The Rialto Theatre has announced a few quite possibly great shows this week (Dr. Dog and Head and the Heart, back to back on October 1st and 2nd), but I think the Beach House concert scheduled for September 24th seems particularly notable. The group's latest album, Bloom, is among the best reviewed albums of the year so far and for good reason since it's a gorgeous work of art, touching on what people liked about dream-pop acts like Mazzy Star and the Cocteau Twins without being derivative. You probably missed the band when they played Solar Culture in 2008, so catch the group before they get too big to deign visiting our town.

Tickets for the three aforementioned shows go on sale Friday.

A completely sincere question: if you're among the over 3713 voters who cast a ballot for Charlie Manolakis who are not also a registered members of the Green Party (there were 808 Greens in CD 8 according to the Secretary of State and as of nowish, 4521 people voted for Manolakis), why did you make that decision?

Acknowledging that neither candidate was perfect, but also with the understanding that Manolakis barely participated in the campaign process other than somewhat quixotic appearances at the debates (he spent the weekend before the election at Cape Cod, for example), what made you vote for him?

No judgement, just trying to understand the thought process.

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend and you like jazz music, try the Eighth Annual Jazz Under the Stars event this Saturday hosted by the Dove of Peace Lutheran Church. Now, the concert is not an evangelical event, so you can enjoy the music without the concern of having a Bible pushed in your face. The sole purpose is to provide a casual outdoor event where people can eat, drink, and be merry with good music...all for free.

I’m not a jazz fanatic or anything, but if it were date night and I wanted to go somewhere laid-back, I’d go to this. And fun fact, Crystal Stark, American Idol season five finalist and Tucson R&B/jazz/soul/pop/funk singer, will be featured during the performance.

Eric Holtan, music director of Tucson Chamber Artists and minister of music at Dove of Peace, is excited for the concert and predicts a good turnout. In past years, over 300 people attended and he only expects for it to keep growing.

“It’s really been a success from the very beginning,” he said. “I think it’s because we’re unique, not from the standpoint that it’s a jazz concert outdoors, but that it’s free. It’s really an event for the community to come and enjoy the evening.”

The concert is located at Dove of Peace Lutheran Church, starts at 7 p.m. and is expected to last two hours. The address is 665 W Roller Coaster Rd.

This will be difficult for some of you to believe, but the forthcoming Quentin Tarentino film is a star-studded ultra-violent, yet strangely witty affair. Still, if anyone makes a film with a James Brown song in the soundtrack involving a slave getting his revenge against early American racism, I'm in.

After complaints that Grinnell and Bain didn't accomplish anything, new Rio Nuevo board meets and accomplishes...NOTHING!
— Frank Antenori (@FrankAntenori) June 13, 2012

I take that back, they did damage the reputation of all involved and found out that the Rio Nuevo District is broke. Time to end the agony.
— Frank Antenori (@FrankAntenori) June 13, 2012

Yes, we should judge the productivity of a board that still has three vacancies over the course of one meeting by the same standards as a board that met for two years, spending nearly a million dollars on lawyers and accountants (kicking back money to pals, former co-workers, etc.) and doing absolutely nothing else (other than threatening to shut down the Rialto on at least two occasions).

That makes perfect sense, Frank. Good luck with your next election.

State Rep. Matt Heinz announced this morning on his website that he would continue his challenge to Ron Barber in the August Democratic primary for Congressional District 2, despite Barber's big win yesterday.

Judging from what I heard from Democrats gathered at Barber's victory party last night, Heinz will face a lot of pressure from party power brokers and his fellow lawmakers to drop out of the race, but at this point, he's not budging. His statement:

With considerable relief, I congratulate Ron Barber on his victory today. I wish Ron the best as he completes Gabby’s term in Congress over the next few months. Now that the special election has concluded, I want to reaffirm my candidacy for Arizona’s newly drawn 2nd Congressional District.

As a practicing physician and lawmaker, I’m in a unique position to tackle our struggling economy, improve the Affordable Care Act and stabilize Medicare and Social Security. We need to make smart revisions to our laws while continuing to support the most vulnerable in our communities.

I've never really understood the appeal of New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd - I think she generally relies on broad caricatures and reduces complex issues into celebrity gossip - but her column today, which mysteriously includes a "joke" of sorts in a discussion of child rape, might be a step too far:

Standing a few feet away from Jerry Sandusky, as he laughed and reminisced with friends in the front row of the courtroom, made me want to take a shower.

Just not in the Penn State locker room.

That was the gateway to horror where innocence was devoured by evil, over and over and over again, without a word being said. Just rhythmic smacking and slapping noises, silent screams, gutted psyches.

• Joie Horwitz
• Congressman-elect Ron Barber was joined on Election Night by an elated Gabrielle Giffords.

As of 10:15 p.m. on Tuesday night, the former Giffords aide led her former political nemesis by more than 13,500 votes (with 304 of 352 precincts fully reporting), with Barber getting 52.3 percent to Kelly’s 45.1 percent. Kelly had conceded the race.

The mood at the Democrats’ gathering at the Marriott University Park was festive as the first large batch of results came in, showing Barber with a comfortable lead.

