Last night's free Artists for Action Voter Registration Concert and Rally at the Marquee Theatre in Phoenix featured local acts including Calexico, Sergio Mendoza y la Orkesta, Salvador Duran and Miniature Tigers. The 1,500 people that showed up signed pledges to vote Nov. 2 and new voters registered at the door before jamming out.

We've got more photos and some songs for you after the jump!

Stephen Colbert might be the conservative alternative to Jon Stewart, but they both offered congratulations to McCain on his primary victory earlier this week.

I wasn't able to join the Roundtable gang today, but I did visit with Bill Buckmaster and Christopher Conover of Arizona Public Media to talk about the primary election on Wednesday.

More context than our local TV news stations!

From The Onion:

Following a series of embarrassingly backward laws recently enacted in Arizona, Texas governor Rick Perry pledged Wednesday to do everything in his power to reestablish his state as the most regressive in the nation. "I commend Arizona for its commitment to exceedingly draconian social policies, but [Arizona Governor] Jan Brewer should know that we still have some real doozies up our sleeve," said Perry, referring to Arizona's passage of the strictest immigration law in recent U.S. history, as well as its measures allowing concealed weapons to be carried without a permit and banning ethnic studies programs in public schools. "Don't forget, we just put an ultraconservative stamp on our educational curriculum that's going to affect the textbooks the whole country uses, and I'm still the only governor nutso enough to float secession. Mark my words, we'll be back and more fucked up than ever!" Sources close to Perry said that Texas may soon start storing undocumented migrant workers in dog cages while courts decide their immigration status, though Arizona plans to counter with a giant cannon that will be used to shoot anyone with a skin tone darker than ochre who crosses the border from Mexico.

Metropolitan Grill (7892 N. Oracle Road) reopens this weekend with a slightly different name, a revamped menu and an overhauled interior featuring work by several local artists.

Gone are the white walls at what is now Metropolitan Grill: America’s Kitchen. Art by Joe Pagac, the man responsible for those incredible murals on the side of the Rialto Theatre, line the walls, which have been repainted with rich hues. A huge American-flag mural made out of broken dishes takes up another wall. The front door features art by Johnny Vegas of Hi Speed Custom Car Shop.

On the menu: Burgers, wood-fired pizzas, seafood, spring lamb, Angus beef and all sorts of other items, including favorites from the old Metropolitan Grill menu. There are vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, too, and happy hour all day, every day, with $4 glasses of wine and mixed drinks, and beers starting at $2.25. Live music takes place in the bar at 7 p.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Check out some pictures of the new décor after the jump:

TUSD is having a student shoe drive on Saturday, Aug. 28 at Buffalo Exchange, 2001 East Speedway Blvd., from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. More info from the press release:

The start of the 2010-2011 school year finds many Tucson Unified School District students’ families suffering during these difficult economic times. These families are aided by the TUSD Clothing Bank,... which provides free clothing and shoes to students who qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. Currently the clothing bank has an immediate need for school appropriate shoes.

The Educational Enrichment Foundation and Voices for Education are teaming up with Buffalo Exchange to collect shoes and clothing for the Tucson Unified School Clothing Bank, Saturday, August 28 from 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Buffalo Exchange on 2001 East Speedway Boulevard. We are seeking new and gently used shoes and clothing for boy and girls ages 5-18. The goal for this event is to provide at least 100 pairs of shoes for the TUSD clothing bank.

Questions about this event, please call Voices for Education at 324-0881 or the Educational Enrichment Foundation at 325-8688

Since he's out of the picture now, I wonder if the organization will consider replacing him with waffle-matic McCain?

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is responsible for a law that is nothing short of a state takeover of a federal power. While debate over SB 1070 could have been a catalyst for a much-needed national conversation about immigration reform, Brewer used the bill to inspire fear.

Immigrants' List also works to educate the public about what's fact and what's fiction when it comes to U.S. immigration. Check out their myth and fact sheet here.

They're still counting votes in the GOP AG race between Tom Horne and Andrew Thomas. Jeremy Duda of the Arizona Capitol Times reports:

Tom Horne holds a razor-thin lead over Andrew Thomas in the Republican primary for attorney general, but with about 124,000 votes left to be counted, the final outcome may not be clear for several days.

With about 474,000 votes counted, Horne holds a 454-vote lead over Thomas. But with nearly 112,000 early ballots and 12,000 provisional ballots still uncounted, the race could still swing either way. Arizona’s 15 county recorder’s offices have until Tuesday to finish counting the ballots, said Secretary of State’s Office spokesman Matt Benson.

“I would expect that they’ll take the entirety of that time. I expect that they’ll be processing ballots Tuesday,” Benson said.

Read the whole thing here.

• Michael Schennum/The Arizona Republic

Since it's official John Huppenthal is going to be the Republican challenger for Superintendent of Public Instruction, I thought it would be good to remind everyone of last year's court hearing when the Hup defended taking on an old lady over a political sign. Somehow I don't see Democrat Penny Kotterman doing this, even if the old lady turned out to be a Republican-public education hater.

From a story in The Arizona Republic here:

"I started to pull out and all of a sudden the door opened and it scared the heck out of me. This lady was coming into my car, and I thought, 'I'm being hijacked by an older woman,' " he said.

Tonight's latest election numbers from the Secretary of State's office:

DUGAN, MARGARET (REP) 27.79% 123,912 votes
HUPPENTHAL, JOHN (REP) 58.31% 260,035 votes
PRICE, BETH (REP) 13.50% 60,209 votes

KOTTERMAN, PENNY (DEM) 65.46% 164,139 votes
WILLIAMS, JASON (DEM) 33.59% 84,223 votes

The attorney general race is close between Vulcan, er, Republicans Tom Horne and Andrew Thomas:

HORNE, TOM (REP) 49.78% 236,454 votes
THOMAS, ANDREW P. (REP) 49.69% 236,021 votes

LUJAN, DAVID (DEM) 40.42% 102,405 votes
RABAGO, VINCE (DEM) 17.67% 44,779 votes
ROTELLINI, FELECIA (DEM) 40.92% 103,684 votes