Cover Story
So I Elected an Ax Murderer
Gov. Doug Ducey signs spending plan that slashes education and the social safety net in order to provide huge tax cuts to corporations There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth since Gov. Doug Ducey, Senate President Andy Biggs and House Speaker David Gowan rammed through a $9.1 billion budget this month. The complaints…
Tucson Mariachi Conference to Showcase Student Musicians and Celebrate Nati Cano
La Frontera Arizona and the Tucson International Mariachi Conference are joining forces once again to bring the Old Pueblo the Tucson Mariachi Festival. Now in its 33rd consecutive year, the fest is the largest and longest running mariachi fest The event will consist of four days of student workshops and live performances from Wednesday, April…
McSally Votes Against GOP Budget
Congresswoman Martha McSally was among 17 Republicans who voted against the GOP budget in Congress this week. (Read TPM’s takeaways on the budget here and Slate’s here.) McSally’s full statement on her vote: “I appreciate the ideas put forward by my colleagues, but I was elected to represent the voices of Southern Arizonans and their…
It’s True, Arizona Taxes Screw the Poor. Howie Fischer and WalletHub Say So
Finally. It’s official. The poor in Arizona get screwed on taxes and the rich make out like bandits. Howie Fischer says so, mainly citing a piece on WalletHub. Fischer is right. WalletHub is right. Arizona is a tax haven for the rich and a tax hell for the poor. That means every Republican legislator who…
Local Vintner/Race Car Driver to Host Dinner and Tasting at Tavolino
Jamie Slone has led a pretty interesting life. His family owned radio stations here in Tucson where he worked until eventually becoming a professional race car driver. However, his story doesn’t stop there. Slone and his wife moved to Santa Barbara to open their boutique vineyards, named after Slone. Although he’s no longer a Tucsonan,…
Chalk Art Festival to Decorate Park Place Sidewalks This Weekend
It’s time to get those creative juices flowing because the fourth annual Park Place Chalk Art Festival is poised to beautify the sidewalks of the mall, located off of Broadway Boulevard. Amateur and aspiring artists and dabblers in the craft can take up a stick of chalk and start making something colorful and bright on…
TUSD’s Michael Hicks May Have Changed His Name to ‘Charles;’ (Again) Signs Up in Favor of Cutting $64M in Deseg Funds
Nothing fazes Tucson Unified School District Board Member Michael Hicks. Last month, state Sen. Steve Farley paid a visit and called Hicks out for supporting a bill that hopes to take all of the desegregation money away from TUSD. Hicks said in that meting that he would back up his support for the legislation, if…
Get Through Wednesday With Adult Wednesday Addams
So, this isn’t exactly new—The first season aired in 2013 and the second season wrapped up earlier this month. But if you’re looking for some thing to keep you sane/distract you from office life on this fine Wednesday, you should check out Adult Wednesday Addams. It’s a web series by Melissa Hunter, following a grownup…
Minus 5 Bring Dungeons Gold to the Rialto tomorrow
The consummate sideman, Scott McCaughey found himself busy in other projects that by the time he got to move forward with an album for the Minus 5, he had enough songs for a five-record set. McCaughey, whose career began in the early 1980s with Seattle’s Young Fresh Fellows and has continued on stage and in…
Last-Minute Attempt by Lawmakers to Gut TUSD’s Desegregation Funds
There seems to be a last-minute attempt to take money from Tucson Unified School District’s desegregation funds. This morning, state Sen. Steve Farley announced that the House Appropriations Committee is taking on an amendment to SB 1120 tomorrow, which would require Tucson and Phoenix school districts to pay for a “forensic audit” of their desegregation…
“Tricked” Brings a Look at the US’s Sex Trade to The Loft Cinema
UA’s Social Justice Symposium and the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health are presenting the 2013 documentary “Tricked” for a special one-time showing at The Loft Cinema. The film, which was directed by John Keith Wasson and Jane Wells, is a comprehensive look into the $3 billion dollar underground industry of sex work. It…
Abortion Restrictions Bill is Getting Closer to Ducey’s Desk
