John Decindis
Welcome to the world! The first issue of The Tucson Weekly: 12 pages and $600 of advertising revenue.
Christopher Andrews
Glorious Radio With Guts: Writer Dale Hopper celebrates KXCI's first anniversary. -- Nov. 7, 1984
Steven Trubitt
Inside Sanctuary: Staff writer Maggy Zanger covers the federal government's case against Tucson church workers who aided refugees fleeing political persecution in Central America. -- June 26, 1985
The argument continues to rage over whether Pima County Supervisor Ed Moore shoots from the hip, shoots down the bad guys or just shoots himself in the foot. -- Howard Allen, May 28, 1986
Barry Goldwater steps down and John McCain steps up: McCain is an amiable man, seemingly sincere, interested. He is confident, easy-going and appears to like campaigning. -- Maggy Zanger, Oct. 8, 1986
Chris Gall
Putting modesty aside, we'll proclaim the Tucson Weekly's first Best of Tucson issue a flaming success. -- July 1, 1987
Steve Lawrence
Congressman Mo Udall looks back on 25 years serving Southern Arizona: He is an abiding friend of the environment and a champion of those without political or economic influence. -- Sept. 30, 1987
Meet 20-year-old Sean Elliott of the Arizona Wildcats: A soft-spoken, butt-kicking basketball artiste is being counted upon by fans, players and coaches all over the Western United States to lead a regional renaissance and recapture the national crown that has been the sole property of the Eastern bullies for more than a decade now. A lot to ask from a local kid from Cholla High. -- Tom Danehy, Feb. 17, 1988
Paul Mirocha
Introducing readers to a new novelist, Barbara Kingsolver, with an excerpt from The Bean Trees. -- March 2, 1988
His voice is a growl and then a whisper. He struts, he prowls, he holds his heart and laughs. And when he gets down to playing guitar ... -- Robert Baird on legendary local bluesman Sam Taylor, June 15, 1988
Terrence Moore
Saying goodbye to author Ed Abbey: Long may he live in the hearts and minds of all those who respect human dignity, love the earth and celebrate the joy of being alive. -- Doug Biggers, April 5, 1989
John Edwards
Democrats Molly McKasson and Steve Leal make their political debuts: Both are undeniably smarter than the average bear, and given their opponents' weaknesses, they probably even possess chances of winning. -- Robert Baird, Aug. 23, 1989
Earth First! founder Dave Foreman talks about his arrest after an FBI informant pushed the group to commit illegal acts of sabotage: It was an early morning three months ago when federal agents made a surprise visit to his eastside Tucson home. As his wife opened the front door to the agents' insistent pounding, Foreman remained in bed, still sound asleep. Wearing earplugs to block the racket of a neighbor's barking dog, he heard nothing before waking to encounter a trio of .357-caliber Magnums, cocked and in his face. He thought he was about to die. -- Tim Vanderpool, Sept. 13, 1989
Gil Juarez
Leo W. Banks rips the Arizona Daily Star: Some important beats have disappeared. Stories that a few short years ago would have been handled by a reporter on the scene are now done by phone to save money. Mention investigative reporting, once a significant part of the Star's news philosophy, to anyone on the staff, and the response is always the same: What investigative reporting? -- Leo W. Banks, Oct. 4, 1989
Theresa Smith
Tucson Weekly's long crusade to save the Temple of Music and Art pays off: The restoration of the Temple of Music and Art is one of Tucson's finest victories in historic preservation and cultural investment, an example of what can be done when vision and pragmatism combine for the good of a community long-interested in art, theatre and performance. It's time to celebrate. -- Doug Biggers, October 1990
Gamma Liason
We work alongside the Village Voice to uncover the deep, dark secret behind Biosphere 2: The group that built, conceived and directs the Biosphere project is not a group of high-tech researchers on the cutting edge of science but a claque of recycled theater performers that evolved out of an authoritarian--decidedly nonscientific--personality cult. -- Marc Cooper, May 15, 1991
Our first April Fool's prank! The Weekly uncovers a hush-hush deal for Hollywood studios to move to Tucson: Local contractors are expected to engage in fierce bidding over the contracts to build studios and exotic sets for the first wave of films. Perhaps the biggest prize will be the contract for director Oliver Stone's Tiananmen Square, which will require the building of an exact duplicate of downtown Beijing. ... Additional sets include the surface of the planet Mercury, the city of Los Angeles in the 27th century, giant ice rinks and a functional volcano. Tracts of desert land would be converted to tropical rainforest, and riparian areas to the northeast would be landscaped to reproduce a Sahara-like setting. -- April 1, 1992
Max Cannon
