Cover Story
A Tale of Two Cities
If you listen to this year’s crop of candidates for City Council, you’d think they were talking about seeking to run two entirely different cities.
Cinema Clips: The Walk
Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s accent playing Philippe Petit, the high wire artist who walked between the Twin Towers back in 1974, sounds a lot like Sacha Baron Cohen’s over-the-top French accent in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. It grates at first, but director Robert Zemeckis overcomes this obstacle to ultimately make a movie containing some…
Casa Video Top 10
Listen, guys. I’m not gonna try to spice this up this week. No movie trailers, no real introduction. Best of Tucson is due to the print in a few hours (it’s stressful) and all I want to do is spend the weekend on the couch with my cat and some snacks. So, Here’s your Casa…
Quick Bites: Beer and Bites
Ermanos on Fourth Avenue is hosting another pairing of beer and small plates, however, this time it’s all about the local goods. That’s because Ermanos’ kitchen will be pairing with Dragoon Brewing Co. beers. The tap line-up for the event includes the Blanche de Ventana (a sour collaboration with 1055 and Pueblo Vida), Flashdance (India…
Plaintiffs in TUSD Desegregation Lawsuit: Magnet Schools Haven’t Been Provided With Resources to Succeed
Plaintiffs in the decades-long desegregation lawsuit against Tucson Unified School District say magnet schools have not been given sufficient funding, staffing and other resources to succeed as schools and “much less meet the obligations outlined in the Unitary Status Plan,” and magnet requirements. Former TUSD teacher and board member Sylvia Campoy, who’s the representative for…
Douglas Should Play Nice If She Wants To Be Taken Seriously? Are You Serious?
OK, so, Diane Douglas has come out with a serious, multi-faceted plan to improve Arizona education. It’s not perfect, there’s plenty of stuff to disagree with, but lots of it is pretty damn good. Lots of it. Douglas is an advocate for teachers. She wants to pay them more, she wants them working in classrooms…
TUSD Parent: Schools At Risk of Losing Magnet Status Are Being Punished for Being ‘Too Brown’
Parents of kids at the five Tucson Unified School District schools at risk of losing magnet status feel their and their children’s voices are being ignored. Some say they have witnessed a more than 40-year-old desegregation lawsuit go from its initial purpose of providing minority students with the same opportunities as white students turn into…
Cinema Clips: The Final Girls
Max (Taissa Farmiga) loses her mom (Malin Akerman) in a car accident. Her mom, Nancy, was a struggling horror film actress best known for a Friday the 13th-type, summer camp slasher movie made in the eighties. After agreeing to show up for a screening of her late mom’s film, Max and her friends journey inside…
ACLU of Arizona to Appeal Judge’s Decision to Uphold ‘Show Me Your Papers’ Portion of SB 1070
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona announced Monday that it will fight a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals saying the “show me your papers” portion of SB 1070 is good to go. In September, a judge said the ACLU of Arizona had failed to prove police racial profile Latinos when questioning a person’s…
Creed Needs a Home
Hi I’m Creed! I’m a really good boy who loves to play and get a lot of attention from the human kind! I always have so much fun when people come visit me but I’m looking for a forever home. Pink is my favorite color as you can see in the picture my favorite volunteer…
Teachers (and Administrators) in TV and Film: The Final Episode (though there’s always the possibility of a sequel)
Last Monday I wrote about the way teachers have been portrayed in TV and film since the 1950s. I only looked at teachers of core subjects — English, math, science and social studies — because when people talk about how good or bad teachers are, they’re usually talking about those folks. What I found was a…
Meet Tucson Ward IV Republican Candidate Margaret Burkholder
A while ago I attended a Republican campaign event at Reid Park. The three Republican candidates for city council were there, and each spoke. All spoke well, but Margaret Burkholder drew everyone’s attention away from their cheeseburgers and chips. Her story highlighted lessons learned from childhood to her tenure on the Vail school board. When…
Go see Conjunto Blues on Sunday
Tomorrow is not the day to stay home and tackle those light bulbs or fire alarm batteries. Nope. It’s actually the night to go see Conjunto Blues. at the Tucson Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St., 7 p.m. (food trucks at 6 p.m.). The event is a fundraiser for Borderlands Theater. The amazing season they’ve…
Zona Politics: City Council Debate Between Councilwoman Shirley Scott and GOP Challenger Margaret Burkholder
Zona Politics Eps.43 from Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel on Vimeo. On this week’s episode of Zona Politics: Ward 4 Councilwoman Shirley Scott faces GOP challenger and Vail School Board member Margaret Burkholder in a debate over the best way to handle road repair, mass transit and economic development. Watch it online here or tune…
Diane Douglas’ “AZ Kids Can’t Afford To Wait” Plan
Thursday Ed Supe Diane Douglas put out her AZ Kids Can’t Afford To Wait plan. It’s 156 pages long, crammed full of ideas and reasonably detailed descriptions of problems she sees and changes she hopes to see. [I was on the Buckmaster Show today discussing the plan with Bill and Sarah Garrecht Gassen during the…
Common Sense Gun Laws: Democrats and Responsible Republicans, If Not Now, When?
