Cover Story
Looking Back, Looking Forward
When Wendell Hicks got his first test, he was so scared, he secretly crossed state lines for the blood draw and told the clinic his name was Mickey Mouse. He was nervous about the possible results—and fearful someone would find out he was having the test done.
Check Out Human Behavior’s Weird New Video from Artist Nika Kaiser
For those looking to inject some eerie vibes into their day, look no further than Human Behavior’s new music video created by local visual artist Nika Kaiser. Blending visual Kaiser’s penchant for the supernatural and use of desert scenery, the video is trippy and even a little unsettling. That, combined with the twangy and dark…
Attention Businesses: You’re Running Out of Time to Prove You’re the Best in Town
Remember that silly little competitions we host every year called Best of Tucson®? Well, open voting is wrapping up at the beginning of next week. The end of the day Monday, to be exact. So, do you serve the best burgers? Do you have the best plant nursery? Do you tattoo better than everyone else…
Highwire Lounge to Open June 12 with Caviar Drop Shots and Cotton Candy Cocktails
The first of the new Gibson Court businesses is almost ready to open. On Friday, June 12 at 3 p.m., Highwire Lounge give away first glimpses of the intimate, upscale cocktail bar’s interior, as well as modest patio to the public. Owners Nick Eggman and Jacob Hise aren’t looking to quietly enter Tucson’s cocktail scene,…
H.T. Sanchez’s New Contract and Salary Deal
TUSD’s Superintendent H.T. Sanchez has a new contract that extends his stay through 2018. His supporters are cheering because it means continuity of leadership, something the district hasn’t had in ages, from someone they believe is a competent, steady hand at the helm. His detractors are booing, saying he’s an overpaid, under-competent superintendent, and the…
Yacht Rock Party Combines the Love of White Wine Spritzers and a Very Specific Style of Music at La Cocina
“At the time I was laid off, bankrupt and so I just said ‘fuck it, I’m throwing parties for a living.” To really boil it down, that’s how Jared McKinley started his annual celebration of a very specific style of music—the Yacht Rock Party. Though his party throwing efforts resulted in planning many events like…
Access Tucson Gets New Funding To Keep Station Going For Two More Months
As part of its approval of a $1.4 billion budget last night, the Tucson City Council agreed to kick $25,000 to Access Tucson to keep the public-access station from going dark over the next few months. The city is combining the public-access facilities with the city’s own Channel 12 in a new community media center…
Tucson Sector Border Patrol Gets Sued Over Mistreatment of Migrants & Poor Condition of Detention Centers
Several immigration and human rights organizations—including the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and the National Immigration Law Center—are suing the Tucson Sector Border Patrol over the poor condition of detention centers and mistreatment of migrants. The lawsuit filed today was based on the testimonies of more than 75 former detainees who say men, women…
LGBT Clinic Living Out Loud Hosting Community Safety Forum with Tucson Police
The six-month-old LGBTQ health and wellness center Living Out Loud is hosting a forum with representatives of the Tucson Police Department to discuss violence against LGBTQ people in the city and what can be done to prevent it. “Our trans members are constantly being harassed at the bus stop and while riding the bus. One was…
Clean Elections Commission Power Grab Update
In 1998, Arizona voters passed Prop 200 also known as The Clean Elections Act. It established a five member commission that would make rules as to the providing of tax payer money to participating candidates. It reduced limits on contributions to non-participating candidates and private donations to participating candidates. It also administered a “matching funds”…
Nonpartisan Research Group: Most Arizonans Support Legalizing Weed & Medical Marijuana University Research
The nonpartisan research group Behavior Research Center says most Arizona residents support the legalization of recreational marijuana, as well as favor university research on the medical benefits of weed for conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder and epilepsy. Of about 700 adults interviewed for the Rocky Mountain Poll between the end of April and mid-May, 83…
Grants for Traditional Southwest Artists and Apprentices
What truly defines a city? Its economy, its landscape, its businesses? It is all those things, but it’s people that make a city home. It is the blend of cultures present that reveal its personal history through art. The Southwest Folklife Alliance, a nonprofit organization of the UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, serve…
State Lawmaker Steele Now Exploring CD2 Run
We reported earlier today on The Range that we’d been hearing that state lawmaker Victoria Steele was among those considering a challenge to Congresswoman Martha McSally later this year. The Tucson Democrat announced on Facebook earlier today that she’s now exploring a congressional run: I have been surprised and deeply humbled by the large number…
Who Could’ve Guessed For-Profit Colleges Were Fleecing Their Students? (Anyone, Since 2009, or Earlier)
