Cover Story
Liquidating Arizona
Was Jon Stewart right when he called Arizona “the meth lab of Democracy”? Well, a lot of strange stuff got cooked up by Republican lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer, as the GOP took advantage of having full control of state government. What’s the biggest story of the session? That had to…
Meet a Goldwater! See a Film!
If you didn’t catch Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater when it aired on HBO, here’s your chance to see it—and meet CC Goldwater, granddaughter of the late Barry Goldwater, who produced and narrated the film. There’s a free screening at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 21, at MountainView Country Club Ballroom, 38759 S. Mountain View…
A Prop 100 Celebration
Arizona Education Network (AEN) volunteers gathered last night to watch Proposition 100 election results at Ann-Eve Pedersen’s house. Some of the volunteers had been up the night before placing Vote YES signs throughout the city and others up early election morning holding signs up in high traffic areas. “It’s overwhelming,” Pedersen said. “This sends a…
Rasmussen: Glassman Losing Ground to McCain and Hayworth
Rasmussen delivers a new poll on how well Democrat Rodney Glassman stacks up against U.S. Sen. John McCain and his Republican challenger, J.D. Hayworth: Both contenders for the Republican Senate nomination have widened their leads over Democrat Rodney Glassman in Arizona’s U.S. Senate race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Arizona…
Rasmussen: McCain Widening Lead Over Hayworth
Rasmussen provides new numbers in the match-up between U.S. Sen. John McCain and GOP primary opponent J.D. Hayworth: Senator John McCain continues to lead Arizona’s hotly contested Republican Senate Primary contest but his level of support is stuck in a narrow range between 47% and 53%. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Republican…
Prop 100 Passes!
Hey, Arizonans: You saved the state. With 84.4 percent of the precincts reporting statewide, Prop 100 leads by a commanding margin: Prop 100 Yes: 651,784 votes, 64 percent Prop 100 No: 366,503, or 36 percent Interesting note: Yes is ahead in every county, save Mohave County. Support was widespread.
Prop 100 Election Results!
Well, results from today’s special election are not available yet. We’ll be posting them as soon as we can. The first results are scheduled to be released after 8 p.m. You can check them for yourself here.
Sierra Club Report Card: Lots Of F’s for AZ Lawmakers
The Sierra Club has finished grading state lawmakers. To no great surprise, Sierra Club lobbyist Sandy Bahr was dismayed by the session: It has often been stated relative to the Arizona Legislature, “It cannot possibly get any worse.” Well, it can, and it did. The 2010 Arizona Legislative Session will undoubtedly go down in history…
Protestors Arrested at McCain’s Office Face Deportation
The New York Times reports on the students who were arrested yesterday while protesting at Sen. John McCain’s campaign office in Tucson. Three of them may be kicked out of the country: Four of the protesters, including three who are in the country illegally, were arrested Monday evening on misdemeanor trespassing charges. The three were…
The Kids Are Alright With Immigration
The New York Times looks at a generation gap when it comes to attitudes toward immigration: In the wake of the new Arizona law allowing the police to detain people they suspect of entering the country illegally, young people are largely displaying vehement opposition — leading protests on Monday at Senator John McCain’s offices in…
Vote Yes Today for Prop 100
A few weeks ago, we urged you to vote yes on Prop 100, the temporary one-cent sales tax that voters will decide today. Here’s why: Let us begin by saying we’re not crazy about hiking the state’s sales tax by a penny per dollar for the next three years. But we’re a lot less crazy…
Center for Biological Diversity Files Suit Over Off-Shore Drilling Permits
In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster that has thousands of barrels of oil a day gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, the Center for Biological Diversity has filed suit against the federal government to force the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service to do more environmental reviews before granting future off-shore drilling permits. “The…
CD8 Candidate Andy Goss Makes The Wall Street Journal
You haven’t heard much about Andy Goss, one of the four Republicans seeking to unseat Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords this November in Southern Arizona’s Congressional District 8. But Goss is Exhibit A in a recent Wall Street Journal piece about insurgent—and angry—candidates for office in 2010: Andy Goss knows exactly what he’ll do if he…
Dio Dead
From the Los Angeles Times entertainment blog: Influential heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio, best known for his iconic wailing for Black Sabbath and, before that, Rainbow, has died of stomach cancer. His death was announced via a statement on his website from wife Wendy Dio, which read: Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed…
Tucson’s Everyday People: In the Mode of Beauty
Danielle Sweety, a hairstylist in Tucson, explains her out-of-the-ordinary day of preparing and finalizing her models for the Moda Provocateur on March 7 in this video slideshow by Alex Cooley. The Moda Provocateur is a fashion show that raises money for the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation. Cooley is a student at the UA School of…
Cypress Who? Verbobala to the Rescue
Border Remixeado: La Viejita de Sonora from Verbobala Spoken Video on Vimeo. In this week’s issue of the Weekly, Stephen Seigel wrote a great Soundbites about Cypress Hill’s decision to cancel their Tucson show, noting the Rialto’s Curtis McCrary’s open letter to the band asking them to reconsider and use their show to send a…
Palin to Arizona’s Rescue!
