Cover Story
Truth and Consequences
Republican congressional candidate Jesse Kelly has a long list of grievances. He’s had it with a tax system that takes from the rich to give to the poor. He’s sick of government workers who just “suck off the system.” He wants to scrap Medicare in order to get seniors “off the public dole.” He would…
Pima Dems Endorse Prop 401
Pima County Democratic Party chairman Jeff Rogers managed to swing an endorsement of Prop 401 (which would increase the power of mayor, reduce City Council elections to once every four years, increase the pay of City Council members and give the city manager more power to fire department heads) from the Pima County Democratic Party.…
Vote DiFrank; She Says She’s Not a Crank
Clerk of Superior Court challenger Margaret DiFrank is no stranger to campaign advertising set to a good folk tune. In 2006, she got some press for a Dylan-esque robo-call: Don’t leave it blank You gotta vote DiFrank. She gets the job done. Vote DiFrank, clerk of court. She’s a public servant, not a politician. She…
AZ’s Dreadful Financial Forecast: And This Downward Arrow Represents…
The legislative number crunchers came out with a depressing new report last week detailing the state’s budget woes. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee says the state is on track to be as much as $825 million in the hole for the Fiscal Year 2011, if voters don’t go along with their ballot propositions to raid…
Writer’s Block: Reeves Keyworth
Local author Reeves Keyworth’s My Daphne Phase has been published by Finishing Line Press ($12, 27 pages). Summary (from publisher): Keyworth, whose family moved to Tucson in 1947, spent her childhood and part of her young adulthood in the Southwest, and many of her poems reflect her response to that landscape – a falling-down house…
Giffords Q3 Haul: $700K
Rodd McLeod, manager of Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford’s re-election effort, tells The Range that the Democratic candidate raised roughly $700,000 between July 1 and Sept. 30. It’s the biggest fundraising quarter that Giffords has had all year. Giffords had more than $1.9 million on hand as of Aug. 4. Republican Jesse Kelly, who is challenging Giffords,…
Take That, Plastic Bottles!
Tucson Arts Brigade is having a Plastic Bottle Creative Reuse Party tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct. 6, and again on Thursday, Oct. 21, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Armory Park Community Center, 220 S. Fifth Ave. From the TAB website: We’re building off of the AWESOME ideas generated at the Water Festival’s Community Brainstorm Gatherings…
Rasmussen: Goddard Gains Ground But Still Trails Brewer
A new Rasmussen poll shows that Democrat Terry Goddard has gained a bit of ground in his challenge to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, but still trails by double digits: Republican Governor Jan Brewer continues to maintain a double-digit lead over Democratic challenger Terry Goddard in her reelection effort in Arizona. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone…
McCain Ad: Rodney Glassman Plagiarized his Dissertation
U.S. Sen. John McCain finally starts taking real swings at Democrat Rodney Glassman. Meanwhile, Rasmussen Reports brings us the news that McCain holds a comfortable lead: A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state shows McCain earning 54% of the vote, while Glassman picks up 33% support. Eight percent (8%) prefer…
CD8: Republican Officials Come Out In Support of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the Democratic incumbent who is facing GOP challenger Jesse Kelly in the Nov. 2 election, rolled out the 2010 version of Republicans for Giffords today. Among her GOP supporters: former state lawmakers Pete Hershberger and Jennifer Burns, who both served with Giffords in the Arizona Legislature; Sahuarita Mayor Lynne Skelton; Sierra Vista…
Buckmaster Announces New Radio Show
Having announced his plans to leave Arizona Illustrated, my friend Bill Buckmaster now fills us in his next step: A radio show on KJLL, 1330 AM. The press release: After 23 years as host of Arizona Illustrated, the nightly newsmagazine on KUAT-TV PBS 6, Bill Buckmaster is launching a new media venture. Starting January 3,…
Buckmaster Leaving Arizona Public Media
Arizona Public Media’s Bill Buckmaster has announced that he’s stepping down at the beginning of next year. Here’s an e-mail he sent this morning: Dear Colleagues and Friends, For the past 23 years I have had the honor and privilege to present “Arizona Illustrated” to the residents of Southern Arizona. I am proud of this…
AG Debate: Horne vs. Rotellini
Republican Tom Horne and Democrat Felecia Rotellini face off in an Attorney General’s Office debate on Arizona Illustrated.
