The Pima County Republican Party has been stocking up on cash lately to boost Senate Prez Tim Bee's campaign against Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in CD8, mostly because the national GOP doesn't want to put any money into the amateur operation state GOP chair Randy Pullen is running up in Phoenix. (Remember when Karl Rove did a Pima County GOP fund raiser instead of helping out the state party?)

Looks like the Pima GOP has so much money sitting around that they maxed out with a pair of $5,000 contributions to Darren White, a Republican candidate running a tight race for Congress over in New Mexico's First Congressional District. FEC records show the mighty generous $10K was delivered on March 20.

Coincidentally enough, the Republican Campaign Committee of New Mexico appears just as generous when it comes to Bee. Just six days after Pima County invested in White's candidacy, the RCCNM sent two $5,000 checks to Bee's campaign.

The parties would never collude to get around that pesky $10K limit, would they?

The good folks at Wingspan sent out an action alert late this afternoon regarding the Center for Arizona Policy's return with a marriage amendment set for vote tomorrow in the state house.

Here's the alert from Wingspan; now, get on the phone and get to work:

http://www.wingspan.org/content/news_wingspan_details.php?story_id=500

Our sleepy little downtown sure did wake up for Club Crawl last night! We closed down the streets and had somewhere around 100 bands playing on stages everywhere. Plus, hey, when else can you carry a to-go cup of cold beer out the doors of the Rialto Theatre and onto Congress Street? For a second there, it felt kinda like the French Quarter.

Here's Al Perry performing at the Rialto, as reported by Tucson Weekly TV correspondent Laura Hassett.

The Arizona Legislature and Gov. Janet Napolitano managed to put together a budget plan to resolve the current fiscal year's $1.2 billion shortfall, which takes care of the immediate problem of the state running out of money before the fiscal year concludes on June 30. Howie Fischer of Capitol Media Services has details.

Big surprise: Universities have to cut more than $14 million out of their spending in the next 10 weeks.

Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club has the run-down on some of the environmental hits; she notes: "You will be happy to know that they protected the abstinence-only program while sweeping dollars for clean air."

But the budget deal solves less than half the problem. As Howie points out, the upcoming fiscal year has an even bigger shortfall--estimates run in the $2 billion neighborhood--and lawmakers plucked all the low-hanging fruit to perform this year's balancing act. That means, ultimately, that lawmakers and the governor will have to craft a big combo of borrowing to build schools and cuts to government programs, which will be the center of the conversation between now and the end of the session.

We're told that members of House Appropriations Committee aren't happy that they were bypassed in the negotiations, but there's a simple reason for that: Rep. Russell Pearce, chair of approps, is so difficult to negotiate with that leadership has pretty much recognized that there's no point in including him in the conversation. So instead they just ignored him and his committee.

It's here! It's Club Crawl-rific! It's McCainalicious!

Feel free to comment on it here. And enjoy this week's video Ask a Mexican!

While the Forest Service is having public meetings to discuss the Augusta/Rosemont mining issue (public hearings, not listening meetings), friends from the Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, Rincon Institute, Empire-Fagan Coalition and the Cienega Watershed Partnership are getting together to have their own meeting--thank you very much! 

On Thursday, April 17, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. is "Mining and the Impacts in the Vail Area --A Public Meeting," at Empire High School, 10701 E. Mary Ann Cleveland Way (1/4 mile east of Houghton Road). 

The meeting is free, and while the groups are probably not planning to bus in potential mining employees, Augusta reps need not worry about showing their faces. For more information, call 495-4339, or e-mail [email protected].

I just got a call from a friend who lives in the vicinity of Campbell and Grant saying that there was a huge power outage.

Yep, there is and it affected a wide area between Ina Road to the north, 22nd Street to the south, Alvernon Way to the east and Camino de la Terra to the west.

You can read more about it.

My worst power outage experience was when I worked in Los Angeles and was on the 17th floor of a downtown office building. We lost power after an earthquake. Walking down all those flights in the dark as aftershocks shook the building has put an indelible fear of claustrophic darkness on my brain.

