• Breakfast from midnight to noon baby.

A breakfast restaurant called Bacon and Craeggs is opening at 601 N. Fourth Ave., right next to Magpie's Gourmet Pizza.

Anais Weeks, who owns the restaurant with Leonard Kisto, says the restaurant is relocating from its current spot on Stone Avenue. Up until now, it has only offered delivery. The new spot will offer sit-down dining.

The best thing are the hours: Midnight to noon. During that time you will be able to dig into big plates of pancakes, French toast, breakfast burritos and all sorts of other breakfast plates.

It is expected to open in the first week of September.

Warren Buffet has come under considerable criticism this week for his notion that the rich should pay more in taxes in this country. One popular critique from the conservatives: Why doesn't Buffet just pay more himself and leave the rest of the put-upon wealthy Americans alone?

The Arizona Republic chimed on that very point today in an editorial that cleverly tries to outwit Buffet:

In fact, Buffett could pay whatever he wants to pay right now. There is nothing prohibiting him from adding as much as he wants to his check to the IRS. He says the 17.4 percent rate he pays on his taxable income, which realized under $7 million in taxes, is far below the 33-41 percent rate paid by the 20 other people working in his office.

That's a serious guilt burden Buffett shouldn't have to endure. By effectively taxing himself, on behalf of everyone in his office, he could solve that problem tomorrow.

Former Reagan administration official Bruce Bartlett explains why that's an argument unworthy of the state's largest newspaper:

On Monday, financier Warren Buffett ignited a tax debate by recommending a tax increase on the super-rich. The reaction by some Republicans and others has been that if Mr. Buffett wants to pay more, he should simply write a check to the Treasury Department and send it to Washington. While such a sound-bite response may go over well on Fox News, it is a completely unserious response to the point he made.

In the same column, Bartlett offers real analysis as opposed to silly taunting:

So where is the data supporting the argument that taxes on the rich are the sine qua non of growth? I don’t see it. On the contrary, the data from the last several decades would in fact support the opposite conclusion — that higher tax rates on the wealthy stimulate growth. It is worth remembering that throughout most of Ronald Reagan’s presidency the top rate was 50 percent, and Republicans believe his economic policies are the gold standard that we should try to emulate in every way possible.

The entire thing is worth a read, unless you already have your mind made up that higher taxes automatically kills jobs and destroys America, but here's the final takeaway:

Seriously, it does. Check out this little number outside Café Passe on Fourth Avenue. Hipster belt buckle and all.

This week, Arnie and Eric look at Robert Kirkman and Rob Liefeld's collaboration, The Infinite, a time travel story with a number of twists and unique perspectives.

Apparently, the media machine has decided that the Republican nomination either has to go to a religious zealot with disturbing ideas about modern society or to the hyperpolished Mitt Romney, so Jon Huntsman isn't going to actually be taken seriously or get coverage. Since he apparently doesn't just want to give up, he's turned to Twitter to send out a series of actually interesting tweets that manage to walk the line between seeming to be sincere and professional simultaneously. Republicans, can you get over your obsession with Dominionists for a minute and take a look at this guy?

The Hog Pit Smokehouse Bar and Grill brought home a first-place trophy this month for their brisket, which was sort of a high point in a period that’s included some big changes for the restaurant.

Chef and kitchen manager Charles Kidd says he and the crew earned the trophy at the Golden Acorn Barbecue competition near San Diego. The restaurant was also named ninth best overall, quite an accolade considering top competitors from across the country attended.

Kidd attributes a good portion of that success to the restaurant’s new pit master, Mark Smith. With him came new recipes, a new approach to barbecue and, apparently, some award-winning grub.

“I’ve worked with Albert Hall and I worked under the tutelage of Emeril Lagasse, but I had my wings clipped from gourmet to blue-collar when I came here,” says Kidd, adding that Smith was instrumental in that transformation.

“This is a barbeque house, this is a smokehouse. We don’t have to worry about seven kinds of cheese on our macaroni. People want a cold beverage and good barbeque for under $10, and that’s what they get.”

Stopping short of divulging any recipes, Kidd says they use a dry rub on ribs, brisket and other meats and slow-smoke them over pecan wood for 12 to 17 hours. He’s sort of a barbeque historian as well, and one can tell quickly that he takes his job very seriously.

“A lot of people like to add things to their meat like phosphates, we don’t do that,” says Kidd. “I say, ‘Throw some wood on a fire, put your meat in the smoker and put some seasonings on it that you like, and it’s yours.”

Kidd says the bar has also been spruced inside and out, and now has a full NFL package, karaoke and live music on some nights. You can check in over here for more information.

• Ian Abbott created his BMX park after the city denied access to bikes at local skate parks.

The city officially responds to a report about improving the the safety of the multimillion dollar Fourth Avenue, Toole Avenue and Congress Street intersection that doesn't really seem to work for anyone. See what they have planned to fix it.

There were 62 photos entered into the Tucson Velo photo contest. You can help determine the winner! Check out the photos and pick your three favorites.

The fate of a dirt BMX park hangs in the balance. Find out why.

• Photo Rodney F. White
• RIP Gracie, who was killed in an Aug. 14 fire.

Gracie was a dog, but no ordinary pooch. She was one of those special animals filled with enough spirit and love to even make a woman suffering from Alzheimer’s become playful and lucid when Gracie came to visit.

White, a lifelong photographer and longtime Mesquite Valley Growers employee, got the phone call Sunday morning while he was at work. He was told the cozy home he’s been renting for the past 11 years was on fire with a heat so intense that it blew out all the windows. “It’s bad,” the property manager told him over the phone.

“What about Gracie?” Rodney asked.

“It’s bad,” the manager repeated.

When he rushed back to the midtown abode, the place was still smoldering. Gracie’s body was wrapped in one of his work shirts and placed beneath a mesquite tree. Rodney pulled out the camera he had on him and began to take photos of the fiery wreckage.

“People are looking at me with my camera,” he said. “I told them it was my house and this is what I do.” He’s been hooked on photography since he received a camera for Christmas when he was about 9. The new camera he just bought was destroyed in the fire, as was the original camera that kicked off his passion some 50 years hence.

All of his electronics melted from the heat, but he’s hoping he can salvage his computer’s hard drive to retrieve the photos he recently took for a friend’s wedding. And the hundreds of photos of Gracie.

We mentioned in this week's Skinny column that Planned Parenthood would be revealing how new abortion restrictions would affect the organization's services. Today, Planned Parenthood CEO Bryan Howard laid out the changes:

At two press conferences today, Bryan Howard, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood Arizona talked about how Arizona woman are being affected by abortion restrictions that are being implemented this week.

As the result of laws passed by the Arizona Legislature and an Arizona court decision last week, Planned Parenthood has been forced to discontinue abortion care in six cities. Abortion care will be provided at three health centers—two in Metro Phoenix (Glendale and Tempe) and one in Tucson.

“For the first time in more than 30 years, Arizona women will have far fewer health care options available to them,” says Howard. “There will be no known provider of abortion outside of Metro Phoenix or Tucson.”

While I think dodgeball has always been 3-D (even in the normal school yard version, it's not like you're rolling the ball, after all), any excuse for adults to jump on trampolines is one I'll gladly take.

Mostly, this version of dodgeball reminds me of Slamball, which was on TV for a little while, which I don't nearly have the athletic talent to play. Throwing a ball and falling down on a bouncy surface? Totally do-able. Jumping up in the air and trying to slam a basketball? Nope, not going to happen: