Michael McKisson, who readers of the Range may know from his weekly posts about Tucson's cycling scene, has partnered up with Julie Reed to start new blog called Tucson Style. It covers various aspects of Tucson fashion through interviews, photos and musings on local style at large.

Take a look.

While not all organizers agree with the term Mexican Spring to describe the changes taking place right now, it's an exciting time for activists and students who've taken to the streets in a series of actions on mainstream media coverage of the country's presidential elections — specifically how politicians have bought favorable coverage. The general election takes place in Mexico on Sunday, July 1.

Marta Molina captured the student-led movements in a series of stories on Waging Nonviolence. Molina's focus right now is on the organization of the Yo Soy 132 movement, or I am 132 (see video above). During a May 23 protest, Molina wrote that "thousands of Mexican university students, academics, youth, as well as some who were not-so-youthful, began to mobilize for the democratization of Mexico’s media and against the role that the media is playing in the upcoming presidential elections. And the youth are seriously moving."

While this movement was first identified as a Mexican Spring, in Molina's analysis, she explains much more needs to take place:

There are two important challenges that Yo Soy 132 must overcome for the Mexican Spring to truly bloom: expand the political demands that began with the first assembly on May 30, and create an organizational body that goes beyond the spontaneous outcomes of the assembly. Moving towards this goal, they should also take advantage of the months that lie between the presidential elections and the December inauguration.

You can read the full piece and other stories from Molina on the Waging Nonviolence page.

While political candidates, particularly presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto, have denied buying favorable media coverage, Narco News published a piece yesterday that sites a Guardian article on U.S. State Department cables released by WikiLeaks on Peña Nieto and other candidate's purchase of favorable coverage from companies like Televisa, Mexico’s largest television network.

From Narco News:

Televisa issued an indignant denial and questioned the veracity of the London daily’s report. But the facts of The Guardian story are supported by documents sent by the US Embassy in Mexico City to other US government agencies in 2009.

The Guardian’s report hit the news cycle just as a growing social movement in Mexico, called YoSoy132 (I Am 132) is mobilizing against what it deems a manipulative commercial media that is seeking to impose a presidential candidate, Peña Nieto, on the electorate in the run-up to the July 1 Mexican presidential election.

Peña Nieto is being promoted in the mainstream media as the leading candidate in Mexico’s presidential race. He served as governor of the State of Mexico from 2005 to 2011, prior to announcing his run for the presidency in September 2011.

While we and our alt-weekly brethren take our shots at the mainstream media, I think we generally wish the best for our journalist comrades, just that their corporate overlords would encourage them to do better work actually serving their communities. Considering that, the New Orleans Times-Picayune's massive layoffs today as part of their plan to go to publishing three days a week just plain sucks, as they dismantle a great newspaper by firing seemingly everyone who has ever been noted for their work in a positive way:

By 10:30 a.m., Friends of the Times-Picayune Facebook page had a list of several of those leaving the paper, including James Beard Award-winning restaurant critic Brett Anderson. Also leaving are news reporter Danny Monteverde, Cathy Hughes, Patricia Gonzalez, Barri Bronston and Katy Reckdahl along with Dennis Persica.

“I think they’ve torn apart an institution," Reckdahl said. "It’s not about me really. It’s about who I’m seeing walk out that door crying. It’s the end of news in New Orleans, I think."

According to NOLA.com, 84 of the 235 combined employees of NOLA.com and the Times-Picayune are being told that they'll no longer have a job....

Times-Picayune editor Jim Amoss promised the future wasn't as dire as it seems today, saying, "I think readers and advertisers both need to see what we're going to be able to deliver, both in print and online, when we launch in the fall."

He added, "I think they will all be very pleasantly surprised. It's hard to envision that when you haven't reached the point yet."

Also, Pulitzer Prize nominated graphic design Ryan Smith announced on Twitter that he lost his job.

Courtesy of Jesse Kelly's extended campaign ad appearance on the Jon Justice show this morning, we found out that Grandpa Hank, made famous by his cameo in several Kelly TV spots, will be at the Viscount Suites tonight as part of the Republican candidate's election night party. Kelly assured Justice's audience that there would be photo opportunities with his grandfather.

No word if Grandpa's Social Security card would be symbolically set on fire following a Kelly win tonight, but Mari Herreras will be on the scene tonight to witness such an act if it occurs.

A small selection of food trucks has established a semi-permanent location at Civano Nursery at 5301 S. Houghton Road, selling everything from wild-salmon burgers to Cuban-inspired fare on a regular basis.

