Cover Story
Letters to the Future
Letters to the Future, a national project involving more than 40 alternative weeklies across the United States, set out to find authors, artists, scientists and others willing to get creative and draft letters to future generations of their own families, predicting the success or failure of the Paris talks—and what came after.
Cinema Clips: Heart of a Dog
Musician Laurie Anderson directs a moving eulogy for her dog Lolabelle that also works as a loving tribute to her late husband, Lou Reed, and a sad meditation on the death of her mother. Shot on small cameras and iPhones, the film is scored and narrated by Anderson sounding not unlike some of her great…
Into the Mild: Sorry, Prostitutes Can´t Stay in the Dormitory
Santiago, Chile Was I bored or hungry? My night shift at the hostel seemed to be moving in slow motion that night. I stepped away for a couple of minutes to grab food from the staff refrigerator in the back yard. A coworker, Julie, watched the office for me. I returned to an empty office…
Cinema Clips: Creed
Director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) and actor Michael B. Jordan (also of Station) resurrect the Rocky franchise with what amounts to the best Rocky film since the 1976 original. Jordan plays Adonis Creed, son of Apollo Creed (played in past films by Carl Weathers) and born out of wedlock. Adonis goes to Philadelphia and enlists…
Show Off Your Best Tamal Recipe at Casino del Sol’s Tamal and Heritage Festival
It’s that time of year where local businesses are cranking out masa and folks are stocking up on husks to start making tamales for Christmas. You likely have your own favorite recipe for tamales, which might be something classic like red chile or something you came up with like barbecue pork belly. Either way, you’re…
Cinema Clips: Secret in Their Eyes
So, Hollywood decided to remake a great foreign film again, and they ruined it. The Secret in Their Eyes was a beautiful, gripping Argentinean film from 2009—the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film that year—and now, it’s just some dumb schlocky cop revenge movie. What happened? The dream factory changed the script, which was…
Local Craft Beer, Dime Novel Art and More at Art on Tap This Weekend
When the worlds of local craft beer and the Tucson Museum of Art collide, it can only mean one thing: it’s Art on Tap time. Combining a dozen in-state breweries with the museum’s current “Western Heroes of Pulp Fiction: Dime Novel to Pop Culture” exhibit, the event will serve to be thought provoking and fun…
A Second Pass at the AzMERIT Scores
Yesterday I posted about my first impressions of the newly released AzMERIT scores. Passing rates dropped significantly statewide from the 2014 AIMS test, which has everything to do with a tougher test and higher cut scores and nothing to do with Arizona student achievement going downhill. The most obvious observation is that the highest scoring districts in the…
Kirkpatrick Endorses O’Halleran in CD1
Democrat Tom O’Halleran announced a big endorsement in the race for the open seat in Arizona’s Congressional District 1: Current CD1 Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, who is giving up the seat to pursue the U.S. Senate seat now held by John McCain, has given him her nod. “I’m proud to endorse Tom O’Halleran for Congress—he’s tough…
More Than 200 Advocacy Groups Urge US Supreme Court to Unblock Obama’s 2014 Immigration Reliefs
A coalition of 224 immigration, civil rights, social service and labor groups is pleading the U.S. Supreme Court to review and undo a lower court’s decision to continue blocking President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. The organizations filed on Tuesday what’s called an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief, according to the American Immigration Council,…
Learn How to Keep Your Clutch at Food Conspiracy Co-Op’s Chicken Coop Tour
For those thinking about bringing a couple chicks into the fold at home, you can spend the weekend learning about the best ways to build up your own coop with the Food Conspiracy Co-op’s chicken coop tour. If you’re looking to get tips on the best way to bring up your brood or just interested…
We’re Giving Away Tickets to This Weekend’s UA Hockey Games
Here’s something for you, college sports enthusiasts: We’ve got tickets to two Arizona Wildcat Hockey games this weekend, and we want to give them to you. Enter our form (please be sure to select which game you want to go to!). We’ll be giving out tickets on Wednesday and Thursday. Winners need to be able to collect…
It’s Giving Tuesday: A Few Dollars Could Help Build Huts to House Tucson’s Homeless
There are still a few hours left into this Giving Tuesday—how about investing in a locally-founded project that hopes to give Tucson’s thousands of homeless residents a place to sleep and store their things. Community Supported Shelters Tucson came to be in the summer of 2013 thanks to a group of advocates, which includes long-time homeless…
A First Pass at the AzMERIT Scores
Arizona’s AzMERIT scores have just been released, and the Department of Education has created such a detailed spreadsheet, it makes this old English teacher’s head spin. Everything is broken down about as far as it can be broken down—by district, school and grade, then within those categories by gender, ethnicity, economic status, disability, English proficiency. Did…
