Southern Arizona Congressman Ron Barber called for an alternative to the sequester today on the House floor:

Mister Speaker, we now are less than 48 hours from sweeping and irresponsible across-the-board budget cuts that will go into effect on Friday.

These cuts will weaken our military, harm our border security, undermine our economic recovery and hurt Southern Arizona families.

We must work together. And we can, I am confident, craft a rational, bipartisan solution to reduce the debt so these cuts can be avoided.

Last week, I stood with officials from the University of Arizona, the city of Tucson, law enforcement, Border Patrol agents, civilian employees of the air base and the garrison at Fort Huachuca and local health care groups and community agencies to demand that we take action on sequestration.

The critical services that these groups and individuals and countless others provide to Arizonans will be cut because Congress has not come together with a common-sense solution.

In my district, these cuts mean longer wait times at the border ports of entry and less security between them. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Sequestration hurts the ability of returning veterans to find a job. This is also unacceptable.

The UA College of Science continues its exploration into the world of genomics with Arizona Center for the Biology of Complex Diseases Director Donata Vercelli explaining "Why DNA Is Not Our Destiny." The free talk will bring a big crowd to Centennial Hall at 7 p.m., so get there a few minutes early, especially since roadwork has closed Park Avenue around University Boulevard.

Here's the idea behind the lecture, via the College of Science:

Two twin sisters, one with and one without asthma. Two genetically identical mice, one black and lean, the other yellow and obese. Two human cells, one from the brain and the other from the skin: they look and act different, but they have the same DNA sequence. All of this is the work of epigenetics. Much emphasis has been placed on DNA and genes as repositories of the code designed to transmit information and dictate biological programs. However, developmental trajectories and responses to environmental cues are — and need to be — highly plastic. This plasticity is made possible by epigenetic mechanisms that enhance or silence gene expression at the right time in the right environmental context but do not change the DNA sequence. Thus the code inscribed in our DNA is necessary but not sufficient to recapitulate our biological identity and determine our biological destiny. This lecture will explore how understanding epigenetics will advance our understanding of human biology and disease.

More details here.

A bunch of duly elected lawmakers in the nation's capital - led by one from the shadow of the Space Needle - put their heads together and agreed on something this week. WTF?

It won't avert any fiscal cliffs or huge tax increases, but the States’ Medical Marijuana Patients Protection Act represents agreement across the aisle in the hallowed halls of Congress, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The act was introduced by a bipartisan group of 15 U.S. representatives in an effort to get the feds off the backs of people in states that have legalized cannabis. It would largely exempt cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act in states with medical cannabis laws.

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon is the main sponsor of the bill, along with Jim Farr of California. Blumenaur is a known advocate of cannabis law reform, having authored a report on the topic.

Stay tuned.

On March 6, Chef Allen Yap at Om Modern Asian Kitchen will be cooking with Guest Chef Ramiro Scavo, from Pasco Kitchen & Lounge, to create an Asian-Latin fusion wine dinner. This dinner will be highlighting South American wines.

When I called for information they didn’t have a price or menu planned yet. Dinner is slated for 6:30 p.m. so call 299-7815 for further information or reservations, which are required.

Now, I know I am usually going on about food trucks, or beer events, but where our food comes from is also very important to me. Nothing says "I care what I eat" more so that growing your own food. With a little bit of knowledge desert growing here in the Southwest is so easy and fun. To help you learn how, on Saturday, March 2, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., Native Seeds/SEARCH board member and gardener Martha "Muffin" Burgess, of Flor de Mayo Arts, will be instructing a class at the NS/S Conservation Center,
3584 E. River Road. From the Native Seed/SEARCH website:

“Long season melons and gourds, runners and lima beans, heirloom tomatoes and pot herbs are among the vegetables that succeed well in the low desert if planted in early spring. Using our Binghampton floodplain plots at the NS/S Conservation Center, we will learn tricks discovered over many years of gardening in Tucson's unique climate. Prepare to get your hands and shovels dirty—and get primed for prepping your own home garden. Participants will take home new ideas. This workshop is designed especially for newcomers to desert gardening, to help “tune in” to growing in our local conditions. Class size is limited, so sign up today!"

Cost for this class is $25 for NS/S members and $45 for non-members. Non member price includes membership to Native Seed/Search.

The new Whole Foods location is hitting the ground running. On Tuesday, March 5th at 6:30 p.m., the Whole Foods location at 5555 E River Rd. will be having a beer dinner in their brand new bar. $30 gets you four courses from Chef Nathan Hirsch's kitchen, paired with four beers personally selected by the guys at Dragoon Brewing.

For reservations or for further questions call 461-1300 or email [email protected].

As the headline says, we've got two pairs of tickets that we absolutely need to give away for tonight's Broadway in Tucson performance of Memphis, a rockin', rollin' period drama we previewed two weeks ago ("From Tennessee to Tucson," City Week, Feb. 28):

The show, which won four Tony awards in 2010, centers around the story of Huey Calhoun, a white radio DJ in the segregated 1950s who discovers Felicia, a talented female singer who happens to be black. As Huey tries to showcase Felicia's talent via airtime on the radio—a dangerous effort during racially tense times—the two fall in love.

