• Photo by Otto Ross/ArizonaNewsService.com
• Kamanda and Poly Graf flank Georgia W. Tush during a roller derby match at the Tucson Indoor Sports Center.

The wild women of roller derby are back into action.

Erica Nannini of Arizona News Service reports:

Eye-gouging and hair-pulling are no-nos.

Light jabbing, pushing and diving into opponents, however, are completely legal in the Tucson Roller Derby women's league.

In the first international showdown at the Tucson Indoor Sports Center, Montreal's New Skids on the Block came skating in with toy noses, lime green T-shirts and the hunger for a win over the Tucson Roller Derby Saddletramps.

But the hell-raisin' home team, donned in black uniforms, was not prepared to be overthrown by

Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club sends us this dispatch:

“The long fight to save wild beauty represents democracy at its best. It requires citizens to practice the hardest of virtues—self-restraint." —Edwin Way Teale.

Hi everyone! That whole self-restraint concept is lost on the majority in each house of the Arizona Legislature as they pass bill after bill that will harm our state, its people, and its air, water, and wildlife. What is up with that anyway? There have been few years in the time I have been following the antics of the legislature where I have seen such a collection of truly terrible bills advance, the way they are this year. And speaking of truly terrible bills . . . .

SB1200 NOW: game and fish commission; recommendation board (Nelson) passed out of the House on Thursday 36-19-5 and is on its way to the Governor. Please contact Governor Brewer and ask her to veto SB1200. Yes, it is a long-shot, but giving up is just not an option. This bill ensures that the larger public will have no role in wildlife management and codifies in law the good ol’ boy system. It sets up the Arizona Game and Fish Commission appointment recommendation board, which is made up of narrowly defined hunting organizations, one member of the public, and one rancher. The purpose of this board is to interview Game and Fish Commission candidates and make recommendations to the Governor — she/he has to pick a commissioner from among those recommendations. Any candidate for Game and Fish will have to pass this group’s litmus tests.

You can contact Governor Brewer by calling her at

• Photo by Michael Malinski

"Woman with Crown of Flowers," ca. 2006-2008, acrylic on canvas, by David Tineo, is among the works in ¡Viva David Tineo!, at the Tucson Museum of Art, 140 N. Main Ave. From the collection of Donna Al-Ghurab, Tucson, Ariz.

You can check out that show (and the ongoing shows featuring work by Andy Warhol and Ed Mell) at the Crush Wine, Food, Art Festival coming up on April 9-10. Details on the delicious fundraiser here.

TMA notes about Tineo:

Since his first public work in 1976, Tineo has painted more than 80 murals and created another 120 with members of neighborhood associations, youth programs and school children. Perhaps his best-known artwork is Nuestras Raices Humanas (Our Roots), painted in collaboration with Antonio Pazos in 1992. This monumental painting hangs in the Plaza of the Pioneers at the Tucson Museum of Art and epitomizes

Help a UA grad student and take this survey to determine basic bicycling needs of downtown Tucson. Go here.

Christopher Conover of KUAT-TV's Arizona Illustrated gives us an update of how the federal health-care plan creates a big hole in the state budget that was approved last week because the state will be obligated to continue to provide health-care coverage to kids and poor people. Watch it after the jump.

Well, Republicans were warned that they were jumping the gun by cutting the services. Even without the new federal plan, it was a boneheaded move that was going to result in the loss of more than $1.5 billion in federal matching funds, hurt hospitals and insurance companies, and cause massive job losses in the health-care industry, which is one of the few sectors of the economy that had increased jobs in recent years.

Meanwhile, Howie reports that rather than deal with this colossal misstep, Gov. Jan Brewer wants to play political games in the courts. This week's special session isn't set to deal with the problem of restoring KidsCare; it's to establish the ability to file suit against the feds because Attorney General Terry Goddard won't take the case:

In the interim, time is limited: The budget Brewer signed into law earlier this month eliminates the Kids Care program which provides nearly free health insurance for children of the “working poor,” effective June 15. That’s designed to save $18 million.

The federal legislation, however, spells out that any state which reduces its current health programs below current levels immediately forfeits the right to future health care dollars from Washington.

Gubernatorial press aide Paul Senseman said Brewer won’t ask lawmakers to fund that $18 million now, wanting to wait to see if

Leo W. Banks, who has been covering border issues for years, brings us news that Rob Krentz was killed yesterday in the Chiricahua Corridor.