CD8: Nate Silver’s Latest Forecast Predicts 2-Point Giffords Win
Stats wizard Nate Silver offers more details on his forecast of the Congressional District 8 race. His latest prediction: Giffords wins in a squeaker. But there’s only a 58 percent chance that it comes out that way on Election Day. Details here.
CD8 Air War: Giffords Hits Kelly on Tax Policy
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has a new TV ad hitting Republican challenger Jesse Kelly for his support for a national 23 percent sales tax that would replace the income tax. Kelly has said he supports the tax, but would prefer a 10 percent flat income tax. Last week, he said that a more likely alternative was…
CD8 Air War: Kelly Hits Giffords on the Border in New TV Ad
Republican Jesse Kelly, who hopes to unseat Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Congressional District 8, released a new TV ad today. Kelly says: We need to stop talking and take action to secure the border immediately. Giffords has betrayed the residents of Southern Arizona by failing to support effective border security measures. I have been endorsed…
First Day of Ethnic Studies Week: Kennedy Park
Today is the beginning of Ethnic Studies Week, and in Tucson, you can celebrate at Ethnic Extravaganza, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Kennedy Park (Ajo Way and La Cholla Boulevard), with performances by the Human Project Dancers, Mariachi Aztlan, Gabriel Ayala and others. The point of the free event is to celebrate diversity in…
Border Action Network’s Human Rights Gala: ‘A Better Arizona is in Our Hands’
On Saturday, Oct. 2, Border Action Network will honor state legislator Kyrsten Sinema, the Rev. Randy J. Mayer andcommunity organizer Clarisa Flores for their work defending human rights in Arizona at the organization’s Human Rights Gala. The event, from 4 to 7 p.m., at the Mercado San Agustin (100 S. Avenida del Convento), is co-chaired…
Counter Club: ‘Relive the Strange and Potent Magic!’
One thing is certain about life in Tucson 25 years ago: The hair on Daniel Buckley’s head and face was brown. Back then, folks also went to Club Congress to what was called the Counter Club to take in an exploding performance art scene, of which Buckley was a part of when he performed as…
Skinny Update: Council Has More Conditions on Downtown Hotel
We wrapped up this week’s Skinny before Tuesday’s City Council meeting, where council members made more demands from the Rio Nuevo board regarding the downtown hotel. The morning daily’s Rob O’Dell has the details here. O’Dell’s summary of what the council now wants: • Rio Nuevo must be the lead agency on the hotel, because…
Top Ten in Books
Mostly Books’ best-sellers for the week ending Sept. 24, 2010
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I understand New York City isn’t your jurisdiction, but maybe you have some insight—or maybe this is also a problem for other smart and successful Latinas. Why is it so hard to find an educated Mexican—or, hell, any Latino man—who isn’t a pretentious hijo de papi, or who doesn’t think he is a…
Characters Sans Character
I generally don’t like gangster movies as much as I’m supposed to. I thought City of God was reasonably entertaining, but didn’t rise above being a genre film. Scarface strikes me as more of a broad, slapstick comedy than a morality tale, and Toy Story 4: Broken Legos, while moving in its depiction of Barbie’s…
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video top rentals for the week ending Sept. 26, 2010
Gekko Redeemed!