Our son's first obsession was dinosaurs. By the age of 4, he had memorized a variety of species, and knew enough to ask us why the T-Rex was the bad guy in Jurassic Park (the T-Rex wasn't around during the Jurassic period).

 The next obsession was Pokémon and more figures and creatures to memorize. 

Dinosaurs and Pokémon remain important interests in his life (and ours by default), but last year, he stumbled on Ben 10, a TV show on the Cartoon Network. I was told I need to tell you about it, because this Friday is the premiere of a new season--Ben 10 Alien Force. 

I must confess that as my son gets involved in different things, I do, too. Dinos are cool, I tell you! I've spent road trips going to dino exhibits at science centers up and down the West Coast.

And Pokémon grows on you. While odd at times, it has some good values to pass along--those Pokémon are kind of cute and all. 

Ben 10, however, really appeals to my inner sci-fi geek. It's about this 8-year-old kid, Ben, who goes on a summer road trip with his grandfather (in a live action movie they did last year, Grandpa Max was played by Lee Majors!) and his first cousin, Gwen. Ben takes a walk in the woods only to find this odd wrist band that gets on his wrist--and can never come off. It allows him to transform into 10 different aliens, help people and have adventures that last all summer. 

Summer as depicted on TV can only last so long. Ben 10 Alien Force gives us a Ben that is a little older and wiser, and a new group of 10 additional aliens (and a new series of alien action figures, sold at store near you!). His cousin Gwen is there doing her cool magic thing, and of course, that old loveable and adventurous alien-fighting Grandpa Max is back, too. 

I hope they keep the current theme song that I swear sounds like Jane Wiedlin from the Go-Go’s, who now seems to make a living as a reoccurring Wiccan band-member character in new Scooby-Doo movies and sings those songs that still show the gang running back and forth from the mean-old-guy-turned-monster. 

I leave you with one more recommendation--the new Ben 10 game Forever Defense. My son has a couple of game tips, but you can figure it out for yourself.

And watch, Ben 10 Alien Force on Friday, April 18.

Our condolences go out to Pima County Board of Supervisor Chairman Richard Elias, whose mother has passed away due to complications from diabetes.

Viola B. Elias, 75, passed away April 11. The funeral mass will be at St. Augustine's Cathedral on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Elias and his family ask that donations in her memory be made to the Renovation of St. Augustine's Cathedral Placita and Hall or the American Diabetes Association. 

In the obituary published in the Tucson Citizen on Tuesday, Elias' mother is described as someone with a "sense of humor and passionate heart." 

Always good traits to pass down to children who end up in public office.

Today and tomorrow, from 4 to 6:30 p.m., 150 UA students will argue and deliberate on topics they've researched from the war in Iraq to student debt. If you love to argue and have a hankering to join in, the public is invited to participate in other forums that include discussions and presentations on universal healthcare, global warming, immigration and the war. 

The United We Argue: Doing Democracy Forum takes place today from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the Modern Languages Building in Rooms 204, 311, and 312; and tomorrow in Psychology Building 205, 207, and 306. 

According to the PR:

This deliberative forum provides students in writing courses with an opportunity to examine the issues that are at the center of current political campaigns.  The number of younger voters who are stepping up to vote in the current primaries has more than doubled since the last presidential primaries  College-aged voters could be decisive in the upcoming presidential election.  This forum provides an opportunity to hear what those voters are thinking.  Each panel will feature three to four speakers and will include ample time for follow up discussions. 

Registration begins at 3:30 today in the main staircase of the Modern Languages Building and 5:30 tomorrow in the courtyard of the Psychology Building.

 

The students come from the writing classes of Adrienne Crump, Jennifer Haley, Marissa Juarez, Faith Kurtyka, Jessica Shumake, and Professor Thomas Miller. For more info, call Prof. Miller at 307-5482 or [email protected].