Cover Story
Not Up the Creek…Yet
Karl Flessa will tell you that it’s not that hard to collect seashells. All it takes is a bucket. But the average beachcomber isn’t bringing the specimens back to a lab to study population densities, reconstruct the salinity levels of the ecosystem and figure out how long ago the creatures that inhabited the shells were…
#thisistucson Launch Party at Hacienda Del Sol Thursday
Looking for a reason to move to Tucson? The Tucson Young Professionals are hosting a #thisistucson Launch Party from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 22, at the Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, 5501 N Hacienda Del Sol Road. . #thisistucson is a city-wide social media campaign that allows people to express why they live in and…
Anderson Cooper vs Amy Kushnir
Everyone weighed in on the infamous short, celebratory kiss that aired during the NFL Draft. Michael Sam, NFL’s first openly gay athlete, kissed his boyfriend after he was recruited by the St. Louis Rams. A knock off Texas version of The View received their 15-minutes of fame after Dallas morning co-host Amy Kushnir expresses her…
Here’s Your Chance For Star Wars Related Immortality
Your prayers have been answered, nerds. J.J. Abrams sent a message from the Star Wars set to tease us, and formally announce the Star Wars: Force for Change initiative. This is an effort to raise funds and awareness for UNICEF’s Innovation Labs and its innovative projects benefiting children in need. Star Wars: Force for Change wants to create a brighter…
A New Day At Sunnyside Unified
It’s a huge swing. Courtesy of yesterday’s landslide recall election, Sunnyside School District has gone from a 3-2 majority supporting Superintendent Manuel Isquierdo to a 4-1 majority which is likely to scrutinize his every move, and maybe get rid of him early. But after the much-deserved victory celebrations are over, it’ll be time for people…
Inaugural Tucson Jazz Festival Coming in January 2015
The Tucson Jazz Institute “Concord” Combo started Monday’s windy launch party on the Playground Bar & Lounge rooftop. The jazz band recently took first place in the High School Open Combo Division at this year’s Next Generation Jazz Festival, and recently crowdfunded $11,000 to embark on a 7-day tour through Europe. The unofficial host of…
Video: The War on Boys
Prager University’s Christina Hoff says we should let “boys be boys” and stop treating them like “defective girls.” In this video titled War on Boys, Hoff says boys are now falling behind academically, and winning less honor awards. The resident scholar poses four reforms that would help the boys, and I think this also applies to…
The Altercation Comedy Tour at Mr. Head’s Wednesday Night
Looking for a laugh? Tucson is the 42nd funniest city in the U.S., according to some researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder. You might have noticed that there’s an influx of national acts you only read or hear about on the sites like A.V. Club are touring through the Old Pueblo on regular basis. Three up and coming Texas based…
If You Give Something to a Stripper, You’re Not Getting It Back
Houston weather, traffic, news | FOX 26 | MyFoxHouston Robert Wallace of Houston, relationships can be challenging. I’m sure Nomi Mims, billed as a “dancer and comedian” of adult entertainment destination Treasures, was super-nice to you. I’m also sure it seemed like you two would last forever and why wouldn’t it be a good idea…
The Final Round of Best of Tucson Voting Is Happening Right Now
We counted many, many ballots, figured out the top five in each of the 200 categories, so the second and final round of this year’s Best of Tucson voting is online for your decision-making pleasure RIGHT NOW. Will someone dethrone Jon Justice in the Radio Personality or Best Radio Talk Show Host categories? Will our very…
Free Pet Vaccination, Wellness Clinic at The Pima Animal Care Center on Wednesday
Summer is coming, so you know what that means. It’s time to get your pet’s shots up to date? Thanks to a grant from the Banfield Charitable Foundation, Pima Animal Care is providing free vaccine and wellness check ups to the first 100 responsible pet owners in Southern Arizona. The selfless folks from the Banfield…
Obama Admin Threatens Veto of Defense Bill Over A-10 Amendment, Among Other Provisions
The Obama administration’s Office of Management and Budget released a memo earlier today that listed a variety of reasons why senior advisors would recommend a veto of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House Armed Services Committee last week. Among the reasons cited: Southern Arizona Congressman Ron Barber’s amendment preventing the Air…
Boy Turns a Foul Ball into a Home Run With the Ladies
Your browser does not support iframes. When life hands you lemons and foul balls, make lemonade and give it to the ladies. A young womanizer was collecting foul balls from Toronto Blue Jays third base coach Luis Rivera on Sunday. The Texans fan tried to be slick and pretend to give the baseball he caught to a…
