Bethany Barnes of Arizona-Sonora News Service reports on a bill to that would have required a notarized signature in order to receive an early ballot:

One person’s safeguard is another person’s hurdle.

The motives of a bill that would require a notarized signature to get on the Permanent Early Voting List were called into question in Thursday’s House Judiciary Committee.

HB 2350 died in committee (though the idea could still pop up in another form during the session) after a tense talk that was cut short by the committee’s chair.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Carl Seel, R-Phoenix, asserts that notarized signatures are the equivalent of the I.D. check at the polls.

Rep. Lupe Contreras, D-Avondale, thinks Seel isn’t looking to reduce fraud as much as he is the Latino vote.

“I think it is a red herring, quite honestly, to throw the race card out there,” Seel said.

Contreras questioned why fraud needed to be addressed now. Seel pointed that more people are voting early. Contreras pointed out that many of those voters are Latinos.

Contreras said he would rather the bill be called what it is, to which Seel asked if Contreras thought the bill implied some “characteristic of race.”

“Yes, in every way shape or form. Yeah,” Contreras said.

It was at this point that committee chairman Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert, intervened. Farnsworth told Contreras he was out of line. He then held the bill, saying it didn’t have the votes.

Member’s concerns about the bill varied.

While I've taken it as my solemn duty to remember the many who's lives were entirely destroyed/kinda inconvenienced as a result of #TucsonBlizzard 2013, this time lapse video is probably the coolest thing to have come from one of the many Tucsonans who survived, (henceforth known as The Orphans of Sonoran Superstorm Sofia).

Great work out there, fellow Orphan. May we Never Forget.

[h/t: @cactiman]

With February coming to a close, we’re almost done with the second Sweeps Month of the TV season (and the cheapskates who run TV these days don’t even give us a full month of TV in May, so these are the good old days).
A few things about this season so far:

• Vegas should be better than it is. I’ve been watching it from the first episode, but I don’t know if I’ll sign on for a second season. With Dennis Quaid as the frontier-type sheriff and Michael Chiklis as the mob boss/casino operator, the sparks should be flying off the screen. They’re not.

The plots are intricate enough, but there’s just no fire.

• They brought back Body of Proof, but it’s totally changed around into more of a detective procedural. It still has Dana Delany. Most guys have a warm spot for Delany ever since she appeared as Josie Marcus in “Tombstone.” However, it’s going to take more than that.

• I tried to watch a few minutes of American Idol, but I couldn’t even make it to the first commercial break. I love Mariah Carey’s singing. Period. I like absolutely nothing about Nicki Minaj. The show is hideous and grotesque.

• One of my all-time favorite sitcoms, “The Big Bang Theory,” is now the top-rated show on TV. That’s amazing to me. It’s not the funniest show on TV (Modern Family is), but any show that talks about the Higgs Boson, has characters dress up as the Doppler Effect for Halloween, and celebrates the geekdom of comic books, sci-fi, and physics is special.

• I’m torn as to whether to read the Walking Dead graphic novels so I’ll have an idea as to what’s coming up or to just go along for the ride. I know it can’t just be about finding new and clever ways to kill zombies, but the Governor vs. the Prison Group plotline is wearing thin. More Michonne. More Maggie. More walkers.

• Photo by Devon Balet

The group that organizes two wildly popular mountain bike rides is taking their show on the road. They are putting together a new ride in Grand Junction, Colo. Find out when the ride will be.

You know that ride where the close the streets so people can walk, ride, skate, dance or do whatever non-motorized activity you want? Well they need some help making sure they get to do it twice this year. Find out how you can help.

It's amazing how much better people behave when police are watching. See the latest example.

That's right, Tucson. Thanks to #TucsonBlizzard 2013 (Never Forget!), we've actually eclipsed snowfall totals experienced by the folks in Seattle, Washington.

From KOMOnews.com's Scott Sistek:

Not only has Mother Nature essentially blanked Seattle in the snow department this winter, she's rubbing it in by bringing real winter to places that aren't supposed to have it.

...

The Tucson airport reported a drop from 50 degrees to 34 degrees in an hour with a switch from rain to snow.

A former long-time resident (my wife) tells me it does snow in Tucson from time to time. But number of years Tucson > Seattle in the snow department? Likely close to zero, if not zero.

The official tally at Tucson Airport was just a trace — technically tying Seattle for 2013 as Seattle had a 14-minute snow shower that registered a trace on Jan. 10. But Tucson's snow lasted nearly an hour and a half and unlike Seattle's, actually accumulated in areas around the city, with an official spotter report giving a full 1.0" of accumulation in town.

A check through the National Weather Service's records confirms it: Tucson, 1" of snow; Seattle, nothing.

We're coming for you, Emerald City.

• psychologytoday.com

According to a study of Craigslist's "Missed Connections" sections across the country by Dorothy Gambrell, the most popular place in the United States where love is found (and then lost, in short order) is Walmart. Yeah, seriously.

Gambrell's research, presented in map-form, is the result of poring through a state's 100 most recent "Missed Connections" at the time they were collected—which we could probably safely assume took place last fall, as Oklahoma's state fare (the most popular location for Oklahomans to miss out on romance) occurs in September.

Apparently (though not necessarily shockingly,) lonely lovers in the South tend to see most of their potential sweethearts at Walmart, while Georgians tend to miss out on people in...uh..."the car." Whatever that means.

The second most popular place for Americans to be missing out is, generally, the market (for my purposes, I lumped in supermarkets with "superstores" and gas stations, because you can buy beef jerky at all of them, I figure,) followed by public transportation systems (generally in the Northeast).

