Cover Story
The Crafty Lefty
It’s a Saturday in late May, impossibly bright, the warmth of the afternoon a trumpet of summer’s coming. Tucson Toros pitching coach Ed Vosberg steps through a door into a clubhouse hallway at Hi Corbett Field, out of the glare, and leans against the wall, one leg bent back, still catching his breath after throwing…
Arizona Senate Passes Abortion Restrictions
The Arizona Senate has passed an omnibus bill packed with all the abortion restrictions that social conservatives have been pushing for years. Howie has the details. A snippet: HB 2564 would require a woman to wait at least 24 hours between the time she first sees a doctor and the time she actually can get…
Now McCain Is Really In Trouble!
The Onion reports that Barack Obama is planning to run for McCain’s Senate seat. An excerpt: PHOENIX—Saying that it is time for change to come to Arizona, President Barack Obama on Tuesday formally announced that he will run for Senate against John McCain in the 2010 election. Obama asks Arizona voters to send another message…
Rail Pints!
Train whistles used to conjure up thoughts of hobos, traffic delays and old Johnny Cash records, but that was before I discovered “rail pints” on a recent visit to Barrio Brewing Company (800 E. 16th St.). You see, Barrio Brewing Company is housed in this super old and very cool warehouse building that happens to…
Green Machine?
As we reported in “Signature Problems” last week, the Pima County Democratic Party has challenged Dave Croteau’s Green Party candidacy for the Tucson City Council, saying he didn’t get enough signatures from Green Party members within Ward 6. Croteau told us today that he voluntarily withdrew, since he knew he wouldn’t prevail in court. But…
Endless Sushi Summer
Taxed by the high price of T-bones? Sick of the sickly pallor of industrial chicken? Bored with your usual kitchen routine? Looking for a way to make healthy, inexpensive, summer-friendly food? Want to get creative with your cuisine, and share your discoveries with salivating friends? The answer to all these questions is sushi! In my…
Tucson on the Big Screen
According to a release from the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau, Tucson is featured in two films opening this week. First up is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which opens on Wednesday, June 24. The film shot in Tucson last Oct. 8 and 9 at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Boneyard and the Tucson…
BMX and Skateboards: Can’t We All Just Play Together?
Obviously, the guys from Dinosaur Jr. have the concept down that BMX and skateboarders are fully capable of playing together in peace and harmony—so why can’t they do the same thing in Tucson at the soon-to-open Albert Gallego Skate Park at Santa Rita Park? Last time we checked in with Mike Hines and his friend…
Now That’s Italian
What is great about Italian food—I mean really great Italian food—is its simplicity: A little tomato, a little olive oil, a little garlic, a little oregano, a little pasta and boom, you’ve got a fantastic meal. What makes exceptional Italian food, though, is love. If you’ve ever had the good fortune to be invited to…
Sierra Club: “The Number of Just Terrible Bills Moving Through the Process Is Staggering”
The latest bulletin from Sandy Bahr of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club: The Legislature has still not conveyed the budget to Governor Brewer, but rather than just wait until June 30, she has filed a lawsuit to compel them to send it to her. This lawsuit will be heard by the Arizona…
Father’s Day Specials
Here are a few Father’s Day Specials that didn’t make it into this week’s Noshing Around. Father’s Day is Sunday, June 21; reservations are highly recommended. Barrio Grill (135 S. Sixth Ave.; 629-0191) will have a mesquite-grilled 18-ounce porterhouse topped with Tecate Cholula Vidalia onion rings and a baked potato stuffed with garlic, spinach, cheddar…
Where’s the Heat?
What I like about Tucson is the heat, and the weirdness that the heat brings. But, where is the heat this year? I feel almost sane, and that’s insane! I should be two-cacti-to-the-wind by now. My eyeballs should be chaffing. My chaffing should be on fire. My mind should be a cheese-melt. Instead, it’s been…
Fire at … a Fire Station?
