In minutes, the House Committee on Appropriations is expected to may way for SB1432, that sneaky little amendment that's going to mandate what bathrooms we can used based on our birth certificate.

Here's the press released issued by Wingspan late yesterday, followed after the jump with a letter from James Scott P. Pignatella, who gave us his OK to share it on the Range.

Say “No” to Arizona Legislation SB1432:

The freedom to access public spaces without fear of persecution is a fundamental human right. If
approved, this legislation would deny safety to countless Arizonans and disproportionately
expose transgender and gender diverse people to harassment and discrimination.
—Casey Chimneystar Condit, Programs Manager, Wingspan

Tucson, AZ March 19, 2013, Wingspan, Southern Arizona’s LGBT Community Center, takes a
stand in opposition to SB1432, a State Bill that would mandate Arizonan’s to use only the public
facilities (including bathrooms, locker rooms and dressing rooms) that match their birth
certificate.

What’s happened?
The Center for Arizona Policy has filed a use of public facilities (including restrooms, dressing
rooms and locker rooms) bill in the state legislature that is an assault on the transgender and
gender non-conforming population of this state.

As mentioned here, the mother-son team of Emma Vera and JorDan Fuller opened Calle Tepa, Mexican Street Grill today.

Located at 6151 E. Broadway, Vera's longtime and successful Mexican restaurant Guadalajara Grill is the inspiration for the Mexican street food menu.

Vera owns the original grill on East Prince Road and has no ties to the eastside location. Fuller has been involved in the restaurant business for some time but this is his first time in the leadership role.

Calle Tepa is open daily from 6:30am to 10pm.

March 20, 2013

Dear Faculty and Staff,

After much consideration, I have submitted my resignation to the Governing Board effective June 30, 2013. This decision did not come easily, but I believe it is in the best interests of the district that I do so. The timing is right. It makes sense to allow our newly elected board members to work with a superintendent who will be in place for the duration of their first board terms. The sooner that happens, the more likely it will be that you will have a leadership team that provides long-term consistency and the stability that you deserve.

I want to let you know that I am very proud of the work that we have done together. There have been numerous difficult challenges we have faced as a team, but I am always gratified by the resiliency you show and the passion for excellence that guides what you do. We have made significant progress toward making our vision our reality. We have experienced the transformation of our culture which recognizes that together we can accomplish anything. This district is a special place and it is so because of the spirit that drives our mission on behalf of the children and families we serve.

It is a source of personal pride that in the past two and a half years, we have put the district on a positive trajectory — improving student achievement, fixing inefficient business practices, and showing those we serve that TUSD occupies a place of respect in our community.

We have begun to transform TUSD through significant improvements, including:

• Implementing a district goals process that focuses on student achievement and accountability.

• Increasing the number of students meeting or exceeding AIMS requirements and improved schools labels by doubling the number of “B” schools and reducing the number of “D” schools by 40% in 2011-12.

• Improving achievement at the district’s two persistently lowest performing schools through the turnaround model, resulting in Palo Verde showing a 22% improvement in AIMS math scores and Rincon showing an 11.3% improvement in passing grades. Every indication suggests these schools will continue to improve.

• Adopting rigorous mathematics and language arts curriculum that is based on Arizona’s
Common Core standards.

• Raising the quality of instruction, training 4,000 administrators and teachers in the Essential Elements of Instruction to establish a common research-based instructional model. This promises to continue to pay dividends as continued training and mentorship programs are initiated.

• Launching full-day kindergarten at every elementary school, improving the opportunities for all students and increasing kindergarten enrollment by 12% in 2012-13.

• Creating business practices that will reduce systemic obstacles and improve efficiency and effectiveness of operational procedures.

• Being released from Court oversight by successfully completing the requirements of the Consent Judgment related to the procurement action brought against the District by the Attorney General.

• Implementing an E-Rate federal funding plan, resulting in the District receiving more than $10 million in funding, the first time the district received such funding in a decade.

• Launching a technology initiative to bring the district up to 21st Century telecommunications standards by replacing all wide-area and local-area networks, replacing more than 100 mission-critical servers, upgrading phone and data systems, replacing 7,300 aging school computers, and adding campus-wide wireless networks to every school site.

