Cover Story
Falling Apart
Several months ago, Ricky Hidalgo was standing outside with his young son when a couple of local gang members decided to have some fun. Driving an old Chevy pickup truck tricked out with chrome rims, they peeled out of a nearby alley, guns pointed in the air. “They came out shooting and unloaded their guns,”…
Max Cannon in Person!
Our friend and colleague Max Cannon’s been doing some comic-book stuff, and he sent us this important alert: RED MEAT’s Max Cannon ( a.k.a. my inglorious self ) will be signing his questionable contribution to Marvel Comics’ STRANGE TALES #2 this Wednesday, Oct. 7 (today) at Tucson’s own beloved Fantasy Comics. Hoping you can be…
Pornstar, Potato or Politician? (Not Safe for Work)
When you read our election endorsements in this week’s paper, and you’re left scratching your head, why not alleviate any possible who-do-I-vote-for headache by playing a round of Pornstar or Potato? Not a bad time suck, but it would be even better if it was Pornstar, Potato or Politician? Play it right here.
No Tea For You! Updated!
The Tucson Tea Party is having a big protest rally this Saturday at Tucson Electric Park. Billed as Tucson’s Last Stand, it’s a chance for conservatives and libertarians to express their displeasure with Democrats who are in power. But there’s one anti-tax message that might not be heard. Brandon Patrick, who is running the campaign…
First Ever Noshing Around Contest
I’ve got a free copy of the Field Guide to Candy to whoever e-mails the best candy recipe to noshing@tucsonweekly.com by Saturday, Oct. 31. The book is a cornucopia of confection information, including recipes for everything from rice-crispy treats to chocolate-covered strawberries that look like they’re wearing tiny tuxedos. My personal favorite is the recipe…
More Opposition to Public Safety First Initiative: Metropolitan Pima Alliance Urges “No” Vote on Prop 200
The Metropolitan Pima Alliance, a group of commercial real-estate developers, engineers and architects, has voted to oppose Prop 200, the Public Safety First initiative that city voters will decide on Nov. 3. Michael Guymon, executive director of MPA, says the initiative strips the Tucson City Council of too much authority to make decisions for the…
Farley Report: “We’ll See If Common Sense Prevails Over Republican Infighting”
Here’s the latest update on the Arizona Legislature from Rep. Steve Farley. He also slips in a note about voting against the Public Safety First initiative, aka Prop 200 on your November ballot. Howdy, Friends O’Farley… Here we are in October, and our deficit is now $1.5 billion and growing. Constitutionally, the Legislature is supposed…
Dancing DeLay McBirther
Former Texas Congressman Tom DeLay was forced to step down from office in 2005 when faced with dozens of criminal charges. The man was called The Exterminator and The Hammer while in office, and was not known for bipartisan love. But there he was on Dancing with the Stars last night, trying to make us…
Radio Program for Authors
Here’s a release we received announcing a new KJLL program for authors. A new weekly program, produced by Literary Partners Group (LPG) is hosting On the Book Shelf. This hour-long, live listener call-in program airs Saturday mornings from 11 a.m. to noon on radio station KJLL 1330 AM. On the Book Shelf appears to be…
Is Sheriff Joe Finally Told No?
According to The Huffington Post and The Arizona Republic, Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio may have been stripped of his ability to do immigration sweeps by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). In response, Arpaio reportedly said this over the weekend on radio station KTAR: “I’m going to tell you something, Jay,” he said to (host…
Ward 5 Televised Debate: Fimbres Vs. McClusky
On Arizona Illustrated tonight, Democrat Richard Fimbres and Republican Shaun McClusky take opposite sides on the Public Safety First initiative, whether the city should slow construction of mini-dorms in university neighborhoods and whether a hotel should be built downtown. Watch it all after the jump.
