• Dan Gibson
• As seen Downtown during Club Crawl

April 20 came and went — except for those who might have made their brownies too strong and are still feeling the effects.

But 4/20 was supposed to be about more than just pot this year — it was supposed to be the night that those supporting the Kony 2012 movement "covered the night," making Joseph Kony the most infamous person on the planet.

Kony, for the uninitiated, is the leader of the Ugandan resistance group, the Lord's Resistance Army, notable for the conscription of children into soldiers and the mass killing of Ugandans.

So, how'd the campaign do?

I normally don't care who's running for president but this year I'm definitely voting for that Kony guy #Kony2012
— Jason Faykosh (@Faykosh13) April 23, 2012

Good show, guys.

What about the local efforts, you ask? In Facebook one group, a member posted "Did we save Africa?" In another, a woman posts trying to confirm plans for Cover the Night — with no response.

To their credit, I did happen to see a few posters while wandering Fourth Avenue during Club Crawl©, but many of them were either so poorly printed as to obscure their images entirely, or had such poorly written messages that they undermined the campaign entirely.

Nationwide, Kony 2012 supporters took the most logical of actions: Defacing homes and vandalizing landmarks.

Again, great job. This is the way to prove that the generation born in the late '80s and early '90s isn't a bunch of narcissistic children, and that we do indeed hold the power to change the world through measured, organized action.

Sure, many of the above posts are facetious, but the fact that a movement that was sweeping the globe fell apart in a matter of months speaks to the power that this generation holds and squanders unthinkingly.

I think Kony 2012 and Cover the Night can be summed up in a paragraph from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's coverage: "A group of teenagers from Stanwood applied posters and stickers around the Pike Place Market. But some of their work was quickly undone by a security officer who followed them and pulled down the posters."

Sounds about right.

After several weeks of having the Arizona Republican Party link him to the Obama administration and House Democrats, Congressional District 8 candidate Ron Barber released a statement yesterday explaining what he would change in the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

Barber, who is facing Republican Jesse Kelly in the special election to determine who will finish Gabrielle Giffords' congressional term, has a certain degree of latitude that an incumbent would not enjoy. Since he was not in Congress, he didn't have to vote up or down on any controversial legislation, whether it was health-care reform or the stimulus.

In fact, one of Barber's proposed reforms—to work to create outcome-based medical compensation—dovetails with proposals that have come from politicians on both sides of the aisle. Former state lawmaker Jonathan Paton, who is now seeking the Republican nomination in the new Congressional District 1, has often talked about how paying for outcomes rather than procedures is a step toward lowering health-care costs.

Here's the release from Barber:

Today Ron Barber called for reform of the Affordable Care Act, which is currently before the US Supreme Court, and clarified his positions on US energy policy and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Barber offered a plan detailing several aspects of the health care and stimulus legislation that are in need of reform.

"I was not in Congress to vote on the Affordable Care Act or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, nor did I have any role in shaping that legislation—the mail brochures and phone calls saying I did so are simply false," Barber said. "There are several parts of the Affordable Care Act that I do not support, and if I am elected I will work to change them. It all comes down to affordability and consumer choice. We have to make health care more affordable, both because it is the right thing to do for individuals and small businesses, and because our economy as a whole cannot grow as much as it needs to if health care costs continue to rise. We must ensure that consumer choice is not endangered."

In "Morals Before Profit," the Weekly wrote about local immigrant rights groups organizing to pressure former U.S. Senator Dennis DeConcini to resign from the board of Corrections Corporation of America—a private company that's been used as an example of what's wrong with our state government's love affair with the private prison industry. Go to another story we wrote "No Disclosure," for a look at the American Friends Service Committee's report on private prison abuses in Arizona and across the country.

A press conference will take place on Tuesday, April 24, with the coalition, now called Fuerza Comunitaria Contra la Industria Carcelaria, with community members affected by detention in CCA facilities and Beau Hodai of In These Times. It all takes place at ground zero for this campaign: DeConcini, McDonald, Yetwin & Lacy, P.C., 2525 E Broadway Blvd., at noon.

From Fuerza's press release:

• Tucson's Run Boy Run

Tucson's Run Boy Run will make the trek up north to perform at the Sedona Bluegrass Festival, which takes place from Wednesday, May 30, through Sunday, June 3. Run Boy Run was a winner at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2011.

Here are some festival highlights:

Wednesday, May 30, at 7 p.m.: Burnett Family Bluegrass at Sedona Library. Admission is two cans of food to benefit the Sedona Community Food Bank.

