While Congressman Raul Grijalva and others are trying to bring fresh attention to immigration reform through various protests,

Talking Points memo reports today that House conservatives are now vowing to block immigration reform:

House Republicans have been subtly angling for months to quash immigration reform. But after getting rolled by Democrats in the spending and shutdown fights, conservatives who call the shots in the chamber are more determined than ever to block an overhaul and imperil President Barack Obama's second-term priority.

The government shutdown fight has given House conservatives a new pretext: Obama refused to deal with us on the debt, so we won't deal with him on immigration reform.

"I know the president has said, well, gee, now this is the time to talk about immigration reform," Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) told TPM. "He ain't gonna get a willing partner in the House until he actually gets serious about ... his plan to deal with the debt."

And a new talking point: Obama simply wants to use immigration reform to "destroy" the GOP.

"I think it'd be crazy for the House Republican leadership to enter into negotiations with him on immigration," Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) told reporters on the eve of the GOP's shutdown surrender. "And I'm a proponent of immigration reform. So I think what he's done over the last two and a half weeks — he's trying to destroy the Republican Party. And I think that anything we do right now with this president on immigration will be with that same goal in mind: which is to try to destroy the Republican Party and not to get good policies."

This gets back to the central debate within the GOP when it comes to immigration reform and the Hispanic vote that I've been writing about this year: One side of the GOP, led by the likes of John McCain, says that immigration reform is a vital first step in recapturing support among Latino voters in the future. The other side of the GOP doesn't believe Latinos will ever vote for them in significant numbers, so it's best to continue hammering on them.

Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly bring attention to the links between domestic violence, gun violence and background checks. Kelly explains in the latest email from Americans for Responsible Solutions:

It took me five minutes to pass a background check earlier this year, but its far too easy for perpetrators of domestic violence to bypass that process by going online or visiting a gun show.

Now that Congress has voted to end the government shutdown, we hope they will get to work closing many of the loopholes in federal law that allow domestic violence offenders and stalkers the ability to possess firearms.

Locally, Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik is hosting a meeting with Moms Demand Action to highlight the dangers that battered women face when abusers have firearms. Kozachik notes that in Arizona, more than 60 percent of all domestic violence-related homicides were committed with a firearm.

"This is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and in respect of the women who have suffered, and in some cases died as a result of that crime, we're holding this event to draw attention to the still unfinished business of fixing the NIC system and making sure background checks are done on every gun purchase that takes place in the marketplace, nationwide," Kozachik tells The Range via email. "We took the lead on this at the mayor and council level, and we're still waiting to see some leadership from our state and federal legislators. It's pretty simple. If you've got a DV conviction, a person selling you a gun should have access to that information before selling you a weapon."

The Moms Demand Action event is 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, at the Ward 6 office, 3202 E. First St.

The punk rock scene has started to own Thursday nights since Toxic Ranch Records announced its imminent closure.

Lariats is doubled booked this Thursday, Oct. 24, on Sixth Street and Fourth Ave. They are playing an all-ages show with Logan Greene Electric at Toxic Ranch, 424 E. Sixth St. Following that they will cross the street and jam with Sleep Like Trees and Brass Tax at Plush, 340 E Sixth St. The Toxic show starts at 6 p.m. and the Plush show starts at 9 p.m. $2 admission for both shows. I have been to two in-store concerts at Toxic Ranch and more people are coming each show. You'll never know who you'll see. AZ Public Media's Luis Carrión was covering the show two weeks ago. 

Click here for more information at their RSVP Facebook page.

There are three weeks left in the high school football season, and things are starting to shape up in terms of playoff participants.

And by shape up, I mean ... almost nothing is settled. But a lot of teams are in good shape, assuming they can continue on a positive track.

Of the 17 or so local teams that can safely be considered in playoff contention, only one — Salpointe Catholic — could lay down and take a nap for three weeks and still make the playoffs. The Lancers (7-0) aren't going to do that, though, as they'd like to stay rated No. 1 in the Division II power points in order to assure staying in Southern Arizona for the entirety of the playoffs.

(That's assuming the rumors the AIA plans on playing the D-II and D-III title games at Arizona Stadium on Nov. 29 and 30 are true)

Salpointe's last two regular season games will be good pre-playoff tests, most likely against fellow postseason participants. Then there's tonight's visit from Casa Grande Vista Grande (2-5), a team that has scored 37 points all season and has been outscored 129-0 the last three games.

The running clock will probably start so early the Salpointe sideline watchers will be home by 9 p.m.