Oh, Arizona Legislature. At this point, it is all but unsurprising that a bill (backed by the conservative group the Center for Arizona Policy) prohibiting health insurance plans under Obamacare from providing abortion coverage is very, very close to Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk. A primary argument of proponents is that we shouldn’t have to “pay…
Crisis of Confidence: City Transportation Staff Called Out on Double-Dealing
The Broadway Boulevard Project suffered a meltdown last week, when several members of its Citizens Task Force—apparently convened to be a flock of sheep—finally revolted against their imminent fleecing. At the packed meeting on March 19, they railed against being hoodwinked by city transportation planners, who had diligently gathered their suggestions over more than two…
Doug Ducey: Board of Education Should Review Common Core, Not Kill It…Yet
Gov. Doug Ducey says he is against the Common Core standards, but isn’t asking the state Board of Education to get rid of them, yet. Instead, Ducey proposed a thorough review of the language arts and math standards to search for ways they can be more Arizona and less federal government. The involvement of parents,…
Family of Flowing Wells Conspiracy to Commit Murder Suspect Starts Crowdfunding Campaign
Last week, we reported five students from Flowing Wells High School had been arrested for allegedly plotting to kill a fellow classmate. Now, a Fundrazr page has popped up to raise money for Christopher Gibson, an 18-year-old suspect. The page appears to be run by Gibson’s sister—the attribution at the top says only Anastasia Mitchell—who…
Be a Good Guy and Share How You Stay Entertained at Work
This blog post comes to you in two parts! Part 1: Let’s make desk jobs less boring I spend a lot of time at my desk every week—At least 40 hours, many of which involve data entry and mindless copy and pasting. To prevent my brain from turning into chocolate pudding (yum, but not ideal…
DREAMer Leaders Go After Presidential Hopeful Ted Cruz’s Extremely Conservative Stance on Immigration
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is the first high-profile figure to announce he is running for president. He made it official early this morning via a message on Twitter and then a speech where he mentioned Jesus Christ a few times. (Here’s a good “things you should know about Cruz” list compiled by NPR.) The…
Polo Education: the Great Private School Democratizer?
As I read this story Sunday, I kept flipping back to the front page to make sure I was reading the Business section of the NY Times and not The Onion. The story has the tone of deadpan absurdity perfected by The Onion’s faux news. Yep, it was the Times. The story is written by…
Alton Brown Ate At El Guerro Canelo, Eegee’s and More in Tucson
Remember when we told you that Alton Brown would be coming to town to try out the best Tucson’s food and beverage world has to offer? Well, Brown did indeed stop into the city on Sunday, March 22 and it looks like he might have taken some of the suggestions that we saw the most.…
Brunch Time: Playground has Tequila and Trumpets
If you’re still lazing about at home and starting to think about feeding yourself on this Sunday morning, remember that Sunday is Brunchday and brunch means it’s okay to start drinking in the morning. Playground is hosting what, according to the Facebook event page, is the first of their Trumpets & Tequila brunch events. Today’s…
Zona Politics: Talking with Congressman Grijalva and PCC Chancellor Lee Lambert
Zona Politics Eps.22 from Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel on Vimeo. On this week’s Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel: Congressman Raul Grijalva talks about immigration, health care, climate change and much more. Then Pima Community College Chancellor Lee Lambert talks about how state budget cuts will affect PCC and the college’s future now that it…
What Will We Tell the Children? Nogales Unified School District Edition
Cheating on high stakes tests, or at least evidence of possible cheating, has reared its ugly head once again, this time at Wade Carpenter Middle School in the Nogales Unified School District. And once again, the validity of high stakes test scores as a measure of student achievement and school success has been thrown into question. An…
SXSW Postcard: Lilly Hiatt at Threadgills
Jim Nintzel Lilly Hiatt performed at the New West Records BBQ at Threadgills on Thursday, March 19.