Leo—who has written about the Krentz family before (see here)—says:

Cochise County rancher Rob Krentz was shot and killed on his ranch some time Saturday, presumably by a drug smuggler.

The death, which being investigated as a homicide, occurred in the San Bernardino Valley, part of the Malpais region. The event has rocked the towns of Douglas and Portal, and the ranches in between, both of which have been under siege by cross-border smugglers for years.

As the Weekly has reported, the situation in the so-called Chiricahua Corridor has deteriorated lately, leaving residents fearful that an episode of this kind was inevitable. The grief is great for the Krentz family and their many friends throughout Southeast Arizona; Krentzes have been ranching in Cochise County for more than a century.

The Weekly has received word that a representative for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has placed calls to Cochise County, trying to set up a community meeting, either Monday or Tuesday at 11 a.m., possibly at the Apache School. The Giffords' rep making the arrangements said it is possible she will ask the president to place military units in the besieged area

A source tells the Weekly the practical impact of Giffords' actions might be small, but at least she is paying attention. The source said, "Kolbe laughed at us when we complained, and McCain worries about getting his patent leather shoes dirty when he's down here."

Tonight at The Shanty: Drinking Liberally presents a screening of The Cove, which recently won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Details here.

It sounds pretty disturbing, based on what we read at Wikipedia:

The movie follows former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry's quest to document the dolphin hunting operations in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. In the 1960s, O'Barry captured and trained the five wild dolphins who would play the role of "Flipper" in the hit television series of the same name. This pop-culture phenomenon fueled widespread public adoration of dolphins. It was when one of the dolphins committed a form of suicide in his arms, closing her blowhole voluntarily in order to suffocate, that O'Barry came to see it as a curse not a blessing. Days later, he found himself off the island of Bimini, attempting to cut a hole in the sea pen in order to set free a captured dolphin.[9] Since then O'Barry has worked tirelessly as an advocate on behalf of dolphins around the world.

After meeting with O'Barry, Psihoyos and his crew travel to the small town of Taiji, a town that appears to be devoted to the wonder of the dolphins and whales that swim off their coast. But in an isolated cove, surrounded by wire and "Keep Out" signs, some of the townspeople hide a stark reality. It is here that the fisherman of Taiji, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and a dubious and artificial market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in the unseen killing. Local volunteers physically block attempts by outsiders to view the dolphin killing taking place in the cove. Together with the Oceanic Preservation Society, Psihoyos, O'Barry, and the crew utilize special tactics and embark on a mission to get the truth on what is really going on in the cove and why it matters to everyone else in the world.

The New York Times covers the McCain/Palin rally at the Pima County Fairgrounds:

Ms. Palin, Alaska’s former governor, is the latest in a parade of prominent Republicans coming to Mr. McCain’s aid in Arizona. In recent weeks, he has stood side by side with Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential rival. And Jeb Bush has endorsed his candidacy from afar.

But it is an open question what effect the endorsements will have in a state where Mr. McCain is well known and suspicion is running far deeper than during his previous races for re-election. Mr. Hayworth, who has drawn the support of several Tea Party followers and other conservative activists, welcomed Ms. Palin to Arizona but doubted that her seal of approval for Mr. McCain would mean much to voters.

“What we’re seeing from the governor is a very understandable example of gratitude,” Mr. Hayworth said. “After all, it was John who really gave her an entree to the national stage.”

Throughout their presidential campaign, Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin often drew differing strains of Republican voters to their rallies. When the two merged on Friday, the differences were even more pronounced. In six interviews with people in the crowd, five said that they had come to see Ms. Palin and were uncertain about Mr. McCain.

“I love Sarah! I wish she was the president now,” said Shirley Daniel, 65, a Tucson nurse. “I’m not as much of a supporter of John. He’s a good man, but I think his time has come. I think Hayworth would be a better candidate for the Senate.”

Miguel Ortega, an aide to Tucson City Councilwoman Karin Uhlich, announced on Facebook this morning that he was seeking a seat on the Tucson Unified School District Board this November.

Current TUSD board member Bruce Burke has already said he won't seek re-election this year. Current board member Adelita Grijalva, daughter of Congressman Raul Grijalva, is also up for re-election.

Dan Shearer of the Green Valley News joins Linda, Bill and me on Arizona Illustrated's Friday Roundtable.

Lots to talk about this week, including health-care reform, the gubernatorial race, CD8, the possibility that Rodney Glassman may have some competition from Nan Walden in the Democratic race for Sen. John McCain's seat and the Rosemont mine.