Kozachik Sticks With Public Safety First Initiative
Well, that was quick. Republican Steve Kozachik, who is seeking to unseat Democrat Nina Trasoff in Ward 6, has informed us via e-mail that he plans to continue to support the Public Safety First initiative on the Nov. 3 ballot. Kozachik had said he was reconsidering his support, given that the city could be facing…
More Opposition to Public Safety First Initiative? Republican Kozachik Says He May Flip
Republican Steve Kozachik, who wants to unseat Democratic City Councilwoman Nina Trasoff in the Nov. 3 election, may be having some second thoughts about supporting Prop 200, the Public Safety First Initiative that Tucson voters will decide alongside the council races. Kozachik, who is on record as supporting the initiative, now says that he’s concerned…
Election Month Is Nearly Here
Here’s a new twist in this year’s city election: Pima County will be managing it instead of the City Clerk’s Office. And that could significantly boost turnout. With early voting starting on Thursday, Oct. 8, roughly 61,400 city voters on the new county permanent early-voter list will all be getting ballots in the mail starting…
New City Council Ads: No More “Mr. Nice Guy”
Republicans Ben Buehler-Garcia and Shaun McClusky have new TV ads for their campaigns for Tucson City Council. Buehler-Garcia’s last ad was introductory piece that was widely panned by both Democrats and Republicans. The new one takes some shots at his opponent, Democratic incumbent Karin Uhlich: McClusky’s ad follows a similar theme. McClusky, by the way,…
Friday Roundtable: City Council Races, Munger’s Gubernatorial Hopes & More
Another Friday night, another Friday Roundtable on Arizona Illustrated. We talk about where the candidates stand on the Public Safety First initiative, next year’s gubernatorial race and more, after the jump.
Friday Roundtable: More Opposition to the Public Safety First Initiative
UA professors Tanis Salant and Tom Volgy stop by Arizona Illustrated’s Friday Roundtable. A good observation from Tanis that throws cold water on the idea that reforming the city charter is going to magically result in better elected officials: “There isn’t a structure, a form of local government that guarantees any sort of person will…
Stranded at the De Anza Drive-In
Damn, we’re not ready for this weekend to be the last Saturday at the De Anza Drive-In. Can you make it next weekend? Please? The local daily confirmed what we all knew was inevitable since it was first announced last year that a development company was interested in the property for a commercial project. I…
Tucson’s Visionaries Revealed
We got our first peek at the Tucson Vision Committee today, when the independent campaign that’s targeting Democrats in this year’s City Council election filed a campaign-finance report. The biggest contributor is Michael Goodman, the man who is destroying the quality of life of homeowners north of the University of Arizona by demolishing existing houses…
More Opposition to Public Safety First Initiative: Prop 200 “Is Fiscally Irrresponsible”
Holly Harris Barb Dolan: “It does not make sense.” The Arizona Multihousing Association is the latest organization to come out against the Public Safety First Inititative on the city’s Nov. 3 ballot. Barb Dolan, government affairs liason for the AMA, said that Prop 200 would likely force the Tucson City Council to raise taxes or…
Prepare to Be Scared
Tucson is fortunate enough to be one of the dozen or so cities that will screen Paranormal Activity beginning tonight at midnight at Century El Con 20, 3601 E. Broadway Blvd. (800-326-3264, ext. 902). It’s not showing yet in some major cities, with more than 230,000 fans “demanding” that the film show in cities such…
Searching for the Top Undiscovered Drummer