Thursday, May 31, at 5 p.m.: Bluegrass BBQ Benefit featuring Burnett Family Bluegrass at Segner Ranch in Munds Canyon. $65. Reservations required.

Friday, June 1, at 5 p.m.: Burnett Family Bluegrass at First Friday Artwalk

Saturday, June 2, at 1 p.m.: A workshop and community jam with Run Boy Run at Sedona Charter School

Sunday, June 3, at noon: Sedona Bluegrass Festival concert with the Tim O'Brien and Bryan Sutton Duo, The Sleep Man Banjo Boys, Run Boy Run and Muskellunge Bluegrass. $35 adults, $20 students. Youth to age 12 are free with one paying adult.

For more information, visit here.

Responding to the death of 14-year-old Kenneth Weishuhn, a high school freshman who committed suicide after facing cyber-bullying and death threats following coming out to his classmates, the local paper, the Sioux City Journal, turned over their front page Sunday to an editorial that is a painful, yet poignant read:

Some in our community will say bullying is simply a part of life. If no one is physically hurt, they will say, what's the big deal? It's just boys being boys and girls being girls.

Those people are wrong, and they must be shouted down.

We must make it clear in our actions and our words that bullying will not be tolerated. Those of us in public life must be ever mindful of the words we choose, especially in the contentious political debates that have defined our modern times. More importantly, we must not be afraid to act.

How many times have each of us witnessed an act of bullying and said little or nothing? After all, it wasn't our responsibility. A teacher or an official of some kind should step in. If our kid wasn't involved, we figured, it's none of our business.

Try to imagine explaining that rationale to the mother of Kenneth Weishuhn.

It is the business of all of us. More specifically, it is our responsibility. Our mandate.

[HT: ShortFormBlog]

The Pima County Board of Supervisors this morning appointed Nicholas Fontana, a Tucson attorney who has worked with Tucson and Southern Arizona's Native American Tribes, to fill the House of Representatives seat left empty by Rep. Daniel Patterson.

Patterson, who was elected to Tucson's south-side Legislative District 29 as a Democrat in 2008 and 2010, left the Party after Democratic leaders started calling for him to resign amid allegations of wide-ranging ethics violations.

When he quit the House earlier this month to avoid being thrown out, Patterson was still registered "no party preference" commonly referred to as independent, and the Secretary of the State declared the seat would have to be filled by an independent.

Fontana is a Tucson native, the sole partner at his own law office and judge pro tem for the Tohono O'odham Tribal Court. He has worked as the chief public defender for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, as a public defender for the City of Tucson and a public defender for Pima County.

"Although the leadership is anxious to adjourn the 50th Legislature, a great deal of important work remains to be done," he said in his application letter. "The Legislature has not adopted a budget and is still considering issues such as tax cuts for businesses, insurance coverage for contraceptives, and Governor Brewer's proposal for changes to the civil service system. The person selected to serve the citizens of Legislative District 29 in (the) Legislature will have to hit the ground running."

Supervisors chair Ramon Valadez said that after talking with a lot of people in the district, he wanted Leon Sierra, a business representative to the International Union of Operating Engineers, to fill the seat. But his motion was shot down on a 2-3 vote. Supervisor Sharon Bronson made the motion to appoint Fontana, which passed 3-2.

Slideshow

Andrew Bird and Laura Marling, Rialto Theatre, April 20, 2012

Click to View 12 slides

Andrew Bird isn't too proud to bring on folksy covers of saints like Townes Van Zandt (“If I Needed You”) and the Handsome Family (“Too Much Wine”). But his Rialto set built almost entirely upon his new release Break it Yourself, the next new thing in a decade-long musical evolution that continues to lead fans into uncharted waters.

He opened Friday's set with something like a chamber quintet composition built in realtime with layers, loops and whistles, then eased the crowd in to the complexity of “Nyatiti,” named for a traditional Kenyan lyre. By the end, the song was the musical equivalent of a fireworks display; it's possible the band was levitating.

By contrast, the radio-ready “Lusitania” opened like a pop-country song—one of those everyone might feel they could sing. Then came “Eye on Eye,” an unmistakeable nod to Motown-era soul. Songs from Break It... were all standouts, for excitement, certainly, but also, if anyone cared, for technical proficiency.

Bird's mastered the hat trick: Somehow he makes songs that may incorporate several key changes and two or three time-signatures that are rarely heard in Western popular culture as accessible as unperfectable, three-minute pop.