The latest news in the for-profit college scandals is, the U.S. government is planning to forgive federal loans owed by tens of thousands of students who used the money to pay for a nonexistent education at Corinthian Colleges. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said the college’s approach had “the ethics of payday lending.” Remember the…
Asian Fred Debuts First Single Ahead of July R Bar Residency
Asian Fred, the new musical project from singer-songwriter-guitarist Fred Huang, is releasing a video for the band’s first single, “Jonestown Shuffle,” today as they prepare for a July residency at R Bar. Huang most recently led Of the Painted Choir, a Phoenix band that played regularly in Tucson. Influenced by ‘60s pop, R&B and Motown,…
In This Wacky, Wonderful Week
Who doesn’t love a celebration? Every year there are holidays promising us holiday pay at work, an excuse for bad behavior, free booze, food and family time, of course. We know the staples. Each store gives us at least two months’ notice of Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day and Christmas. You know what you never see holiday…
State Lawmaker Wheeler Dropping Out of CD2 Race Following Eye Trouble
We wish state Rep. Bruce Wheeler (D-Tucson) a continued recovery from recent surgery he had to repair a torn retina. Wheeler told us earlier yesterday that he’s well enough to take a quick trip across the border to Rocky Point, so the prognosis is good. The medical incident, however, has forced Wheeler to reconsider his…
You Have Until the End of June to Voice Concerns for Scale-Backs at Cherrybell Mail Center
Local businesses and residents have until June 30 to fill out a survey on what they think about the U.S. Postal Service’s plans to shut down mail processing at Tucson’s Cherrybell center. In May, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and Vice Mayor Richard Fimbres released two public, bilingual surveys to collect people’s experiences with things such…
Ducey Says He Knows Education is Important. Funding? Not So Much.
Question: What do these two statements have in common? “Research shows that a quality early childhood education experience can yield significant long-term benefits on overall development of a child.” “JTEDs and technical training is critical to the future of our state, and it will continue to be critical to the future of our state.” Answers:…
Catch “I’ll See You in my Dreams” for Free
Attention movie/Blythe Danner/Sam Elliott fans: We’ve got a few passes to see “I’ll See You in my Dreams” and you should take ’em. Each pass admits two people, and the passes can be used at any of the Century Theatres showings in town between today (Monday!) and Thursday, June 11. We’ll give the tickets away…
Zona Politics: Cheryl Cage and Bill Beard
Zona Politics Eps.32 from Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel on Vimeo. If you missed yesterday’s broadcast of Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel, here’s your chance to watch it online. Pima County Democratic Party chair Cheryl Cage and Pima County Republican Party chair Bill Beard size up Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick’s chances as she launches a…
Pima County Library Gets $70K Grant for Youth Media, Technology Programs
The Pima County Public Library got a $70,000 grant to create more youth media programs for teens. Thanks to the gift from the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, the library can start offering classes and workshops related to robotics, graphic design, and virtual reality technology, on top of the other free STEAM—science, technology,…
Attention Procrastinators: Best of Tucson Voting is Almost Over
Listen up, Tucson. If you haven’t done so already, you need to get started on your Best of Tucson® ballot. Right now, right now, right now. The ballot will stop accepting submissions next Monday, June 15, at 11:59 p.m. There are 218 categories (That’s many categories!) and you have to be able to fill out 30…
Anastacia and Mama Need a Home
Anastacia—6-years-old —Domestic Short Hair Mix—F—#805749 Mama—8-years-old —Domestic Short Hair Mix—F—#805513 Two beautiful kitties are often better than one! These adorable girls came to HSSA in the beginning of May. Mama and Anastacia have had a hard time adjusting to the shelter environment and are very protective of each other, so to ease their nerves, our…
Tucson Officially Declared City of Bookworms
We are surrounded by convenience. Entertainment is readily available to us and the only work it really costs us is choosing something to watch on Hulu. There’s nothing wrong with that in moderation, but what happened to reading books for fun? With so many options and the busy day of the average person, is there…
Some Thoughts on Ducey’s School Funding Proposal
I just want to get down a few scattered, end-of-the-week thoughts about Ducey’s proposal that Arizona dig deeper into the Permanent Land Endowment Trust Fund to add $360 million per year to K-12 funding for five years starting in 2017. There are a lot of moving parts in this proposal, and I want to lay…
Casks and Cooks Melds Local Brewers with Chefs at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort
If you’re looking for a night of beer, barbecue and bluegrass, Loews Ventana Canyon Resort is ready to oblige with a special cookout event. Casks and Cooks will team up chefs Ken Harvey, Jose Salas and Mike Behan with brewers from Dragoon, Ten Fifty-Five and Pueblo Vida to offer smoky, meaty eats paired with local brews. With grilled-to-order…
Matthew Ladner Is Back!
