Cover Story
Demanding Equality
It’s been eight months since Shari Wilson and Teresa Hiatt made a little bit of history together. The two women are still shocked that they were able to walk into the Pima County Courthouse on Feb. 12 and walk out with a license to marry. According to Marriage Equality USA, which organized a nationwide series…
Scott Kennedy Comedy Shows
Gary Hood, the promoter at Laffs Comedy Cafe, knows how to get Weekly staffers to blog about his events. Just call them, grovel, tell them dozens of cut-rate jokes, harass them to no end, tell them some good jokes, call them back to harrass them again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Eventually, the TW staffer will cave…
Glassman Announces Exploratory Campaign Against John McCain
Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman, who won the Ward 2 seat just two years ago, has announced the formation of an exploratory campaign against U.S. Sen. John McCain. Now that’s looking for a big promotion! Glassman has a steep hill to climb, according to a recent poll that showed McCain crushing him 55 percent to…
More Bad News for the Newspaper Industry
The Onion reports: According to a report published this week in American Journalism Review, 93 percent of all newspaper sales can now be attributed to kidnappers seeking to prove the day’s date in filmed ransom demands. “Although the vast majority of Americans now get their news from the Internet or television, a small but loyal…
Daily Show Skewers CNN, Jon Kyl
Why is it that The Daily Show continues to make a mockery of cable news networks? What kind of moronic mainstream media lets Sen. Jon Kyl get away with saying that tort reform would save $100 billion to $200 billion in health care costs? What is that, projected over the next two centuries? And then…
Public Safety First Initiative Televised Debate
Former Tucson mayor George Miller debates Brian Delfs of the Tucson Fire Department on KUAT-TV’s Arizona Illustrated, after the jump. Arizona Illustrated is planning a second, one-hour live debate on Monday, Oct. 26, at TCC’s Leo Rich Theatre.
Reform and Remembrance
As talk swirls about government reform up at the state Capitol, Espresso Pundit has some thoughts about how efforts to fix government often end up backfiring. We’re reminded of what George Washington Plunkitt said about how reformers were only “morning glories”: The fact is that a reformer can’t last in politics. He can make a…
Friday Roundtable: The State Budget, The Weekly Endorsements In the City Election & More!
It’s last week in review on Arizona Illustrated, after the jump.
The Great Trasoff-Kozachik Debate
In case you missed it: Sparks fly between Democratic incumbent Councilwoman Nina Trasoff and Republican challenger Steve Kozachik on Friday’s Arizona Illustrated. Watch it after the jump.
Shameless-Self Promotion: ‘Weekly’ Nabs 13 Awards in ANA Contest
The Tucson Weekly won 13 awards in the Arizona Newspapers Association’s annual contest, covering work done from May 1, 2008, through April 30, 2009. The awards were announced on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in downtown Phoenix. The Weekly competed in among the state’s…
Very Scary Halloween Costumes
What do “Pink Leopards,” “Oatmeal Bears,” “Sleeping Beauties” and “Debonair Vampires” have in common? No, they’re not designer drugs. They’re just a few of the many Halloween costumes available for your toddler, according to Party City’s recent 24-page mailer. More than 600 get-ups adorn the pages, with models modeling each one. Even if you have…
Who Can Be Bothered To Proofread When You’re Saving America?
Hey, we make our share of typos, but this is pretty embarrassing for the Tea Party planners at Tucson’s Last Stand today: Meet the Canididates! Bet that Steve, Ben and Shaun can’t wait to pose next to that. Hat tip to GIla Courier for posting the photo!
Why Stephen Colbert Is My Hero
The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c <td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'Bend It Like Beck www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Michael Moore
More Opposition to Public Safety First Initiative: Uhlich Urges “No” Vote on Prop 200
City Councilwoman Karin Uhlich has joined the growing chorus of opponents to Prop 200. Uhlich’s statement: Proposition 200 is an emotional issue, prone to rhetoric. I have expressed my concerns with this measure and its potential impact on the general fund, but most importantly, I’ve stated what I firmly believe: I trust the voters to…
I Think We Have A Suspect
An estimated 10,000 copies of the Arizona Daily Wildcat were stolen yesterday. Coincidentally enough, the paper had a Police Beat item about how a girl believed she had been slipped a “date rape” drug at a Phi Kappa Psi frat party. The woman claimed that on arrival, a fraternity member she knew gave her a…
More Opposition to Public Safety First Initiative: Trasoff and Glassman Say Vote “No”
Ward 6 City Councilwoman Nina Trasoff, who had previously stopped short of telling voters to reject the Public Safety First initiative, came out against Prop 200 yesterday during press conference yesterday at the Reid Park Zoo. (We didn’t attend the conference, which also featured representatives from the business community, labor unions and social-service non-profits, but…
The Raveonettes: In and Out of Control (Vice)
There’s a long-standing theory that, due to their geographic isolation and reduced exposure to sunlight, Scandinavians are more in touch with their dark and gloomy sides. (See Beowulf, Hamlet and the grim stories of one Hans Christian Andersen.) Danish duo The Raveonettes do nothing to debunk this theory with their latest album: Rape, drug addiction,…
