Hey, it may be drizzling out there this morning, but don't let that stop you from heading down to Weekly World Central, where Seis Curbside Kitchen is serving up their award-winning food just outside our offices at 3280 E. Hemisphere Loop, just off of Valencia Road between Country Club and Palo Verde Roads.

They'll be here 'til 1 p.m. today, so if you're in the area, swing on by.

Hookah. Coffee. Tea. And now, cocktails?

Espresso Art Café, at 921 E. University Blvd., may be a dream come true for 21-year-old-plus college students.

What was once a lounge where student groups (such as the UA Young Democrats,) would hold meetings is now Castilian Spring, a speakeasy-style bar in the back room of Espresso Art. Jazz music, dimmed lights, old-fashioned wood furnishings and sculptures and mini-statues on the highest shelf of the liquor cabinets make for an underground, prohibition-era feel.

The bartender on Wednesday night, Tyler Dunn, muddled lemon and cucumber with crushed ice before adding tequila, lemon juice and a mixer to the glass. He then shook it and poured a neon green drink in a martini glass adding two slices of lemon, a nice final touch to his work of art.

The small bar specializes in cocktails with most of their juices freshly squeezed to order. Dunn said most of their cocktails are "dark and stormy" and contain bourbons, like in the pre-prohibition times. Though their menu is still a work in progress, the current draft includes daquiris, margaritas, and a Brazilian rum-based drink called caipirinha among other mixed drinks.

Dunn said when the bar isn't too crowded, he enjoys experimenting with drinks based on what liquors and flavors the customer likes.

"What kind of cocktail can we come up with together?" Dunn said. "I think that that's a lot of fun."

The bar is also working on creating infusions with natural ingredients and their alcohol.

The only disappointing thing about the bar is they don't have beer on tap, just bottles. This is partially because of space and partially because it's easier to rotate their selection if they're not selling a certain kind.

Happy hour is from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week, a perfect time for day drinking after class.

Pictures can serve as portals into worlds we’ve never been to, and the artistically-inclined need only draw those worlds before they step inside.

When New-York based writer and illustrator Steve Sheinkin first collaborated with academic and fellow author Ilan Stavans on an online comic, the unconventionality of sharing a story was surprisingly enjoyable for the pair. They enjoyed it so much, Sheinkin said, that they soon after launched a “bigger, more ambitious” project together, comparing drafts and scenes over dozens of emails and lunch meetings.

There are few things more amazing than some of the bills that get thrown around at the beginning of the Legislative session.

Take, for instance, HB 2467, a proposed measure sponsored by seven legislators (six representatives and a senator) from around the metro Phoenix area; northern and northwestern Arizona; and more.

With such wide-ranging membership of representatives from around the state, this must be a bill of massive importance, right?

Well...take a look at the bill's text:

BEGINNING IN THE 2013‑2014 SCHOOL YEAR, IN ADDITION TO FULFILLING THE COURSE OF STUDY AND ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS PRESCRIBED IN THIS CHAPTER, BEFORE A PUPIL IS ALLOWED TO GRADUATE FROM A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL IN THIS STATE, THE PRINCIPAL OR HEAD TEACHER OF THE SCHOOL SHALL VERIFY IN WRITING THAT THE PUPIL HAS RECITED THE FOLLOWING OATH:

I, _________, DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I WILL SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC, THAT I WILL BEAR TRUE FAITH AND ALLEGIANCE TO THE SAME; THAT I TAKE THIS OBLIGATION FREELY, WITHOUT ANY MENTAL RESERVATION OR PURPOSE OF EVASION; AND THAT I WILL WELL AND FAITHFULLY DISCHARGE THESE DUTIES; SO HELP ME GOD.

Yeah. An oath of loyalty to graduate high school. As if reciting the Pledge of Allegiance weekly—at least—isn't enough for these people.

I have nothing against "solemnly swearing to uphold the Constitution," but making this a requirement for to receive what amounts to proof that you can read and write your name (which is incredible, given our current educational rankings) cheapens the sentiment, doesn't it?

Plus, you're swearing that you're taking an oath freely when you're being coerced into taking the damn thing, again, in order to graduate. I'm pretty sure that makes the rest of the oath invalid, doesn't it?

Brilliant work from those folks up north. For more on the bill, including the legislators who proposed it, check out the Legislature's info page here.

