Cover Story
Let’s All Go Back to the Lobby: After a year on hiatus, the Loft Film Fest welcomes Tucson back to the movies
For Jeff Yanc, the best part of going to the movies is going to the movies. In other words, it’s not just about seeing a movie, but the communal experience surrounding it—gathering with strangers in a dark room, gazing up at the same screen, reacting in real time to whatever pops up on it and…
Proposed Arizona congressional map could force incumbents to make tough decisions
Several members of Arizona’s congressional delegation may have big decisions to make before next year’s election based on the proposed boundaries of the state’s new political map. The draft congressional map approved last month by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission puts several incumbents into unfavorable districts. Some of those district boundaries will change by the…
Preserve Vistoso raises two-thirds of money to buy defunct golf course for conservation
Preserve Vistoso has raised almost $1.2 million of their $1.8 million goal for The Conservation Fund to purchase the defunct Vistoso Golf Course from Romspen Vistoso LLC, a Canadian non-bank mortgage lender. “We’re taking every opportunity we can to make our case to the community and they have responded generously,” President of Preserve Vistoso Gayle…
American borders reopen to tourists, but remain closed for those seeking asylum
As entry restrictions lifted on Monday in a welcomed reopening of the land U.S. border crossings to some tourists from Mexico, the Biden administration is continuing to deny entry to asylum-seekers from Mexico and Central America under a Trump-era emergency public health rule. Lisandro, a migrant from southern Mexico using a pseudonym to protect his…
Hobbs: Parents should be ‘partners’ in the education system, not adversaries
Katie Hobbs avoided a mistake that contributed to her party’s upset loss in Virginia last week, saying that Arizona parents should have a great deal of input into what their children learn in school. Asked about parental control and the effect the issue had on the Virginia governor’s race, Hobbs, the frontrunner for the Democratic…
Pima County clinics begin COVID-19 vaccinations for 5- to 11-year-olds
The Pima County Health Department began offering Pfizer COVID-19 pediatric vaccine shots to children ages 5 through 11 at its East, North and Theresa Lee clinics in Tucson on Nov. 5. Vaccinations are free. No identification is required, but children receiving the vaccine must have the consent of a parent or legal guardian. Masks must…
Nogales businesses hope reopening the border Monday will reverse losses from pandemic
NOGALES – After 19 months, this Arizona border city will reopen Monday to nonessential travelers from Mexico, giving its 20,000 residents hope that business – and life – may return to pre-pandemic normal. Fully vaccinated Mexicans will be able to shop just in time for the holidays, normally a booming time of year, when, pre-pandemic,…
Pima County expanding distribution of COVID-19 self-tests
The Pima County Health Department is expanding its free distribution of take-home, self-tests for COVID. After a successful launch that distributed about 1,300 BinaxNOW tests on Oct. 30, the department added three additional Saturday dates to distribute kits from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Abrams Public Health Center, 3950 S. Country Club Road. The…
The Supreme Court struck down more than a ban on school mask mandates. Here’s everything that’s no longer law.
Bans on face mask mandates and critical race theory in schools were the highest-profile laws that were thrown out when the Arizona Supreme Court tossed numerous provisions of the state budget for violating the Arizona Constitution, but the list of new laws that are now off the books is far more extensive than that. Many of…
City Week: Weekly Picks
Editor’s Note: While we are delighted to see Tucsonans once again gathering for fun events, we are also aware that the Delta variant is in widespread circulation. Please consider getting vaccinated against COVID if you haven’t yet and following CDC guidance, which includes wearing masks at crowded indoor events. Keep yourself and others safe—the pandemic…
XOXO: Mark your calendars
Where bad decisions are made public. This week, Martina McBride, XIXA, Zach Williams, Snarky Puppy, Blue Oyster Cult, Crystal Method, Kevin Costner & Modern West, Boney James, Blackberry Smoke, Tommy Emmanuel, J.D.Simo, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and more blaze through town. Mark your calendars. Mark your calendars… Thursday, Nov. 4 Originally known…
Juvenile Jab: County prepares to distribute COVID vaccine for kids 5-11
Pima County COVID cases have plateaued at a high level and the county Health Department has rolled out several new strategies this week with the goal of lowering cases. Although Pima County is doing well in vaccination rates compared to other highly populated Arizona counties, COVID cases remain consistently high. As a result, the virus…
Seeing Red: Eller student creates a nonprofit to reduce stigma around menstruation
While some picked up new hobbies during the pandemic, one international Eller student decided to create her own advocacy organization to tackle the taboo topic of menstruation. Avrati Raturi, a junior at the UA Eller College of Management who is studying management information systems, hails from Delhi, India. She learned how to create her own…
Danehy: Anti-Vaxxer Nick Rolovich deserved to be canned
The latest person to put on an orange robe, sit down in the middle of the street, and light himself on fire at the intersection of Selfish Street and Anti-Science Boulevard is Nick Rolovich, the former football coach at Washington State University. When it was announced a couple months ago that all Washington state employees…
Thirty-Year Reunion: The Sidewinders are still snake-charming new fans with early ’90s record
Tucson’s storied Sidewinders return to Club Congress Friday night, Nov. 5. They’re bringing back that tight, hooky, jangly, guitar-wanky “Desert Rock” sound we’ve loved, but still haven’t quite defined, for almost four decades. The show celebrates the halcyon days 30 years ago when the Sidewinders released Auntie Ramos’ Pool Hall, their second and last record…
Method Act: Scott Kirkland brings his electronic act to 191 Toole
Scott Kirkland of the iconic American electronic act The Crystal Method isn’t into sitting backstage, drinking and waiting for the crowd to dissipate before heading out. In a pre-coronavirus world, he believed in ushering his fans through the doors personally. “I like to interact with the crowd when I finish my shows,” he said via…
Spirit of the ’60s: Edgar Wright creates a fun if schizophrenic film with Last Night in Soho
There’s a lot going on in writer-director Edgar Wright’s crazed, inventive Last Night in Soho. It’s a modern take on the perils of too much nostalgia, a ghost story, a psychological thriller, a murder mystery, a Hitchcockian/Polanski homage and more. Is it a bit much? Maybe, but it’s a lot of mostly good-to-great things with…
Spooky Spices: Day of the Dead cookbook combines culture and cuisine for a borderlands feast
Anyone who’s participated in a Day of the Dead parade knows how plentiful and unique the festivities are. In Tucson, the holiday is even more specialized. So in order to capture the various sides of Day of the Dead, a book would have to draw on numerous sources and cultures—and that’s exactly what a cook…
Major Withdrawal: Bank of America throws wrench in the gears of major cannabis study
Reefer Madness is still alive and well, as evidenced by Bank of America kneecapping one of the best-known cannabis clinical research institutions in the United States. Officials with Bank of America recently terminated the banking privileges of the Scottsdale Research Institute. SRI, founded by former University of Arizona professor Dr. Sue Sisley, is in the…
Editor’s Note: Lights, Camera, Action
I’m a huge fan of the Loft Film Fest so I’m delighted to see it come back to our scrappy independent cinema this week. There won’t be usual conversations with guest filmmakers, but the lineup of films is truly spectacular. Check out Matt Singer’s roundup of the festival on Page 8 or dig into the…