Bill Clinton wins the White House: I am jazzed. After 12 years of mean-spirited, dollar-dominated class warfare, our nation now faces the encouraging prospect of rebirth, an awakening of the spirit of cooperation and suck-it-up, dig-down-deep and pull-together toil toward the common goal of getting the country out of debt and back into health and productivity. -- Hell-raisin' columnist Jeff Smith, Nov. 11, 1992
William Lesch
If Andrew Weil sounds like some kind of New Age nut, he's not. He's a Harvard-educated medical doctor, assistant director of the University of Arizona's Division of Social Perspectives in Medicine and the author of five books on alternative healing and consciousness-altering drugs, including a national best-seller. -- Carol Ann Bassett, March 10, 1993
Hope Kinchen
Environmental radicals with Earth First! invade Mount Graham to protest the UA's telescope project: The notion of 500 environmentalists with a healthy distaste for authority and a reputation for vandalism hanging out just spitting distance from the telescope site made university officials nervous. They scrambled their own police force and used political muscle to borrow every state trooper they could on a busy holiday weekend. They even got their hands on a helicopter from the National Guard. It was bound to be a hell of an Independence Day party. -- Jim Nintzel, July 7, 1993
Keating is almost a full-time resident of the courtroom, his holding company is bankrupt, and a criminal suit on behalf of bankrupt bondholders is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, but it is just one of many, many suits. The IRS is sniffing around his records; so is the SEC. An 80-year-old man has written a note and then committed suicide because the bonds he bought from Charlie Keating are suddenly worthless. -- An excerpt from Trust Me, an investigation into Charlie Keating's collapsed financial empire, by Michael Binstein and Charles Bowden, July 14, 1993
Hector Acuña
Hector Acua and Jim Nintzel recount the adventures of gun-toting, boozing Pima County Assessor Alan Lang in the Weekly's first-ever comic book! -- Feb. 16, 1994
Mark Luthringer
The northwest side of this valley is churning. The massive blading, grading and dozing that caused an environmental and NIMBY political revolt in 1984 is back--like Freddy or the Terminator. -- "Screw the Desert--We're From Marana," Emil Franzi, May 11, 1994
Valerie Galloway
For the past 15 years, Howe Gelb has been the murky, ceaselessly creative force behind Giant Sand, a jagged, restless guitar band that currently lives and works in Tucson's Barrio Viejo. -- Robert Baird, June 22, 1994
Hector Acuña
The Adventures of Dim Bulb, circa 1994
Can you get a bill passed in Capitoland? -- Hector Acua, Jim Nintzel and Sidney Philips, April 13, 1995
Brion McCarthy
I'm here to inform you of a marvelous new communications medium completely free of the dead tree matter you currently hold in your hands. A medium more colorful, flexible and gosh darn it, fun, than mere print--which we still think is pretty cool, of course. In short, I'm here to tell you about the soon-to-be mother of all media, the World Wide Web, and our newly bladed, graded and subdivided place on it. -- A. Bradley Dongass III, Tucson Weekly vice president in charge of sucking up, July 6, 1995
Hector Acuña
On the trail of UFOs! Submitted for your approval: Roswell, New Mexico, a quiet farming town where, nearly half a century ago, something came crashing down from the heavens. -- Jim Nintzel, July 20, 1995
Jessica Estrada
Paul Bear and Jeb Schoonover reopen downtown's Rialto Theatre: The Rialto folks are hopeful the theater renovation will be a turning point for the Arts District, providing "an entertainment magnet" to help make the Arts District work. -- Mari Wadsworth, Aug. 31, 1995
Jeff Scott
Let the water wars begin! -- Nov. 2, 1995
You know, Ev Mecham, for all his faults, is a better all-around human being, and certainly more honest, than this upper-crust, self-aggrandizing dildo masquerading as a leader. -- The Skinny on Gov. J. Fife Deadbeat III, March 28, 1996
Hector Acuña
El Chupacabra, as the creature is known, supposedly made its evil way to Tucson, where it reportedly landed behind a small rise off Tanque Verde Road. According to a spokeswoman for the Tucson chapter of MUFON (the "Mutual UFO Network"), the monster was observed coming out of the sky one mile east of Wentworth Road. It had an "8- to 10-foot wingspan, an 8-foot beak, was about 5 feet tall, and looked furry." It was also blue. -- Gregory McNamee and Luis Alberto Urrea, May 30, 1996
Janos Wilder gets the boot from downtown's Tucson Museum of Art: The fight over Janos has churned up opposing opinions on everything from the best kind of historic preservation to the rights of neighborhoods, from downtown revitalization to class and race relations in the city ... ." -- Margaret Regan, Oct. 3, 1996
If all the world's a play, then the race to unseat Supervisor Ed Moore is political theatre at its very finest. The three-way District 3 race is thick with intrigue: Pima County's most notorious politician, once again believed to be facing the final curtain; a neighborhood activist challenging a well-funded real estate broker; even accusations of drug dealing and money laundering. -- Jim Nintzel, Oct. 10, 1996