The AVN Awards took place last weekend in Las Vegas, producing a handful of winners in a number of categories that we can't go into too much detail describing here, if only because the boundaries of good taste (and time limitations; there are more than 130 AVN award categories) prevent me from doing so.

But it appears that an Amphi High School teacher's aide was hoping to get a jump-start on next year's AVN Award for Best Amateur Release for an on-campus escapade that, according to Tucson Police, included two 18-year-old students, a 16-year-old, and an audience of three, including one that recorded the experience via cell phone.

On January 18, 22-year-old aide Clarice Lee, allegedly snuck off with the six students to an apparently not-all-that private location on the Amphi campus, where she engaged in "sexual contact" with the 18 year olds and intercourse with the 16 year old, according to TPD.

The best/worst part? Lee is an aide to special needs students—though if this incident is any indication, she appears to have been confused as to the students and needs she should have assisted with.

Steve Smith, a state representative serving District 11 in Maricopa, has reintroduced a bill that died last legislative session that would reimburse ousted Senate President Russell Pearce, the architect of many of Arizona's anti-immigration laws, including SB 1070.

From the Arizona Republic:

Rep. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, filed House Bill 2290, which proposes to pay the “reasonable special election campaign expenses” of any elected official who faces a recall out of the relevant state, county or local government’s general fund. It requires the individual to submit an itemized account of campaign expenses to the appropriate governing body. The Legislature or appropriate governing body then must approve the amount.

The bill is retroactive to expenses “incurred for a recall election held in November 2011.” Pearce’s was the only recall election that month.

Pearce did not spend any of his own money in the campaign, but raised and spent about $261,000 in donations from individuals and political committees. If the bill were to pass, he could charge the state for that amount.

Let's focus on that last part: the money Pearce spent in his failed bid to win the 2011 recall all came from donations by outside individuals. None of it was his money. Yet Steve Smith thinks it's just and proper for Pearce to be reimbursed with taxpayer funds to presumably repay his donors. What part of that makes any damn sense?

Pearce lost the recall, fair and square, because his constituents felt he was no longer representing their interests. There's no reason that Pearce should be reimbursed for failing to do the job he was put into office to do by the people who chose to hire (then fire) him.

As of this writing, it appears that HB 2290 hasn't secured enough favor among legislators to earn any co-signers, and hopefully it'll stay that way—there's no way that giving money to soothe the bruised ego of a failed legislator and his backers is a quality use of taxpayer money.

If you want to reach Rep. Smith about this bill (like Weekly commenter H., below,) then you'll want to direct your letters to his office at 1700 W. Washington, Room 311, Phoenix, AZ 85007; give him a call at (602) 926-5685; or send him a fax at (602) 417-3167.

Democracy is alive and well, folks.

Tucson's identity as a pro soccer destination — hey, what do you know, that happens to be the subject of this week's cover story! — took a big step forward today when Pima County announced it was committing $2 million toward a full-fledged soccer stadium at the Kino Sports Complex.

A press conference at Kino today listed some specifics for the planned facility, which will turn one of the already converted baseball fields into a soccer stadium with 2,000 permanent seats. It will also have an overhang above the bleachers to, as main stadium tenant FC Tucson says, "shade crowds from the sun and project the sound toward the field, elevating the energy level."

(I'm just imagining the amplified sounds of vuvuzelas ...)

FC Tucson and county officials also announced plans to add a sixth field to the north side of the Kino Complex, which was built in the late 1990s for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox, back when Tucson was considered a baseball town first and foremost.

But with nearly a month's worth of professional soccer matches about to be played in Tucson, starting with Saturday's friendly between Canada and Denmark at Kino Stadium, methinks this community might now be known more as a soccer town than for the national pastime.

Yesterday, the Mendoza plaintiffs filed an objection to the Tucson Unified School District request to the federal court for approval of the 11 schools the governing board voted to close at the end of this school year.