TW Goes SXSW: Day 3 or An Exercise in Expectations
Still reeling from the devastating loss of missing Miley Cyrus’ surprise performance at Fader Fort on Wednesday night (read: heavy sarcasm), I headed out Thursday determined to see as much as possible. After some free BBQ (it’s everywhere), I caught some of Juce’s set at The Main II, which was an unexpected treat because the…
The HUB to Open Ice Creamery Across from Current Location
You’re probably not looking forward to May and the onslaught of summer, but the good news is there’ll be at least a little relief from the heat in downtown Tucson then. That’s because The HUB is opening an ice cream specific concept at 245 E. Congress St. right before summer hits. The HUB’s Ice Cream…
Arizona Senate Committee Says Yes to Ditching Common Core Standards
There have been several anti-Common Core bills that have been dropped this legislative session. House Bill 2190 is the sole survivor of that group, and, after passing the state House last week, it has now cleared a Senate committee. The bill passed with an amendment that would allow the state Board of Education to have a…
Agustin Kitchen, Tough Luck Club and More Are Finalists for the Arizona Foodist Awards
The Arizona Foodist finalists have been announced for 2015 and some Tucson favorites are up for awards this year. For restaurants, The Coronet is in the running for Emerging Restaurant of the Year and Agustin Kitchen and Cup Cafe are in the running for Best Breakfast Dish for their AK Poutine and Cast Iron Baked…
SXSW Postcard: Giant Sand at Threadgill’s
Jim Nintzel Howe Gelb brought a new version of Giant Sand—featuring Thøger T. Lund, Gabrielle Sullivan and Winston Watson—to the New West Records party on Thursday, March 19. Giant Sand celebrates its 30th birthday with the release of Heartbreak Pass on May 5. Here’s “Transponder” from the album.
Thar’s Gold in Them Thar Charter Schools: Walton and Gates Foundations Edition
When the Walton Foundation—the ultra conservative WalMart fortune foundation which pours close to two hundred million a year into “education reform”—teams up with the Gates Foundation—Bill Gates’ reasonably apolitical foundation which believes that every problem has a business model solution and also spends hundreds of millions on education initiatives—to put on a conference about education,…
SXSW Postcard: Milky Chance
By Jim Nintzel Germany’s Milky Chance performs at the Radio Day Stage at Austin’s SXSW festival.
Five Flowing Wells Students Arrested for Plotting to Kill Classmate
All five suspects have now been named. They are: Gabriel Quiroga, 15; Jessica Good, 17; Andrew Totten, 15; Anastasia Lakin, 17; and Christopher Gibson, 18. Original Story: Five Flowing Wells High School students were arrested Wednesday on charges of Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder. Tucson Police Department say they conspired to kill a fellow student.…
Broadway Widening Opponents Dig in for the Final Stretch
Sunrise has just cracked the Rincon Mountains, as Mark Homan and Madeline Ryder push one last sign into the soggy ground. It’s a series of signs, really, written in clever rhymes and leading to this crescendo: “Don’t Super Size Broadway.” That would be Broadway Boulevard, the roadway roaring alongside us, dampened by rain and thick…
SXSW Postcard: Frank Turner at FLOODfest
By Jim Nintzel Another day in the world’s largest all-you-can-hear audio buffet: Frank Turner performs a solo act at the SXSW Flood party.
TW Goes SXSW: Day 2 or Pace Yourself
I’m beginning to wonder if SXSW happens exclusively now so that people can take pictures of it. I’m guessing there’s one shutterbug for every five attendees who aren’t professional photographers—at least. Many of these photographers seem to be veterans of the biz and they prove it by insisting on obfuscating everyone else’s experience with their…
It’s Pup Time: Adoption Fees Waived at Pima Animal Care Center for March
Good news if you’ve been thinking about adopting a pet: Adoption fees for all animals at the Pima Animal Care Center, 4000 N. Silverbell, are being waived for the remainder of March. Sadly, PACC has seen an unusually high number of animals being brought to the shelter—On March 5, the shelter took in 106 animals.…
Cafe Marcel Moves Off Fourth Avenue
Fourth Avenue lost its creperie and espresso bar. According to Cafe Marcel’s Facebook page, the restaurant isn’t closing for good though—it’s just moving a little bit northwest off of Oracle Road near Grant Road. You might find yourself craving a savory ham and brie crepe or a tart lingonberry crepe, but you’re going to have…
Small Planet: Bread for Survival
Small Planet Bakery’s current bakehouse exudes history. You can see it on the walls with years of newspaper clippings and photos of past employees accrued throughout the 40 years they’ve been in the building. You can see it on the bakery equipment—some of it in disrepair while others just carry that yesteryear vibe. You can…
Quick Bites
IN THREES Three popular dining spots announced that they would be closing this week. First, we heard word that the Metzger Family Restaurant group decided to close Gio Taco downtown. Located off at 360 E. Congress St., the taco joint had opened just 15 months ago in the heart of downtown. According to the statement…
Mexico in Film: Rejoice!