Guitar Center (4720 E. Broadway Blvd., 320-9900) is participating in the nationwide search for the top undiscovered drummer. Here are the competition dates: Store preliminaries: Oct. 1 and Oct. 8Store finals: Oct. 15District finals: Nov. 5Regional finals: Dec. 3Grand finals: January 2010 The winner receives $45,000 in cash, prizes and endorsements. Visit www.guitarcenter.com for more…
CD Artwork Contest
Batucaxé Afro-Brazilian drum and dance ensemble is searching for original artwork for the cover of their upcoming CD. Submit a medium to high-resolution jpeg (smaller than 5MB) to info@batucaxe.org OR send a CD with the artwork to: Batucaxe Art Contest, 3321 E. 25th St. Tucson AZ 85713 OR send a hard copy of non-digital artwork…
Noshing Around
Southern Arizona Food, Art and Wine Festival Tucson, we’ve got a problem: Not one person in this tamale-crazy town signed up for the World Tamale Eating Championship in Lewisville, Texas, and some guy from Minnesota won. That’s right. Minnesota. Noshing knows the next tamale-eating titleholder is out there, and we’ll be looking for him or…
Top Ten in Music
Zia Records top sales for the week
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: As a Mexican-American, I’ve lived in St. Louis for about 17 years and have seen a substantial influx of my brethren. Nevertheless, I’m for border security—against the no-good, godless Canadians. I hate Canadians! Funny accents and cold weather—ha! Why is America not closing the Canadian border? Those bunch of hockey-playin’, maple-syrup-eatin’ hijos de…
Notes, Not Chords
A world premiere! How can one not be excited about that? Borderlands Theater has opened its 2009-2010 season with Julie Jensen’s brand-new play, She Was My Brother. The theater has dedicated its season to the theme “What’s Under That Skirt? A Borderline Look at Gender,” and right out of the gate, Jensen and Borderlands have…
The Skinny
JUSTICE DOLLARS Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry is getting into the fight over Proposition 200, the Public Safety First Initiative that city voters will decide on Nov. 3. Huckelberry is warning that if voters approve Prop 200, and the city is forced to hire enough cops to reach a ratio of 2.4 officers per 1,000…
Welcoming Duo
Toward the end of Anton in Show Business, a character shares a moving story about a community production of A Raisin in the Sun. She describes how each evening, the actors would come from their day jobs to rehearse, and how the doors of the community center would be left open; people from the neighborhood…
Swarm of Culture
Bruce McGrew is 10 years dead, but his paintings never died, to paraphrase the old song about Joe Hill. A batch of McGrew paintings, newly released by his family on the 10th anniversary of his death, is on view at Davis Dominguez Gallery. “Black Rock Landscape,” a large oil on canvas, is quintessential McGrew. An…
Cost of Crime
Proposition 200 is a delicate issue for the candidates running for Tucson City Council. The Democratic incumbents don’t want to say they oppose the Public Safety First Initiative, which would require the city to eventually spend an estimated $51 million a year more on cops and firefighters, because they worry that they’ll look soft on…
Things to Do!
Every so often, I will hear someone snivel that there’s nothing to do in Tucson. To these snivelers, I say: You’re out of your freaking minds. Even in the dead of summer, it seems like there’s a fair amount of cultural activity happening in the Old Pueblo. In the fall and spring, the amount of…
Soundbites
MUSIC FESTIVAL MANIA Music festivals aren’t exactly rare around these parts, but they’re not all that common, either. So what are the odds that a single weekend, this one, would bring us five music festivals in the course of three days? Pretty slim, I’d wager—that is, if I didn’t have information to share with you…
Thirsty for Rocket Fuel?
