Mayoral candidate (for now) Marshall Home™ visited the Drinking Liberally function at the Shanty last night, and while there's precisely zero chance that Home, who has apparently "trademarked" his name, will be Tucson's next mayor, I appreciate that he seems to be around specifically for my amusement. "Arizona Roadrunner" (really with the pseudonyms?) reported on the excitement for Blog for Arizona:

Regardless of his, shall we say, utilitarian Democratic affiliation, Marshall is what I would call an extreme idiosyncratic constitutitionalist; the sort of person who claims we are all sovereign citizens. He believes citizens are not subject to statutory laws or taxation (unless you are an employee of the government), in radically reduced government, that the Federal Reserve should be abolished, government debt is a fraud, and judges are merely administrators of the federal corporation FDR declared bankrupt as part of the New Deal. In other words, he is one of the those people who wholly rejects the legitimacy of the Federal government and the entire modern bureaucratic state, a.k.a. a nut. Nice enough fellow, but certifiably a nut.

Marshall claims to be a multi-billionaire. I very much doubt that this vast wealth exists outside his own mind and a slew of specious default judgments obtained through the very court system he considers corrupt and illegitimate. He claims to have made his vast fortune by forming partnerships with people who have debts and then proving those debts to be fraudulent and taking a fee for his service. In this way, he represents litigants before the courts without having to be an attorney.

He claims to have a series of $500 million dollar default claims against a series of Arizona public officials, including Brewer, Bennett, and Martin, totaling $3.5 billion. He admits that he considers these judgments as part of his estate. Marshall also claims to have a default judgment against the city itself for $5 million dollars: I guess he doesn't need to worry about drawing a salary if elected, he can just enforce his judgment. In short, reports of his personal wealth are exaggerated at best, and more likely wholly fictive. I look forward to his financial disclosure, if he actually gets that far.

The Tucson Padres break a three-game losing streak on Sunday with a win in Sacramento. Tim Hagerty of the Padres fills us in:

One day after falling behind in the first inning, it was the Tucson Padres who struck first, scoring three times in the first inning Sunday. The Padres beat Sacramento 7-5, ending a three game losing streak. Jesus Guzman hit a three-run double in the first, after the Padres had two walks and a single ahead of him to load the bases. Jon Leicester excelled as a starter for the second time since joining the rotation from the bullpen, pitching five shutout innings. In Leicester’s previous start, he pitched four shutout innings against Fresno.

The Padres built a 6-0 lead by the fourth inning before Sacramento scored twice each in the sixth and seventh. Luis Perdomo relieved Scott Munter in the eighth, left two River Cats on base, and then went on to pitch a scoreless ninth for his first save. Eddy Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with his first Triple-A home run, and Guzman went 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Greg Burke was ejected by home plate umpire Dixon Stureman in the seventh inning for arguing a pitch Burke believed should have been strike three to Adrian Cardenas during Sacramento’s rally.

The Padres are now 7-11, three games behind first place Sacramento in the South Division. Wade LeBlanc, recalled by the San Diego Padres earlier in the day, pitched a career high eight innings against the Phillies, allowing three runs in the loss.

The Padres start a four-game homestand at Kino Stadium this Thursday, April 28, which happens to be a Thirsty Thursday, sponsored by your friends at the Tucson Weekly, KMSB Fox 11 and KHIT. Beer and soft drinks are just one buck! And on Saturday, the club heads over to Hi Corbett Field for Turn Back the Clock Night. Be there!

ESPN's E:60 looks at the life of Christina-Taylor Green:

Jaimee Rose's article in today's Arizona Republic manages to be encouraging and realistic regarding Rep. Giffords' progress after the January 8th shooting. As it seems, she has both come a long way and still has a long way to go:

Many other things are different since Giffords' brain was pierced by a bullet during the shootings near Tucson on Jan. 8. Her hair is short, maybe 2 inches long, says Pia Carusone, her chief of staff, so there are scars on her scalp that show through. Eventually, her hair will cover them. A thin scar across the top of her forehead is healing well and fading, and her face, though sometimes swollen, is otherwise the same as before, Carusone says.

Giffords speaks most often in a single word or declarative phrase: "love you," "awesome," even "get out" to doctors in her room at the end of a taxing day. She longs to leave the rehab center, repeating "I miss Tucson" and wheeling herself to the doors at the end of the hall to peer out. When that day comes, Giffords told her nurse, she plans to "walk a mountain."

Longer sentences frustrate Giffords. She must search her brain for the words she wants, which feels like trying to pull out the name of a familiar face you can't quite place, her doctors say. Once she builds the sentence in her mind, she speaks clearly and at a normal rate, and can offer as many words as she has the patience to string together. The doctor overseeing her rehabilitation places her in the top 5 percent of patients recovering from this injury.

It's hard to say what's going to happen at the Tucson Unified School District governing board meeting on Tuesday, April 26, regarding the future of TUSD’s ethnic-studies courses—particularly Mexican-American studies.

There's a 30-minute call to the audience at the meeting, which starts at 4 p.m. at 1010 E. 10th St. Here's the agenda: April_26_agenda.pdf.

If logic were brought into play, you'd think we'd be having a different discussion on Tuesday. But there's no logic when it comes to ethnic studies, only strange political maneuverings and opportunism—and the result is heartbreaking.