Friday morning update: Here’s a pic, from P.K. Weis. This just in, from the good folks up in Saddlebrooke: At approximately 12:43AM this morning the Captain at Saddlebrooke Fire Station 373 was awakened by a popping sound coming from outside his bunk room. He opened his door to investigate and found the communications room at…
Media Watch
Tucson TV stations report smooth DTV transition
Live
The Runaway Five, Mr. Gnome, Skething in Stereo
9 Questions
Mike Parker
Top Ten in Music
Zia Records top sales for the week
Soundbites
NO LONGER SIMPLY A SIDE When he’s not playing in his best-known band, Wolf Parade, performing as a part-time member of Frog Eyes, Canadian Spencer Krug is putting out albums and touring with his other-other band, Sunset Rubdown. This coming week, the band will release its fourth album, Dragonslayer, on Jagjaguwar. Krug’s quavering, reedy voice…
The Horse’s Ha: Of the Cathmawr Yards (Hiden Agenda)
Janet Beveridge Bean found her own voice in her 2003 Dragging Wonder Lake after more than a decade of drumming for indie power-pop band Eleventh Dream Day, and harmonizing as half of the proto-alt-country duo Freakwater. Fans who were startled and captivated by the spare, twilight aesthetic of her songs, and the nuanced, atmospheric character…
Swedish Chef
We were the ladies who lunch—minus the red hats and purple shirts, thank you—in search of good food and good company. Miranda, Julie, Edie and I met at Café Zopé, a petite eatery located in the heart of Fourth Avenue. The hours here are somewhat limited, so lunch was the only real option. The main…
St. Vincent: Actor (4AD)
St. Vincent’s hypnotic sophomore album, Actor, ends peculiarly. Penultimate track “Just the Same but Brand New” builds from light guitar chimes and Annie Clark’s breathy vocals into a storm of zigzag guitars and distorted drum crashes before exiting in a din of wheezy electronics; in other words, it’s the end credits. Yet “The Sequel” officially…
Noshing Around
Burger City Burger City (47 N. Sixth Ave.), the downtown eatery that supports ArtFare with its profits, will open location no. 2 in the old Intermezzo spot at 5350 E. Broadway Blvd., says manager Roy Schaefer. The new restaurant—slated to open in early September—will have a similar menu, a photo booth, beer and wine, and…
Eels: Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire (Vagrant)
Hombre Lobo (12 Songs of Desire), the aptly named latest studio release from Eels, cuts its way out of painful heartache with lean guitar riffs, punchy lyrics and unbridled howls of pure, angry longing. From self-defeating lust to unattainable Petrarchan crushes, the songs each center on a single aspect of desire that often seems to…
Danehy
I miss my favorite car salesman. The forming and expression of that sentence puts me in a group representing .000001 percent of the world’s population (although, in some parts of the world, the word “car” would be replaced with “oxen” or “large-shouldered serf”). Not many of us have a favorite car salesman. We tend not…
Elevated Tales
Some of the nicest moments I’ve experienced have occurred when I’ve unexpectedly fallen into conversations with older people in the mood to talk about their memories. Sometimes the content of these exchanges is interesting, sometimes not. However, it isn’t so much the details of the interchanges that make them so agreeable, but rather the pleasant…
Messina
Suppose you had a pocketful of money—not issued by the federal government—that you could use to purchase local goods and services. And while using these dollars, you would help the local economy and get discounts on your purchases. Sound too good to be true? Local currency is thriving in various cities around the country, including…
Top Ten in Books
Antigone Books best-sellers for the week
Guest Opinion
Will the relocation of Tucson Electric Power’s headquarters to downtown Tucson become the latest tragedy in the revitalization of downtown? Typically, corporate headquarters become trophy buildings that have a revitalization impact similar to that of a mausoleum. The chosen location is the property at Scott Avenue and Broadway Boulevard, where the grandest of our downtown…
Sheer Spectacle
John Travolta is a lousy actor. Let’s just be honest about this: I mean, he has an act, but he’s not acting. He just spits back the shtick he memorized in Pulp Fiction while quietly praying to Xenu that no one notices. Plus, in The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, he has the worst…
Political Hypocrisy
The last couple of weeks have been good times for political hypocrisy. One group of political hypocrites is local: Arizona’s GOP legislators—a group of folks who claim to be all about smaller government—have been running amok creating new laws (and, therefore, more government) that would restrict abortions, allow guns in businesses where they’re not necessarily…
In a Rut
Is it time to admit that Eddie Murphy isn’t as good as he once appeared to be? For the last 10 years, Murphy has been appearing in junky films (with the exception of Dreamgirls) in a misguided attempt to be more of a “family man” at the movies. The resultant films have ranged from mildly…
Police Dispatch
POWER-POLE CHAINSAW MASSACRE SOUTH AVENIDA DON FERNANDO MAY 21, 3 P.M. A man’s fond memories of a neighbor were marred when the neighbor inexplicably sawed down some power-line poles on his property, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. The reportee said he had been working outside with his son and a friend when…
Mailbag
A Call to Limit Property Taxes! Jim Nintzel screwed up again! Well, he does have a point in criticizing Clean Elections and locked-in increases in school spending and health care; those were very bad ideas (“You Screwed Up!” May 28). But voter-imposed term limits and making tax increases harder both provide healthy protections for Arizona…
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I write to you with a doubt similar to the one that Incensed in Chicago felt a couple of weeks ago, when her friend couldn’t believe that Mexicans worked in professional, white-collar jobs. I live in Tijuana, and of the gabachos who put roots here, you can’t find a single professional—just starving people…
What a Rush!