The UA Hanson Film Institute’s Tucson Cine Mexico is back celebrating its 10th anniversary with a winning lineup of contemporary Mexican cinema—documentaries, drama, comedies and a thriller. All films are free and screened at downtown’s Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St. New films include the winner of Best Latin American Documentary awarded by New York-based…
Not Your Grandmother’s Workforce
Those good people at Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry and their monthly Creative Collaborations program continues to celebrate Women’s History Month on Saturday, March 21, from 11 a.m. to Noon with “Women in the Workforce: We’ve Come a Long Way.” Senior Fellow/pianist Paula Fan, with special guests will explore different themes through music and discussion in…
Truly Scrumptious Theater
So you won’t see Dick Van Dyke in the flying car, but I bet the super talented from the Christian Youth Theater will come pretty close, just as they do with many of their youth performed, but quality productions. “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” opens next week and runs from March 26-29 at the Pima Community…
Editor’s Note
We’re getting close to that traditional pastime here at Weekly World Central when we are consumed with everything Best of Tucson™. We’re finalizing the online ballot and voting process, and will let you know when you can let us know what’s what—really its that one time of the year that we turn to you to…
Borderlands Fieldtrip
Dan Millis of Sierra Club Borderlands is leading this fieldtrip on Saturday, March 21, 10 a.m. Meet up at Kasa Mia, 460 N. Arroyo Blvd. in Nogales, Arizona. This is your invite to discuss and learn about the border walls’ environmental impacts, travel to the where the Santa Cruz River is impeded by border barriers…
Dust Devils
Quiet Day Her language was unknown to him. She motioned for water—he had none. Glancing down the highway he saw only heat shimmer and dust. He offered a white tablecloth as shelter from the sun. It fluttered like a wounded bird in the hot breeze. She declined—too easy to see, she gestured. He placed it…
Message in a Bottle
The Tucson Clay Co-Op, 3326 N. Dodge Blvd., starts its ninth annual Poetry Message Pot Project Saturday. March 21, from 12 Noon to 4 p.m. continuing every Saturday through April 11. Local poets and poetry lovers are invited to inscribe their poems or favorite poems on bowls the studio will supply. On Sunday, April 19th,…
Police Dispatch
Foothills Area Jan. 26, 12:38 p.m. Someone invaded a man’s yard by night to “trim” several decorative plants, “harvest” vegetables from his garden … and piss in a flower pot, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. The reportee called sheriff’s deputies to his residence, telling them that the previous night someone had entered…
Genre-Jumping
Tom Mossbrucker danced with the Joffrey Ballet for 20 years, at a time when the company was changing the definition of dance. “It was a wonderful time,” he said. Founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino were changing the ballet formula in the 1970s and ’80s, inviting new modern masters of the likes of Mark Morris…
Police Dispatch
Jan. 26, 3:48 p.m. A woman was caught trying to shoplift from a big-box store by hiding items beneath a tiny dog perched in her purse, a PCSD report said. Deputies met with the loss-prevention officer at a local Walmart, where the woman was still on location (and still shoplifting). They watched a video of…
Consumed by the Green-eyed Monster
OK. I’m confused. I really, really liked the Arizona Repertory Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s “Othello.” The acting is top-notch. The production values are very impressive, particularly the costumes by Patrick Holt and scenic design by Peter Beudert and Samantha Visbal. Produced in the Tornabene Theatre, in which seating can be shifted and the staging areas…
Poli-Migra No More
Rudy Vicente Bugon stopped driving and riding his bike two years ago. He’s an undocumented worker, and with SB 1070 in place, he didn’t want to risk dragging more attention to himself. In the five years the 33-year-old has lived in Tucson, the police have stopped him three times. “I would think, OK this is…