Chaffin’s Sells Historic Restaurant Space to Phoenix’s Welcome Diner
Prepare to feel a flurry of mixed emotions, Tucson, because, while the restaurant scene is not necessarily growing or shrinking, things are changing over at the historic diner space at 902 E. Broadway Blvd. Chaffin’s Diner has announced that they are selling their restaurant to the folks behind Phoenix-based Welcome Diner. Chaffin’s, which is known…
Pima District 5 is Searching for Applicants to Fill 2 Seats on County Commission on Trial
District Five Pima County Supervisor Richard Elías’ office is looking for applicants to fill up two seats on the Pima County Commission on Trial—the entity that gets to call the shots on vacant judicial positions on the Pima County Superior Court (and then sends the top 3 choices to the governor, who has the last word). …
So That’s What a Hurricane Looks Like From Space
My #YearInSpace saw the full #hurricane season of 2015 that ends today! Here's 4 flashback pics from @space_station. pic.twitter.com/YQzgmAbUqs — Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) November 30, 2015 More fun from astronaut Scott Kelly’s Twitter feed.
Courtroom Campaign: Unsuccessful GOP Candidates Ask Judge To Throw Out Results of Last Month’s City Election
Two of the three Republican candidates who lost their bids for the Tucson City Council last month got their day in court earlier this week. Attorneys for Margaret Burkholder, who lost to Democratic incumbent Shirley Scott in Ward 4, and Kelly Lawton, who lost to Democratic incumbent Paul Cunningham in Ward 2, told Pima County…
Union Employees of Mining Company Asarco Rallying in Tucson Tomorrow to Pressure for a ‘Fair Contract’
Union employees at Asarco’s copper mines and other facilities will rally at the company’s headquarters in Tucson Tuesday afternoon to demand a “fair contract,” according to a press release from the United Steelworkers, one of eight unions representing hundreds of thousands of mine workers. The previous labor agreement expired at the end of June 2013,…
Arizona Republic Column: ‘Death’ of Death Penalty Should Begin in AZ
Last night, CBS’s 60 Minutes discussed Arizona’s “botched” July 2014 execution of Joseph Wood, a convicted murderer who took nearly two hours and 15 doses of a lethal drug cocktail to die. The disturbing episode triggered change in the state’s execution protocol, including switching which drugs are used. The segment on 60 Minutes left The Arizona Republic’s EJ…
Tiger Needs a Home
Meet Tiger! This sweet boy loves snuggles and chin scratches and it currently looking for his purrr-fect forever home! Tiger would really thrive in a home where he has plenty of space to lounge around and have a little bit of alone time. But he also needs lots of love! If you can open your…
The People Behind Cards Against Humanity are Still Terrible, Hilarious
Holiday shopping is inherently bad for savings accounts. Sometimes it seems like you’re blowing through your budget and basically getting nothing in return. Sometimes you’re depleting your budget and actually getting nothing. Remember last Black Friday when 30,000 people bought actual poop from Cards Against Humanity for $6 a pop? This year, the card game team…
AZ Attorney General Brnovich: Remove Bitter Smith From Arizona Corporation Commission
Evan Wyloge of Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting brings us this brief from Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s press conference this morning: Susan Bitter Smith, the chairwoman of the Arizona Corporation Commission broke the state’s conflict of interest laws by continuing to work as a lobbyist for companies the commission regulates, an Attorney General’s investigation has…
Cinema Clips: Love the Coopers
This movie’s cast is jam-packed with talent. Diane Keaton, Marisa Tomei, John Goodman, Anthony Mackie, Alan Arkin, Amanda Seyfried, Ed Helms and even the voice of Steve Martin all show up in this supposed holiday film. If you are looking for a Christmas movie to add a little joy to your holiday season, this movie…
Into the Mild: Three Exorcisms is Where I Draw the Line
Salvador, Brasil I subsidized my time in Salvador by working at a youth hostel. Work resembled a Pitbull song and every night brought a new cast of travelers from around the world who there on vacation. Most nights I hung out with whoever was staying at the hostel, with the exception of Fridays. I don’t…
PolitiFact: McSally’s Comment Comparing IRS and Terrorism Fight “Mostly False”
PolitiFact calls U.S. Rep. Martha McSally’s recent claim comparing the number of IRS employees vs. the number of people dedicated to “countering violent extremism” in America “mostly false.” From Politifact: A revenue agent, the research service told McSally, “typically is an accountant who audits and examines the tax returns of individuals, businesses, and tax-exempt entities…
Cinema Clips: Freeheld
Julianne Moore is one of the great actors of her generation, finally rewarded with an Academy Award this year for Still Alice. She can play just about anything she wants to, and while she’s very good in Freeheld, it suffers from the same illness many of Moore’s films do: It’s just not all that great…
Let’s Go Wayback
For the 10th year in a row, Tucson’s favorite jam and harmony band, the Wayback Machine
Danehy
Tom says it is such a cliché for a columnist to do a Things For Which I Am Thankful column during Thanksgiving Week. He’s doing one anyway.
