like Death Grips? It’s not an accusation or a question of taste, it’s a question of patience, of self-respect. The antics of the Sacramento three-piece, whose genre-defying industrial hip hop attracts labels like “ketamine-fueled hobo noise-rap,” are arguably more notorious than the band’s music
Guest Opinion
There’s not a whole helluva lot one can say to the craziness of this event other than, ‘WTH?!?’
Danehy
We all say stupid things from time to time. Fortunately, for most people (and most of the time), the only people who hear these things are friends and family—who are generally forgiving—or maybe a bartender, who really doesn’t give a crap. There are exceptions.
Dust Devil
Yearning for enlightened future where all energy is harvested and recycled and never wasted.
We Come in Peace
The whimsical minds at the Valley will transform their world into the Legler Station on the third moon of Morpheus.
Cutting with a Sharp Blade
Marcy Miranda Janes practices the ancient art of paper-cutting, making intricate paper landscapes that look like doilies and flowers that look like lace. But Janes cuts with a sharp blade and more often than not her flowers are fierce.