Looks Like Huppental Has A Race (Actually Two Races) On His Hands
Today David Garcia, Democratic candidate for AZ Ed Supe, filed his signatures to get on the ballot. Dr. David Garcia, candidate for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, officially filed his nominating petition signatures this morning. Dr. Garcia and team turned in over 8,000 signatures, far surpassing the 4,804 signatures required to make the ballot. Thanking…
Arizona Bacon Fest is Coming
Bacon brings folks together. This year’s Arizona Bacon Fest is taking place from 6 to 10 p.m., Saturday, June 7, at the Kino Memorial Stadium, 2500 E. Ajo Way. The prices vary depending on your love for the pork goodness. Admission ranges from $45 to $100 VIP tickets. There will be 30 local eateries and 25 breweries at the event, according…
Marvel Debuts The Second ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Trailer
Marvel’s most known unknowns are back with a second trailer. Every character brings something to the table, and we finally hear Vin Diesel bellow ‘I am Groot.” There isn’t enough Zoe Saldana or Karen Gillan. Guardians opens on August 1.
Kiehne Apologizes for Mass Shooting Comment, But Tobin Calls on Him To Quit CD1 Race
Over the weekend, Republican congressional candidate Gary Kiehne, who is one of three candidates in the GOP primary that will decide who will face incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick this November, repeated a right-wing Internet myth about mass shooters and Democrats. Becky Pallack of the Arizona Daily Star reported that Kiehne made the comment…
Film Critic’s Wedding Video Features All Your Favorite Actors and Muppets
What would you do if you had access to every major Hollywood actor at this moment? If your answer was to use their stardom to shed light on corruption, climate change and Obama care, then you will be highly disappointed after watching this video. Joe Michalczuk, Sky News Entertainment reporter and critic, asked all your…
Ras Baraka Wins In Newark. Education Privatization Loses.
Image courtesy of shutterstock.com On Tuesday I wrote that the mayoral election in Newark, New Jersey, was a referendum on “education reform,” aka education privatization. The election results that night had “reform” candidate Shavar Jeffries losing to Ras Baraka, a Newark high school principal who wants to improve the very damaged Newark school system, not…
Open Sesame: The Story of Seeds
Grassroots Growing 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 21 The Loft Cinema, 3222 E. Speedway Blvd. 322-5638; www.loftcinema.com/film/open-sesame-the-story-of-seeds Do you know where your seeds came from? While plenty of people pay attention to what they eat, tracking where the food comes from isn’t as common an activity. Even less so is learning the origin of the seeds being…
Agnes Needs a Home
The Humane Society of Southern Arizona presents Agnes, a female 10-year-old Polydactyl Reference No.: 780576 Who doesn’t love a cat with 26 toes!? Agnes is a sophisticated and stunning polydactyl who wants to be constantly admired. Transferred to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona from another shelter, Agnes’ history is a mystery. What we do…
Stronger Than Steel Art Exhibit and Book Launch
Heroes In Picture Form 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, May 17 Borderlands Brewing Co., 119 E. Toole Ave. 820-4412; www.ziembaphoto.com The emotions surrounding an event involving first responders is often hard to describe, as police, firefighters and other emergency personnel race to save lives and protect the public. But thanks to great access and a keen…
AZ Illustrated Politics: Talking With GOP Congressional Hopeful Gary Kiehne and Digging Into AG Tom Horne’s Political Meltdown
On this week’s AZ Illustrated Politics: Republican Gary Kiehne, who is facing House Speaker Andy Tobin and state Rep. Adam Kwasman in the GOP primary that will determine who will face U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick in Congressional District 1, talks about the Affordable Care Act, immigration policy, Tobin’s use of the Benghazi investigation as a…
Cowan on Neyoy Ruiz in Sanctuary: ” We continue to call on ICE to formally stop his removal”
Daniel Neyoy Ruiz, who took sanctuary Tuesday at Southside Presbysterian Church, will remain at the South Tucson church according to his attorney Margo Cowan, until she receives in writing from ICE that her client is “an excellent candidate for the favorable exercise of discretion and is not a priority for removal.” Yesterday, an ICE spokesperson…
The Best GOP Governor Primary Debate of All Time
Do you think our Governor’s race sucks? Wait until you get a load of what the people of Idaho have to choose from. Here are the four potential candidates seeking the Republican nomination for the upcoming election. Let me tell you, they don’t like “politically correctness,” or Obama (care), or facts. Get a load of…
What’s the Future for Richey School?