Gov. Jan Brewer has rolled out her solution to the calls to boycott Arizona over SB 1070, the new immigration law that has become a national controversy: A Web site featuring Sarah Palin! Yeah, that’ll work. Because the people who are talking about boycotting Arizona are such fans of Palin. Look, we get that Palin…
No No Nogales…
A year ago, the Tucson Weekly interviewed LuisCarlos Romero-Davis about his documentary 389 Miles: Living the Border. In the film he interviews a coyote, Border Patrol agents and even Minuteman Civil Defense Corps founder and former U.S. Senate candidate Chris Simcox. While border stories are the norm in our world, Romero-Davis’ series of border stories…
Here’s Why McCain Needs To Worry
Pollster.com pulls together the surveys of U.S. Sen. John McCain’s battle with Republican J.D. Hayworth. BTW, I removed one poll from the round-up; Behavior Research Center was an outlier that showed McCain with a titanic lead that none of the other surveyed produced. That may be because BHC also polled Independents. The chart with BHC…
McCain: Complete the Danged Death Star
Remember when John McCain compared himself to Luke Skywalker? High4entertainment mashes up McCain’s latest Senate ad with Star Wars.
SB 1070 Protest: A Day Without A Mexican in Nogales
The Nogales International reports on a “Day Without a Mexican” in Nogales protest of Arizona’s new immigration law: “It’s dead,” said one Morley Avenue merchant who asked he not be identified for this story. “We should be closed today, but we don’t want to hurt our employees. “These people should not be boycotting Nogales; they…
Get Your Ass to ‘Immigrant Nation!’
The Loft is hosting a free screening on Saturday, May 15, at 10 a.m. of Immigrant Nation!, a documentary film “about the modern immigrant rights movement. In particular, it is the story of the struggle of Elvira Arellano, a single mother from Chicago who fought her deportation. The film also interweaves the stories of individuals,…
‘Killer Joe’ at Etcetera
Killer Joe, written by Tracy Letts and directed by Christopher Johnson, opens at Live Theatre Workshop (5317 E. Speedway Blvd.) tonight, 10:30 p.m., as part of the Etcetera’s late night series. Cast: Eric Anson, Kristi Loera, Miranda McBride, Steve Wood and Michael Woodson. The show continues on Fridays and Saturdays, 10:30 p.m., through May 29,…
Artistic Range: Sarah Cadrobbi
Outside Looking In, an exhibit of works by Tucson Weekly’s own Sarah Cadrobbi, opens with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday, May 15, at Bjorklund Art Studio and Gallery, 439 N. Sixth Ave. The show continues through Wednesday, June 30. Gallery hours vary. Call 628-2957 for information.