The Skinny
LET THE GAMES BEGIN! It’s on, baby! The city of Tucson election is underway, with early voting starting Thursday, Oct. 8. 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. Roughly 61,400 city voters on the new…
Police Dispatch
WHEELCHAIRING WHILE INTOXICATED SOUTH HOUGHTON ROAD SEPT. 11, 1:45 P.M. An inebriated man in a motorized wheelchair assaulted and harassed patrons of a local store, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. A deputy met with employees at the Ace Hardware store where the incident occurred. They said a man in a motorized wheelchair…
Top Ten in Music
Zia Records top sales for the week
Danehy
Tucsonan Dirk Nelson reminds me of Michael Keaton’s character, Billy Blazejowski, in the 1982 comedy movie Night Shift. The dozen or so of you who remember that movie will know exactly what I mean; everybody else will need some help. Directed by Ron Howard (who hadn’t quite hit his A Beautiful Mind/Cinderella Man stride yet),…
Worth the Wait
When dining out, the price point leads to expectations. If I am paying $15 for a hamburger and french fries, I expect it to be perfectly cooked, piled high with toppings and darn tasty. Luckily, Cayton’s at The Ritz-Carlton exceeds these expectations—if you’re willing to take the drive and sit down for an hour to…
Pride T Q&A
Randy Soderstrom
Messina
During my first trip to the Las Vegas strip, I didn’t gamble, see a show or eat at a buffet. I wanted to see signs—big neon signs with cowboys and cowgirls, flashy wedding chapel signs and famous signs like those at the Golden Nugget. Alas, I saw the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and…
One Tasty, One Limp
Tucked away in a little strip mall off Speedway Boulevard is a dedicated and talented crew that’s always cooking up tasty treats. It’s called Live Theatre Workshop, and it’s not a restaurant: These folks serve up an impressive buffet of theatrical dishes. There are the full-length plays of all varieties. There are edgier offerings from…
Celebrate and Share
At her westside flower shop, a converted white house with pink bars on the windows and doors, 70-year-old Josefina Lizárraga tells an old joke. Two Mexican men cross paths while visiting their mother’s graves on All Souls Day. One, an educated man, has a store-bought bouquet; the other, a humble peasant, has food to leave…
Guest Opinion
Pity my poor dental hygienist. Tears were running down my cheeks as I sat in her chair today, not because she was hurting me, but because I was thinking about my insurance, my former employer and the terrible state of our economy. After Gannett closed the Tucson Citizen in May, I was fortunate to get…
Hidden No More
If you look at a map of Tucson, chances are there’s a blank space right under Morris K. Udall Regional Park on the eastside of town. This large area stretches from the southern boundary of Udall down to Speedway Boulevard, from Pantano Wash on the west to Van Horne Elementary School on the east. Almost…
Noshing Around
Sky Bar The owner of Brooklyn Pizza Company is turning the now-defunct North on 4th at 536 N. Fourth Ave. into an astronomy-themed bar called Sky Bar. Owner Tony Vaccaro said the bar will feature skylights, glass garage doors and a telescope delivering deep-space images to a monitor. The place will also feature projectors throwing…
Have Pride; Go Mobile
A couple of things worth noting this week: • In this issue, you’ll find our first Pride special section. In it, you’ll find several stories regarding the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community in Tucson, as well as a special calendar of LGBT-related events occurring throughout the rest of the year. Thanks to Adam Borowitz,…
City Week
Honoring the Greatest Generation Tribute to World War II Veterans 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 Pima Air and Space Museum 6000 E. Valencia Road 512-5333 Kids owe their parents a big “thank you” for many reasons—and those reasons are quadrupled if a parent was a World War II Veteran. This weekend, the Pima County Republican…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Readers: Since the Mexican’s sister is getting married to a good man from Zacatecas this weekend, I must ignore my research to slaughter a pig and hire a banda sinaloense. So indulge yourselves in some piratería questions I ripped off from my book, and await my return next semana! Dear Mexican: Isn’t brown pride…
Dance-Club Icon
The Gay Pimp is coming to take over Pride in the Desert—but he won’t do it alone. His entourage, Team Pimp, will be there, too. Who is the Gay Pimp? How can he and his entourage possibly take over Pride in the Desert? Well, the Gay Pimp is a renaissance man. He’s flashy and raunchy.…
Textures and Cultures
Putumayo, it’s not. Toubab Krewe’s music is no imperiled cultural treasure gentrified by slick production values geared to high-fidelity listening. You’re meant to dance to Toubab Krewe—to laugh, clap your hands and feel like part of a community, however ephemeral. In that way, Toubab Krewe may actually come closer to giving us a sense of…
Media Watch
Interim No More: Peterson Named KXCI GM; KMSB, KTTU Get A New GM; Pescovitz Newest Reporter at KVOA; KUAT TV Comes Up Short in Fundraising Drive
Soundbites