What are lawmakers waiting for, a gun-related disaster that’s so big, so gruesome, so horrifying that the NRA and its enablers won’t say, “How dare you politicize these deaths while the bodies are still warm,” and “What we need to prevent gun violence is more guns”? It will never happen. Never. The increasing number of…
McSally Votes To Allow States To Defund Planned Parenthood
It was big week on the abortion-rights front as Cecile Richards testified in front of the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday, Sept. 29, as Republican lawmakers continued an investigation into Planned Parenthood in the wake of sting videos that purport to show that Planned Parenthood was selling fetal tissue to researchers. Richards was repeated interrupted…
Tucson Modernism Week Is Here
Tucson Modernism Week kicks off today at the Tucson Convention Center with walking tours during the day and a cocktail party from 7 to 10 p.m. This weekend, you can find vintage trailers at the TCC, the Firebird III at MOCA Tucson and a whole bunch more fun. Here’s a complete schedule of tours, talks,…
Barrio Cuisine Closes in Downtown Tucson
After just about a year of serving up re-imagined Native American cuisine in downtown Tucson, it looks like Barrio Cuisine’s run on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Broadway Boulevard has come to an end. Signs posted around the building serve as a notice that Barrio’s landlord has “terminated [the restaurant’s] right to possess and…
Quick Bites: ANOTHER GARDEN
In beer news, Borderlands Brewing Co. announced the opening of its outdoor beer garden recently, offering fans of the downtown brewery more options when enjoying their locally made craft suds. The beer garden also offers a bocce court. Borderlands (119 E. Toole Ave.) is serving up 10 taps stocked with their own unique brews, such…
UA Exhibit Looks Back at When Tucson Public Schools Banned Middle East Studies
Members of the UA’s Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace want to bring back some attention to when Tucson Unified School District and other educational entities banned Middle East Studies from several schools. In 1983, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, Tucson Unified School District, and UA administrators “collaborated to discredit…
Quick Bites: HOPPY TRAILS
The Tucson craft beer boom is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down, and it seems like every month there’s a new spot opening up and serving unique local and national drafts. Joining the ranks of other recent brewery additions like 1912 Brewing Co. (2045 N. Forbes Blvd., Ste.# 105) and bottle shops like Arizona…
POP! POP!
Those wonderful people at the YWCA need your support to continue doing the good things they do for everyone in Tucson.
Pleasure Activist
Despite a pretty solid history, those who identify as bisexuals were (and are) still regularly marginalized, even within the LGBTQI community itself.
Rocks, Ropes and Reels
Stoked about rock climbing this season? Keep the energy high with The Loft.
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: My boyfriend is Mexican, and I love him very much. On some occasions, however, he will act in a VERY stubborn way. Is this behavior part of Mexican culture (“El Rey” syndrome)? Or is this his own pathology?
Filthy is Better
Do you have a dirty mind? Compliment it with a dirty body
Southwest Oktoberfest
Just because you’re not in Bavaria doesn’t mean you can’t drink like you are.
Modern Love
Modernism goes old-school this Sunday, Oct. 4 with the opening of some rarely seen Ettore “Ted” DeGrazia pieces on display at DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun (6300 N Swan Road) as part of Tucson Modernism Week. The special exhibit includes pieces from the artist in almost every medium imaginable from mid-century screen prints, to textile…
Editor’s Note
Hey, we won some things!
Architecture, Glass Art and Dance
A packed arts weekend kicks off Friday night with a provocative lecture on the modern architecture created out of the ashes of urban renewal.
Dust Devil
It rains, rains, rains. Lustful beads slash awnings and assault windowpanes.
Off-Balance
A comedy can be funny and fresh and utterly delightful when it makes its debut on the Great White Way. That’s often because many of the laughs bloom from the very particular era in which they have been seeded.
Tucson Salvage
The debut of writer-rocker Brian Smith’s new column, in which he writes about oddballs, weirdos and the stuff that makes this folklore-rich city sing.
Elevated Rom-Com: Sleeping with Other People
In less capable hands, this probably could’ve been an awful slog.
Mad About Mod
Demion Clinco is the executive director of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation, which is sponsoring Tucson Modernism Week which runs from Oct. 2 through Oct. 10
Butterscotch Cathedral
Although he’s one of the forebears of the Old Pueblo’s psych scene and has spent much of the last year making other local acts sound good at his home recording studio Midtown Island, he’s also been working on something new and that project, perhaps, is the thing that will make Tucson finally take note.
The Skinny
UA space camera helps find water on Mars, Local clinics say McSally’s plans to transfer Planned Parenthood money to them isn’t feasible, Catch a televised debate between Ward 4 candidates
Collective Soul: Mavis Staples
Legendary gospel-soul singer Mavis Staples made her name with her family band, but she’s made some of the best music of her career over the last decade with a surprising series of collaborators.
Media Watch
Everybody won.
B-Sides: Pearl Charles
Each week at La Cocina brings a new round of local and national acts, as well as a new taco special.
Danehy
WE NEED TO MOVE THE AIRPORT!
B-Sides: Okilly Dokilly
So yeah, a “Nedal” band dripping with Simpsons references and populated by five dudes dressed in matching Flanders attire might be gimmicky as all get out, but it sounds fun.
B-Sides: Mynabird
Somewhere between combining the Lana del Rey’s sultry vocals with Annie Clark’s force and intention, you’ll find The Mynabird’s Lauren Burhenn.
China Szechwan: The Other Menu
Everything is delicious at China Szechwan, but it’s extra delicious for fans of spicy food.
News21: America’s Weed Rush
Whether he’s advocating for marijuana or gathering petitions for a ballot initiative, it’s tough to miss Dave Wisniewski, chairman of Safer Arizona, a political action committee.