The last time the San Ignacio Yaqui Council ad hoc education committee heard any actual news from Tucson Unified School District was from an Arizona Daily Star report that TUSD planned to replicate its successful C.E. Rose model and turn the closed Wakefield and Richey schools into district-run charters. This came almost a month after…
‘Tucson Citizen’ Reunion at The Shanty Tonight
Photo courtesy of Daniel Buckley. R.I.P. Tucson Citizen. It’s been five years since the Tucson Citizen printed its last publication. After 139 years of news, the daily was taken by the grim economic times that loomed in 2009. Gannett employees were laid off or forced into retirement. Some went on to do bigger and better…
Video From James Hetfield’s Rare Acoustic Benefit Show
Cancer sucks. Thankfully, Metallica’s James Hetfield’s and a number of rockers’ influence could draw a packed house at the Fillmore in San Francisco on Thursday. Rolling Stone uncovered two videos from the benefit for the Pediatric Cancer Program at the Bay Area’s UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. Here’s a video of Hetfield covering The Beatles: Hetfield…
Tucson Has to Beat Anchorage in ‘Outside’s’ Best Town Contest
In the spirit of voting for your favorite things on blogs, Outside’s magazine is holding its annual Best Town contest. But the twist this year is that the 64 cities are going head-to-head. The process has already started and Anchorage, AK., is kicking our ass. Sure, they might be cooler than us temperature wise, but…
How Do You Roll? Closes Its Doors
The Tucson restaurant hopes and dreams destruction rampage continues. The Range received an email from the corporate How Do You Roll? offices notifying us that the Austin based restaurant will shut down this week. “We want to thank the Tucson community and we hope to be back very soon,” CEO Yuen Yung stated in the press release.…
Okapi Sun and Sun Bones co-headline Flycatcher Friday
Here we go again, heartbreakers. Your undivided attention is wanted all over Tucson tomorrow night, and you’re the belle of the ball. This is true especially if you like to dance. There’s a catchy show featuring L.A.’s Okapi Sun, The Wanda Junes, Moist Noize and Sun Bones on Friday, May 16, at Flycatcher (A.K.A. Plush), 340…
Photo of Ka’Deem Carey Signing With Da Bears
We aren’t telling you anything you don’t already know if you’re a Arizona Wildcat Football fan, but better late than never. Former UA running back Ka’Deem Carey was recruited by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the NFL Draft on Tuesday. Carey will keep his jersey number. Carey posted this photo from the…
Cinema Showdown: Kill-Crazy Brides and Tank Girls Edition
Street-walking women, vengeful brides and wealthy socialites make up the films playing tonight at three different locations. Over at the Loft Cinema, their month-long series La Dolce Fellini: A Retrospective rolls out the maestro’s 1957 film Nights of Cabiria. It’s one of Fellini’s less fantastical films, but hey, a Fellini film about a prostitute is…
Hero of the Week: Claire Gruenke
The news is usually focused on hate, corruption, and crime, but not all is lost. While your favorite athlete was thanking his ex-girlfriend for boosting his draft stock by refusing to take the stand, an everyday hero was at work. Claire and Chloe Our story begins in Trenton, Illinois. Chloe Gruenke was running at the…
My Endorsements For Sunnyside School Board
I want to make clear, these are my personal endorsements for the Sunnyside School Board recall election. They don’t represent an endorsement from the Weekly. I support Beki Quintero and Eric Giffin to replace board members Bobby Garcia and Louie Gonzales. The current issue of the Weekly has an excellent story on the candidates and…
Mini-Comic-Con and ‘Tank Girl’ Showing at Maker House Saturday
The Tucson Comic-Con is only six months away, so it’s never early to start promoting. Mike Olivares, TCC con director, plans on having monthly mini-comic-cons —beginning in May—leading up to the actual event on Saturday, Nov. 8 and Sunday, Nov. 9. The first all day event is taking place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday,…
Barely About Baseball
The day after the sad-sack Cleveland Browns drafted Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel last week, something remarkable happened: The team sold 1,500 new season tickets. Since returning to the NFL in 1999, the Browns—one of only four teams to never play in a Super Bowl—have been one of the worst franchises in the league. Even…
