Cover Story
The Year of Romo
While he has plans to eventually stretch Romo Tonight Live outside of just Tucson guests, bands and audiences, Steven Romo says he’s ditched any adolescent desire to rebel and leave his hometown.
The Falling Fortunes of Apollo Education Group (University of Phoenix)
A layoff of 600 workers isn’t good news, usually. But if, say, they’re working the phones to scam people out of their money, it’s not such a bad thing when they lose their jobs. That’s a big part of the story behind the layoffs at the Phoenix-based Apollo Education Group, the parent company of the University…
Help Out Some Folks Trying To Help Out New Moms
Here’s an Indiegogo campaign you should get behind: Crissi Blake and Nina Isaac, who operate the company Milk and Honey, are raising funds to create a breastfeeding and postpartum center for new moms. Here’s how they explain the plan: Envisioned and brought to life by local, well known IBCLCs, Crissi Blake and Nina Isaac, Milk…
Speaking of Eegees Love…
Eegees has been on the receiving end of some national affection over the last few days. Show your local appreciation for our fast food wonder by picking your favorite slush flavor on your Best of Tucson® ballot. Now, don’t get confused: The first category you’ll see Eegee’s name on is Best Fries, where they’re a finalist. They’ve…
DOJ Thinks Transgender Students Should Be Allowed to Use Bathroom of Gender They Identify With
It’s been a big week for transgender people in terms of government entities conversing and making decisions about civil rights issues that are important to the community. (Last week, the marriage equality win, and on Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it’d start housing transgender detainees in the facility that matches their gender identity.) The…
Thrillist Wants Eegee’s to Expand Nationwide—Sorry, Rest of the Country, It’s Ours
After a couple weeks of national love for Tucson’s dining scene courtesy of New York Times, NY Magazine and even Playboy, it seems that even our fast food is drawing the admiring gaze of national media outlets. On Monday, June 29, lifestyle listicle website Thrillist released a round-up of single-city restaurant chains that they wish…
Why The Confederate Flag Represents Hate Groups
Former KGUN-TV News Director Forrest Carr, who was raised down South, reflects on the Confederate Flag: The sad truth about the confederate battle flag is that whatever supporters would say about why it still needs to fly and why it might be worthy of public admiration, hate groups have stolen it from us. Add this…
Catch Best Dog Award at Club Congress Before They Head Out on Tour
Local chilled out psych rockers Best Dog Award are headed up the west coast on tour for the next few weeks in support of their new release Faith-Based Space Place. If you haven’t heard it yet, the five-song EP showcases the bands penchant for melding wave-like reverb-laced guitar with sunny electro-organ resulting in a sometimes…
Graze Offers a Burger Meal Deal Through the End of August
Graze Premium Burgers, which is arguably Tucson’s top spot to get a burger, is offering folks in the Old Pueblo a deal for sticking around all summer. Like the monsoon rain, their meal deal will offer you (and your wallet) a little relief as the season wears on. From now until August 31, you can…
In Case You Missed It: ICE Says It’ll Start Housing Transgender Immigrants in Facility That Matches Gender Identity
Immigration and Customs Enforcement yesterday made public a new memorandum that says the agency will start housing transgender immigrants in the detention facilities that match their gender identity. We very often see transgender women in male detention centers, even though taking notice of a person’s gender identity is something ICE should have already been doing.…
NPR Loves Sergio Mendoza’s New Record With Luz Elena Mendoza
Tucson musician Sergio Mendoza of Calexico and Orkesta Mendoza (among others) recently teamed up with Luz Elena Mendoza of Portland’s Y La Bamba to record Los Hijos de la Montaña right here in downtown Tucson’s Wavelab Studios. NPR’s Felix Contreras puts it on NPR’s list of the best 25 albums of 2015 (so far). Contreras…
Send the Apache Stronghold Off to D.C. to Repeal the Oak Flat Land Exchange
Support the preservation of the sacred Apache lands at Oak Flat and head to the Apache Stronghold Caravan to D.C. send-off rally on Tuesday, June 30. Wendsler Nosie, Sr., councilman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and members of Apache Stronghold will be headed to the nation’s capital to demand the repeal of a congressional…
Rumor Has it You’re All a Bunch of Bookworms
As a lifelong Tucsonan, I feel like I’ve got the rhythm of the city down. Of course, even newer desert dwellers know our population shrinks every summer when everyone clears out to escape triple digit temperatures. Last summer, I had that notion challenged. See, I was working at a bookstore and every shift—mid day Monday, Thursday…
Presta Coffee Serves Up A Summer Espresso Drink with Ice Cream
If you’ve ever looked down wistfully at a root beer float and thought, “Gee golly, I sure do wish this was coffee instead of pop,” you’re in luck because Presta Coffee Roasters is offering up a float-like combination of ice cream and espresso called an affogato. The coffee special offers up your choice of single…
Jennifer Needs a Home