• Launching a customer service plan to provide a high standard of service to the community.

• Establishing a transportation efficiency and accountability management system to ensure all eligible and requesting students are scheduled and routed one week prior to the start of school. Significantly reduced complaints and problems related to transportation.

• Directing resources from closed schools to support quality across all remaining schools and departments.

• Developing a Unitary Plan that will guide the district forward in support of student equity and opportunity.

• Developing community partnerships with local businesses to support student success.

• Developing a set of values and a vision for action through a collaborative approach that defines who we are and what our focus must be - “Delivering Excellence in Education Every Day…Grow, Reach, Succeed!”

These are meaningful improvements that have come to TUSD through the hard work we have done together. I want to express my appreciation to each of you for the energy and expertise you exhibit each day in pursuit of providing a quality educational experience to our students. We are motivated by a common purpose and linked by our desire to do what is right for the thousands of students in our care.

It has been an honor to serve with you and get to know you. I thank you for all you have done and will continue to do in the months and years ahead. I have been pleased to be a part of the TUSD family and will remember the time we spent together with fondness and gratitude.

I know that you will continue to put students first and work as a team to ensure that our efforts to lift our district will continue in order to create the organization that our children, families and community deserve.

Sincerely,
John Pedicone

Because what Tucson's largest school district could use right now is more chaos and instability, John Pedicone is set to resign his post as superintendent, with a press conference scheduled for 12:30. More news as it comes, but according to one source, the board's decision not to pursue out-sourcing was the last straw for Pedicone.

The Arizona Restaurant Association is running a new food event, the Foodist Awards, with the prizes handed out at an expensive dinner on April 25th. The idea seems solid, honoring "industry players [who] embody the pursuit - the achievement - of excellence" (although that sort of phrasing does remind me a bit of the First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence). Plus, the nominees span the food spectrum, from an excellent Phoenix hot dog cart to French Laundry-trained Kevin Binkley. Plus there are Tucsonans nominated: booze master Aaron DeFeo from Casino del Sol, El Charro, and Kade Mislinski and Jenny Rice's Playground.

I just can't figure out whether they're nominated for a specific category, which there are nine of, from Restaurant Concept to Good Neighbor, or if they're just giving awards away for general awesomeness. Either way, it's nice that we're included at all and best of luck to our three in the running.

The referendum to reroute Clean Elections funding to education passed through the Senate Elections Committee (4-3) despite a slightly new tactic from the opposition.

In addition to saying HCR 2026 is sneaky in its roundabout way of asking voters if they want to keep publicly financing campaigns, those against it say it flouts a bargain brokered in the Senate last year.

Todd Lang, executive director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission said having to fight the referendum is frustrating since Clean Elections, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Sen. John McComish, R-Phoenix, struck a deal last session that the Legislature would lay off Clean Elections — at least this session.

“If we want to make deals and we want to make agreements and want to resolve conflicts —and I know that’s what legislature is all about — it seems to me that this bill shouldn’t go forward because we did have an agreement that there would be no repeal this session.” Lang said.

While there was an agreement, it wasn’t in writing. It was a handshake deal that went down in the Senate, Lang said, which is why the promise of not touching Clean Elections didn’t come up when the bill went through the House.

Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, said he believes senators need to honor their word and not let the bill go forward.
The bill's sponsor, Paul Boyer, R-Phoenix, said he wasn’t aware of last session’s bargain and doesn’t think this Legislature should have its hands tied by a previous Legislature.

Everyone who voted for the bill was in the Senate last session except for Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, who was a member of the House at the time.

While the Elections Committee did vote down party lines, the bill saw bipartisan opposition when it passed out of the House with a 31-27 vote.
Boyer said he is anticipating that he will need to put in a lot of elbow grease to get the bill out of the Senate.

Bethany Barnes is Arizona-Sonora News Service's Don Bolles Fellow

President Obama’s not having a great week with his critics: first, he got accused of looking like Satan, and now he’s getting flak from a familiar critic, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, for leading an excessively luxurious lifestyle that weighs on the backs of America’s most hard-working, penny-thrifting citizens...or something like that.