When asked why Barber was winning, Jeff Rogers, the Pima County Democratic Party chairman, pointed to Jesse Kelly.

“I’d like to think it was our massive get-out-the-vote effort, but I looked at the numbers in this district, and demographically, it’s the 11th-oldest in the nation, and I think it just sunk in that this guy Jesse Kelly meant what he was saying about Social Security and Medicare,” Rogers said.

Barber entered the room a little before 10 p.m., flanked by Giffords and her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly.

“We are incredibly excited that Ron will head to Washington next week to represent you,” Kelly said.

Barber told the crowd that he had just received a concession phone call from Kelly, and that “a year ago, I never dreamt I would be standing here.”

He gave special thanks to Giffords.

“Gabby is a friend, and she is an inspiration to all of us,” Barber said as the crowd erupted in chants of, “Gabby! Gabby!”

“This was never Gabby’s seat, and it is not my seat,” Barber said. “This is your seat. This seat belongs to the people of Southern Arizona. Thank you for entrusting me with it. I will work every bit as hard as Mo Udall, Jim Kolbe and Gabby Giffords to earn that trust.”

Former state lawmaker Pete Hershberger was one of a number of well-known Republicans who endorsed Barber over Kelly.

“The citizens of District 8 recognized that Ron was a practical guy who would work across party lines to get stuff done, and Kelly was an ideological bomb-thrower,” he said.

Another Republican who supported Barber, Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik, was blunt about the quality—or lack thereof—of the GOP candidate.

“I think people saw Ron as a more-serious candidate,” Kozachik said. “And Jesse was not fully baked.”

At Kelly’s election-night party at the Viscount Suite Hotel, Kelly headed into the main room around 9:30 p.m. He stood in front of supporters and conceded the race to Barber in a brief speech, thanking Jesus and his campaign volunteers for their hard work. He said that he would decide “tomorrow” whether to run for Congress yet again.

Congressional District 1 candidate Jonathan Paton—who was upset by Kelly in the Congressional District 8 primary two years ago—had showed up to offer Kelly his support.

“It’s disappointing. … Of course, I want Jesse to win. That’s why I’m here tonight,” Paton said.

The election was made necessary by Giffords’ resignation in January 2012 so she could concentrate on her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head in a January 2011 shooting rampage that left six dead and 13 wounded.

Barber was among those wounded, although he downplayed that detail through most of the race. Instead, he concentrated his campaign on his experience, both in state government and in Giffords’ office.

Barber’s campaign, aided by national Democratic campaign committees, successfully portrayed Kelly as too extreme for the district—a tactic that was also employed by the Giffords campaign in 2010. Kelly lost that race by about 4,100 votes.

Giffords encouraged Barber to run, but she kept a low profile throughout most of the campaign. However, she arrived in Tucson on Saturday, June 9, for a get-out-the-vote concert and rally at the Rialto Theatre. She also visited with volunteers in the days leading up to the election, and voted on Tuesday morning.

While the dust has yet to settle in the CD 8 race, both candidates had already also been running in a new congressional district for the normal 2012 election cycle. While Republicans hold a voter-registration advantage of about 6 percentage points in the current Congressional District 8, both parties have about 34 percent of the voters in the new Congressional District 2, with independents making up most of the remainder of the voters.

Both Barber and Kelly have drawn primary challengers in the Congressional District 2 race.

Barber is set to face state lawmaker Matt Heinz in the Aug. 28 primary election. Heinz, who has been supporting Barber in the special election, said on Tuesday afternoon that he was waiting to see the results of the election before making any comments on the race for CD 2.

Kelly, should he stay in the CD 2 race, is set to face Martha McSally, a former Air Force fighter pilot who made her political debut in the CD 8 special election primary. She came in second to Kelly in that four-person race, winning 25 percent of the vote to Kelly’s 35 percent.

McSally had said that she would drop out of the race if Kelly won, but she intended to stay in if he did not prevail against Barber.

“We’ll be launching our campaign on Saturday,” said Sam Stone, a spokesman for McSally. “We’re looking forward to getting back out on the campaign trail, and after watching this race, we’re confident that Martha is going to have a great opportunity to become our representative in November.”

If a CD 2 primary between Kelly and McSally becomes a reality, it could be interesting, to say the least. Some people at Kelly’s election-night gathering were speculating that McSally had a hand in Kelly’s defeat by sabotaging his efforts in some Pinal and Cochise county precincts. One Kelly volunteer who asked not to be named groused: “The party is split apart right now.”

Political newcomer Mark Koskiniemi has also filed to run on the GOP ticket in CD 2.

This story was written and reported by Jimmy Boegle, Mari Herreras and Jim Nintzel.

Turnout percentage (counted so far): 45.5 percent; 47 of 352 precincts partially reporting, 304 complete

Jesse Kelly (R): 84,995 votes, 45.08 percent

Ron Barber (D): 98,590 votes, 52.29 percent

Charlie Manolakis (G): 4,386 votes, 2.33 percent

Note: Pinal, Cochise and Santa Cruz county precincts have reported being completely in. Only Pima County precincts remain.