Editor’s Note
It was a strange week around here at the Tucson Weekly offices, partially because of the lingering minor changes and such from the sale, but also the bizarro backlash from our reporting of the drama surrounding two local restaurants. But, hey, let’s stay positive in this space for a week. Here’s a list of five…
True TV
The New Stuff Stick a fork in this TV season—it’s time to look ahead to the next one. Here’s some of what the networks have greenlighted for the 2014-15 season this fall: Agent Carter (ABC) Or, more likely, Marvel’s Agent Carter, as it’s a spin-off of Captain America: The First Avenger. In the 1946-set drama,…
Media Watch
TWO STATIONS ON THE SAME FREQUENCY DOESN’T WORK WELL If you still listen to terrestrial radio in its old-fashioned form—with an actual radio and not some “smart” device—it can be a bit of a bummer when the signal that has your attention starts to fade as you get out of range. Occasionally, you’ll reach the…
Sweet and Squirmish
Hateship Loveship is a strange movie. Due to its crazy subject matter, it’s just a hair away from being a terrible film during its entire running time, yet, thanks to some great performances and solid direction by Liza Johnson, the people behind this one pull off an impressive high-wire act. In one of her best…
Danehy
Sometime Thursday, May 15, coach Greg Wenneborg, his assistant coaches and more than 20 members of his Pima Community College Aztecs track and field team will board a bus for Mesa Community College, where, over the next three days, they will take their best shots at winning an individual and perhaps even a team national…
Noshing Around
Sweet Home Chicago The owners of the Luke’s Italian Beef at 101 E. Fort Lowell Road are changing the name of the place to Cubbie’s to emphasize their Chicago roots, and separate themselves from the other Luke’s in town. The plan is to continue with traditional Chicago food, including the much celebrated Vienna hot dog.…
Guest Commentary
One year in, it’s finally time for NSA reform Bob Lord Almost one year after the first Snowden leaks revealed that the U.S. government has been leading a massive surveillance operation against its own citizens, Congress may finally pass its very first piece of NSA reform legislation. But how much would it actually reform? The…
Mexico Via Washington?
As a rule, the Weekly doesn’t review chain restaurants. But it wasn’t until I looked at the to-go menu the morning after our first visit that I realized this was the case with La Hacienda. There were hints, I suppose: the huge, glossy menu with brightly colored photos of the food; the bland refried beans;…
The Big Vote
Maybe no one saw it coming that one day the Tucson Unified School District would face some serious competition for negative media coverage and a unique brand of governing board politics, but that’s exactly what’s happened with the Sunnyside Unified School District during the past year. Some in the district are placing all their money…
Brave Old World
From the bright flowers and wavy lettering of their album cover to the Farfisa organ and trippy guitar riffs that propel their songs, the Mystic Braves are awash in ’60s psychedelia. That vintage sound is partly by design and partly the natural result of the band members’ early jam sessions, says singer-guitarist Julian Ducatenzeiler. The…
Green Grades
Sierra Club lobbyist Sandy Bahr says the legislative session could have been worse. “It was better than what we thought it was going to be,” said Bahr, the longtime legislative lobbyist. “When it started out, there were probably more bad environmental bills filed this session than we’ve seen in a while.” But many of those…
Soundbites
CAN WE CHILL? You certainly have your choice of entertainment options on Friday, May 16, but if I actually manage to drag myself out of the house, there are two I’ll be choosing from. First up, Club Congress is hosting a free show with three quite good local bands at 9 p.m., featuring Sweet Ghosts,…
The Skinny
WINGED VICTORY The A-10 Warthog survived another near-death experience when U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz., pushed an amendment through the House Armed Services Committee that reversed an earlier plan to park the combat planes at the Air Force boneyard and keep them ready in case they might be needed someday. During last week’s markup of…