The trucks set up around 11 a.m., Thursday through Sunday. This week it looks like Dragoon Cafe, Jamie's Bitchen Kitchen and Guero Loco's Bubba Que are scheduled to be there. If you're on Facebook, you can check in over here for more info.

If you can't wait until Thursday, Guero Loco's Bubba Que will be out in front of the National Bank of Arizona at 330 N. Wilmot Road today from about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jamie's Bitchen Kitchen looks like it's taking today off, but tomorrow it'll be parked in front of the Sportsman's Warehouse at 3945 W. Costco Drive.

At 5’7”, Kristian Matsson can hardly be considered tall. The Swedish songwriter has often been compared to Bob Dylan, and rightfully so. His songs are relatively simple, extremely folksy, and his lyrics are made of heavy stuff, much like many of Dylan’s works. However, Matsson’s vocal range is, let's say, a bit broader than the famed American songwriter’s, and this third studio album, There’s No Leaving Now, proves that this little man is more than a Dylan duplicate.

That being said, There’s No Leaving Now isn’t a total 180 from Matsson’s previous albums. Many of the tracks feature the uncomplicated guitar chords and poetic verses that have defined Matsson as an artist. But in the title track of the album, Matsson’s guitar is replaced by a piano and it kind of threw me off for the first few seconds I was listening, since I’m pretty sure that I’ve only heard one other song by Matsson that features a piano in lieu of a guitar. It’s a deeply beautiful and somber piece, and it turned out to be my favorite song on the album. “Wind And Walls,” with its upbeat twang and fast tempo, is a close second.

The rest of the album sounds a lot like how I expect The Tallest Man on Earth to sound, which isn’t a bad thing. Matsson’s simplicity is what makes him great—his lyrics are always so poignant because there aren’t jumbles of background noise competing for attention. He’s one of my favorite folk musicians, so I would have been disappointed if he had totally abandoned his Dylan-esque style for something more musically complex. However, some change and growth is good. And Matsson sprinkled in just enough new surprises to satisfy me.

• C. Elliott

Tomorrow’s special election has brought Gabby Giffords back to Tucson this week.

Giffords and her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, flew into Tucson this weekend to attend the get-out-the-vote concert and rally for Democrat Ron Barber, who is facing Republican Jesse Kelly in the June 12 special election to complete Giffords’ term.

Giffords watched Sergio Mendoza y La Orkesta and Calexico—her favorite band—from backstage, where she got to see Calexico do a cover of U2’s “Beautiful Day,” a song she picked as a wake-up number for the astronauts on one of Mark Kelly’s shuttle missions.

She and Mark Kelly came out to address the crowd before the Calexico performance—and then came back out during the finale of “Guero Canelo,” where they danced alongside the band.

Giffords, who is still struggling to find her voice in the wake of being shot in the head on Jan. 8, 2011, said little on Saturday night, other than thanking the crowd for a warm welcome when she took the stage.

Mark Kelly did the speaking for the two, encouraging the crowd to support Barber, who was Giffords’ district director when she represented Congressional District 8, in tomorrow’s election.

“For us—for Gabby and I, and members of the Giffords’ family—this is more than just an ordinary election,” Mark Kelly said. “This is a little bit about closure. This is closure on Gabby’s career in Congress. It wasn’t when she resigned in January. I really truly believe that it’s this coming Tuesday. So I want to thank you but I also want to encourage you to not only get out there tomorrow and Monday and Tuesday, and make sure Ron gets elected, but also bring your friends.”

On Sunday, Giffords and Mark Kelly made the rounds alongside Barber and his wife, Nancy, visiting the offices of Barber’s campaign and the Pima County Democratic Party to thank volunteers for their hard work.

At Barber’s office, Giffords had brief one-on-one meetings with a number of the volunteers, smiling and thanking them for helping to get out the vote.

Mark Kelly told the Weekly that he and Giffords want to see Barber win on Tuesday.

DJ Jazzy Jeff knows a little bit about summertime music, adjusting the bass and letting the Alpine blast, etc. etc., so for the third year in a row, he's teamed up with fellow DJ, Mick Boogie, to collect a bunch of smooth tracks to enjoy during our blast furnace season. It's a free download and includes tracks by Eddie Kendricks and A Tribe Called Quest, so you're getting a pretty stellar musical deal.

No particular surprise that Ron Gould, a state legislator whose laptop has a giant "Don't Trend on Me" sticker on its case, is campaigning for Arizona's Fourth Congressional District by appealing to the Tea Party crowd with his new TV ad, but the second I saw Gould loading up his trap, I sighed. Some things are never going to change in this state, are they?

[Phoenix New Times]