Jennifer— 1 year-old —Domestic Medium Hair Mix—F—#807182 Jennifer is the sweetest snuggler. She came to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona as an owner release earlier this month and is patiently waiting for a new family. Jennifer is very affectionate and will snuggle with you all day if you let her. She loves to be…
Inside the Crowd Outside the Supreme Court
Get ready for a self-indulgent, socio-political travelogue. Here we go. Months ago, my wife and I planned a trip to the east coast which included a few days in Washington, DC. By chance, our DC stay included last Thursday and Friday, which gave us ringside seats to two history-making events. Thursday morning, we wandered down…
Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected arguments that the state lawmakers had the exclusive power to draw congressional district boundaries and has upheld the right of the voters to create the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. You can read the entire opinion here, but Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the majority, notes:…
Win Tickets to See the Diamondbacks Play the Dodgers on June 30
Hey there, sports fan! I bet you want to spend your Tuesday afternoon driving up to Phoenix (feel free to utilize the playlist the band Gay Kiss compiled for you) to watch the Diamondbacks take on the Dodgers. Here’s the deal. Enter to win tickets and, if you’re lucky enough to win, you can swing…
Oak Flat, Grand Canyon Among America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
Oak Flat has landed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2015 list of America’s 11 most endangered historic places, according to a press release from the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition. A sacred place to the San Carlos Apache and other Native American tribes, Oak Flat is currently threatened by proposed copper mine. For the…
There’s a Vigil in Eloy Tonight in Memory of Dead Detainee
The family of José de Jesús Deniz-Sahagún—a Mexico native, whose sudden death at the Eloy Detention Center was ruled a suicide—is hosting a vigil outside the facility this evening (Friday, June 26). Although the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner issued a detailed account of what allegedly went down inside those walls, the family…
Whether We Agree or Disagree, Tucson Police Department is Following Scaled-Back SB 1070 Enforcement
Earlier this week, I wrote about the case of Roman Escobar—an undocumented father who, after being pulled over by Tucson Police officers in the beginning of June, was taken into custody by immigration officials and sent to a Florence detention center. There was a lot of confusion for the reasons that led to Border Patrol…
Use This Weekend to go on a Tour of Tucson’s Best Chicken Wings
Someone recently called me an “insufferable chicken wing snob.” They’re not wrong—chicken wings were the only thing I would order at restaurants until, oh, probably around middle school. Point being, I’ve eaten quite a few wings in my day. Hell, I still want them to be my main course most nights. Obviously, this fowl affection…
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage: Gay, Lesbian Couples Can Now Wed Nationwide
Marriage equality wins, guys. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this morning against a handful of state same-sex marriage bans—meaning gay and lesbian couples nationwide are now free to wed. The decision focused on four lawsuits from couples in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, but it affects all other states where prohibitions were still in place.…
Are Too Many Black Children in Special Education Programs?
This is one of the sadder education columns I’ve read in awhile. The title asks, Is Special Education Racist? — in other words, are too many black children given special education designations? The authors’ answer is no. In fact, they say, despite the fact that a proportionately larger number of blacks are labeled as needing special ed than other…
Playboy Recognizes Whiskey del Bac as the State’s Best Spirit
I wasn’t super pumped to have my browser window land on the Playboy page this morning, especially after widespread accusations from former live-in bunnies the ol’ Hef treats his myriad of girlfriends like pets (or worse). However, like a newly married man who just can’t quit the boob magazine, my defense is that I’m just…
Legal Battles Over Redistricting Have Cost More Than $3.6 Million
With the Obamacare decision out today, the Supreme Court has just handful of decision left to release. One of them is Arizona Legislature v. AIRC, which will decide if Arizona voters are allowed to give an independent panel the power to draw congressional district boundaries or whether state lawmakers have that exclusive power. While awaiting…
Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare (Again)
In what is no doubt a great disappointment to those who want to expand the number of uninsured Americans, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected arguments that a minor drafting error should result in the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies for middle-class Americans being eliminated (and, by extension, a collapse of the law itself). Arizona Congresswoman…
Art Talk
Tucson artists Brian Crow and Eli Burke are part of the 6 Artists show and installation at MOCA this summer. T
Split Up
The group Safer Arizona officially parted ways with the Marijuana Policy Project, and joined ventures with the organization Arizonans for Mindful Regulation.