The pygmy owl makes the federal Endangered Species List: Members of the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity herald the listing as one of the last, best hopes for protecting desert riparian areas. Tucson's Growth Lobby and its supporters see the listing as a monkey wrench in the cogs of economic development and a misuse of the Endangered Species Act. -- Kevin Franklin, March 15, 1997
Republican Ray Carroll's first political campaign: It's with self-deprecating boxing stories that Carroll sometimes breaks the ice at political forums and engagements. He had to give up fighting, one of his stories goes, because of injuries to his hands. The refs kept stepping on them. -- Chris Limberis, Aug. 13, 1998
Don Diamond is the Tucson Weekly Man of the Millennium: The pharaonic power in these parts is Donald R. Diamond. For nearly 40 years now, Diamond has more or less appeared to preside over the no-holds-barred, helter-skelter growth of this once uniquely beautiful Sonoran Desert. No land developer has had more staying power, and certainly no single private individual currently wields more influence in Arizona business and politics. Powerful government leaders kiss his royal butt at every opportunity. -- Dec. 30, 1999
Hector Acuña
Migrant deaths have become so commonplace among the border, reports Linda Morales, a social worker who lives in Naco, Arizona, that they "don't even make the headlines here." -- Margaret Regan, Aug. 3, 2000
Hector Acuña
Hell no on the 2002 city transportation plan: The city doesn't need to spend huge amounts on experimental intersections that will destroy businesses. It shouldn't demonstrate contempt for voters by sidestepping the Neighborhood Protection Amendment or by blowing hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on propaganda. The city shouldn't support sprawl on the southeast side at taxpayer expense. Or continue to starve our bus system. -- May 2, 2002
Robin Hoover leads Humane Borders, a faith-based system of 33 member organizations that has set up water barrels along migrant routes through some of the most inhospitable borderland tracts in Arizona and California .... Just since June 6, at least 11 people died while crossing the border southwest of Tucson. -- James Reel, June 13, 2002
With his unruly hair, lively mustache and frequently rumpled wardrobe, Raúl Grijalva is not what you'd call a slick politician. But as a county supervisor, he's enjoyed tremendous support from the voters in District 5, which he has represented from 1988 until stepping down for the congressional run earlier this year. -- Jim Nintzel, Aug. 29, 2002
Hector Acuña
Is Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup a robot? Tucson Weekly psychic Stella Sabrina shares her predictions for the year ahead as Leo W. Banks and Jim Nintzel do their annual review of the year gone by. -- Dec. 26, 2002
War. -- March 27, 2003
Manuel Betancourt
When I told friends I'd be staying at the No-Tel Motel, one of them suggested I bring a black light so I could check the furniture for body fluids. At first, I thought it was a good idea. But when I saw the place, I decided that I really didn't want to know. -- Saxon Burns, Oct. 23, 2003
This is simple, people: Pay attention to what you're doing. Develop at least a minimal sensitivity to your immediate environment. Share some precious space on our overcrowded planet. Get out of the damn way. -- James Reel in our first Rant Issue, Feb. 26, 2004
Another April Fool's hoax promises downtown revitalization: "We've worked 20 long, hard years to get the Arts District just to the point where it's floating belly-up in the water," complains sculptor Barbara Gyrus. "Now they're trying to take it all away from us." Gyrus is particularly incensed by a rumor that City Councilwoman Kathleen Dunbar will be assigned responsibility for approving public-art projects. Gyrus and Dunbar nearly came to blows at a public meeting last fall to determine what to do with Gyrus' controversial public-art project called "Effluvium." Gyrus described the work as "an homage to the Central Arizona Project, in the style of Damien Hirst." Nearby homeowners objected to some of its imagery, including a steer dredged from the CAP canal and suspended in formaldehyde. -- April 1, 2004
Dr. David Stidham had completed his day, seeing the young patients he comforted with toys, and enjoying an office visit with his wife and their two young kids. It wasn't unusual for Stidham, a beloved children's ophthalmologist, to zip back to his North First Avenue office in the evening to use a computer. Stidham set his office alarm at 7:24 p.m. When a cleaning crew found him outside, his scrubs were drenched in blood. Stidham, 37, was ready to drive home in his 12-year-old Lexus coupe when an assailant thrust a knife into him 16 times and bashed his skull, leaving a two-inch fracture. -- Chris Limberis, April 28, 2005