Here’s her quote from the Conservative Political Action Conference, where she spoke on Saturday:

“A new book is out talking about the perks and the excess of the $1.4-billion-a-year presidency that we’re paying for. And this is a lifestyle that is one of excess. Now we find out that there are five chefs on Air Force One. There are two projectionists who operate the White House movie theater. They regularly sleep at the White House in order to be readily available in case the first family wants a really, really late show. And I don’t mean to be petty here, but can’t they just push the play button? We are also the ones who are paying for someone to walk the president’s dog, paying for someone to walk the president’s dog? Now, why are we doing that when we can’t even get a disabled veteran into the White House for a White House tour? That isn’t caring!”

Glenn Kessler, the “Fact Checker” columnist for the Washington Post, quickly dismantled Bachmann’s claims: the $1.4 billion number, touted in two books recently published by a conservative authors (The 1.4 Billion Dollar Man was written by a Republican lobbyist) would have to incorporate the costs of the White House’s entire policy staff, as well as the entire budget of the Secret Service, which accounts for more than half of the expenses directly linked to the President. Indeed, I think we can agree that it’s an excessive, uncalled for “perk” for the President to want to make it through his day-to-day without getting shanked on the White House lawn.

The Pima County Medical Examiner released its annual report Monday, but according to a county press release, what's striking about the report is that deaths in 2012 went up, but there was a drop in homicides and migrant deaths. So who died?

There were 9,742 deaths in Pima County last year, 8,383 in 2011 and 8,163 in 2010.

From the press release:

Chief Medical Examiner Greg Hess doesn't have an explanation for the spike in deaths, but what he does know with certainty is that last year was busier for his office than at any point in the last decade, with more than 3,200 cases referred to the Forensic Science Center for autopsies, investigations and examinations.

You can read the 2012 report, as well as 2011 and 2010 reports here.

Highlights from the county:

Men accounted for 57 percent of overdose deaths, 73 percent of motor vehicle-related fatalities, 72 percent of the suicides, 64 percent of accident fatalities and 79 percent of homicides. Of migrants who died and later identified, 85 percent were men.

Firearms were used in 65 percent of homicides and 48 percent of suicides.

Homicides went down 13 percent in 2012, with 79 cases, compared to the 91 in 2011 and 93 in 2010. Victims were most frequently men between the ages of 20-29.

Migrant deaths fell below average last year with 157 death compared to record high of 225 deaths in 2010.

Overdose deaths rose in 2012 to 314, from 277 the year previous and 273 in 2010. Oxycodone the number one source of overdoses.

Natural deaths made up 40 percent of death investigated by the Forensic Science Center.

From a very strange (but brilliant) Facebook thread on Tucson concert booker/DJ Dan Hernandez's page referencing Mexican food and popular rap songs of the moment, I present this wonderful image with text by Matthew Baquet. Enjoy:

If you remember our Celebrity Showdown cover story from last week, you might recall that we pitted 32 of Tucson's most beloved celebrities up against each other in a single elimination tournament to determine the most famous person connected to our fair Pueblo.

You may also remember that we split the first round of voting in half, saving eight matchups for the first half of this week, drawing concerns from some readers who were champing at the bit to knock off the whole bracket in one go.

Well, wait no longer, friends. We updated our Celebrity Showdown voting page yesterday evening, giving you Round One, Part Two of the bracket. This round features matchups between Red Meat cartoonist and First Friday Shorts poobah Max Cannon against current NBA star and local business owner Derrick Williams; homegrown musical treasure Linda Ronstadt against UA sportscasting treasure, Dave Sitton; the now-$25,000-poorer UA men's basketball coach Sean Miller against the widely-renowned Mariachi Cobre; Olympic champion and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Amanda Beard against Tucson Appliance's man of many faces, Chris Edwards; Today show star Savannah Guthrie against UA running back and potential Heisman candidate Ka'deem Carey; beloved Wildcat football coach Rich Rodriguez against best-selling mystery writer J.A. Jance; retired astronaut and firearm safety advocate Mark Kelly versus Joe "Ooh-Ahh Man" Cavaleri; and local author Chuck Bowden facing off against star chef Janos Wilder.

Ready to vote? Make your picks here!