Contaminants are emerging as serious issues for drinking-water providers—and Tucson Water officials don’t want their latest findings on local contaminants to emerge just yet. Seven years ago, trace amounts of three emerging contaminants were found in a Tucson Water well near the Santa Cruz River in Marana. Last year, four contaminants were identified as coming…
Fashionably Compelling
If you’re among those who think that the fashion industry is a pointless, self-important indulgence in which people with hopelessly warped ethical sensibilities mislead themselves about what should and should not be valued, The September Issue will do little to dissuade you. It might entertain you, though, and at least some of that entertainment comes…
Fall Club Crawl® Saturday, October 3
Other venues may be added; visit ClubCrawl.net for last-minute additions and changes! Bud Select Music Stage 8:30 p.m.: Golden Cadillacs (Sacramento, Calif.) 9:30 p.m.: Dave Gleason (Los Angeles) 10:30 p.m.: Dave Gonzalez and the Stone River Boys (Austin) Midnight: Bad News Blues Band The theme for the Bud Select Music Stage this time around is…
History Resurrected
Marist College dominates West Ochoa Street like a three-story vision of failure: It somehow failed to grasp modernity as 1960s urban renewal gutted surrounding barrios and left the banal Tucson Convention Center as a souvenir. But where man stumbled, nature seems eager to engage: Today, three corners of Marist College bear huge gray tarps, to…
T Q&A
Theresa Ulibarri
Delightfully Strange
There’s not a lot of overlap between the crowds you’ll find at the Phoenix clubs Modified Arts and the Rhythm Room. Modified Arts is a hip, underground space that welcomes avant-garde performances, while Rhythm Room is an old-school, urban-blues mecca. It’s telling that the Tempe-based band What Laura Says has played at both of those…
Police Dispatch
WIZZ KIDS WEST CHAPALA DRIVE SEPT. 2, 12:30 P.M. Two middle-school children were possibly engaged in an ongoing war of urination, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. Deputies responded to Cross Middle School, 1000 W. Chapala Drive, regarding an assault call. A male student reported that he had been near the library with…
Creamy Centers
The world is overtaken by a zombie plague, and a ragtag team of human survivors heads for the West Coast in Zombieland, the latest movie to use the undead for laughs. Thankfully, the cast features an amped-up Woody Harrelson and a gracefully neurotic Jesse Eisenberg, a comic team that balances out quite nicely. Throw in…
True to the Classics
It’s early evening, barely dark, and Dave Gonzalez has just pulled into Santa Fe, N.M. He’s been on the road all day driving in from Austin, and only minutes earlier, he was driving into a Southwestern sunset. “It was so beautiful, man, and it’s wonderful weather now—they say it might snow here tonight, which is…
Cast of Characters
A young woman is wrapped in a tarp, bludgeoned and set on fire in the middle of the woods in Washington state. Hundreds of miles away, J.P. Beaumont is whirling on the teacups with his granddaughter at Disneyland. Beaumont, a hardliner cop and a former alcoholic, is getting older. He’s happy with his new wife,…
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
Club Crawl Music + Eats
One of the things that make Club Crawl® so special, in our admittedly biased opinion, is the wide variety of music and entertainment. Many of the early music slots are filled with acoustic folk, Americana, blues and Latin music. When you couple that music with the wide variety of eating options available in the downtown…
City Week
Warning: Naughty Words May Be Spoken Eileen Myles reading 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 6 UA Poetry Center 1508 E. Helen St. 615-7803 www.gopog.org It’s time to challenge the mainstream notion that poetry is all dandelions and deep longing. In fact, some of it includes witty irreverence, Bronx accents and plenty of fuck-yous. Eileen Myles has…
Now Showing at Home
Away We Go (Blu-Ray), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition (Blu-Ray), Stop Making Sense: 25th Anniversary (Blu-Ray)
Crawl FAQ
Hallelujah! The Fourth Avenue underpass is open again! Club Crawl® started back in 1994 with the idea that someone could walk from Fourth Avenue to Congress Street while enjoying the various nightclubs along the way—taking in as much live music as humanly possible. Now that the main thoroughfare between downtown and Fourth Avenue is back,…
Top Ten in Books
Mostly Books best-sellers for the week
Long-Distance Relationship
Although some of us may recall a time when e-mail did not exist, many 21st-century world citizens simply couldn’t get by without it. And the forthcoming debut album by Former Ghosts probably couldn’t have been made without e-mail. The songs on Fleurs primarily were created by its three members while they lived and worked in…