Your Last Chance To Meet the UA Spacemen
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona You’ve only got a few hours left to reserve a spot on Mount Lemmon to meet the UA Lunar and Planetary Lab crew on Saturday, May 22. Details from LPL: On Saturday, May 22, 2010, the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) is hosting a public open-day at the Catalina…
SB 1070: Fixing The State’s Image
Howie Fischer reports that Gov. Jan Brewer wants to repair the damage to the state’s image in the wake of the passage of SB 1070: With the state’s tourism industry under siege in the wake of a new law aimed at illegal immigrants, Gov. Jan Brewer is moving to “reposition” Arizona’s brand and image. But…
Volunteer Fair This Sunday, May 16
My friend Charlie Levy has organized another Tucson Volunteer Fair this Sunday, May 16, at Hotel Congress and the Rialto Theatre. A whole bunch of do-good organizations will be in one place for anyone who has spare time this summer. Details here. Here’s why Charlie does what he does.
Lewis Black Links Arizona, Nazis and Glenn Beck
Lewis Black starts out talking about Arizona and ends up linking Glenn Beck to—who else?—Hitler! The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c <td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'Back in Black – Glenn Beck’s Nazi Tourette’s www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party
Today in Televised Tucson Food News
Andrew Zimmern poses with the staff at El Charro Cafe The Travel Channel recently sent us some pictures of Andrew Zimmern dining at the downtown El Charro Café location, 311 N. Court Ave., and Maico, over at 835 E. 22nd St. Just last night I watched Zimmern eat grilled snakes, snake eggs, blood cake (made…
Open For Business: Picazzo’s Organic Italian Kitchen
I just got off the phone with the spokeswoman for the new Picazzo’s Organic Italian Kitchen at 7850 N. Oracle Road, in Oro Valley, and she says it’s open for business. In this week’s Noshing Around I reported that Picazzo’s wouldn’t be open until June, which was what the spokeswoman told me when we spoke…
Vote Nintzel in “Best of the Capitol”
Voting is open in the Arizona Capitol Times’ Best of the Capitol survey. I encourage you to vote for my brother, Doug Nintzel of the Arizona Department of Transportation, as Best Government PR Person. Details here.
What Will SB1070 Do To Arizona Agriculture?
So what might happen to Arizona’s lettuce industry as a result of SB 1070? The Atlantic’s Sara Rubin alerts us to a potential problem: But many of the harvesters who painstakingly kneel to cut each head of lettuce may choose not to work in Arizona this fall in the wake of its new, hostile immigration…
Downing’s Independent Campaign: A GOP Opportunity?
We told you a few days ago about Democrat Ted Downing’s plot to run as an Independent instead of a Democrat in his campaign against state Sen. Paula Aboud. That means Downing would avoid a rematch with Aboud in a Democratic primary. That didn’t go well for him in 2006 and he has fewer supporters…
Bodies: The Exhibition: The Video
Can’t find your duodenum, dural sac or deep peroneal nerve? Try looking for them at the Rialto Building downtown, 300 W. Congress St, starting this Saturday at Bodies: The Exhibition. The show features a literal inside look at what makes us tick as well as showing what effects cancer and other diseases can wrack on…
Nico Ratoff at Epic Cafe
I first met Nico Ratoff at an Odyssey Storytelling series meeting in founder/director Penelope Starr’s living room where we all took turns practicing our stories. I loved Ratoff’s heartbreaking story about how he lost custody of his young son. It was cinematic and beautiful. I chastised myself at the end of the evening for not…
Come to Tucson!
I can just hear Sarah Palin saying to us Arizonans, “So how’s that boycott-y thing goin’ for ya?” Whatever your views on the immigration issue, one thing is for sure: we’re taking an economic hit we don’t need. Daily I’m hearing of concerts, conventions, and vacations being cancelled. Ouch! Tucson was and still is a…
Not a Slow News Week
Lots of good stuff in this week’s issue. Like: • Proposition 100 coverage. Jim Nintzel lays out the reasons why you need to vote for Prop 100 in The Skinny. On that very same page, Dave Devine explains how state budget cuts have already annihilated services for the mentally ill—and shows how the situation will…
Nine Questions
John Sweeden
Creating Sanctuary
When more than 300 UA students and faculty showed up to protest SB 1070 in the middle of campus on Wednesday, May 5, organizers hoped it would result in a statement from UA President Robert Shelton and the UA Police Department condemning the new law. Several hours later, organizers went up to Shelton’s office, where…
Media Watch
“Amercian” vs. “In the U.S.”: ‘Star’ error reverberations continue; ‘Star’ on the survey circuit?