Paying Respect
Director Kenneth Branagh knows what Disney junkies, young and old, crave in their fairytale movies, and he unabashedly delivers the goods with “Cinderella,” the latest “live action” retelling of a Disney animated classic. Pixie dust, ornate castles, fireworks, princesses, evil stepmoms and quirky CGI mice abound in this lush and striking new take on the…
The Skinny
Bad Medicine The latest anti-abortion legislation advances in the Arizona House of Representatives Anti-abortion lawmakers added a doozy of a provision to the latest effort to restrict reproductive rights of Arizona women last week. As of our deadline, SB 1318 went to the House floor for vote and was expected to pass. The legislation could…
BSides
BRYDES AND GROOM Local musician Kaia Mazza is back in action and playing under the name BRYDES. Although Mazza made a name for herself in the folk music community here, her new project is just about as poppy as it gets. Packed with synthesizers and beats, Maze’s definitely going for a new sound and the…
Letter to the Editor: TEP Should Invest in Jobs, Renewable Energy Not Coal
TEP Should Invest in Job, Renewable Energy Not Coal Last month, the AZ Daily Star reported that a coalition of clean energy businesses and advocates, faith organizations, environmental groups and more called on our utility, Tucson Electric Power, to divest from the out-of-state San Juan Generating Station. The coalition got it right! By continuing to…
More than Sukierae
Jeff Tweedy’s March 25 show at the Rialto is a three-fer debut. He’ll perform his first solo set here, having bypassed Tucson on previous tours without his Wilco bandmates. Openers The Minus 5 perform songs from their March 10 release, Dungeon Golds. And Tweedy’s most recent project, Tweedy, with his 19-year-old son Spencer, visits Tucson…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Why do wabs, regardless of age and body size, always have one hand rubbing their bellies under their shirts? Is this something that is inherent in all wabs? Because they all do it, especially the “fresh from the border” ones. I don’t get it. I’m a pocho, and I’ve never seen other pochos…
Weird Love
Eclectic doesn’t begin to describe the whirlwind blaze of weeping, foaming, hissing pop that we human beings collectively call of Montreal. Part of the fabled The Elephant 6 Recording Company, which includes, among others, Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power, and Neutral Milk Hotel, of Montreal found the perfect recipe for dissolving complex literary textures into…
Media Watch
By John Schuster jschuster@tucsonweekly.com Management’s curious relationship with local sports radio UA fans and alumni made their annual exodus to Las Vegas last weekend to all but monopolize the MGM Arena and Strip as they watched their beloved Wildcats win their first conference tournament championship since 2002. Wildcat men’s basketball fans visited from Tucson, and…
The New Norm
There are many ways to ingest medical marijuana and each has its pros and cons. Some folks swear by their edibles while others prefer the tried and true approach to medical marijuana: just plain smoking it. But thanks to advances in science and tech, vaporizing marijuana is the new norm. In fact, next to dabs,…
Danehy
Charles Heller and his friends want to turn Arizona into Colorado’s bitch. And Idaho’s and Montana’s and that of lots of other states. They’ve managed to convince some Arizona legislators that it’s a really good idea to hand over our state’s sovereignty to other states in an effort to keep at bay the boogeyman that…
Pleasure Activist
Asexuality Earlier this week, I had the privilege of meeting with some lovely folks over at the University of Arizona’s LGBTQ Affairs department for a roundtable discussion about asexuality. This discussion was inspired, in part, by the desire to inform those who work with sexually marginalized groups or as sexuality educators about the oftentimes ignored…