Club Crawl Lineup
Bud Select Music Stage 8:30 p.m.: Golden Cadillacs (Sacramento, Calif.) 9:30 p.m.: Dave Gleason (Los Angeles) 10:30 p.m.: Dave Gonzalez and the Stone River Boys (Austin) Midnight: Bad News Blues Band Art Center Design College/KRQ Stage 8 p.m.: Indigo Kids 9 p.m.: Gaza Strip 10 p.m.: Crosscut Saw 11 p.m.: 8 Minutes to Burn Midnight:…
Danehy
Three people for whom I don’t feel sorry: • Plaxico Burress. The former New York Giants wide receiver, who caught the winning touchdown pass in the stunning Super Bowl win over the then-unbeaten New England Patriots a couple of years ago, was sentenced to two years in prison for gun-related crimes. He was taken immediately…
Circulatory System: Signal Morning (Cloud)
Eight years have passed since its first album, and Circulatory System is back with its sophomore release, a hectic and sonically dense collection that pushes the band’s experimental side to the forefront. Will Cullen Hart again occupies the center of the Circulatory System. Instead of overpowering the music, the story behind the album—recorded steadily over…
Serraglio
I was out of town when the new Fourth Avenue underpass opened to a fair amount of hoopla in late August. After many years of dithering and delay, this keystone project was supposed to finally become part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. Pardon me for pooping on the party, but I…
Girls: Album (True Panther Sounds)
Christopher Owens, the singer/songwriter/guitarist of San Francisco’s Girls, has a remarkable backstory—complete with a cult upbringing, heavy drug use and a millionaire surrogate father figure. Thankfully, Owens’ biography is absolutely inconsequential to enjoying his shaggy, masterful debut. Aided by Chet “JR” White—whose work on the album’s production gives the lo-fi music uncharacteristic flourishes of depth…
Designs for Downtown
Oh, downtown Tucson. You are not cluttered with high-rise towers or flashy city lights. There is no crime-infested subway zipping through. Come to think of it, you are devoid of many things that are stereotypically … downtownish. Some see this as a bad thing. “Downtown is a little bit like the kid who never performs…
Guest Opinion
Like many people, I moved to the desert seeking healing. I needed clear, dry air for my lungs and sinuses that had suffered in the pollution and damp of the East Coast. After a time, I woke up to the larger issue of the health of the desert. There could, after all, be too much…
Dying Fetus: Descend Into Depravity (Release)
Pared down to a three-piece (vocalist/guitarist John Gallagher, bassist Sean Beasley and drummer Trey Williams), Baltimore’s Dying Fetus should possess, by any reasonable expectation, a diminished sonic presence. However, such is definitely not the case with Descend Into Depravity, the technical death-metal act’s sixth full-length, and fourth for Relapse. Indeed, the band sounds absolutely recharged,…
Media Watch
Tucsoncitizen.Com adds to sports presence with J-Lab grant, Moten cuts Tucson ties
Mailbag
If Prop 200 Passes, Tucson’s Budget Will Be Screwed While I agree with the writers who want Michael Goodman run out of town (“Welcome to Goodmanville,” Sept. 3), I’d like to see Jim Click, the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association and the Tucson Association of Realtors kicked out with him. They really deserve it for…
Live
Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad, We Were Promised Jetpacks
No Pretenses
Located in the heart of Fourth Avenue, Café Passé is a throwback to a time when “The Ave” was the epicenter of ’70s counter culture. It’s a simpler, laid-back, less-commercial space. A hip mom-and pop sandwich shop and coffee house, Café Passé attracts a mix of neighbors, university folks and tourists—and manages to please them…
Nine Questions
Marques Emanuel
Hey, Big Spender: Public Safety First Campaign Raises More Than A Quarter-Million Dollars
Get ready for a big advertising blitz: The latest campaign finance report shows that the Public Safety First Campaign had raised $268,988 through Sept. 21. The Tucson Association of Realtors and assorted real-estate professionals around town remain the biggest donors, with TAR giving $135,276. Car dealer Jim Click kicked in $50K and the Southern Arizona…
Ward 3 Televised Debate: Why Not Just Say That Magic Beans Will Pay For Prop 200?
The Ward 3 City Council debate between Councilwoman Karin Uhlich, Republican Ben Buehler-Garcia and Green Party candidate Mary DeCamp from Arizona Illustrated, after the jump. Who knew that trying to get a simple answer about park and rec fees could be so darn difficult?
