Cover Story
To the Moon
Before the footprints came the photographs. Before Neil Armstrong could take his one small step, a camera-carrying spacecraft made a big crash, by design, transmitting more than 4,000 images of the moon back to Earth as it hurtled toward the lunar surface. In charge of the scientific team for NASA’s Ranger 7 spacecraft was the…
Tucson Roller Derby Home Bout
Tucson Roller Derby’s next bout is Saturday, Aug. 9. It’s Furious Truckstop Waitresses vs. VICE Squad. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Discounts to youth 10-17, kids younger than 10 are free with paying adult. Tucson Indoor Sports Center, 1065 W. Grant Road. Food and drink…
Sign Petition that Weird Al Headline Super Bowl XLIX Halftime
Only 523 more signatures are needed for a Change.org petition to have Weird Al headline the Super Bowl halftime show. Make it happen Weird Tucson people. Make it happen. From the petition: For decades Weird Al has entertained fans, young and old, with his popular clever parodies and unique sense of humor. Having him headline…
Get Ready for the [SCREECHING NOISE THEN PERSON YELLING] of Skrillex, Coming to Tucson
While people seem to fall on one side or another of the love/hate dichotomy with his music, the fact that Skrillex is coming to Tucson is unquestionably a big deal, since the guy can headline festivals and play big venues anywhere in the country. This might only be interesting to me, but when I was…
Save Money and Help People at Saint House
Tucson’s downtown Caribbean oasis Saint House is celebrating its first anniversary nowish, so instead of offering a Groupon or Livingsocial deal or something of the like, co-owners Nicole Flowers and Travis Reese are raising money for Ben’s Bells and giving you a significant discount on delicious food at the same time. Here’s how it works:…
New Cyclovia Tucson Route Announced for November 2nd Event
DOWNTOWNTUCSONAN.ORG For the first time in five years, the extremely popular Cyclovia biking event will have a new route come Sunday, November 2, one in which organizers say will link “the thriving Sixth Avenue and Sixth Street business district to University Boulevard, Fourth Avenue shopping and entertainment districts, to the Sun Link Modern Streetcar, and…
Press Conference at Noon on Gutierrez BP Abuse Case, Charges
A noon press conference will follow today’s 9 a.m. hearing of Shena Gutierrez, founding member of the Border Patrol Victims Network, at the DeConcini Federal Courthouse, 405 W. Congress St. Gutierrez and two other activists contend they were physically and verbally abused by BP officers at the Nogales Port of Entry on Saturday, May 24.…
Summer Beer Tastings
Maynards Market & Kitchen and Hotel Congress are offering beer tastings throughout the summer. Here are events for August: On Aug. 9, from 6 to 8 p.m., Maynards Market & Kitchen (400 N. Toole Ave.) offers a Sear N’ Beer event. For $25, you get five beer samples and barbecue bites. Aug. 16: At Hotel…
Graze Premium Burgers Opens Today
There’s a new burger joint in town. Jeff and Fran Katz, owner and operators of Choice Greens, opened a new restaurant that specializes in premium antibiotic- and hormone-free beef and chicken. Graze is located at 2721 E. Speedway. The store opened on Tuesday. Graze will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11…
Wingspan Board Update on Move to SAAF
Wingspan’s board of directors issued an update this week on the LGBT community center’s programs move to the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation: The board of directors for the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF) unanimously voted Tuesday evening to move forward with plans to acquire Wingspan, Tucson’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community center, and…
TUSD’s Catalina High Defies Critics, Earns “C” Rating
In March, the TUSD Board decided not to renew the contract of Rex Scott, the principal of Catalina High. Because the vote was taken in the discussion of the issue occurred during executive session, the reasons for the decision aren’t public, but it was clear at the time that a significant factor in the vote…
Here’s the KFMA Fall Ball Lineup
If you enjoy angry rock and roll and miss the early part of the 2000’s, this year’s KFMA Fall Ball is right up your alley as the annual radio fest is teaming up with the Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival this year, bringing Godsmack, Seether, Escape the Fate, Buckcherry, PopEvil and the always promising “more TBA.” …
Video of a Seal Trying to Surf Will Make Your Monday
If you haven’t noticed by now it’s Monday, and we have a case of the Mondays. For those of you looking for a small distraction from the Monday grind, here’s a video that has surfaced on Reddit. Matt Stanley and Andrew Flounders were surfing in Northumberland and made a new friend. This curious seal decided to join…
Rising Back-To-School Lists, Costs Give Families a Lesson in Economics
By JULIANNE LOGAN Cronkite News WASHINGTON – Chandler mom Lindsay Barnes already knows what the National Retail Federation is reporting in a recent study – it costs a lot to send kids back to school. The federation said this month that families will spend an average of $101.18 per student for school supplies alone, a…
Air Sex World Championships at Hotel Congress Tonight
Photo courtesy of Air Sex. The world is full of things I’ll never understand. But I’m on a journey to comprehend those things, no matter how obscure and sexual it might be. Tonight, the Air Sex World Championships will commence at Hotel Congress, 311 East Congress Street. The competitor with the sexiest moves will be deemed…