I can’t contain my excitement. Thursday I wrote a post about Nevada’s new vouchers-on-steroids law which allows all Nevada students to set up Education Savings Accounts, unlike Arizona where Republicans have used the elephant’s-trunk-under-the-tent-flap approach to allow only a small portion of Arizona students to set up ESAs, then expand the criteria until it reaches…
Help Fund Local Band OHIOAN’s Exploration of an “Appalachian Desert”
One of the strongest ties that bind Tucson’s musicians together, it seems, is a clear sense of place that permeates through genre and styling to form a cohesive, though not necessarily analogous, aural motif that just feels like the Sonoran desert. Although Ryne Warner freely admits not being from here initially, his music, performed under…
Desert Harvesters Hosts Locally Foraged Food Events in the Month of June
This June Tucson’s Desert Harvesters will be busy talking to folks in town about how to use up all of the edible plantlife that exists around us. On Tuesday, June 9, you can head to La Cocina (201 N. Court Ave.) for an “Evening of Story, Food, Drink, and Music.” From 5 until 10 p.m.,…
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Grijalva, Kirkpatrick Oppose, McSally Supports
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a massive trade deal that the United States is negotiating with 11 other countries. Critics say that it doesn’t contain enough protections for workers; it will lead to jobs leaving the United States; and it could undermine regulations here in the U.S. Supporters say it will be an economic boost by…
Vouchers on Steroids For All in Nevada — With Testing
Arizona created Education Savings Accounts, aka Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, aka vouchers on steroids. We were the first. Then came Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee. Nevada, where Republicans gained control of the legislature and the governorship in January, just passed a similar program. The major difference is, all the other programs are limited to kids who fall into…
The Hot Road, From Farm to Border
It was a hot summer day on the farm in 1986 when, then-farmer Charles D. Thompson Jr. would have his first experience with the border of Mexico. Farming was in Thompson’s blood, becoming the first Thompson to graduate from college he quickly continued his grandfather’s profession in agriculture. After years working as a leader in…
Yes, Lil Wayne Is Actually Playing at Club XS on June 30
“It’s not a joke, if that’s what you’re asking,” a representative from iHeartRadio responded when asked about the flurry of doubt surrounding a recently announced Lil Wayne show in Tucson. The links and rumors are true. Lil Wayne will be playing at Club XS on Tuesday, June 30 as a Hot 98.3 promotional concert in…
Arizona Women’s Health Providers File Federal Lawsuit Challenging New Abortion Restrictions Law
A group of state health care providers filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the recently-passed law that forces doctors to tell patients it may be possible to reverse the effects of abortion-inducing medication. Among the plaintiffs are Planned Parenthood, and the suit was introduced by the American Civil Liberties Union. SB 1318 is supposed…
Melt-Banana: Beautifully Violent
Yasuko Onuki could be Disney’s adorable Bitch Princess of Bedlam. Her secret power is nuanced screeching and variations on the screaming scold. And she’s got the magic forest wardrobe: Imagine ninja threads from a post-apocalyptic House of Versace.
Editor’s Note
Time is running out to vote for Best of Tucson.
Dust Devil
The Card Players: How we envy their not caring, their sculptural crossing of legs, their idle tossing of cards
Korea House: Kalbi Rising
Korean cuisine is kind of having a moment right now. Maybe it’s the slow, but steady acceptance of fermented foods in the American culinary consciousness—an integral flavor in the ban chan or side dishes that accompany main dishes in Korean cooking.
Police Dispatch
Goad Trip Redington Road April 6, 9: 18 p.m. A trio of transients on a lengthy road trip had a tiff in the middle of the desert—after which the group’s most troublesome member propositioned an officer for sex, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. A woman called the Sheriff’s Department saying she was…
Le Butcherettes: Mind Bending
Understatement of the year: Ms. Gender Bender definitely knows a thing or two about showmanship. As the transfixing frontwoman of El Paso art punk outfit Bosnian Rainbows, Teri’s shell-shocked voice transcends through aggressive psychedelia.