But the breakaway crowd-pleaser was “Bein' Green,” which Bird may have put away for all time. If Kermit every sang it with that much soul, it would surely break your heart in two.

Opener Laura Marling evoked a '90s indie-girl Joan Baez—the same vocal reach but with with the whispers, grunts, cries and spoken word of the Cat Power/PJ Harvey aesthetic. Her guitar work drew cheers all by itself. As a preamble for Bird's complex dynamics, Marling was an inspired choice. Count us first in line for a return engagement as a headliner.

The new Tucson brewery Dragoon Brewing Co. opens the doors to its new taproom this Friday. From the brewery's blog:

Hi all – it’s been a great week here at Dragoon Brewing. As you probably know, we have released our first beer, Dragoon IPA. We’ve been happy with the responses and the excitement everyone has shown and are so glad you all enjoyed the beer!

Our plan was always to open our tasting room for regular hours once we had at least three or four beers ready to serve – we’re not there yet, but because the response has been so good this week, we’d like to open our taproom for a special event, in which you can buy growlers of our IPA!

Here’s how this will work: at 4:00pm on the 27th of April, we will open our doors and sell growlers full of our delicious Westcoast-style IPA. The containers are going for $8 and the liquid itself $12. You can get out the door for $20 total (we include tax in all our pricing). This event will be first-come, first-served. We have a limited amount of our first batch of IPA (a lot, but there’s still only so much), so when we run out, we’re out! If you aren’t able to make it or if we run out, you can still get our IPA at several locations around Tucson – Time Market, Wilko, Cartel, 1702 – more kegs are out on the market but as far as we know, haven’t been tapped yet – check Twitter for up-to-date info!

If IPA isn’t your thing, don’t fret! We will be releasing our Stronghold Session Ale very soon. And we’ll most likely run another event just like this once we have both Session & IPA out.

Arizona faith leaders sent Gov. Jan Brewer a letter yesterday telling her to say no to the private prison industry. You can read the letter here AZ_Faith_community__letter_against_private_prisons.pdf.

From the American Friends Service Committee:

A group of congregations and faith leaders sent a letter to Governor Brewer today urging her to reject several efforts to expand private prisons in Arizona. The list of nearly 20 religious leaders from around the state included representatives from a diverse spectrum of faiths and denominations, including Presbyterians, United Church of Christ, Catholics, United Methodists, Quakers, and Muslims.

The letter came in concert with similar actions around the nation. Earlier this year, a letter from 32 national denominations and faith groups went out to US Governors urging them to reject Corrections Corporation of America’s offer to buy state prisons if the states promise to keep them 90% full. This Wednesday, April 18th was a national call-in day organized by the United Methodists and other faith groups asking their members around the country to contact the Governor of their state and voice their opposition to CCA’s offer to buy state prisons. Arizona congregations participated and urged calls to Brewer’s office.

Many denominations have resolutions or policy statements opposing prison privatization, including the United Methodist Church USA, Presbyterian Church USA, US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Bishops of the South, the Episcopal Church, and the United Church of Christ.

The letter to Brewer argues that profiting from incarceration is immoral and stands contrary to many deeply held religious beliefs such as forgiveness, redemption, loving one’s neighbor, and welcoming the stranger. They also contend that high incarceration rates are an assault on the sanctity of the family. Having an incarcerated family member often forces children into poverty or the child welfare system.

The faith leaders ask the Governor to cancel the Request for Proposals for 2,000 additional private prison beds for the state of Arizona and also urge her to refuse the offer of the Corrections Corporation of America to buy state prisons. In addition, they request the creation of accountability mechanisms for current private prisons in Arizona, including those contracted with other states and those contracted by the federal government.

Tonight's the big night, as the Spring edition of Club Crawl takes over downtown and Fourth Avenue, with 25 stages of live music. If you don't have your wristband yet, you'll be able to pick one up for $10 at the gate, or upgrade to a VIP pass for $25 (which will give you your own entrance and a special tent with its own bar and restrooms next to the Bud Light Stage).

Despite the inconvenience of the streetcar construction on Congress, there will still be plenty of parking, plenty of music, and minimal inconvenience. For more information, see our Club Crawl FAQ page.

Need information on the bands playing? Check out the schedule.

Want to get something to eat before, after or during the Crawl? We have a guide for that, too.

Also we have a story about Chali 2na, one of the headliners, who you might remember from Jurassic 5 or Ozomatli, and a wrap-up of the acts coming in from out of town.

For up-to-the-minute info during the festival, check us out on Twitter, or get into the conversation by using the hashtag #clubcrawl. See you downtown!