A Paradise Bakery and Café is opening in a shopping center on the corner of Broadway and Wilmot, where Austin's Old Fashioned Ice Cream used to be. The new location is expected to open in late March, a mere six months after another Tucson location opened on the corner of Oracle and Wetmore roads.

If you've yet to try the sandwiches and bread bowls this place sells, they're well worth a try. Even though it's a chain outfit, the food comes off as hearty and homemade. Huge portions, too.

There's more on the company here.

• Hank Stephenson
• Presidential candidates Sarah Gonzales and Cesar Cisneros clashed over women's rights.

Revelations that Mitt Romney's Arizona committee co-chairman was involved in a clandestine gay romance threw Saturday's presidential debate into disarray, as White House hopefuls argued—in often graphic terms—the social acceptability of same-sex relationships.

The debate, which featured nine of the 23 candidates that will appear on Arizona ballots, was the first of three televised debates to take place in the Grand Canyon State prior to the Feb. 28 presidential preference election. For the first question, debate organizers raised the subject of Republican Congressional candidate and Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu—a Tea Party favorite deeply involved in Romney's statewide campaign—who came out as gay during a press conference earlier in the day. Days earlier, the Phoenix New Times reported allegations that Babeu had threatened to have an ex-boyfriend deported over rumors he was spreading on the internet.

Nine of the lesser-known presidential candidates on the Arizona ballot met Saturday in the first of a series of debates in Arizona this week. The dark-horse candidates will meet again for a key debate tonight on the public-access station, while four other Republican candidates—former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Congressman Ron Paul—will meet on Wednesday night in a CNN debate in Mesa.

Since the dark-horse candidates were not invited to Wednesday’s debate, tonight marks the last best chance for them to capture the attention of the state’s voters, who now appear to be focused on the major candidates in race. Two polls released last week showed that between 38 and 39 percent of GOP voters were supporting Mitt Romney, while 31 percent were supporting the surging Rick Santorum.

But a Rasmussen poll showed that 3 percent of the voter prefer another candidates and 5 percent of the voters were undecided, giving an opportunity to the dark-horse candidates to break through on Election Day.

Tonight's debate airs from 7 to 8 p.m. on Cox Cable Channel 99 and Comcast Channel 74, as well as streaming live at Access Tucson's website.

More photos from last night's debate after the jump.

Pinal County’s best-kept secret is out.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu gained national attention for being a tough-on-immigration leader (some called him the new, shiny-headed Sheriff Joe Arpaio), but the attention he got from the Phoenix New Times in a story published yesterday is the kind of spotlight he’s been trying to avoid for most of his life.

Following that report — which focused on Babeu’s sexual relationship with a supposed illegal immigrant man whom he sent semi-nude photos to and who threatened to out the sheriff as gay after their relationship soured - Babeu told a crowd of reporters gathered outside his office today that he his gay.

• Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu told reporters today that he is gay and admitted to sending nude photos of himself over the interent, but denied claims he threatened and harrassed his former lover.

“All these allegations that were in one of these newspapers are absolutely, completely false,” Babeu said today. “Except for the issues that refer to me being gay, because that’s the truth: I am gay.”

Well, this should be interesting. The Phoenix New Times has dropped a bombshell on at least one congressional race, outing Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, with his former lover, who happens to not be the country legally, providing images of Babeu's Adam2Adam profile and incriminating text messages. To make the story more Tucson-relevant, the story also involved Rep. Matt Heinz:

Openly gay Tucson state Representative Matt Heinz was one of two Democratic lawmakers who broke ranks with the party in March 2011 and voted to give Babeu $5 million to combat border violence. Other lawmakers opposed the measure, in part, because Babeu's county is at least 70 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. The measure finally was pared down to $1.7 million and passed by the Legislature.

About a week after Heinz's nod to Babeu, the sheriff spent the night at Heinz's home, text messages that Jose shared with New Times show.

"I'm at Mat Heinz and his boyfriend for dinner & ice cream . . . we are going out to bar and . . . to their house. [Am] staying over," Babeu texted to Jose at 1:04 a.m. last April 2.

Heinz didn't immediately return a phone call seeking confirmation of the sleepover.

Clearly, Sheriff Babeu should be free to live his life in whatever manner he likes sexually, but it'll be interesting to see how this is received among his generally very conservative fanbase, especially consider it appears he knew of his lover's immigration status when they were dating.

