Cover Story
Heartbreak Pass
“I had come to the realization in the couple of years leading up to this record that I had been living two lives,” says the leonine global music entity Howe Gelb, by way of pondering how his soul has become so tender with age. He’s nearing 60. “As we get older everything inside our body…
Standardized Test Scores and Family Income
This bears repeating whenever the subject of high stakes testing comes up. There’s a very strong correlation between standardized test scores and family income. Test scores are higher in areas with high family income and lower in areas with low family income. It’s true in Tucson. It’s true in Phoenix. It’s true across the United…
Tucson’s LGBT/Immigrant Rights Advocates Aren’t Buying Hillary Clinton’s ‘Let’s Reform Detention Facilities’ Comment
Last week, Hillary Clinton said she’d like to reduce the number of “vulnerable” groups in immigration detention facilities—referring to unaccompanied minors, LGBT people, and many others. During a speech at a Nevada high school, in a room full of DREAMers, she said (from a Slate article): “I’m very worried about detention, and detention facilities for…
Escape Goat Pt. II: Here’s Part of the Reasons Why TUSD Told Corey Jones to Stop Teaching at Cholla
The day after we published the article Escape Goat—where former Cholla High culturally relevant educator Corey Jones offers his insight on the significant CR curriculum, classroom and attitude changes he witnessed during the Arizona Department of Education/TUSD anti-Mexican-American studies law ordeal—the district sent us some documents pertaining to an investigation TUSD conducted into Jones and…
Carpe Diem Charter, Cheating and Thucydides (aka John Huppenthal)
Since I’ve been writing about the seven Arizona schools currently accused of cheating on the AIMS test by erasing students’ wrong answers and bubbling in the right ones (here and here), I thought I’d bring back an oldie but a goodie: the story of possible erase-and-replace cheating at Yuma’s Carpe Diem charter school in 2010, how it…
Arizona Tops Nation in Higher Ed Funding Cuts & Tuition Increases
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities is out with a new report showing that Arizona leads the nation when it comes to the biggest cuts to higher ed on a per-pupil basis and has enacted the biggest percentage increase in tuition since 2008. And, as the Children’s Action Alliance pointed out in a bulletin…
The Soft (and Not-So-Soft) Bigotry of High Stakes Testing
Monday I wrote about seven Arizona schools that have been accused of cheating on the high stakes AIMS test. I decided to look at the percentage of students on free/reduced lunch at the schools, and here’s what I found. Two schools have more than 90 percent of their students on free/reduced lunch—Wade Carpenter Middle School…
Happy Summer, Friends! Warren G Is Coming to Rialto Theatre
If any single musical genre set in a specific time and place evokes that summertime feeling, it’s gotta be ’90s West coast hip hop, right? Right. If you feel the way I do, you’ll want to scurry on over to the Rialto Theatre to get yourself a ticket to the recently announced Warren G show…
Watch the A-10 Warthog in Flight
Here’s a little A-10 footage in case you’d like to see Tucson’s favorite war plane in action.
Fresh, Organic Vegetable Delivery Starts Service in Tucson
Some people love heading out to the grocery store, farmers market or local food co-op, taking their time and picking out their healthy rations for the week. Others might not have time or just don’t like doing it that much. For the latter camp, an Arizona-based grocery service has launched in Tucson that’s delivering local…
Raúl Grijalva Wants DHS Sec. Jeh Johnson to Ensure ICE, Other Immigration Enforcement Agencies Follow the Deportation Priority Rules
Congressman Raúl Grijalva, and 39 other colleagues, have some questions for the Department of Homeland Security on how sub-agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, have been enforcing their apprehension and deportation priority guidelines. To refresh your memory, on Nov. 20, President Obama issued several immigration actions (temporarily blocked in February…
Hey, Maybe You Can Give Tucson’s Senior Residents a Ride or Two
Mayor Jonathan Rothschild wants volunteers to help drive older adults and people with disabilities so that they can take care of errands like doctors’ visits and grocery shopping. The Mayor’s Senior Task Force (a branch off the ELDER Alliance) says that, with about 16,000 people in need of these services, the only way to meet…
REVIEW: Sun Bones’ New Self-Titled Release Fine Tunes the Nearly Decade-Old Act
In their titular release, to be out officially on May 19, Sun Bones have presented an album of what they do best: Neo-soul tinged ballads with beautiful harmonies blended with jerky frenetic pop songs. It’s a very radio-friendly album full of twists and turns that echo shades of Grizzly Bear and The Beach Boys if…
Let’s Talk Weed in Indian Country
If Arizona legalizes marijuana next year, Indian tribes in the state won’t have to follow the same rules. But the same goes in reverse: if the state says no to green, tribes can decide to jump on the weed train any time. In December, the Department of Justice issued a memorandum that clarified tribes’ role…
Tucson Blogs: What Should We Be Reading?
