Cover Story
Unincorporated and Unrepresented
Stephen Phinny and his neighbors agree on one thing: The Tortolita Mountains are beautiful. The hills are covered in old saguaros; the history of the region is evident in the petroglyphs hidden among the rocks and caves. That beauty is the reason why Pima County owns the 4,500-acre Tortolita Mountain Park there. Phinny has been…
Happy Thanksgiving From Gov. Brewer: Now Forget About Help From The State
The Arizona Guardian brings us this video of a press conference with Gov. Jan Brewer, Senate President Bob Burns and Speaker of the House Kirk Adams. Check it out: Brewer cheerfully announces that the state has now cut a billion dollars in spending under her watch. That includes $130 million from the Department of Economic…
Local Poet on KXCI
Jefferson Carter will read from his new book, My Kind of Animal, during KXCI’s Poet’s Moment. Air times are Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 3 and 10 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 28, at 8 a.m.; Sunday, Nov. 29, at 2 p.m.; and Monday, Nov. 30, at 10 a.m. My Kind of Animal is Carter’s eighth collection and…
‘Wildcat’ Reporter Cited for Being a Bad Fan
Media Watch dude John Schuster has this report: In the Monday, Nov. 23, edition of the Arizona Daily Wildcat student newspaper, an editorial rips into the Zona Zoo and other fans for their unruly behavior during Oregon’s 44-41 double-overtime football victory at Arizona Stadium. One of the names listed as being a member of the…
Gov. Joe?
Rasmussen has a new poll today saying that Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio polls well in a gubernatorial match-up against Attorney General Terry Goddard: Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is the Republicans’ best shot at holding onto the Arizona governorship in 2010 against likely Democratic candidate Terry Goddard. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Arizona…
Friday Roundtable: On the Road with Supervisor Ray Carroll
Arizona Illustrated takes the Friday Roundtable on the road to Green Valley with special guest Ray Carroll, Pima County supervisor. Watch it all after the jump.
Shadegg Back on Daily Show: Plotting Against America
Jon Stewart talked about things we’re not thankful for last night, and Arizona Congressman John Shadegg—who last week dangled a baby on the House floor as a prop—makes the list after he suggested that terrorists should consider kidnapping New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s kids. Shadegg has since apologized, sorta.We think Stewart should be thankful for…
White Weiners
White Hots cooking alongside their more commonly colored counterparts. Chuck Stopani dropped us an e-mail today to let us know that his restaurant, Daglio’s Cheesesteaks and Hoagies (250 N. Pantano Road) is the only restaurant in the state that serves white weiners called Zweigle’s White Hots. I honestly thought someone was messing with me when…
McCain’s Primary Vulnerability
Tedski scoops us on the Rasmussen poll showing that McCain is vulnerable in a GOP primary to J.D. Hayworth, the sportscaster-cum-congressman-cum-radio talk-show host. An interesting tidbit that shows the growing split within the GOP: Hayworth, a conservative former U.S. congressman who now is a popular radio talk show host in Phoenix, is reportedly interested in…
So Much For That Idea: Special Session Goes Bust
So I wrote about what was supposed to be the simple special session that everyone—or at least a majority of lawmakers—could agree on this week. Not so much: The plan to snip some spending has collapsed in the Senate. Rhonda has details. If they can’t even get it going with this (relatively) simple stuff, how…
Art Gallery Celebrates 22 Years
Enchanted Earthworks—A Designer Jewelry and Art Gallery at 2980 N. Swan Road, No. 140, celebrates its 22nd anniversary and a new show on Friday, Nov. 20, from 4 to 7 p.m. Meet the artists, preview new works, nosh on refreshments and enjoy entertainment. Here’s part of a press release with more details: Over the years,…
Great Reads
Face it: The economy for regular people isn’t any better, even if Wall Street is booming. Unemployment is still too high, which means many people are struggling—so why not buy your friends and loved ones books for the holidays? After all, books are cheap, and if things get desperate, they make great kindling once the…
Now Showing at Home
Funny People (Blu-Ray); Gilda Live; Wings of Desire (Blu-Ray)
Econ 101
The big question indirectly posted by this week’s issue: So, is the economy rebounding? I don’t know the answer to that question, and, frankly, I don’t think anybody else does, either. However, Stephen Phinny, the developer behind the controversial northwest-side Saguaro Ranch development, thinks his fortunes (Saguaro Ranch is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy) will…
Gimme Gadgets
I’ve been such a good boy this year! I got into grad school; I rescued a dog from the shelter; and I didn’t gloat over Kanye West’s meltdown too much. So why be disingenuous? I could write about the video games and gadgets that you and your loved ones will covet this holiday season, but…
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
T Q&A
Joan Ashcraft
Danehy
Devonte Malcolm was on time for his first class of the day at Buena High School in Sierra Vista a couple of weeks back. His classmates normally wouldn’t have thought anything of it. Devonte was always in class and always on time; someone had convinced him of the veracity of that old saying that 90…
Turkey Time!