Police Dispatch
Art Imitates Life, Artist Threatens Mass Murder? UA Area April 8, 10:15 a.m. A UA student threatened to shoot everyone at the school—excluding a certain special group of which he was a part, according to a University or Arizona Police Department report. The interim director of the UA School of Art told an officer there were…
Pool Party
How exactly is a pool, made from a repurposed dumpster, art? Well, at Tucson’s Museum of Contemporary Art this summer you can find just that question out. Executive director Samuel Ireland and curator Jocko Weyland don’t hesitate to answer, either, citing the intent of these mobile pools as the reason they fit right into the…
Telling Stories
Joan Didion wrote, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” You don’t have to think about it too much to understand why. Through stories we try to make sense of things. To find a justification of an outcome we didn’t expect. To help other folks understand who we are. And perhaps to find if…
Defending Pot
The landscape in the Arizona medical cannabis industry is rapidly changing, and after four and a half years the legal system in our great state is beginning to catch up to the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.
All in the Family
If you’ve seen the recent headlines about 1,600 down-on-their-luck families losing their monthly Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits beginning in July of next year, you know something about how the recently passed state budget is hitting Arizona’s neediest.
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Do your countrymen still worship the rock band Santana? Or are they looked as, like the Who in England and Crosby Stills and Nash in America, old relics from the good old Woodstock days?
Art Cruising
An up-and-coming young South Korean artist may turn out to be the star of the Summer Art Cruise this Saturday night.
Pleasure Activist
Let’s talk about kissing.
Art Cruise Itinerary
The mini-Jieun Park exhibition at Moen Mason is just one of six shows to visit during Summer Art Cruise. For this free annual summer event, multiple galleries in the Central Tucson Gallery Association fling open their doors during the cool of the evening, offering art, libations and other treats to land-bound art lubbers.
B-Sides: Naïm Amor
Think of Naïm Amor like Tucson’s very own Serge Gainsbourg. The singer-songwriter easily strips down or fills in his songs, depending on level of accompaniment, with a clear French styling and focus on lyricism.
Real Horror
Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street is in the upper tier of horror movies. It looks incredibly dated 30 years on, but among the slasher flicks that actually tried to incorporate a story, it’s among the very best. A couple other entries in the franchise are also interesting, if not good films. As it…
B-Sides: Human Behavior
Local music collective Human Behavior will begin a month-long residency at R Bar for all of June.
Wedding Bells with Pride
October 17 marked an important day in Arizona history and signaled a changing attitude about gay rights across the nation. The unconstitutional (that’s straight from the U.S. District Court!) ban on gay marriage was finally lifted. A slew of Tucson sponsors want to ensure soon to be grooms and grooms and brides and brides have…
B-Sides: J Boog
I bet you’re wishing right about now that, instead of sweating in the 100-plus-degree temps hitting Tucson, that you were off in Hawaii. While I can’t help you get out of town and off on an island, you can have a mini-mental vacation by heading to the Rialto Theatre on Wednesday, June 10.
Family Fun Hole Night
A night filled with miniature golf, bumper cars and the high pitched laughter of children. What could make you want a beer more?
The Skinny
Historic Mistake Developers push to plant four-story apartment building in the heart of two downtown historic neighborhoods It appears the wrecking ball will soon be swinging at the Downtown Motor Hotel, a shuttered and deteriorating motel on Stone Avenue south of Broadway. In its place will rise a four-story apartment building for low-income residents, funded…
Crusin’ Modern to Surrealism
Art is one of our great, shared human experiences. All summer the Central Tucson Gallery Association will take Tucson on a cruise through the art galleries and artist receptions of the Downtown area.
Media Watch
Calling it a welcome return home, David Rupkalvis has accepted the position as editor of Tucson Local Media. In the role, he’s responsible for the content of TLM’s six area publications.
Take a Hike
Any true Tucsonan could probably tell you that 2015 has been a mild summer, so far. The savvy desert dweller could probably also say, it won’t last. Don’t sweat over participating this National Trails Day, Saturday, June 6. The Town of Oro Valley Parks and Recreation Department have chosen to celebrate the American Hiking Society’s nationwide…
Danehy
Even in these days of political gridlock over the tiniest of matters, it is disheartening to witness the national disconnect on something as basic and popular as the minimum wage.
Summer of Sampled Beers
Beer. If there is something we undeniably love, this hoppy confection holds a top spot in our overheated, overstressed hearts. This summer, Maynards Market, 400 N. Toole Ave., has you covered with beer tastings every Saturday from June 6 to August 8. They kick off with four craft beers from Four Peaks Brewing Company from…