Club Congress, which opened its doors 20 years ago initially as a tiny space that hosted a weekly themed party with performance artists called The Counter Club (an abbreviation of "counterculture"), and soon branched out into live music and dance nights, is not only still going strong; it has established itself as a famous venue that caters to musical tastes of every variety. -- Stephen Seigel, Sept. 1, 2005
In spite of frantic warnings from ecologists and land managers, and despite some valiant and surprisingly effective local efforts, the problem is now so acute that biologists view buffelgrass as an imminent threat to the entire Sonoran Desert ecosystem, and large-scale control efforts are only now getting underway. -- Renée Downing, March 30, 2006
Fearful that activist judges and their allies in the gay and lesbian community are out to destroy the sacred institution of marriage, the political committee Protect Marriage Arizona is pushing Prop 107, which asks voters to amend the state Constitution to limit marriage to unions between one man and one woman while also banning local jurisdictions from recognizing--or offering benefits to--domestic partnerships of both straight and gay couples, as the city of Tucson and Pima County now do. -- Jim Nintzel, July 20, 2006
Hector Acuña
Congressman Jim Kolbe's decision to retire rather than seek a 12th term has given Democrats a chance to win a seat in a year when Republicans are battling charges of incompetence (Iraq, Katrina), corruption (Texas Congressman Tom Delay, California Congressman Duke Cunningham, lobbyist Jack Abramoff) and dirty talk with underage boys (Florida Congressman Mark Foley). So far, the 8th District race has shaped up just as the Democrats had hoped. Last month, Republican nominee Randy Graf won a bruising primary with 43 percent of the vote, but his conservative image has some moderate Republicans quietly--and in some cases, openly--supporting Democrat Gabrielle Giffords, a former state senator who carried 54 percent in a less-contentious primary. -- Jim Nintzel, Oct. 12, 2006
The Weekly calls on readers to speak out against the proposed Rosemont Mine. -- Jan. 11, 2007
At layup spots such as this, the illegals change clothes to better blend into the American population. Everything they no longer need is tossed on the ground. Slimming down this way also allows them to squeeze more people into each getaway vehicle. This dump contains every form of human trash imaginable: plastic bottles, toothpaste and toothbrushes, cans of beans, foot powder, hand lotion, shoes, jackets, jeans, lemon for flavoring sodas, playing cards, Red Bull cans, plastic electrolyte bottles, Mexican League baseball cards, Old Spice deodorant, tuna and cat-food cans, girls' underwear, women's bras, toilet paper and several liquor bottles, from Viejo Brandy to Viva Villa! Aguardiente. -- Leo W. Banks, Feb. 15, 2007
Hector Acuña
More than a dozen of the 24 candidates on the Democratic ballot and nine of the 24 candidates on the GOP ballot in the Arizona presidential primary are participating in Project White House, a bold new experiment in Reality Journalism. These gutsy men and women are sharing their visions of leadership for our great nation. Over the next several weeks, the candidates will run the gauntlet of campaign challenges. Those who succeed will continue as part of Project White House; those who fail will be eliminated from the competition. The ultimate prize (besides the Arizona presidential primary): the coveted Tucson Weekly endorsement. -- Jim Nintzel, Jan. 3, 2008
The spacecraft will be traveling at a speed of close to 13,000 mph. Provided everything goes as planned over the next seven minutes, the Phoenix will be slowed by friction to less than twice the speed of sound before it pops a parachute and sheds the heat shields that were designed to protect it during the entry into the atmosphere. A set of legs will flip out from the bottom of the Phoenix as it falls. When the craft's radar indicates that it's within a kilometer of the surface, the craft will jettison the chute and fire landing thrusters as it touches down in an area of the northern arctic plains that's been dubbed "Green Valley"--a spot that has been extensively mapped by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. At 4:36 p.m., Tucson time, the Phoenix should be on Mars. About 17 minutes later, the UA Lunar and Planetary Lab team hopes to start getting signals at Mission Control--a rehabbed warehouse at Drachman Street and Sixth Avenue. Once the Phoenix is on the ground, two large solar panels will unfold, and the LPL team will start the latest investigation into the secrets of Mars. -- Jim Nintzel, May 22, 2008
If changes aren't made in Pima County's Elections Division, it is going to be difficult to convince people like Mike Hayes that all is well in Electionsville. Hayes admits he's not as rabid as some elections-integrity activists, but the more he looks at what's come out the last two years, the more his doubts grow and linger. Hayes' interest in elections didn't begin until January, when some election-integrity activists, including Democratic Party attorney Bill Risner, started coming forth with suspicions that the May 2006 Regional Transportation Authority election may have been flipped. -- Mari Herreras, Oct. 23, 2008