Prodigal Play
Playwright Milta Ortiz just can’t get used to the dirt. A recent transplant from California by way of Chicago, she has been continuously befuddled by her black boots and their propensity to be magnets for her new home’s desert dust.
Crazy for Katniss
Things swing back into heavy action mode for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2, a satisfying-and super dark-conclusion to the saga of Katniss Everdeen
Rise and Shine: Psychomagic
“I just remember singing a lot as a kid, just singing in the shower, a lot of Michael Jackson because my balls hadn’t dropped or something, just hitting the high notes.”
Even the Score: Los Guapos
The music of Los Guapos sounds like something built for the big screen. So it comes as no surprise when frontman Justin Valdez reaches for a cinematic description, calling the Latin-rock quintet’s new EP “sci-fi Spaghetti Western.”
MMJ Opinion: A Call to Action
Many social movements have been taking hold in our nation recently. For example, same-sex marriage has moved from social acceptance to being fully legal.
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: We Americans have been spoiled by such low costs for so long, we have started acting as if said low costs were our birthright, which explains why our government leaders have never been in any real hurry to do anything significant about our southern borders.
B-Sides: The Garden
Genres are meant to be toyed with, re-tooled and ultimately likely smashed to pieces.
Pleasure Activist
The “debate” about the G-Spot seems to be among doctors and academics that theorize that the G-Spot is either erectile urethral tissue, a “female” prostate, an extension of clitoral tissue, a confluence of some or all of the above, or that it doesn’t exist! The last one is a little infuriating.
Media Watch
Star pulls online version of guest editorial from second-degree murder suspect, Wildcat falls for false petition tale.
B-Sides: Black Friday at Wooden Tooth Records
Wooden Tooth Records (415 N. Fourth Ave.) is honoring the fine American holiday.
B-Sides: Juan Gabriel
Es verdad que Juan Gabriel es una leyenda de la música mexicana. Sus canciones éxitosas incluyen “Noa Noa,” “No Tengo Dinero” y más.
Old Frontier: Los Portales
Los Portales isn’t trying to be trendy or fancy. It offers a homey spot to sit down and eat generous portions of Mexican classics.
Editor’s Note
Will the conference result in a global treaty to reduce the impacts of global warming? We wish we were optimistic
Ring in the Season
Thanksgiving’s pretty much over, which means it’s now socially acceptable to start celebrating the holiday season.
Dust Devil
A true musician is hopelessly hooked on the magic of the performance
Deals on Deals
Do Black Friday Tucson-style by going and checking out all the deals happening at the merchant center of town, Fourth Avenue, this Friday.
Police Dispatch
Someone was almost caught stealing an inflatable turkey from a woman’s yard.
Perfect Pitch
The Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry is at it again with a new live game show where local scholars can pitch project ideas for a live audience and a panel of judges for their chance to win start-up funding this Wednesday.
Second Chances
There came a point in Heather McNeeley’s life where she felt she had two options: indefinitely going in and out of prison or dying from the obscene amounts of heroin she injected herself with.
What are you laughing at?
Liberals in Tucson have a lot of reason to laugh. They’re going to keep on giggling in this one-night comedy show Laughing Liberally.
The Skinny
New survey shows that Sen. John McCain isn’t all that popular with many GOP voters, U.S. House votes to create new barriers for Syrian refugees