This week's Arizona Illustrated Political Roundtable: Democratic strategist Rodd McLeod and Tucson Tea Party co-founder Trent Humphries talk about Arizona's presidential primary, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild's State of the City address & the latest at the Arizona Legislature with Arizona Public Media's Christopher Conover and your host, Jim Nintzel.

Joad Cressbeckler: Immigrants Who Survive Arizona Desert Deserve Citizenship

I don't know what Joad Cressbeckler is saying, but I imagine his opinions resonate with at least half of our legislature.

According to my own wild speculations after looking at Twitter, approximately 90% of Americans have fallen in love with Downton Abbey, a British television series set in the 1910s that airs on PBS this side of the Atlantic. Critics love it, too. The show's first season earned a Metacritic rating of 92, and was named The Most Critically Acclaimed Show on Television by the Guinness Book of World Records.

I caught up on both seasons of Downton in the last few weeks, and I'd first like to say I like the show a great deal. It moves along at a brisk pace, provides insight into how the turn of the century brought about seismic cultural shifts, and the dialogue is sharp. You have to respect a show that feeds its juiciest, funniest lines to 77 year-old Maggie Smith, who delivers each with joyous, impeccable timing.

I am nothing if not a complainer, though, and Downton Abbey has plenty to complain about. In fact, I think bitching about plot holes is one of the reasons I like it so much. Without further ado, I present 10 Things To Hate About Downton Abbey.

(CAUTION: SPOILER ALERTS AFTER THE JUMP.)

Richard Grayson, Pinal County Greens co-chair and candidate for President in the February 28 Arizona Green Party presidential preference primary, today announced support for Bayer aspirin on demand for all women, Scottsdale millionaires, and members of the Roman Catholic clergy.

"As a longtime supporter of Planned Parenthood and women's reproductive rights, I believe that those who are trying to curtail access to contraceptives are causing big headaches for American society," said Grayson. "We need fast relief from these knee-o-conservatives."

[A note from Dan Gibson: A month or so ago, I thought it would be interesting to let some of our more opinionated commenters have their turn posting on The Range. After all, in the words of today's participant, he's "only 16 and [he] can write a heck of a lot better than Gibson." So, here goes, completely unedited.]

BASIS SCHOOLS, NOT A BREEDING GROUND FOR ELITIST SNOBS

I am a student attending BASIS Oro Valley, a school often seen as a training facility for mindless drones that produces elitist breed individuals. Over the course of my time attending BASIS, the school has made it very clear that it wants all of its students to succeed and attend established facilities of higher learning. In fact, BASIS makes it their personal mission to see that all of their students have the chance to attend places of high academic scholarship. I can see how some view BASIS as an evil corporation that manufactures these overzealous individuals that serve the elite class. However, much of this ill will that many people have towards BASIS is a classic superficial, hasty generalization based off of social stereotypes that are formulated from hearsay. To really understand what BASIS is all about, one should visit and experience the environment the school presents. I will not lie, BASIS does have some incredible students of very high caliber, but it is not these few, select students who represent the true spirit of the school. During my first year at BASIS, the 9th grade English teacher told my class that if we want something, it's up to us to go out and get it; if we really want it, we will do anything to achieve it and that we are the only ones that can attain what we want. It wasn't until my second year that I really understood what he meant when he told my class how only we can go out and reach what it is that we aspire to have. I realized that BASIS isn't trying to make brutish highbrow young adults, but instead, determined, distinctive characters that will do anything to go out and seize what they want. It is these students, not the already successful students, the ones that push to succeed that highlight the true purpose and meaning of BASIS. Personally, I am not the most successful and model student that people would think of when they imagine BASIS. I have my strengths and weakness like many of my peers and like those who attend public school. But, what separates my fellow students and me from those students of other schools is our culture of a persistent attitude and longing to go out and make something for ourselves despite any perceived obstacles. While not all students that are in the public school system are plagued with a lack of dedication and drive, it is certainly a culture condoned by the schools in the public system, because of the minimum standards they set for achievement. I personally believe that it is this cultural resolution of the students of BASIS schools to go out and win something for themselves that shows the true spirit and purpose of BASIS, not to simply create mindless drones that can't think, act, or function in the world.

Andrew Wilford is a high school sophomore, attending BASIS Oro Valley.

Slideshow

Glen Campbell at the Fox Tucson Theatre

Click to View 8 slides

As part of his farewell tour, Glen Campbell performed to a sold-out crowd at the Fox Tucson Theatre on February 15th.