Cover Story
Farewell, Franzi
The Tucson community honors local legend Emil Franzi, who died June 7th.
Quick Bites: Wasting Away Again
Nothing quenches summer thirst like a cold margarita, and this summer, Blanco Taco & Tequila, 2905 E. Skyline Drive, is offering rotating monthly margarita specials through August. Kick back and enjoy a new, handcrafted margarita each month. June’s margarita features fresh watermelon, rhubard bitters and silver tequila; July’s features muddled watermelon, mint, fresh lime and…
Quick Bites: Eat a Cactus
Ever thought to sample a cacti? This Monday, June 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. is your chance to find out what some of your favorite succulents actually taste like! Take a trip downtown to the Food Conspiracy Co-op, 412 N. Fourth Ave., and experience a hands-on demonstration with Jill Lorenzini of Desert Harvest that…
How’s the New ‘Anyone Can Teach in Arizona’ Law Working Out So Far?
In 2008, Ed Supe Tom Horne had a great idea to get more science and math teachers in the classroom. Why not have businesses let some of their STEM-based employees teach one high school class a year as part of their job? Brilliant! After Horne’s announcement, did you see the stampede of people rushing from…
Laughing Stock: Where Does Comedy Come From?
In the last few months, Tucson has lost three important comedy “workshops.” These were not open mics, per se, but sessions in which comedians and aspiring comedians write together, try out new material, and get feedback from other, usually more experienced comics. Two of the former workshops’ venues are or were closing. The third, at…
Quick Bites: Wings of Desire
Throw down at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 25 as Rincon Market, 2513 E. Sixth St., invites Tucson locals to reap the rewards of an inaugural Summer Slugfest Food Competition. With six of Tucson’s finest eateries going head-to-head, the competition is sure to heat up. The first round in this summer’s series includes chicken wings and…
The Weekly List: 15 Things To Do In Tucson In The Next Week
Your Weekly guide to keeping busy (and staying cool!) in the Old Pueblo. Food & Booze Chorizo and Sonoran Hot Dog Challenge. Tucson is well known as the Sonoran Hot Dog capital of the U.S. Less well known is how great the chorizo in town is. Ask any Phoenician with family in the Old Pueblo:…
Song of the Day: Billy Sedlmayr on Esther Phillips’ Brilliant Take of ‘Home is Where the Hatred Is.’
Little Esther Mae Jones was born in Galveston, Texas. Her folks’ early divorce saw her to bounce between Texas and Watts, California. She’d discovered early on that music was one thing that couldn’t be taken from her. It stuck to her ribs. Just listen to her first hit record—a 1950 orchestral take on Johnny Otis’s…
Dems Ask Judge To Knock Indie Candidate from November City Council Ballot
It looks like Tucson City Council candidate Gary Watson needs to lawyer up. Watson, a firefighter who is running as an independent for the open Ward 3 seat, is facing a legal challenge to his candidacy. Attorney Vince Rabago, representing plaintiff Sheila Yamanaka, has filed a lawsuit alleging that Watson does not have enough signatures…
Grand Glazed Opening
Having lived in Phoenix, I’m of the opinion Tucson suffers from a dearth of quality 24-hour restaurants. Particularly when it comes to pick-’em-up-anytime donut establishments. If you’re trying to satisfy your after-hours sweet-tooth, you’re totally out of luck. Want a long-john? Ha, you’ll have to wait till 6 A.M. when the grocery store opens. Unless…
Curry Needs a Home
Hi I’m Curry! I am a 10-month-old female dog looking for a forever family! I was transferred to HSSA from another shelter a couple weeks ago and now I’m ready to go home. I would benefit from daily walks, playtime and basic training. Want to meet me? Come down to HSSA Main Campus at 3450…
Carpe Diem Charters Are Failing to Seize the Day, Or the Students
Looks like the Carpe Diem charter school chain which started in Yuma is experiencing problems. One of its Indiana schools lost its charter and is being shut down, and the flagship Yuma school is struggling to reach full enrollment. I’ve been following the Carpe Diem story since 2011, wondering if its “blending learning” system would…
Review: Danny Lyon—Present Future, the Silverman Museum Collection
A black-and-white New York City skyline that’s receded from the vantage of a helicopter. Once the city resembled something one could hold in a fist, the photograph is snapped. It’s 1966. Yet the photo vibrates for contemporary eyes as contemporary thru its darkness. It’s a sight of the ’60s we can enter, because its black-and-white…
Zona Politics Tonight: City Councilman Paul Cunningham and CD2 Candidate Mary Matiella
Tonight on the televised edition of Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel: I talk to Tucson City Councilman Paul Cunningham about the city’s border-wall resolution, the recently passed budget, the state of the city’s parks and much more. Then I introduce you to Mary Matiella, a retired Assistant Secretary of the Army who is considering jumping into…
Border Patrol Agents Bust Migrants Seeking Medical Aid at No More Deaths Desert Camp
The Border Patrol arrested four undocumented border-crossers receiving medical attention at a humanitarian-aid station on Thursday evening, breaking with years of precedent. A helicopter, 15 trucks, two quadrant vehicles and 30 armed agents descended on the medical-aid station, search warrants in hand, after tracking a group of migrants for 18 miles, according to the humanitarian-aid…
Check Out All These Great Indie Movies This Week
As temperatures climb in the Old Pueblo, local summer film series are also heating up. This week, and in the weeks to follow, Tucson will play host to a myriad of continuing cinematic celebrations that are sure to spice up your summer. The Loft Cinema: Cult Classic Series (every Friday and Saturday at 10 p.m.): On Friday,…
Yo, It’s The Local Showdown! Hurry Your Ass Up Because There’s Still Time to Enter!
It’s time for all the punks, the rap spitters, the jazz messengers, the acoustic alchemists, the singer-songwriters, the metalheads, the R&B crooners, EDM naval-gazers, the countrified outlaws and the indie stalwarts and all you purveyors of organized noise—er, musicians—to enter The Local Showdown. In the spirit of overcoming Old Pueblo summertime desolation and its literal and…
Laughing Stock: Borderlands Brings Back Brew Ha Ha
Brew Ha Ha returns to Borderlands brewery this month after a brief hiatus to sort schedules. The show, which thrived on a monthly Tuesday for more than a year, moves to 8 to 10 p.m. Monday, June 19, and continues the third Monday of every month. Brew Ha Ha co-host Matt Ziemak says, “There are…
Police Dispatch
Wrong way walker
The Skinny
Honoring a father-in-law
No Thanks, Trump
The Pima County Board of Supervisors and the Tucson City Council approved a joint resolution standing in opposition to the proposed border wall.
Ask a Mexican!
Rural Mexicans treat their hens as they treat their women: as purveyors of breasts, eggs and little else.
Shooting Stars
Tiny works at Davis Dominguez win our critic’s Sizey Awards
Shames, if You’re Nasty
How a Tucson writer overcame Trump loathing with inspired work
Mum’s the Turd
I don’t hate The Mummy because it’s a terrible movie. I hate it because it could have, and should have, been good.
New Lease on Life
The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted to extend and amend the contract with Banner Health and the Arizona Board of Regents to operate the former Kino Community Hospital June 6 in a 4-1 vote.
Information Inspiration
Catch enough fleeting glimpses of your purpose in life, and you might finally lock your sights on it for good. Epiphanies spring from experience. Lando Chill acknowledges that he didn’t embrace his true purpose instantaneously.
Don’t Forget the Coop
Alice Cooper talks his early Tucson days with The Spiders, Chris Cornell and his new album Paranormal
Know Your Product
Cobra Family Picnic’s latest album Magnetic Anomaly is a journey through a Carlos Castañeda hallucinogen-tinted landscape, the mystical and, we’re guessin’, the pharmacological frontiers of contemporary psych.
Atomic Punk
Funky down-home comfort only begins to describe the Atomic Frog Cafe
Editor’s Note
Executive editor Jim Nintzel bids a fond adieu to local radio star Emil Franzi, honors his father-in-law, and showcases the rest of the Weekly‘s offerings.
Tucson Salvage
At the Chatterbox on a lonely Monday night in June in Tucson.
Reefer Round-Up
Marijuana benefits abound as new policy looms
Police Dispatch
Flashing failure