Soundbites
SB 1070: MUSICAL FALLOUT It’s happened already: With about 2 1/2 months until SB 1070 goes into effect, one musical act has already canceled a scheduled local performance. In the musical world, the fallout began the week that Gov. Jan Brewer signed the bill into law—and it was Canadians that began the debate. First, Montreal-based…
Cash and Power
According to its rhetoric, the statewide First Things First program marks an exciting advance for early-childhood development efforts. But if local developments lend any clue, this particular sandbox may be a little too small. That fact burst to light recently, when one member of a local First Things First governing board raised conflict-of-interest questions about…
Suit-able
Robert Downey Jr. again dazzles as billionaire Tony Stark in Iron Man 2, an enjoyable sequel that keeps the juggernaut rolling forward despite a few too many villains, subplots and plugs for future movies. This is a ridiculously crowded film that, at times, feels like it could fall victim to the same type of overkill…
T Q&A
Nico Ratoff
Where Are They Now?
After a 25-year career in journalism, MJ McVay is working longer hours than she ever has, at the smallest newspaper of her career, making less money than she did 15 years ago. It is as though her professional life, which included a decade each at the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Tucson Citizen, has been…
Year One
There are plenty of movies released this time of year that go light on the plot—but here’s a film that has no story whatsoever. Babies is a 79-minute documentary with no narrative structure at all, other than laying out the first year in the lives of four newborns. There’s no narrator; nobody addresses the camera…
Now Showing at Home
Tetro; No Time for Sergeants; Tombstone (Blu-ray); Dune (Blu-ray)
Defense Against Tedium
Sitting in a cozy chair with one’s favorite novel is a simple luxury that many of us take for granted. However, that’s not the case for inmates in the Arizona prison system. “Ex-prisoners will often tell stories about how tedious prison is, with occasional bouts of angst and terror mixed in,” said Mike Lovelace, a…
Poet of Doom
Early in Boston Teran’s screen-ready historical thriller, The Creed of Violence, federal agent John Lourdes works undercover along the border at Juárez in 1910, just as the Mexican Revolution is flaring up. He watches a young woman he suspects of smuggling enter a quarantine shed on the U.S. side, where her clothes will be fumigated,…
City Week
“Tucson’s Tineo and the Legacy of Mexican and Mexican-America Muralists” by John Carhuff; “The Gods Must be Crazy” by Kenneth Johnson; Sunnyside High School’s “Noche de las Estrellas”; “I Dream in Widescreen: BFA Thesis Films From the School of Media Arts”
Noshing Around
May’s Counter Chicken and Waffles; ‘Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern’: Tucson Edition; Primavera Cooks!; Noshing Notes
Fact and Fiction
The world of the Besnard Lakes is a world to get lost in. The Montreal band deals in conceptual music, a wild, prog-influenced brand of indie rock that unfolds deliberately, always marching to a climactic peak. Sharing the songwriting duties, husband-and-wife duo Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas have both an icy darkness and a fiery…
Mailbag
An … Interesting Take on ‘Liberals,’ War Heroes and SB 1070; An … Interesting Take on the Terms ‘Wetback’ and ‘Illegal’; This Whole SB 1070 Thing: Just a Bad Dream?; Fact Check: FAIR Is Far From Fair; By Accepting Rosemont Copper Ads, the ‘Weekly’ Is ‘Legitimizing’ Proposed Mine
Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record (Arts and Crafts)
At a time when many bands challenge listeners with fuzzy aesthetics (No Age) or glitchy pop (Animal Collective), it is nice to occasionally be instantly gratified. Forgiveness Rock Record, the latest from this Canadian collective, is a masterful, exuberant and simply enjoyable work. In true throwback fashion, it is a rock record—which means that even…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Readers: I was supposed to deliver this column to ustedes for Cinco de Drinko, but Arizona’s reprehensible SB 1070 bill had to rear its ugly head. I could devote this column to the issue again, but Mexican-hating is a national sport, and we must darle chingazos wherever it pops out. Big shout-outs, though, to…
Andre Williams: That’s All I Need (Bloodshot)