A LONG WEEKEND OF MOVIES AND MUSIC When former Tucsonan and UA grad Michael Toubassi—who currently lives in Los Angeles and is the co-founder of the production company Upstairs Film—set out to document Tucson’s music scene several years ago, he probably wouldn’t have guessed what the project would morph into. Toubassi directed High and Dry,…
Live
Bon Iver, Megafaun
When Poultry Parties
Why did the chickens cross the road? To get to Hotel Congress, of course. In the world according to Carolyn Anne Anderson, sprightly chickens hotfoot it not only to Hotel Congress, but to a host of other iconic Tucson sites. They flock to the Rialto Theatre, scratch outside of the Buffet bar, scamper sheepishly away…
Death All Around
I’m attending a professional conference in Oregon about managing utility right of ways. These conferences are all the same—the schmoozing, the endless dull PowerPoints, the cheap trinkets handed out by vendors, the expensive and copious alcohol, the crappy food. The single streak of passion shared by these conference participants is their love of the energy…
Mailbag
Married Men Who Mess With Other Women Should Get Ass-Kickings I’m writing in response to Anna C. Christensen’s Guest Commentary in the Sept. 17 issue. What happened to the married man who knocked up women left and right? Did he get the ass-kicking he so deserved? How about the hypothetical modern-day successor who keeps screwing…
Top Ten in Books
Antigone Books best-sellers for the week
2009 Tucson Weekly Endorsements
FIVE REASONS TO VOTE AGAINST PROPOSITION 200, THE PUBLIC SAFETY FIRST INITIATIVE The Tucson Association of Realtors wants to sell you a real fixer-upper. From the curb, the Public Safety First Initiative sure looks good. Who can be against hiring more cops and firefighters? But once you make a closer inspection, you realize the foundation…
Budget Boost?
The Tucson Unified School District is again putting budget-override questions before voters this year, after defeats in 2004 and 2008. “We’re giving the kids the bare bones right now,” declares Judy Burns, president of the TUSD governing board, citing the $45 million in budget cuts the district has made. “This is a chance to give…
Nine Questions
James “Runt” Owens
Port Politics
In February, Congress approved the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a humungous bill meant to rescue our tanking economy with $787 billion in government spending. From that sum, $420 million was channeled toward upgrading 43 ports of entry. And by March, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano had announced that nearly half—$199 million—would find its way…
Ruthless Babes
A high school-age barbecue waitress in a small Texas town discovers the empowering goodness of roller derby in Whip It, the directing debut of Drew Barrymore which showcases another great performance from Ellen Page. The movie works as both a fun portrayal of a crazy sport and a coming-of-age story, thanks to a very game…
Lou Barlow: Goodnight Unknown (Merge)
It sucked that Lou Barlow’s incredible band Sebadoh petered out with two tepid final records, and I never had much use for the Folk Implosion, the band that briefly broke Barlow into the mainstream with their yawn of a hit, “Natural One.” Before all that, Barlow—in Sebadoh and during his three-album stint in Dinosaur Jr.—had…
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
fun.: Aim and Ignite (Nettwerk)
The opening line of Aim and Ignite —”As I walk through the streets of my new city, I’m back feeling much better, I suppose”—is the same sort of heart-on-the-sleeve sentimentality that distinguished fun. singer Nate Ruess with his previous band, The Format. It’s also a statement of purpose for Ruess, whose work here is a…
Emotionally Important
Joshua Tickell is very serious about biodiesel. Also, he just married a folk singer; he hates pollution; and he has a video camera. In short: Watch out, America, because there’s a documentary full of sincerity coming your way. Tickell begins his film by claiming, against the evidence presented in the Bible, that some stuff happened…
Now Showing at Home
Fringe: The Complete First Season (Blu-Ray), Manson, Drag Me to Hell (Blu-Ray), Child’s Play (Blu-Ray)
George Fwill Makes Another Stupid Argument In The Arizona Daily Star
The Arizona Daily Star ran an op-ed by George F. Will that suggests that Obama is some kind of narcissist because he uses the first-person pronoun too much in his speeches. Naturally, the marching morons who comment on the Star’s Web site jumped on the bandwagon, saying this is proof that Obama is all about…
Calexico, The All Souls Procession & A Movie Besides
Tickets go on sale this Friday for the next Calexico show at the Rialto Theatre. We’ve had plenty of good times with Joey and John and their expanded crew in the past, but this one seems really special: Dan Vinik will be directing a film about the concert, which will cap off the 20th anniversary…
Flandrau Throws Star Party Tonight!
WHAT: Star Party WHEN: Tonight from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. WHERE: 1601 E. University Blvd., on UA campus WHY: The White House is holding a star party astronomy event, and Flaundrau decided to throw a party in conjunction with the White House to support their message. ACTIVITIES: Public viewing of Jupiter, the moon and celestial…
Diana Gabaldon and Barnes and Noble Event
In the Oct. 1 issue, we included an event listing indicating Diana Gabaldon would be in Tucson on Oct. 2. That was incorrect. She will be discussing her novel An Echo in the Bone on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 2 p.m., at Barnes and Noble, 5130 E. Broadway Blvd. Then on Sunday, Oct. 11, from…