A flood of bills is moving quickly through the Arizona Legislature now that Senate President Bob Burns has lifted a blockade on legislation not related to the budget. “There’s a tidal wave of stuff moving,” says Rep. Steve Farley, a Democrat who represents central Tucson. “They’re going back to what they call the majority program,…
Now Showing at Home
Do the Right Thing: 20th Anniversary Edition (Blu-Ray), Woodstock: Three Days of Peace and Music: The Director’s Cut (Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Edition), Field of Dreams (Blu-Ray)
City Week
Taking the Wheel Ben Kweller in concert 7:30 p.m., Monday, June 22 Club Congress 311 E. Congress St. 622-8848;hotelcongress.com Conor Oberst wasn’t the only indie rocker to embrace his country side on a new album this year. Ben Kweller also jumped on the bandwagon (pardon the pun) by adopting an alt-country-infused sound on Changing Horses,…
Confirmed Coverage
On July 1, Arizona will join several other states in prohibiting medical insurance companies from excluding coverage for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While advocates are elated, the implementation details remain somewhat sketchy. The reasons for the new law are straightforward: Some insurance policies now specifically exclude benefits for ASD-related treatments, forcing parents of…
A Little Creativity
The Small Works Invitational has hit its 17th year at Davis Dominguez Gallery, and this year, it’s the biggest little show ever. “We got 80 to 82 pieces this year,” says co-owner Candice Davis. “They’re all good pieces. Almost everyone who we asked came up with something.” The annual mini-ganza of tiny art exhibits paintings…
Bring on the Rain
It all started more than 450 years ago when Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, a particularly parched Spanish explorer, prayed for water. According to the legend, he stood on the bank of the desperately dry Santa Cruz River and prayed to St. John the Baptist to bring the rains to help the crops. On June 24,…
Running the Gauntlet
Call it déjà vu all over again. It was Dec. 20, 2008, and Terry Bressi found himself idling through a remote Border Patrol checkpoint on State 86. He was simply returning from his job at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, on the Tohono O’odham Reservation west of Tucson. But minutes later, he possessed a newly…
Mortals and Fairies
Someday I’ll have to stop being surprised by how good the DaVinci Players’ productions are. They’re always turning out to be pretty good, so where’s the surprise? It’s just that the troupe specializes in giving chances to young or comparatively inexperienced actors, and at similar companies, you never know what the results might be. But…
T Q&A
Thomas Curley
The Skinny
WHEN THE GOING GETS WEIRD … We’re not sure things can get much stranger in the budget battle between lawmakers and Gov. Jan Brewer. A couple of weeks ago, Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams managed to get the Republican caucus to pass a budget that bridges a $3 billion shortfall without…
Cross-Continent Pollination
To say the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International plays African music is accurate, but rather vague. Considering that Africa is the world’s second-largest continent and contains dozens of countries and countless musical styles, that’s a broad generalization. “That’d be like saying Led Zeppelin plays European music,” chuckles Nathaniel Braddock, guitarist and leader of the Chicago-based…
Martian Snapshots of the Week
From the most recent batch of Mars photos taken by the UA Lunar and Planetary Lab’s HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The upper photo features “the north wall and floor of a polar pit in the southern hemisphere,” while the lower shot shows us the Grand Canyon of Gale Crater. Photos by NASA/JPL/University…
Wayback Wednesday: The Bum Steer
Remember the Bum Steer? Honestly, I thought it was still closed. I know I’m not the only one who was more than a little surprised to see the posting on StarNet’s home page today: “Original 1974 menu prices at Tucson’s Bum Steer today.” Basically, this Tucson institution of our youth (Anybody else with me on…
So That’s What a Government Shutdown Looks Like
Casey Newton and Mary Jo Pitzl of the Arizona Republic take a look at what would happen if we actually have a state government shutdown because Gov. Jan Brewer and GOP legislative leaders can’t come to budget agreement by June. 30. Among the things we may have to do without: • All Motor Vehicle Division…
Downtown Deal Collapses Over Rialto Theatre Details
With a unanimous vote, the Tucson City Council last night asked developers Scott Stiteler and Don Martin for a few more weeks to work out details in the downtown development agreement they’ve been hammering out for the last six months. Stiteler and Martin, in response, have told Rob O’Dell of the Arizona Daily Star that…
McCain Shows Why He Would Have Been A Lousy President
Arizona Sen. John McCain said on the Today show this morning that President Barack Obama should be more forceful in his comments on the Iranian situation.The Associated Press reports: Sen. John McCain charged Tuesday that President Barack Obama is not talking tough enough on the disputed presidential election in Iran. McCain, who lost to Obama…