It’s that time of the week again: Time for me to guilt you into filling out your Best of Tucson® ballot. I know, there are a lot of categories and sometimes it’s hard to decide which Tucson institution deserves your vote. Something to keep in mind: You’ve got just over a month to participate in…
Did Seven Schools in Arizona Cheat on High Stakes Tests? (And Is It Really Only Seven?)
Diane Douglas’ Department of Education has asked the Attorney General to investigate suspicious erasures on AIMS tests from seven Arizona schools. There’s a whole lot to unpack in this story, more than I want to write about in one post. I’ll probably write more about it later in the week. The ADE found that AIMS…
Fat White Family Brings Their Funkadelic and Charles Manson Inspired Tunes to Club Congress
Carrying the tag of “the most exciting young band in Britain” around their neck has only given Fat White Family more energy and greater urgency to bring their music to a wider audience. The raves from the likes of Q Magazine for Fat White Family’s audacious, wild live shows and their blend of ramshackle punk…
Rosemary Needs a Home
Rosemary—4-years-old —Chihuahua Mix—F—#804016 Rosemary is as sweet as her name. This precious girl came to HSSA early in April as a transfer from another shelter. Rosemary is petite and precious. She longs to be close to you, cuddle with you, and go on adventures. This little princess is looking for a calm, patient home with…
New PPP Poll Shows Ducey’s Job Approval at 27 Percent
It’s just a snapshot in time, but Public Policy Polling has a new survey out that shows that Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s job approval numbers are awfully low. The PPP poll showed that only 27 percent of Arizona voters approve of the job he’s doing, compared to the 44 percent who are unhappy with his…
John Oliver Uses Mother’s Day to Remind Us How Poorly the US Treats Moms
John Oliver’s show celebrated Mother’s Day by reminding us the United Stated and Papua New Guinea are the only two countries in the world that don’t provide paid time off for new mothers—and advocating for paid family leave for all new parents. Keep up the advocacy, Oliver.
Zona Politics: In-State Tuition for DACA, City and County Spending Plans, Bond Election & More
Zona Politics Eps.29 from Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel on Vimeo. On this week’s Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel: Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Lea Marquez Peterson and attorney Jeff Rogers talk about in-state tuition for DREAMers, the proposed budgets for the city and county, whether voters will support this November’s bond…
Learn about Fermentation at the Sonoran Desert Museum
If you love kimchi and you can’t get enough kombucha, the Sonoran Desert Museum has a class for you. On Saturday, May 16, you can head to the museum for a desert-centric workshop on the bitter, tart and tangy world of fermented food and drink. The class will take attendees through 2000 years of fermentation…
Leave the TUSD Board Call-and-Response Policy As Is
This looks to me like one of those “Democracy is messy” issues, where some people claim they want to clean up the mess a bit. The problem is, proposed solutions often subvert the democratic process, which is messy by design. That’s what’s wrong with the latest policy revision suggested for the TUSD board. Here’s the basic story.…
Let’s All Look for Louise Le Hir’s Guitar
Hot off of an energetic album release show the week before and finishing up a show at Solar Culture, something really terrible happened to Louise Le Hir. Someone took her guitar from her car in the gallery’s parking lot on Tuesday, May 5 and it’s been missing since. While it’s an unfortunate that gear does…
Arizona DREAMers Celebrate In-State Tuition, Begin to Focus in Upcoming Plans
Yesterday was a good day for Dario Andrade Mendoza. His mom’s deportation order was removed, and when the family returned home after court, they heard news that the Arizona Board of Regents had granted DREAMers in-state tuition at the three universities. Both issues took many years to overcome. “I haven’t quite processed it, yet,” he says. …
Go to Friday’s UA Baseball Game
Go to it! The game (against Washington!) starts at 7:30 p.m. We’ll draw a winner at 1 p.m. To win, you’ll have to be available to pick the tickets up from our office on the Northwest side of town sometime before 5 p.m. Enter below or on Wufoo. Fill out my online form. var m18gx46n0a66pce;(function(d,…
Presta Coffee Is Celebrating Its Opening with a Latte Art Throwdown
Learning about how Presta Coffee roasts their coffee beans for Stella Java just made us all the more excited for the new coffee shop and roaster’s grand opening. Well, the time is almost here because Presta Coffee is opening its doors on Friday, May 8 with a special latte art competition. The event will pit…