There’s something about cranberry sauce—straight from the can—that makes a Thanksgiving dinner. It might be that slurping sound as the stuff slowly slides out of the can, or maybe it’s that squishy feel and the tart taste of the first bite. Whatever the reason, it’s good. While canned cranberry sauce is a Thanksgiving dinner staple,…
Messina
Imagine this scenario: You wake up tomorrow morning and realize your body has changed overnight. If you were male, you are now female. If you were female, you are now male. What would you do? “While you might be a little fascinated and a little curious, it would wear off pretty quickly,” says Alison Davison.…
City Week
First and Last Day in Business Pop Up Shop clothing/jewelry sale and event 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 21 Eric Firestone Exhibition and Event Space 403 N. Sixth Ave. 882-2616 The holidays are here, so it’s time to push through the crowds and find your loved ones gifts that they will actually appreciate.…
Weekly Wide Web
The subjects of our two video picks this week couldn’t be more different. Our first video is about harvesting mesquite pods, and how to turn them into something edible. It’s next to impossible to live in Tucson and not drive over, kick or accidentally ingest the thin yellow pods that seem to decorate the ground…
Mailbag
Our Nation’s Health-Care System Offers Excitement! Renée Downing (Nov. 12) seems uncomfortable with our nation’s health-care system, failing to realize how cliffhangingly exciting it is to live in the only great nation that looks with transcendent indifference upon its citizens bankrupted by medical expenses or sentenced to death because they don’t qualify (can’t pay) for…
Drums, Dance, Mime
Yarrow King has the answer to the great mystery of Batucaxé: How do you pronounce the name of the lively troupe that’s been bringing the rhythms of Brazil and Africa to Tucson for the last eight years? It’s bah-too-kah-SHAY, says King, Batucaxé’s assistant director for dance. The name, appropriately, is a combo of the Portuguese…
Crank It Out!
Could you write a novel, from start to finish, in a month? What if it didn’t have to be … you know … good? In 1999, a San Francisco man named Chris Baty thought he could do it. He and a score of friends gave it a try, each pledging to write a 50,000-word piece…
Hookers With Heart
When P.T. Barnum invented the three-ring circus, his idea was to have so much going on at one time that it would be impossible to take it all in with a single viewing. The same effect can be observed in Arizona Repertory Theatre’s production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. You’re never quite sure…
Top Ten in Books
Antigone Books best-sellers for the week
Hot Spot
Tom Van Devender can wrap his head around climate change better than most folks. Back in the 1970s, the paleo-climatologist helped publish a pivotal study on Pleistocene packrat middens in Arizona’s Lower Grand Canyon region. It turns out the ancient dens precisely traced shifting climes over thousands of years. “They’re almost like museum collections as…
Later Love
Southern Comforts is as frothy as the crown of a fine barista’s cappuccino, and as wispy as the downy hair on a baby’s head. Kathleen Clark’s featherweight play, about finding—and keeping—love in later life, is given a capable and sometimes charming production by the crew at Invisible Theatre. Amanda (Maedell Dixon, looking much younger than…
Hidden Gem
Ikkyu is a tiny Japanese fast-casual place that doesn’t seem to be getting the attention it deserves. Although Ikkyu is located at one of the busiest northwest-side intersections, it is almost invisible; part of that has to do with it being tucked behind a gas station and a brightly lit Mexican joint. The windows are…
Nine Questions
Ria Tsinas
Top Ten in Music
The 17th Street Guitars and World Music Store
Noshing Around
Wine Line The “Wine Line” may put all of your wine worries to rest. Send all holiday wine inquiries to wineline@loewshotels.com, or post them on Facebook by visiting www.facebook.com/LoewsHotels and clicking on the “Wine Line” tab. Then kick back and wait for one of Loews’ sommeliers to respond, which they promise to do within 24…
License Crisis Averted?