Cinema La Placita August Schedule
Cinema La Placita wraps its season this August with the theme of comedy teams: Hepburn/Tracy, Pryor/Wilder, Murray/Ramis and Marx/Marx/Marx/Marx. La Placita Village is located on the southwest corner of Broadway and Church Avenue in downtown Tucson. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. $3 per person and includes popcorn. August 7 Woman of the Year (1942) NR Starring Katherine…
Tucson Needs a Restaurant Staffed With Deaf Servers
Here’s a million dollar idea: hire a staff that can’t hear a word said. Anjan Manikumar opened a restaurant that employs deaf waiters, and this has never been done in Canada. The idea originated when Manikumar noticed a deaf customer ordering an item by pointing at the menu. Manikumar told CBC News, “I felt he wasn’t…
Benise, the Fabio/Michael Flatley of Flamenco, Tonight at Rialto Theatre
Falling behind on your trashy summer romance reading? All of that “Spain Vacation” savings went instead to repair the AC compressor? Well, thank Dios it’s Friday because The Rialto Theatre has the answer to your prayers in the form of “Nouveau Spanish Flamenco Guitarist” and just all-around sexy, hairy beast Benise. Roni Benise, aka “Benise,”…
Congressman Ron Barber: Border Bill Fiasco Shows Congressional Leaders “Insist on Political Games Over Real Solutions”
As most Range readers know, there’s been a bit of a crisis on the border with unaccompanied minors fleeing gang violence and other troubles in Central America and crossing into the United States because they hope they’ll find some kind of asylum here. So Republicans in the House of Representatives tried to pass a border…
Antigone Books Best-Sellers
Here are Antigone Books best-sellers for the week ending July 31, 2014: 1. Spider Woman’s Daughter: A Leaphorn & Chee Novel Anne Hillerman ($9.99) 2. The Lowland Jhumpa Lahiri ($15.95) 3. The House Girl Tara Conklin ($14.99) 4. The Fault in Our Stars John Green ($12.99) 5. The Valley of Amazement Amy Tan ($16.99) 6.…
Winnie Needs a Home
The Human Society of Southern Arizona presents Winnie, a 6-year-old, female, domestic short hair Reference no. 60638 Meet Winnie, a very special kitty who is marking a full year of searching for a home at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. This staff and volunteer favorite has come so far during those 365 days. When…
Rick Santorum Faults Gay Marriage For Surge in Single Moms, and Polygamy is Next
If you’re wondering why you’re seeing more single moms and swingers walking around your neck of the woods, Rick Santorum might have figured it out. Former presidential candidate was a guest on Phyllis Schlafly’s crazy ass right-wing talk radio show “Eagle Live Forum,” and he said same-sex marriage is the reason why there are less happily…
Ed Shorts: August Edition
Image courtesy of shutterstock.com Time to clear some stories off my desktop that I’ll never find time to get to on their own. Most of the mini-stories have links so you can learn more if you’re interested. • School is in! Best of luck kids. Best of luck teachers. Best of luck administrators, administrative assistants,…
In AZ Gov Race, Scott Smith Asks: Why Does Doug Ducey “Feel A Need To Be Deceptive”
Here’s a weird moment in the crowded Republican primary for governor: Earlier this week, as Arizona Treasurer Doug Ducey was facing new questions about the sale of the Cold Stone Creamery company he had built, he made a phone call to an attorney who had worked on a legal dispute regarding Ducey’s sale of the…
Serraglio
About five minutes into my first streetcar ride last Saturday evening, the shiny, sleek, three-segmented transipede stopped so abruptly that some of the 150 people on board lost their balance and bounced off one another. As traffic moved on through several green lights while we stood still, it became apparent that we were stuck, right…
Soundbites
LATE BLOOMER Jenny Lewis is having a moment right now with her third solo album, The Voyager, out this week, a feature in The New York Times Magazine, and a newish music video (“Just One of the Guys”) with nearly three million views on YouTube, so we’re catching her at a good time for her…
The Fantastic Fox
Like bistros in France or trattorias in Italy, American diners are the embodiment of a country’s culinary culture. Diners are where friends and families meet, where deals are done, where politics are discussed, where leisure time is sacred. Menus tend to be similar but a good diner will have a specialty or two that is…
Perceptions and Judgments
Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney is a big play in a small package. Live Theatre Workshop has opened that package very carefully and has allowed its contents to spill onto the stage simply, with honesty and clarity. The result is a very good production of a very good play. Friel is a modern Irish playwright who…
Nine Questions
Tucson has started to adopt a new slogan thanks to Ernesto Vega, one of the masterminds behind the “Keep Tucson Party” T-shirt you might see around town. The DJ was born in Mesa, Arizona, in 1982, but has lived in “Tuc-Town” since 1985. You can catch the resident party animal at Flycatcher for Holla every Saturday,…
Star-Lord and Company
Guardians of the Galaxy is a goofy, dazzling, often hilarious convergence of inspired nuttiness. You’ll probably hear comparisons to the original Star Wars, The Fifth Element and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, and all of those comparisons would be plausible ones. It’s a blessedly new-and crazy-direction for the Marvel universe, and director James Gunn (Super,…