They Win: DREAMers Get In-State Tuition at Arizona Universities
The Arizona Board of Regents is giving DREAMers in-state tuition at the state’s three public universities. A Tuesday ruling by a Maricopa Superior Court Judge siding with DACA recipients influenced their decision. Scholarships A-Z, an advocacy group for DREAMers who has been at their side in this years-long fight, sent out this press release: We as ScholarshipsA-Z, along…
Answering the Call
A social justice workshop aimed at white people takes place Saturday, May 9, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the downstairs meeting room of the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave. Tucson Solidarity group hopes to provide “white folks” with the tools they need to speak out against moments of racial…
The Rogue: Rogue Bard
They say it’s a “problem” play. That’s why William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” is produced much more rarely than many of his other works. But the Rogue Theatre is not one to shy away from challenges. Fie, they say. Let’s take a look at this play; let’s see if we might find in its…
Tucson Pops
The Tucson Pops Orchestra will be kicking off their free monthly Music Under the Stars concert series on Sunday, May 10, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center, 1100 S. Randolph Way. The series is a community favorite with its casual atmosphere; attendees are invited to bring picnic and lawn chair…
Escape Goat
Cholla High School teacher Corey Jones was escorted out of his classroom a few minutes before representatives with the Arizona Department of Education showed up to observe his U.S. history from a Mexican-American perspective class on Friday, Feb. 6. By noon that day, Jones was asked to give up his school keys and identification, and…
Alice in Tucson’s Wonderland
If you’ve never been to Valley of the Moon, now’s the time to check it off your list. Beginning Friday, May 8, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., Valley of the Moon, 2544 E. Allen Road, is fusing Lewis Caroll’s famous “Alice in Wonderland” fantasy with its own local magic. Guests can take a tour of…
Loan Charges
Republican Congresswoman Martha McSally came under fire last week after she voted for a delay in new Department of Defense rules meant to protect members of the military from predatory lenders. The vote came in the wee hours of Thursday, April 30, when lawmakers were marking up the National Defense Authorization Act, a lengthy and…
Flat Avengers
When the latest Marvel movie wrapped, I realized a terrible thing for a fanboy like me: I had just watched 2 ½ hours of stuff that did relatively nothing for me. It was all just a big blur intermittently interrupted by half interesting moments. It was boring. You can’t accuse director Joss Whedon of “second…
Political Green
The 2016 presidential field is beginning to take shape, and some of the candidates have revealed their stance on marijuana legalization. Below is a roundup of what some of the declared presidential candidates have said about marijuana. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order. HILLARY CLINTON (DEMOCRAT) The former first lady, secretary of state, and U.S. senator…
Police Dispatch
A Property Manager’s Punishment San Xavier Beat March 4, 1:40 p.m. The unpopularity of a trailer-park property manager was made quite clear (and understandable) after he was way too aggressive when collecting a debt from an elderly resident—and he was actually the person punished, even though he’d been the one to call law enforcement on the…
The Skinny
Sweet Talk Ducey boasts about his accomplishments during a Tucson visit Here’s a big difference between Ducey and his predecessor, Jan Brewer: Ducey has real stage presence and an ability to sell his message. Brewer could force her agenda through the Legislature—as she did with the Medicare expansion that provided health insurance to anyone below…
Pleasure Activist
In 1994, Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders was invited to speak at the United Nations conference on AIDS. While there, she was asked if educating students about masturbation was a viable approach to promoting safer sex practices, and she replied: “I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught.” This sentence…
Bluesy ZUZI!: Dance, Baby, Dance
You walk into the theater and are immediately immersed in crazy hot blues––a soaring electric violin, a blues busting guitar, a wailing sax, a red-hot keyboard, and behind this a powerful rhythm section of drums and bass pounding out the back beat. Your body starts to sway and rock. You can’t help yourself. You’re drawn onto the large…
Walk the Moon: Moon Rockers
The first time an audience heard “Shut Up and Dance,” Walk the Moon knew they had a special song on their hands. “We really like to try new material in the live space before we take it to the studio if we can,” says guitarist Eli Maiman. “The first time we played it, it got…