While Arizona is at or near the bottom of many national social-service rankings, the state almost became the leader in one dubious category: the cost of licenses for child-care facilities. “The proposed fee increases are absurdly large,” wrote a coalition of child-care advocates to Gov. Jan Brewer a few weeks ago, “with virtually no time…
Neon Indian: Psychic Chasms (Lefse)
With Neon Indian, 21-year-old Alan Palomo makes roots-pop music for the Internet age. He creates with the hands-on imagination of a gamer, and his sound—including his mostly incomprehensible vocals—is entirely a product of electronics. Neon Indian is his third music project, and one of the others, the geek-electro VEGA, is still very much alive. Palomo’s…
Fresh and Familiar
Catchy 1960s-style rock music built on the foundations of Phil Spector and the Beatles doesn’t have much to do with the classic New Orleans sound. But for the Generationals, reaching back in time to weave threads of different musical traditions together into their own new and exciting entity is exactly how the Crescent City has…
Trimming Around the Edges
State lawmakers were swinging into action this week for a special session designed to fix a small part of Arizona’s budget crisis. But even if legislators manage to accomplish everything on their agenda, they’ll barely put a dent in the $2 billion shortfall that they’re facing this fiscal year. And lawmakers are less than two…
Wolfmother: Cosmic Egg (Modular/Interscope)
Anachronistic acts make easy targets. They’re not innovators; they’re acolytes, interested in re-invoking the halcyon days of a particular moment just for revelry’s sake. In the case of Wolfmother, that moment mostly begins with the early proto-metal of Led Zeppelin and ends around the late-’70s Bon Scott era of AC/DC. They don’t make any of…
Soundbites
GIVE BACK, ENJOY MUSIC With Thanksgiving upon us during this especially trying year, perhaps it’s time to help those who are less fortunate. Two benefit shows this week make that fun and easy to do so. Since 2002, local guitarist, singer, songwriter, label owner and volunteer Rich Hopkins has held a benefit show for the…
Stayin’ Alive
Every year in this Gift Guide, we profile independent, locally owned stores that carry great gifts for the holiday season. We’ve found all sorts of original stores owned by hard-working, creative locals, selling all sorts of unique items. This year, as I drove around town looking for a fresh batch of stores, I noticed something…
Police Dispatch
DESERT ADVENTURE NORTH POSITANO WAY OCT. 23, 2:29 P.M. A disoriented man spun a tale about a nude romp through the desert, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report stated. A Tucson homeowner said he answered a knock on his door to find a Caucasian male sitting on his front walkway—wearing nothing but a towel. The…
Live
Hanson, Sherwood
Nancy McCallion: Take a Picture of Me (Mama Mama)
A mainstay of the Tucson music community for more than 20 years, acclaimed singer-songwriter Nancy McCallion has created an excellent new album that couldn’t be more timely. The 12 country, blues, rock and Celtic-influenced songs examine the struggles of America’s working poor and homeless populations. (A dollar from each CD will be donated to the…
The Skinny
CLEAN ELECTIONS UPDATE Attorney John Munger, who is challenging Gov. Jan Brewer in next year’s GOP primary, blasted the state’s Clean Elections program last week. “Giving taxpayer funds to career politicians at a time when we’re cutting government is an abomination,” Munger declared in a press release. We don’t know if we’d go as far…
Ship of Rock!
If there’s one thing movies have taught me, it’s that people who like rock music are zany and fun and wear colorful clothing which they remove to lovingly express their sexuality through the divine gift of genital-genital contact. Meanwhile, government officials who dislike rock music have boring haircuts and dull parties where they wear outfits…
Guest Opinion
The Duncans moved into the Samos Neighborhood in 2002. The neighborhood that the Duncans and I live in is bounded by Campbell and Mountain avenues, and Grant Road and Glenn Street. The Duncans loved their home and found the Samos neighborhood to be friendly and eclectic. However, their feelings on the neighborhood would soon begin…
Media Watch
‘Star’ layoffs: More to come; Williams joines Sitton for UA basketball TV broadcasts; Muehlebach teams with Jeffries on UA hoops radio
Earth’s End
The apocalyptic hoot that is 2012 poses a dilemma. On one hand, it’s one big, dumb movie with an ending so bad that it defies belief. On the other hand, director Roland Emmerich has a talent for blowing things up, and that talent is definitely on display in this ridiculous but entertaining thrill ride. So,…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Why, oh why, do most Mexican women in the United States cut their long, black hair after reaching the pivotal age of 40? Not only do they cut it short; they then proceed to dye it all shades of the most unnatural hair color for Mexicans: red. My own madre is guilty of…
Coronado Conundrum
Dave Devine stopped by a press conference regarding downtown’s Coronado Hotel and files this report: Several speakers blasted the Downtown Tucson Partnership’s efforts to sell the Coronado Hotel, which has provided 42 units of low-income housing since 1991. The Tucson City Council is now scheduled to discuss the plan at its next meeting on Tuesday,…
Books and Music
Here are a couple of events that bear further mentioning. Both happen on Saturday, Nov. 21. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., The UA Press is celebrating 50! years of publishing with a sidewalk sale. They will offer deep discounts on scratched and dented books. Prices start at $5, and an all-you-can-stuff bag o’ books…
Alan Ward Memorial
A memorial is being held today for Alan Ward. According to a previous post by Mari Herreras, Ward was manager of the farmers’ market that rotated from the Presidio to the library two days a week. He died Sunday, Oct. 18 in hospice care at Tucson Medical Center. The memorial is being held from 3…
A Divided City: Ward-By-Ward Results from The City Council Election
City of Tucson Tucson Ward Map (At Red Star’s Request) We’ve got our hands on the ward-by-ward breakdown of the Tucson City Council election. The big takeaway: We live in a divided city. As we suspected, Republican Steve Kozachik pulled off his upset of Democrat Nina Trasoff by driving up turnout on the east side,…
Dispatch From Goodmanville: Welcome to Hell on Earth
The Goldwater Institute was crowing earlier this week about winning a legal victory against the city of Tucson on behalf of developer Michael Goodman, the mini-dorm developer who, in the words of Goldwater press release, “buys run-down properties in the downtown area and near the University of Arizona, and replaces them with new housing that…