Primer
WHO ARE THEY Counting Crows is perhaps the only band to ever rise from coffee houses to selling 20 million albums without losing any of the earnest, everyman vibe they started with. The band wouldn’t have lasted 23 years without the unlikely hit “Mr. Jones,” but it’s still a commendable staying power. Singer Adam Duritz…
It Was This Man’s Man’s Man’s World
Biopics, particularly those of musicians and other performers, tend to gloss over the asshole half of most artistic geniuses. After all, who wants to hear about all their shortcomings when you could just hear the massive hits instead? Get on Up depicts James Brown as a lot of things, but mostly, he’s seen as fallible.…
The Genuine Article
The two new singles Steff And The Articles readied for a 10-date Western tour represent two aspects of the quickly rising band. The songs both found immediate national attention online, with “Call You Mine” getting a double-dose premiere, the audio releasing on Tiny Mix Tapes and a video debuting on American Songwriter, and “I Want…
Investigation Justification
The congratulatory hugs and handshakes that followed the hire of a new Tucson Magnet High School principal and the former principal moved to a different administrative position would have seemed normal and downright jovial if not for the public comment that followed, questioning why the district’s flagship high school didn’t have a place for an…
Noshing Around
THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS Salsa, tequila and music, that is! SAACA is throwing their fourth annual Southern Arizona Salsa and Tequila Challenge. This is a party, my friends, guaranteed. It goes down on Saturday, Aug. 16, at 6 p.m. at La Encantada. The shindig brings out more than 40 of our local chefs and barkeeps…
Shadowy Support
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred DuVal has proposed a way to stop the dark money flowing into this year’s governor’s race. DuVal, who faces no opponent in next month’s primary election, last week asked his opponents to abide by a “dark money pledge. “Here’s my offer: if Doug Ducey, Scott Smith, Christine Jones, Ken Bennett, and…
Country Gravy & Other Obsessions
Meet Mavis Applebee and Myrtle McGillicurdle. Between them, they wear cat-eye glasses, a bouffant bun, pearls and hats. They are coming to town to … move over Dr. Phil … give us a relationship seminar. Starring in the musical comedy Country Gravy & Other Obsessions, Julia Laskowski (Mavis) and Patricia Rabaza (Myrtle) dish about relationships…
The Skinny
With the primary election underway, candidates have moved into “destroy your opponent” mode Election Month Is Here Early voting starts this week in the Aug. 26 primary and the crowded, six-way GOP governor’s race is starting to tighten up. While the polls released to the public have been somewhat mixed (and only somewhat reliable), many…
Danehy
A long, long time ago, in my phony-baloney position as president of my high school’s Letterman’s Club, I found myself seated at a banquet table next to legendary USC football coach John McKay, who, while waiting for the banquet to begin, was reading a book about the Civil War. (John McKay was one of the…
Media Watch
TELEMUNDO EXPANDS TELEVISION NEWS CONTENT In the latter part of the last decade, during the onset of the recession, Spanish language television markets cut back dramatically on news coverage pertaining to Arizona and the desert Southwest, consolidating bureaus in LA, Texas and Florida and piping in that news to Hispanic-heavy Phoenix and Tucson. That didn’t…
Cinema Showdown!
One last film remains in the summer o’ Spielberg over at the Loft Cinema. On Thursday, July 31, sit down for a tale about a young man going back in time and wowing square-johns with guitar distortion, scaring Crispin Glover with Eddie Van Halen, inventing the skateboard and deflecting an incestious relationship with his mother.…
Police Dispatch
THE CRAIGSLIST (BUSINESS) KILLER RINCON BEAT JULY 3, 1:30 P.M. A local business owner received hundreds of calls from sex-seeking men after someone posted a wild Craiglist personal ad about him, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. The man told a sheriff’s deputy he’d been receiving lewd phone calls from complete strangers on…
Ask A Mexican!
Dear Mexican: What is it about the many gringos/gabachos that constantly slaughter Spanish words? Spanish is easy to pronounce (and spell) compared to English. The vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are always pronounced the same way. In English, vowels vary a lot—difficult for new learners. All the other alphabet letters are pronounced the same way,…
Word Worries
I’ve been a writer for more than two decades, but I’ve never been much of a grammar Nazi. You know the type—they harass you on Facebook every time you slip up and use bad grammar or spelling or punctuation. Niggling over “your” and “you’re” and commas usually seems to me like a failed exercise in…
Back to the Basics
For a back-to-basics blues record, Kenny Wayne Shepherd went back home. The renowned guitarist wanted to make a record not of blues standards and classics that had been heard a million times, but of the songs that inspired him growing up, personal favorites that were just as likely to be deep cuts on overlooked albums.…
Live
WHILE YOU SLEPT 2 WITH MR. E BRANES, ASTRO BLUNT, AND BIG MERIDOX THE FLYCATCHER Saturday, July 26 I’ve heaped plenty of much deserved praise on Tucson rapper Big Meridox in these pages over the last year, but that’s not to say anyone needed to read about him if they hadn’t heard him before. But…