Thankfully, a couple of the remaining matchups involving playoff teams are far more competitive.

Division II
Rincon/University (0-7) at No. 7 Tucson High (6-1)
No. 15 Sierra Vista Buena (4-3) at No. 9 Sahuaro (6-1)
No. 16 Mountain View (4-3) at No. 10 Ironwood Ridge (5-2)
Desert View (1-6) at No. 18 Sunnyside (4-3)

Division III
No. 7 Sabino (5-2) at Cholla (1-6)
Marana (4-3) at No. 8 Canyon del Oro (6-1)
No. 15 Catalina Foothills (5-2) at Casa Grande (2-5)

Division IV
No. 11 Rio Rico (5-2) at No. 22 Amphitheater (4-3)
No. 23 Walden Grove (3-4) at No. 14 Palo Verde (5-2)

Division V
No. 9 Pusch Ridge Christian (5-2) at San Carlos (2-4)
No. 16 Benson (4-3) at Tanque Verde (2-5)

The other day I was at Monterey Court, the bar/restaurant/performance space/boutique conglomeration on Miracle Mile, and was reminded what a great space it is. First of all, as someone who grew up here petrified of even being in a car driving down Miracle Mile (yes, that was overly paranoid, but I was a kid), seeing that strip between Oracle and the freeway as somewhere people would actually want to go is a plus for the city. Second, it's just a nice, charming spot, not terribly far from most people in town, that seems optimized for this time of year when it's universally enjoyable to be outside.

Along those lines, the Monterey Court Jazz Fest, on Oct. 19-20 this weekend, is an excellent opportunity to experience the space's unique atmosphere, hear some music and generally have a good time. The two-day lineup is solid, with the Angel Diamond Trio, Crystal Stark, Mr. Boogie Woogie and Solvei (above). You can attend both days for $30, or go just one night for $20, but the folks at Monterey Court were kind enough to give us a pair of tickets for Saturday.

Just head to our contest page and enter. We'll draw a winner Friday at 3 p.m. and notify them via email. Your name will be on the guest list, so you don't even have to drive all the way to our Airport Heights offices.

Good luck!

In June, the Range posted that ASU associate professor David Garcia was thinking about running for state Superintendent of Public Instruction, celebrating how amazing it is to have someone actually qualified to be the superintendent and not just another politician extending their time living off the government teet.

Well, earlier this month,

Garcia officially kicked off his campaign

Funny man Pete Holmes is a comic book nerd. The Pete Holmes Show is debuting on TBS on Monday, Oct. 28, after Conan. I don't have cable, but this Youtube promo is the best way to get my attention.

I don't get why people hate Superman so much. They explanation is that they have never read All Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly. Nor have they read Allan Moore's For The Man Who Has Everything or Whatever Happened To the Man of Tomorrow. These are great stories and paint the perfect picture for this rich character. That's my sad, fanboy rant for the day.

• A really old photo from the late-not-so-lamented Gordo's Mexiteria.

Great news from noted food site Deadspin: the chimichanga, which is still, criminally, not Arizona's official state dish, is better than the unofficial state dishes of 32 other states (take that, Utah's "green Jell-O with goddamn carrots in it").

However, that also means that 17 other states have better unofficial state dishes than we do. While I can live with the idea that Kansas City and Memphis style ribs (tied for 15th) might be better than our chimichanga (let's be honest with ourselves, ribs are delicious), but the Mission-style burrito (3rd for California)? ALL THEY DID WAS ADD RICE. Two chili dogs? (Rhode Island, 11th; West Virginia, 17th) I like chili dogs as much as any human being alive, but we're talking about a burrito (delicious already) that gets FRIED then more delicious stuff is put ON TOP. This is how all delicious things are made.

Clearly, some of the stink from our state's previous antics were factored into the decision:

Somebody dropped a burrito into a deep-fryer and out came Arizona's signature food, which no one in Arizona eats, because half the people in Arizona are too old for solid foods, and the rest are on the run from white-supremacist paramilitary border militias.

I would eat a chimichanga every day if I could, and yes, I probably should be looking over my shoulder for those militias, but if I go out eating a chimi, that would be almost as bad-ass as lying on the floor of a meth lab while a Badfinger song plays. We all have to live with our choices.

We can't necessarily fix the bias of internet blogger types, but we can restart the campaign to get the chimi named the state's official food. Someone convince Ray from El Charro to hire Jonathan Paton as a lobbyist. It's time to get this taken care of.