On Tuesday, TUSD board president Mark Stegeman will bring a resolution to change the existing ethnic-studies classes—currently available to students as requirement-fulfilling courses for English and history—into watered-down classes offered only as electives.

We have to think back to how all of this started, when then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne deemed ethnic studies un-American, Satan-worshiping liberal-brain washing, and on and on and on. Mind you, he never visited a Mexican-American studies classroom.

If Horne's concerns were real, he would have gone into those classrooms, but he never did. That's because the case against these classes has always been about political opportunism.

Because Stegeman is a Democrat, the Southern Arizona Unity Coalition’s Solomon Baldenegro Jr. sent e-mails and began a Facebook campaign asking people to call all TUSD governing board members and Democratic Party officials, asking them to pressure Stegeman to pull the resolution from Tuesday’s agenda. They are also sending out e-mails to board member Miguel Cuevas, considered the third vote needed to pass Stegeman’s resolution, with Stegeman and Michael Hicks being the other two probable votes.

Plush is a great place to dance, drink and get down in general—and now they serve food, too.

It’s the smallest of menus: Several panini, a cheese plate, olives and other things that might go nicely with a drink or two.

They also open earlier now, around 11 a.m., and serve coffee, according to the nice gentleman working yesterday afternoon.

Leila Lopez and Sunday Afternoon (in their farewell show) are playing tonight. More information over yonder.

The scrappy Tucson Padres' valiant attempt at a comeback last night fell short, but Anthony Rizzo knocked another ball out of the park. Rizzo is batting an astonishing .452 as of last night.

Details from the Padres' Tim Hagerty:

The Tucson Padres scored three times with two outs in the ninth inning Friday, but fell to the Fresno Grizzlies 9-8. All three runs came with two outs, and gave the Padres hope after falling behind 9-5 earlier in the game. The Padres split the four game series with Fresno and ended up 3-5 in their inaugural homestand.

Fresno scored twice in the second inning off Rob Musgrave, who was transferred from Double-A San Antonio earlier in the day. Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third to tie the game, his sixth home run of the season. Rizzo is now leading the PCL in batting average (.452) and RBIs (24), and is tied for the league lead in home runs.

Down 5-2, the Padres scored once in the bottom of the fifth on a Logan Forsythe sacrifice fly and then twice more in the sixth inning to tie the game when Cedric Hunter walked with the bases loaded and Everth Cabrera reached on an error by pitcher Wilmin Rodriguez. Two innings later, the Grizzlies scored four times against Tucson reliever Scott Munter for their final lead.

The T-Pads are going on the road, but will be back next Thursday, April 28, for the second buck-beer night and the start of a four-game homestand.

When I was in 7th grade, I finished The Wishsong of Shannara, the third and final part of Terry Brooks' Shannara series. It was my first real trek into the fantasy genre, and I'd loved every moment of it. I loved swords and magic and elven archers. I loved the maps. Then, I gave it up.

I'm not really capable of not being biased regarding Fort Lowell Records. Owner James Tritten is about the nicest guy on earth, his wife Tracy plays the sort of music that reminds me of the wistful mixtapes I made in the 90's, and the Young Mothers are probably my favorite band in Arizona, so I was ready to come to tonight's first birthday party for the label at Club Congress once it was announced. Even if you have a little more perspective than I do, you'll likely find something to enjoy at tonight's show between six bands and several DJ's, plus the show's free, so who can complain.

Music editor Steve Seigel wrote this preview in the paper this week:

On the heels of the sixth 7-inch release from James Tritten's local Fort Lowell Records label—a splendid pair of songs by Howe Gelb released as part of Record Store Day last weekend—the label is throwing itself a birthday party to celebrate its first year in bidness.

The Fort Lowell Records Showcase will feature all six bands that appeared on the first five Fort Lowell singles, as well as a pair of DJs spinning tunes between acts, on two stages at Hotel Congress, on Friday, April 22.

Here's a look at the schedule.

Outdoors on the Hotel Congress patio: The Vinyl Baron DJ set with special guest DJs (6 p.m.), Young Mothers (8 p.m.), The Vinyl Baron DJ set (8:45 p.m.), Wet and Reckless (9:15 p.m.), The Vinyl Baron DJ set (10 p.m.), Tracy Shedd (10:45 p.m.), The Vinyl Baron DJ set (11:15 p.m.).

On the Club Congress stage indoors: Jaime J DJ set (9 p.m.), Dead Western Plains (10 p.m.), Jaime J DJ set and live performance (10:45 p.m.), Death Kit (11:15 p.m.), Jaime J DJ set and live performance (midnight), ... music video? (12:30 a.m.).

Doors for the Fort Lowell Records Showcase open at 5 p.m. Admission is free, but you must be 21 or older to attend. Hotel Congress is located at 311 E. Congress St. For further details, check out hotelcongress.com, or call 622-8848.

This story about Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's new "Mugshot of the Day" program has been making the national media rounds. From NPR:

The top picks so far aren't unexpected: They're the most disheveled, unusual looking people among those booked into the downtown Phoenix jail.

Sheriff Joe is turning the prison system into a sideshow act. Ummm, wow.