5 Points Market: Right at Home
Pros: Excellent, flavorful dishes for brunch and lunch and inventive baked goods to take home. Cons: Service can be slow—especially on the patio.
B-Sides: Angelo Spencer
Hot off the presses! Angelo Spencer released Love in the Morning on June 23 via K Records and the album is serving up some of the Olympia-based musician’s most dance-worthy jams to date. The six-track record was written and recorded in the span of one week in Chambéry, France where Spencer grew up. With help…
B-Sides: Gamma Like Very Ultra
Do you like beats? Do you like horns? Do you like synth? Well, then it’s time to dive head first into Germs Germs Germs, the new tape from Gamma Like Very Ultra. Part jazz, part math rock, part electro pop, the album is frenetic and jammy in all the right ways—keeping it interesting despite being…
Editor’s Note
Before Mexican-American studies, there was mariachi and folklórico programs, which often had the same mission in its focus—celebrate culture and education, and keep kids in school.
Pleasure Activist
While defining “sex” as penetrative sexual intercourse can be handy for people like Bill Clinton, these implicit definitions can invalidate other forms of sex as unimportant side characters as mere “foreplay.”
Dust Devil
A True Musician: A true musician is hopelessly hooked on the magic of the performance …
Mariachi Madness
If there’s one thing you do this weekend, please … please for the love of Tucson, education and all things mariachi, get down to El Casino Ballroom.
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Where is my America?
The Skinny
Dark money group loses court fight over spending in 2014 election, Federal court blocks new state abortion law while the case moves through the legal system, Sheriff Dupnik is stepping down at the end of July
Extreme Parenting
At the beginning of The Wolfpack, we see six brothers reenacting Reservoir Dogs, complete with wardrobe, sound effects, and impressive homemade prop guns.
Hottest Day Party
Tucson’s BICAS bike collective is having a benefit bike ride and pool party on Saturday, June 27.
Death in Detention
The autopsy shows that while undocumented immigrant Jose de Jesus Deniz-Sahagun was being housed in a privately run Eloy prison in May, he shoved a sock down his throat and choked on it.
Déjà Vu
ICE issued a short statement that said their decisions to grant deportation relief varied from case-to-case.
B-Sides: Bad Cop/Bad Cop
It might sound a bit like one of those movie marquees that accidentally form coincidental correlations (something like There Will Be Blood, Definitely, Maybe), but on Tuesday, June 30 Bad Cop / Bad Cop and Decent Criminal will be tag teaming the Club Congress stage. Supporting their first full-length album, Not Sorry, Bad Cop /…
The World of Yes/And
If you think that “The Harold” might be the brother of “The Donald,” you would be wrong.
Danehy
Danehy says low-skill workers asking for $15 an hour reminds him of the early days of hip-hop, when rappers would say, “I’m bad! I’m bad! I ain’t done sh-t to make me bad. I’m just bad ’cause I say I’m bad.”
Dating Game
Send your single friends our way.
Police Dispatch
A naked man trespassed in a random family’s backyard, greatly alarming a teenage girl—despite his very friendly attitude and notably neat pubic region, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report.
Police Dispatch
A man was found stumbling drunk up the middle of a busy street, against traffic—absolutely unfazed about his precarious position, a PCSD report stated.
Drink for the Desert
Iron John’s Saison de Juhki – Sonoran Saison will be on tap and you can celebrate the Harvesters who helped Iron John collect the creosote flowers used in the infusion for this beer.
Gay Kiss: Mixed up
Spend any amount of time dealing with a band, and you begin to realize that each one operates by an internal logic unique to that group.
John Butler Trio: Heart Music
After six albums with his eponymous trio, the acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist says he’s come to understand that his main role is to function as a conduit, shepherding songs into existence and delivering them to his audience.
Media Watch
If you’re not watching the news in the traditional way—from your television—you might consider checking out a different perspective: from that of the newscasters.