As late-career renaissances go, Andre Williams’ is hard to top. A producer, musician, songwriter and A&R man in R&B, soul and blues circles in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, Williams crashed and burned in the late-’70s, only to be resurrected in the mid-’90s with a series of albums featuring lascivious, unrepentant garage funk. That’s All…
Top Ten in Music
The 17th Street Guitar and World Music Store top sales for the week
Police Dispatch
Booby trap; gang-banger banging
Horse Feathers: Thistled Spring (Kill Rock Stars)
Generous space and a delicious restraint enrich the music of Horse Feathers as it wraps the listener in an embrace that is at once spooky, beautiful and reassuring—as if Aaron Copland were producing a chamber-music recording by an alt-Americana band. From Idaho by way of his current headquarters in Port-land, Ore., bandleader Justin Ringle creates…
Meat ‘n’ Plantains
I’ve briefly been to San Juan, Puerto Rico, a couple of times, but I can’t say I know much about Puerto Rican cuisine. And that makes me wonder whether I am missing something regarding the food at El Coqui Puerto Rican Restaurant, a cute new place on 22nd Street and Craycroft Road in the space…
The Skinny
Why you need to vote for Prop 100. … UA economist Alberta Charney takes on the Goldwater Institute. … That new immigration law causes more economic misery … and more!
Live
‘Bringing It All Back Home’ benefit concert
Top Ten in Books
Mostly Books best-sellers for the week
Weekly Wide Web
If you get your news online, you’ve probably heard of The Huffington Post. This week marks the fifth anniversary of the news-aggregation site, which is one of the few places on the Internet where you can find a story about Goldman Sachs bankers right next to racy pictures of Miss USA contestants. As of this…
A Quirky Clinic
If a play is set in a psychiatric ward, it’s a good bet that one of its themes will be the issue of how sanity is defined. If the play is Joe Orton’s farce What the Butler Saw, set in a psychiatrist’s clinic in jolly old uptight England, have no doubt that there will be…
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
Danehy
Eight reasons why you should vote against Proposition 100 next Tuesday, May 18: 1. We’re already taxed to the brink of human endurance. At least that’s what my Tea Party homies tell me. That’s why they are trying to impeach President Obama, secede from the union, have the word “union” stricken from the English language,…
Poetry in Motion
Rick Wamer is not your stereotypical mime. This became immediately clear as we met at a sunny outdoor café. With no white makeup or a beret in sight, Wamer was stylishly dressed, his silver hair pulled back in a ponytail. And he’s not afraid to speak. When I asked about the cliché of the mime,…
Serraglio
The 20th anniversary of the day I moved to Tucson passed last month, but I was way too busy to fire up the barbecue and mix margaritas for my friends like I had planned—which is a real shame, because I love artificial and meaningless temporal constructs. Allow me to compensate by marking my milestone in…
Landscape Trio
The first thing that grabs your attention in the eye-popping landscape show at Etherton Gallery is the color. Lynn Taber’s radiant pastel skies are positioned across from Jack Dykinga’s deserts, photographed in deeply pigmented color. And in the small gallery up front, serving as a gateway to the crayon-brights of these two contemporary artists, are…
Better Off Poor
A few weeks after Mary Anne committed suicide, H. Clarke Romans reflected on her life. “She had serious mental illness with bipolar disorder and clinical depression,” said Romans, executive director of the advocacy group National Alliance on Mental Illness of Southern Arizona, from his tiny, cluttered office on 22nd Street. Despite her illness, Mary Anne…
Opening This Weekend: CeeDee Jamaican Kitchen
A new Jamaican eatery called CeeDee Jamaican Kitchen is holding its grand opening this weekend. Francesca Samuel, a spokeswoman for the restaurant, called today to say that Cardell and Deon Harrison, two recent transplants from Brooklyn who were born in Jamaica, are opening the eatery at 1070 N. Swan Road. She said the grand opening—which…
Tucson’s Everyday People: A Walk on the Wild Side
Corey Lueker brings us a look at Rebecca Lohes’ day as a zookeeper in this third and final part of the three-part package on the Reid Park Zoo.