Learning From Lennon
Bill Frisell’s biggest fear about his ongoing tribute to the music of John Lennon is that anyone would assume he means to slight the music of Paul McCartney. “I’ve never met Paul, and I would never want him or anyone else to think I thought any less of his music, because I love his music.…
Sports
There are plenty of memorable dates in University of Arizona sports lore, but only a few that rise to the level of “I know where I was when” territory. During my tenure in Southern Arizona, there have been at least two of those. One is March 31, 1997, when the UA basketball team won the…
Police Dispatch
A DOO-DOO DON’T FOOTHILLS AREA APRIL 6, 11:48 P.M. A man who used the bathroom in a Quik Trip convenience store pooped in a place meant for peeing, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. Store workers told deputies that a male customer had defecated in a urinal in the men’s room (right room,…
Welsh Gone Wild
There’s no mistaking that Tucson’s main cultural influences come from the Hispanic community, which makes up more than 40 percent of the region’s population, according to the 2010 census. But this isn’t a two-culture or even a three-culture town. The impact of cultures from around the world can be seen in stores and at festivals…
Live
Kikagaku Moyo, The Myrrors, The Night Collectors, The Flycatcher, Tuesday, May 6 Watching Night Collectors frontman Jeff Lownsbury wring sounds out of his electric guitar that may not have been heard more than a handful of times since the invention of the instrument was equal to the excitement of watching his band reimagine rock ‘n’…
Finding (the Eighth) Mr. Right
Seven times a widow, Fay McMahon is a shapely private nurse in a bouffant hairdo and racy fishnets flashing below the hem of her regulation uniform. Fay is working hard to line up her eighth husband, and it doesn’t seem to matter whether he’s the husband of her recently deceased patient, their petty criminal son…
R.I.P., J.M.
Dick Cheney sits on a porch step with his head in his hands. It’s 3 a.m. and the street is deserted. A hint of fading spring is in the predawn desert air, but the heat of summer is poised to take hold. The temperature rises fast when the Arizona sun comes up, but Cheney will…
Grass-Roots Growing
Open Sesame: The Story of Seeds 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 21 The Loft Cinema 3222 E. Speedway Blvd. 322-5638; loftcinema.com Do you know where your seeds came from? While plenty of people pay attention to what they eat, tracking where the food comes from isn’t as common an activity. Even less so is learning the…
Ask A Mexican!
Dear Mexican: So, I had our graphic artist walk out off the room pissed the other day because the publisher asked my opinion over a Cinco de Mayo advertisement they were planning to publish and ended up publishing. The graphic showed a row of chickens with sombreros. The publisher asked if I thought it was…
DVD Roundup
3 Days to Kill A spy (Kevin Costner) sets out on One Last Mission, but gets stuck with his teen daughter and, almost as bad, brain cancer. Can he take down the terrorist and bring his family back together? Hell, if Liam Neeson can do it, why not? (Relativity) Fugitive at 17 When a teenage…
Banging and Bumping on Wheels
Tucson Roller Derby: Copper Queens vs. Northern Arizona Whiskey Row-llers 6:30 p.m., Saturday, May 17 Tucson Indoor Sports Center 1065 W. Grant Road 390-1454; tucsonrollerderby.com Tucson Roller Derby is midway through its 11th season of competition, and the inevitable bumps, bruises and breaks that come with the high-contact sport have whittled down the number of…
Godzilla Gives Up on Being Smart
It was all going so well in Godzilla…until the damn monsters showed up. We knew Hollywood would get here eventually, because they rehash so many things, and this one is the granddaddy of ‘em all. Although not the first metro-mauling monster movie, the original Godzilla from 1954 really set the stage for the widespread destruction…
Steve Kerr Accepts Warriors’ Head Coach Position
ESPN has reported that Steve Kerr will be the Golden State Warriors head coach next year. The UA alum rejected an offer from the New York Knicks to stay close to his home in San Diego, according to ESPN. Reportedly, Kerr accepted a five-year, $25 million dollar deal. From ESPN: Sources said Kerr was under…