The once-fearless Oliver Stone seems a little scared of himself and his subject in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Rather than shredding those most responsible for the recent financial crisis, Stone creates convoluted arguments about the causes and possible solutions, all while trying to give us a kinder, gentler Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). I need…
Now Showing at Home
The Killer Inside Me (Blu-ray) (MPI); Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Blu-ray) (Criterion); The Thin Red Line (Blu-ray) (Criterion)
Fascinating Feedback
The reviews of this year’s Best of Tucson® issue are in! And the reviews are … interesting. Even the morning daily gave us some feedback. In the paper’s Sunday, Sept. 26, Political Notebook column, the Arizona Daily Star said that the third-place finish of the Tucson Tea Party in the Best Local Activist/Advocacy Group category…
Pass the Salt
The very first Star Trek episode to air was called “The Man Trap.” A team from the Enterprise (Kirk, Bones and someone named Darnell) lands on planet M-113, where a married couple of archeologists live. Things get complicated right away, because the wife, Nancy, and Bones had a fling in their youth—but we later learn…
Danehy
A few months ago, I wrote about an experience that I’d had, and some reader referred to what I had written as a “blog.” Such an ad hominem attack is simply uncalled for. Anyway, your mama’s a blogger, but I’m not. I’d been writing that kind of stuff for a long, long time before the…
Noshing Around
Lederhosen Optional; Restaurant at Lodge on the Desert; Planet of the Crepes; Caramel Apple Fridays
Serraglio
In the interest of full disclosure, let me state that I use high-grade, American-grown marijuana pretty much every day, both for its pleasant psychoactive effects and its medical benefits. A proven muscle-relaxant, it really works well for my chronic back issues. It has helped prevent the sort of scary asthma attacks that I’ve suffered a…
Palpable Fun
The idea of an indie collective feels banal anymore. With acts like Broken Social Scene, the Polyphonic Spree, I’m From Barcelona and Godspeed You! Black Emperor breaking the double-digit-membership mark, there’s no novelty left in sheer numbers. Therefore, when Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros emerged in 2009 with its warm and inviting debut, Up…
Mailbag
Conservatives for Congress Group Doesn’t Understand Energy Dependence I am a Gabrielle Giffords contributor and volunteer, and I’d like to thank to Jim Nintzel for printing retired Lt. Gen. Norman Seip’s reply to the cheap shot taken by Conservatives for Congress (“Drilling Down in CD 8,” The Skinny, Sept. 9.) Gen. Seip should have set…
Soundbites
Spoon Me!; Back to Club Congress’ roots; Short Takes; On the bandwagon
Guest Commentary
The thing I learned from Paul is that every day can be an adventure if you are open to it. —Dr. Mary Kay O’Rourke, wife of Paul S. Martin Years ago, there was a T-shirt floating around featuring a hairy, thuggish-looking Neanderthal carrying a club, with the words “Back to the Pleistocene” scrawled across the…
Gangster Choirboy
Call it hymnal pop or choral chillwave or harp-powered synthrock or whatever you want—but the deeply spiritual music fashioned by Los Angeles’ Active Child, aka Pat Grossi, is anything but ordinary. Given the far-ranging, almost diametrically opposed creative influences of his childhood, it’s no wonder his debut, the Curtis Lane EP, recently released by Filter…
The Family Man
State Rep. Daniel Patterson will probably not be using the “family man” label in his campaign literature this year, like he has in the past. The freshman Democratic lawmaker, who is running for a second term in Legislative District 29, is evading service, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, for an order of protection…
Music Meets Film
Local and national filmmakers alike are flocking to Tucson to show off their stuff—and if you have any free time next weekend, you might be able to catch a world premiere or two. At the very least, you can find some great music. In its sixth year, the Tucson Film and Music festival combines both…
Top Ten in Music
Zia Records’ top sales for the week ending Sept. 26, 2010
The Skinny
Will the Rio Nuevo board decide it wants to build a new downtown hotel? … What does the PCIC have against leftist candidates? … Get registered to vote if you want to cast a ballot in November … and more!
City Week
Desert Diamond Lucky Break talent show; Art Terrain grand opening; Illusionist Michael Howell’s Magic Factory; Tucson Oktoberfest
Nine Questions
Dylan Smith
Digging Delays
As if late summer weren’t already hot enough, there’s scorching vitriol between a Canadian company hoping to mine the Santa Rita Mountains, and top county brass angling to squash their plan. Early in August, Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry announced that the mine’s air-quality permit—to be issued by the Pima Department of Environmental Quality—might be…
T Q&A
Sue Barenholtz
Live
Boogie Nazis, Truancy, Negative Feedback: Toxic Ranch Records, Wednesday, Sept. 22
Media Watch
Citizen journalists offered outlet to learn the ropes
Ready for Receptions?