Here is the objection:

Doc_1423_Mendoza_Plaintiffs__OBJECTION_to_TUSD_Request_for_Approval_of_School_Closures.pdf

Here are the exhibits filed with the objection:

Doc_1423-1_Exhibit_1_Spreadsheet.pdf

The objection, filed by Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) attorneys on behalf of the Mendoza plaintiffs, says that while the district needs to cut $17 million from its budget. the school closures only save $4 to $5 million and no plan has been released on how the district will further cut. But at heart in MALDEF's objection is that the district didn't use the Unitary Status Plan to guide the process, especially in continuing to advance integration and help English Language Learners:

"TUSD fails to explain how it intends to meet the remaining shortfall of $12-13 million dollars. The District rushes to close schools causing disruption to thousands of students without a plan for closing the entire deficit and without adequately considering the impact of the closures on its constitutionally imposed mandate to increase integration in the District. The District has failed to use the Master Plan and school closure “process” to meaningfully advance integration by utilizing the strategies provided in the joint Unitary Status Plan including magnet schools, shaping of attendance boundaries, feeder patterns, clustering, open enrollment and the location of certain educational programs such as dual language programs. The “process” the District utilized for deciding which schools to close was flawed as it neglected to consider these critical factors. The District should not be allowed to proceed with its school closure plan until it effectively utilizes the strategies incorporated in the USP for achieving integration.

MALDEF is asking the federal court to force TUSD to wait on school closures until it looks at the process through the lens of the desegregation plan and states that the district's closure process was flawed:

On November 20, “the Board initiated the closure process for eight schools” and at the same meeting it received “preliminary information on ethnic and racial enrollment of the remaining schools if all of the proposed school closures were approved.” (Notice and Request for Approval at 4, 5.) An assessment of how closures could maximize integration should have been part of the discussion around school closures from the onset of the District’s planning and certainly this should have been a critical factor to consider during the focus group meetings which took place beginning in August 2012.

And yes, MALDEF agrees with many parents out there that if you're going to close their kid's school and send their kids to a different school, the receiving school better be High Performing to Performing schools:

However, both Maxwell and Safford are identified as School Improvement schools requiring specialized attention
to improve their academic achievement. TUSD’s characterization that transferring students from the aforementioned schools will be attending higher performing ones masks the true challenge these students will face. These students’ education will be disrupted as they transition away from their friends, teachers and networks of support to schools that are not performing up to par. These students should be transferring to schools with grades of A and B to counteract the potential negative impact of losing their support networks from the closing schools. TUSD has not undertaken any analyses of the impact the 2010 school closures had on students affected by the closures. At a meeting with District counsel, the District admitted that it has not undertaken any analysis that would provide guidance on how to make improvements for student transitions when schools are closed. It should not be
permitted to perpetuate that omission going forward.

The upcoming year seems to look pretty promising in terms of film; The Great Gatsby, The Reluctant Fundamentalist and The Spectacular Now (just to name a few) all seem rather promising as far as I'm concerned.

But it wouldn't be a well-rounded year without at least one flick with a bizarre storyline and even stranger cast. Enter Spring Breakers. In case you missed the trailer and don't have two minutes to waste, here's a brief synopsis:

Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine are four women in college who apparently like to spend most of their time sitting around in bikinis, hitting up saunas and calling each other derogatory names. When spring break rolls around, the four of them, all strapped for cash, end up being the only ones still on campus. Insistent on getting a change of scenery, they come up with a plan to earn a few bucks and get out of town for a while. Host a car wash? Nope. Get jobs like normal people? Not a chance.

They rob a restaurant.

The guys from Borderlands Brewing Co., located at 119 E. Toole Ave., spent the holiday season replacing their old fermenting tanks with much bigger ones so you can enjoy more beer, and now more often.

“We’re just real excited to get back up and running again,” said Mike Mallozzi, co-owner of the brewery.

The brewery will be open this Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. with live music from Gabriel Sullivan and Joe Novelli. There will also be a food truck in the parking lot.

Blake Collins, head brewmaster, has come up with yet another unique brew made with local ingredients. "Agua Bendita" is what they're calling their newest product, a wheat wine made with heirloom Sonoran White wheat, orange peel, coriander and jasmine tea from a local tea company.

“We brewed it especially for our anniversary,” Mallozzi said. “It’s called a wine because it has a high alcohol content but it’s not made from fruit.”

The brewery opened its doors Dec. 10, 2011 and closed its doors for expansion exactly a year later.

Not only will the three owners, Myles Stone, Mallozzi and Collins, offer their guests more beer, but they're also extending their hours. The brewery will now be open for tasting Wednesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The trio hopes to get more of the after-work crowd in by staying open an hour later, and one more day than last year.

They're also hoping to distribute to more businesses in Tucson now that they'll be brewing more than three times what they used to.

“We’re going to have to take a couple of months to see how much beer we go through here at the brewery so we can have a good understanding of how much beer there is available for distribution,” Mallozzi said.