The production began its tour at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego and comes to Tucson after being on the road for about a year and a half, said Mario Di Vietta, Broadway in Tucson's marketing and sales manager. This will be the show's Arizona debut.

Di Vietta said the score, written by Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan, should appeal to all fans of rock 'n' roll.

"If you love music, if you love (a good) story and rock 'n' roll, this is going to be perfect for you," he said. "There are no slow parts; there's nothing that feels like you're watching a traditional musical. A lot of people love Bon Jovi, so if you love that type of rock 'n' roll music, you're going to love Memphis."

The tickets to tonight's 7:30 p.m. performance, set smack-dab in the middle of the front row, are going out to the first two people to come down to Weekly World Central, at 3280 E. Hemisphere Loop, between Country Club and Palo Verde Roads on Valencia Road.

See you soon, folks.

Cyclist Tyler Wren was on a training with his teammates from cycling team Jamis-Hagens Berman Friday morning along Valencia Road when their ride was violently interrupted by a Tucson driver who ran Wren and a coach with the team off of the road.

VeloNews.com has Wren's account of the incident:

We departed for our ill-fated training ride on Friday at 10:00 a.m., headed out of town on Valencia Road, a common thoroughfare with a generous shoulder bounded by a white line. The 15-rider group was riding two-abreast in a long line, as far to the right as possible, in full accordance with Arizona traffic law. Our team’s strength and conditioning coach Todd Herriott and I were on the front, he on my left, closest to the passing traffic. Kinkade’s tan Oldsmobile Aurora suddenly and violently impacted Todd’s left side. He and I crashed hard on the front of the group as [accused attacker Thomas Kinkade Jr.] sped away. My teammates also reported that Mr. Kinkade was shouting obscenities at us during the attack through his open car window.

As Todd and I lay on the ground struggling to comprehend what had happened, my unscathed teammate Ben Jacques-Maynes sprinted past us in an impressive pursuit of the fleeing car. Ben did not manage to catch the perpetrator, but he swiftly came upon our team car, which was waiting for us at our next turn and breathlessly explained the situation to our sport director, Sebastian Alexandre. Sebastian quickly resumed the pursuit along with his serendipitous passenger, John Segesta, a professional photographer in possession of a DSLR camera with a telephoto lens. John photographed numerous cars and license plates before the pair returned to the scene of the crime for the team members to positively identify the driver and vehicle.

John nailed him — crystal clear in high-definition on his camera was a shot of Kinkade’s car and Arizona license plate. Mr. Kinkade underestimated the cohesiveness and capability of the Jamis squad. Ben and various teammates spread the word and the license plate number through social media, and within a couple hours an article appeared in the cycling press.

Read the rest of Wren's account at VeloNews.com—and for more, make sure to visit TucsonVelo.com to read Range contributor Michael McKisson's reporting of the events.

Alex Bowman, 20-year-old from Tucson, finished in third-place Saturday after avoiding two wrecks in the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

Driving the #99 Florida Lottery Toyota Camry for RAB Racing, Saturday's finish was both RAB Racing and Bowman's highest at the speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

A blog post on Bowman's website describes the two accidents the rookie was able to avoid:

Following a late-race caution, crew chief Chris Rice made the call for fuel only, which put the No. 99 in front of the 13-car accident which occurred on Lap 117. Bowman set up for the green-white-checker finish in the eighth position. As the field made its way to the start-finish line on the final lap, a violent wreck erupted. In an effort to avoid the incident, Bowman darted into the frontstretch grass. Though his Toyota Camry suffered extensive damage, Bowman completed the race in the third position.

“I just have to thank everybody at RAB Racing,” said Bowman. “They gave me a great Toyota Camry. It was awesome to have Florida Lottery and Windows 8 on the car, but I just hope all of the fans are okay. I saw the fence there and I’ve heard that there’s some fans injured and I’m just sorry for all of those fans out there. My prayers are with their family and themselves. I’m just ready to move on to Phoenix and go out there and race short track style and not have deal with the two-car tandem.”

The NASCAR Nationwide Series continues in Phoenix this Saturday.

Bowman will be at Precision Toyota, 700 W. Wetmore, for a meet-and-greet Wednesday, Feb. 27 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Tying with Les Misèrables for second place with the most awards received at the 85th Academy Awards, Argo achieved three Oscar vistories on Sunday night, including the prestigious Best Picture award. It beat out Life of Pi (which took home four awards, the most of the night), Amour, Les Misèrables, Lincoln, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained and Zero Dark Thirty for the prominent award.

Nominated for seven total awards, Argo also won in the film editing and writing categories. William Goldenberg was the film editor and Chris Terrio was the writer.

Lead actor and director of the film, Ben Affleck, was not nominated in the directing category by the Academy. This is the first time since 1990 that a film has won best picture without a nomination for the director as well.

"Naturally, I was disappointed," Affleck said in an article on The Age. "But when I look at the directors who weren't nominated - Paul Thomas Anderson, Kathryn Bigelow, Tom Hooper, Quentin Tarantino, these were all amazing directors who I admire."

Although Affleck and fans of the movie were thrilled about its success, Iran was not so pleased with the award.