Interestingly, during Gambrell's search period, most of Arizona's missed connections tend to happen at L.A. Fitness, of all places. A look today through Tucson's Missed Connections finds that, indeed, many missed connections postings tend to focus on the gym—though there's also a ton of cryptic poetry, a fair number of grocery store non-hookups, a few arguments between spurned lovers, and even one taxi cab driver bitching about a passenger who got him/her sick.

Ah, love.

(h/t: Andrew Sullivan)

Lost in the chaos surrounding #TucsonBlizzard 2013 (Never Forget!) was this news item published yesterday from the Associated Press, detailing a trip by Arizona Sen. John McCain and current Director of Homeland Security (and former Arizona Governor) Janet Napolitano to the U.S.-Mexico border, took a turn for the wacky when describing the arguments Sen. McCain heard from some of the colorful denizens of Sun Lakes, a small community in the Southeastern Phoenix area.

From the AP, via CBSnews.com (emphasis added):

McCain said a tamper-proof Social Security card would help combat identity fraud, and noted any path to citizenship must require immigrants to learn English, cover back taxes and pay fines for breaking immigration laws.

"There are 11 million people living here illegally," he said. "We are not going to get enough buses to deport them."

Some audience members shouted out their disapproval.

One man yelled that only guns would discourage illegal immigration. Another man complained that illegal immigrants should never be able to become citizens or vote. A third man said illegal immigrants were illiterate invaders who wanted free government benefits.

McCain urged compassion. "We are a Judeo-Christian nation," he said. McCain's other town hall meeting took place in Green Valley, south of Tucson.

Well, it was a nice try, John. But as the red-faced man in the above clip should help you realize, when you get crazy people from a small town into a forum, hilarity and exasperation soon follow.

Tucson Police announced today they have identified and arrested the man who is believed to have fired a gun into the air outside a massive college party at an off-campus apartment complex last month.

Da'wan Grandville Lord, 20, turned himself in today and was booked into the Pima County Jail on one count of discharging a firearm within the city limits, according to a TPD press release. He contacted police on Wednesday, through an attorney, before turning himself in.

Lord was apparently identified by multiple people after TPD put out an 'attempt to identify' notice following the Jan. 26 incident, which occurred at the Stone Avenue Standard apartments and brought a calamitous end to a party that had more than 1,000 attendees.

Dubbed the 'Aussie Party' because of its occurring on Aussie Day and being organized by three University of Arizona exchange students from Australia, the event resulted in Stone Avenue Standard getting red-tagged because of the party's magnitude. It also spawned a You Tube video produced by a student-led startup media company called Blacked Out Media that has garnered more than 50,000 views.

A second video, from the parking lot right before and during the time of the shooting, was also briefly up on You Tube. One still from that video showed a sizable neck tattoo on the person believed to be the shooter, which seems to be the way Lord was tracked down and identified.

Bethany Barnes of Arizona-Sonora News Service reports on a bill to transfer the funding for the state's Clean Elections program to Arizona schools:

An Arizona lawmaker is looking to send the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission back to the voters in a move that some say might be a bit dirty.

HCR2026, which passed out of the House Judiciary Committee Thursday, would ask voters if they would rather keep Clean Elections or give more money to education.

The resolution’s sponsor, Rep. Paul Boyer, R-Phoenix, said that the use of the word clean is deceptive. Boyer said that voters have had time to see Clean Elections in action (voters passed the Citizens Clean Elections Act in 1998) and decide if it lives up to its name.

Todd Lang, the executive director of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, said that masking the attack with education funding is “brilliant” since education is always popular with voters. He, and others, questioned why not just ask the voters point blank if they want to keep Clean Elections.

Rep. Doris Goodale, R-Kingman, and Rep. Ethan Orr, R-Tucson, both expressed concerns about coupling Clean Elections with education.

“The voters did not vote Clean Elections versus education,” Goodale said. “I have absolutely no concerns about putting clean elections back to the voters, but I really have trouble when we have a voter initiative and we down here at the Legislature keep trying to go around that.”

Last year's attempt at closing down the streets of Tucson, Cyclovia Tucson, was marred by March showers (something I feel partially responsible for, after jokingly suggesting the possibility of rain with Coley Ward, organizer of the then-concurrent event, Solar Rock during an interview). To counter that, and to double-down on bicycling fun, Living Streets Alliance is planning on holding two Cyclovia events this year, this time in April.

From the Cyclovia Tucson Kickstarter page:

Why?

Because in Tucson almost 30% of our community footprint consists of roads and parking lots. With so much space set aside for the automobile every day, we don't think it's too much to ask to take back some of that space a couple times a year and populate it with people who can exercise and breathe clean air.

...

Cyclovia Tucson also shows that healthy, active transportation choices like biking and walking are fun ways to weave more activity into our daily lives. Cyclovia routes are designed with popular destinations in mind like schools, parks, businesses, and restaurants.

But the real fun is in slowing down and discovering all the hidden treasures in our neighborhoods that we zoom right past in our cars every day. Cyclovia Tucson organizers are working with local designers and artists to create passports and hand-carved rubber stamps that are hidden in plain site along the routes. Inspired by the popular pastime known as Letterboxing, this special Cyclovia Scavenger Hunt encourages all of us to slow down and be very observant of our surroundings.

I'm not much of a bicyclist myself, possessing grace similar to that of a drunken toddler when I'm on my bike, but Cyclovia is a great event — and the swag they're giving away to backers looks pretty great. Give them a look over at their Kickstarter page, and for more info, check out the Cyclovia Tucson Facebook.