This week, staff reporter Danyelle Khmara takes us on a tour of Clifton, Arizona. It's sort of a poor man's Bisbee, a mining town that's seen boom and bust and boom again, and union busting, and much more over the decades they've been digging copper out of the ground. These days, the town is full of fascinating characters Danyelle got to know.
Elsewhere in the book: Danyelle writes about the ongoing immigration fustercluck; feature writer Jeff Gardner lends an ear to the artists playing at this weekend's Folktronic show; calendar editor Emily Dieckman discovers it's game on at downtown's new Cobra Arcade Bar; intern Kathleen B. Kunz catches up with Republican Ken Bennett, who has launched a longshot campaign against Gov. Doug Ducey; Margaret Regan explores the Arizona Otherworldly show at Tohono Chul Park; and there's a bunch more you're gonna enjoy once you dig in.
Columnist Brian Smith has the week off, but his Tucson Salvage will return in two weeks. And speaking of Brian, here's a late-breaking update to the recent news about the Weekly's collection of Arizona Press Club awards this year: Brian and I tied for second place in the community column writing category.
Judge Marin Salazar, editorial writer for the Albuquerque Journal, praised Tucson Salvage columns in which Smith spent New Year's Eve at the Triple-T Truck Stop, explored a going-out-of-business sale at a dusty thrift shop and profiled AM radio engineer Frank Luna. Salazar called the columns "incredibly evocative, each one giving us a glimpse into the souls of the people and places that populate his narratives. He presents them to us warts and all, but without a hint of judgment."
Salazar praised three of my Skinny columns that tackled Congresswoman Martha McSally's effort to block low-income women from seeking health care at Planned Parenthood clinics; McSally's reluctance to hold a town hall; and the effort by state lawmakers to torpedo the power of voters to pass laws via ballot props. Salazar noted that the columns "do what journalists should do every day: hold the powerful accountable, pointing out their hypocrisy and the games they play."
That's a hell of compliment. This election season, I'll do my best to live up to it.
— Jim Nintzel Executive Editor
Hear Nintzel talk about what's happening in Tucson entertainment on The Frank Show at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday mornings on KPLX, 96.1 FM.