Over at Tucson’s newest gallery, color photographs were propped up against the walls last weekend, waiting to be hung in time for this Saturday’s “The Big Picture” festivities. Monumental stone pillars rose up out of bleak landscapes in the pictures, which were visible through the windows at The FRONT @ platform. Photographed by Tucson artist…
Jenny and Johnny: I’m Having Fun Now (Warner Bros.)
If indie-music tastemakers make you queasy, you won’t have the stomach for Jenny and Johnny. “Jenny” is Jenny Lewis: Rilo Kiley vocalist, solo artist and sex symbol. “Johnny” is Johnathan Rice, a brooding singer-songwriter type best known for his song “So Sweet,” featured on the emotive television show The O.C. The two are dating, introduced…
Regulators!
Among the five legitimate candidates for two seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission, Libertarian Rick Fowlkes is decidedly different. He believes in market-based programs and incentives—instead of regulatory requirements—to lower electrical rates and encourage more power generation using renewable energy. “My major thrust is to do what I can to end the monopoly system (of…
Modernism Memorialized
The kitchen window in the Diamos house is long and horizontal, stretching out over the sink and counters—just like the sweep of desert outside. Through the glass in this little-known 1951 house by Nicholas Sakellar, you can see one of the landmarks of Tucson modernist architecture: Up there on the slope to the east, on…
Alien Jane: Evolve (Self-Released)
When the women-led Tucson band Alien Jane blends alternative, grunge, punk and proto-metal in the ol’ concrete mixer, the back-to-basics rock sound it produces is aggressive but catchy. It’s a work-boot kick in the ass, but with a refreshing female sensibility, thanks to the leadership of lead singer Michelle Urban and guitarist-vocalist Cristina Manos. The…
Police Dispatch
No good deed goes un-pissed-on; Marlboro man gone bad
Absence of Motive
Every once in a while, the illusions that allow us to keep it all in motion fall away a bit—and on the other side is pure horror. It happened in far west Phoenix in August 1991, when two teenagers executed nine people at the Wat Promkunaram Buddhist Temple, calmly walking in a circle around an…
Lost in the Trees: All Alone in an Empty House (ANTI-)
The sweeping All Alone in an Empty House, by Chapel Hill, N.C.’s Lost in the Trees, is one of the year’s most pleasant surprises. Ari Picker, the group’s de facto leader, merges his Berklee training with his homespun, dark folk leanings—which nicely underplays his perhaps grander ambitions. As the album’s composer and songwriter, Picker seems…
Weekly Wide Web
My Life: The Game; The week on The Range; Comment of the week; Best of WWW; and more!
Events for Oct. 21 issue
Due to an e-mail glitch, several emails were deleted from our listings account and cannot be retrieved. If you submitted an event to run in the Oct. 21 issue, please resubmit. Either email listings@tucsonweekly.com no later than noon on Monday, Oct. 11, or submit an event listing on our website. (Click the City Week tab…
Ethnic Studies Documentary Needs Funding
Precious Knowledge Trailer from Ari Palos on Vimeo. Wow, if the trailer is any indication, Precious Knowledge is going to be the powerful voice we need to help explain the importance of ethnic-studies classes in the Tucson Unified School District—and in any other school district. Creators of the documentary have been working on it for…
Rhino Pub Is Back!
Ah yes, Rhino Pub—The bar at 1118 E. Sixth St. that closed some years back only to reopen as Belushe’s, Victory Bar and, most recently, Gooch’s Grill. And now, all these years later, it’s Rhino Pub again. Steve Ketchum, the new owner, even found the original six-foot wooden rhinoceros mascot and put back in its…
