Steve Aiken, who was fired from his job as campaign spokesman for congressional candidate Randy Graf, has now lost his gig as a radio talk-show host for KVOI AM 690. Aiken's employment troubles were triggered last week when ABC News.com reported that he had been convicted of corrupting the morals of two teenage girls who were in his Christian counseling program in the mid-'90s. Details can be found in this week's Skinny—and tune into next week's edition for more details.

Got this in the ol' e-mail ...

Jimmy,

Tucson has been named one of the “chillest” cities in America by Sperling’s Bestplaces.

Baileys Liqueur conducted a unique study utilizing specific criteria suited around residents spending time or “chilling” together. The survey analyzed/compared the 100 most populous cities in America.

After reading your paper and different articles, I thought this could fit in the “City Life” section, which points out different info on the city of Tucson.

 If only we had a "City Life" section ...

So last night about 6 p.m., we received a humdinger of a cloudburst at the Weekly's south-central bureau (aka my house). It was actually kind of cool and useful, seeing that the storm served as a test-drive of sorts for my brand-new roof. (Unfortunately, the test drive revealed some leaks, which led to a huffy voicemail being left for the roofer. But that's another story.)

While I am not sure how much rain we received, we certainly received some, yet according to the National Weather Service, Tucson—meaning the airport—got none. Of course, the airport's eight miles away from the south-central bureau, but still ...

However, this was nothing compared to a couple of weeks ago, when Weekly World Central received what I would guess was a half-inch during a half-hour of parking-lot-flooding rain. And the airport—less than two miles away—recorded a trace.

I just don't get it.

I've been resisting posting this for two days now, because I don't want this blog to turn into a board for irrelevant crap ... but this is just too freaking strange, hilarious and full of nonsense, and I can't resist.

It's apparently some sort of emergency English video for travelers or something. But it still makes no darned sense.

Do most of our idiot legislators have their priorities misplaced, or what?

Who cares about education? Or the rising inequities in society? All is well now, because it's a law that classrooms have flags.

It seems that color is a hot topic in Tucson right now.

First there’s the gaily hued La Placita Village downtown. I remember the first time I saw it. It was Thanksgiving Day 2000. I had just moved to Tucson. A friend was visiting, and I put a turkey in the oven and decided to explore the city. We drove downtown and she said, “Drive over THERE! Something is tall and purple.”  Since then, many of my touristy friends (which includes people who live in the foothills and never go south of River Road) who have had equal awe for the Placita peacock, even my neutrally prone brother. It fits with the purple mountains majesties and the intrinsically colored barrio. It’s a landmark that should not ever be painted beige or even some standard pastel desert colors. There’s already too much beige in this town.  

Another rainbow of sorts is that really bad idea—the proposed rainbow bridge at the UA Science Center. I think the science center could be a good idea, but the rainbow bridge is not for far too many reasons to mention here. Let’s just say that it ranks down there with the previous suggestion of an aquarium. There are rainbow bridges elsewhere, but if you Google "rainbow bridge," the first definition is:

“Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable…”  You’ll have to read it for yourself; it brings tears to my eyes. The rainbow bridge is pet heaven.

Let’s ditch the name rainbow bridge. Even a golden arch is preferable.

'Cause that's how much www.impeachthepresident.com is allegedly selling for. Impeachthepresident.org is also available, for who knows how much. Figures.

But the interesting thing is, impeachthepresident.com was first registered Nov. 2, 2000, but the .org domain name wasn't created until December 2005. And even more interesting: Who registered these domain names, and why hasn't anything been done with them? I mean, what comes up when you type in http://www.impeachthepresident.com is one of those search-engine fronts poorly disguised as a political page—note the links on the sidebar on the left: It starts out with "President," but then quickly turns to "Cheap Airfare" and "Meet Singles." I also love the picture of the girl holding what looks like a naked credit card and lots of cash. The heading says, "Fundraising." Even funnier: You click on it, and it gives you links to fundraising ideas, like selling first-aid kits or coupons called "Scratch and Help."

What the (*^)& is wrong with us?

Unless anyone wants to go in on a Scratch and Help fundraiser to raise $2,100 ...

Ward 6 Council Member Nina Trasoff is inviting everyone to an open house about the environment on June 22 from 4 to 7 p.m.

More than 25 participating organizations will cover such topics as alternative travel and travel reduction, resource conservation, green building techniques and examples, biological preservation, and more. Let’s put your creative minds to work.

The Arizona Jazz Academy will perform from 4:30 to 6 p.m., and light refreshments will be served. Ward 6 council office is located at 3202 E. First St. For more info, call 791-4601. 

The fire burning between Sedona and Flagstaff has the potential to get very ugly, very fast, it seems. Given the fire danger all across the Southwest, thanks to all sorts of things (invasive plant species, bad fire management and, of course, the drought), this should serve as warning.

If you live in an area where fires could strike, make evacuation plans. (This one I strongly recommend. My parents had to evacuate their house several years ago, and in the panic, my mom managed to grab the dogs just fine, but forgot her and my father's prescriptions. And leashes for the dogs. MAKE A LIST!) Make sure there's defensible space around your house. Do the smart thing. It could save your house and maybe even your life.

This has been our public service announcement for the day. Thanks for reading. We now return this blog to its regular, um, blogging.

Sure, there are waaay too many reality shows out there, but I implore you to suck it up and watch one more for the team. "The team" in this case is my cousin's jump team, who are contestants on the new NBC show America's Got Talent. My cousin Greg jumps off of trampolines and does flips in the air and then slam dunks basketballs (click on "Video" and then "Slam Dunk Tumblers" to see for yerself—my cousin's the white dude). He may not be from Tucson, but his family is, so he's a hometown boy by association.So Wednesday night, June 21, 8 p.m. Channel 4--- you'll be there, right?