Editor’s Note
It’s never unusual around these parts for us to feign interest in journalism contests, especially those of the staff and freelance writer variety. But being of the editor variety, it seems to matter just a bit more when the people winning the awards are people you care about in and out of the office. As…
Earth: Primordial Earth
There are quite a few bands that have called themselves Earth. There was the short-lived J-Pop trio Earth best known for “Time After Time,” the Melbourne death metal Earth, plus the progressive trance project by DJ Sangeet. There was The Earth, the British psychedelic group active fronted by Glenn Campbell, who forced Ozzy Osbourne and…
Dust Devil
Bar And Grill In the Buffet I darken another afternoon staring at a man I may be. I’m guessing he relives certain weather: a warming trend he once held or the girl who stormed his heart to cold spells of rage. Chances that never change narrow us together and ours eyes greet the bright wedge opening the…
B-Sides: Shana Falana
HEAVENLY CHORUS It’s safe to say that Shana Falana’s recent release of “Set Your Lightning Fire Free” is knocking some socks off. That’s because each of the ten songs on her new EP are pretty much completely different from each other in terms of genre and general feeling. What starts as a lush, almost new…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I work with mostly young, progressive, educated white folks at an institution of higher education in Southern California. The other day, I mentioned buying a shirt that reads “Illegal immigration started in 1492.” We had a good laugh and my co-worker, whom I like a lot, said that it actually began in the…
B-Sides: Ava Luna
EXPERIMENTAL POP I know the words experimental and pop don’t typically coexist in one band description, but Ava Luna just isn’t typical. As a matter of fact, certain tracks off of the new “Infinite House” record are downright weird. Jazzy spoken word, background scatting and rapid, unstable shifts in pitch and tone are just part…
Media Watch
JD Wallace spent his formative years in Tucson. His parents still live in the same home they’ve owned since 1989. They watched KOLD’s 10 o’clock news. So once Wallace got an opportunity to work for the station, he jumped at it. “I got used to seeing Mindy (Blake) and Barbara (Grijalva), Bud (Foster), Jim Becker,…
B-Sides: Joel Gion
MISTER TAMBOURINE MAN You probably know Joel Gion as the sunglass sporting, fisherman’s beanie wearing, tambourine playing hype man for the pioneering neo-psych act Brian Jonestown Massacre. Well, Gion’s going to be at Solar Culture Gallery playing music from his 2014 release “Apple Bonkers” on May 12 and you’ll want to be one of the…
Café Francais: Gilded Gaul
Winding through the inner corridor of the Plaza Palomino, past Vero Amore and Jackson Tavern, past a bedazzled formalwear dress shop and past an investment firm, you’ll find Café Francais tucked away inside the cove-like interior section of the plaza. Actually locating the small French bistro and patisserie is a hurdle in itself the first…
Danehy
In a splendid display of bipartisanship, Pima County Supervisors Ray Carroll and Richard Elias hosted a get-together last Saturday night where somebody (although I’m not entirely sure who) bought the Pay-Per-View of the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight and then invited every single member of the St. Augustine Cathedral parish to hang out in the Parish…
Run Away with the Circus
The Spring Circus, an annual fundraiser for the All Soul’s Procession of Little Angels, is Saturday, May 9, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Khalsa Montessori School, 3701 E. River Road. Overflow parking is available across the street at the Jewish Community Center. Performances from Tucson Circus Arts (youth performances in walking globe, poi, juggling…
The Shock of the Old
Andy Warhol show at the University of Arizona Museum of Art is not the glam Polaroid of Blondie punk rocker Debbie Harry. Nor is it the dayglo screenprint of Queen Elizabeth II. And it’s not even “Sex Parts,” the black-and-white close-ups of gay sex that are so explicit and erotic they’re hidden behind a screen…
National Public Gardens Day
Tohono Chul Park is opening its doors to the community for National Public Gardens Day, Friday, May 8. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 7366 N. Paseo del Norte, visitors can soak up the sunshine that keeps its many desert plants thriving as they take in the natural sights. The park boasts viewing trails (all…
Pan-Celtic Combo
A fresh Celtic roots band Friday to perform traditional Irish and Scottish music, along with tunes influenced by the New World. Runa, which replaces the originally scheduled Old Blind Dogs, has a mix of nationalities that helps shape the eclectic song list. Two of its five musicians are from the Ould Sod, one hails from…
