By PEI LI
Cronkite News Service

WASHINGTON – Visas to enter the U.S. are typically a hot commodity: The government stopped taking applications for its 2014 allotment of 65,000 H-1B work visas after just four days, for example.

But not the T-visa.

Of the 50,000 T-visas that have been offered over the last 10 years, the government has issued only 6,206 of the little-known visas meant to protect victims of human trafficking and their family members.

This despite the fact that between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. every year, according to State Department estimates – exactly the people lawmakers aimed to protect when they passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in 2000.

“There is a lot of people who are trafficked into the U.S., but very little of them are found and rescued,” said Reem Constantine, trafficking case manager and training coordinator of International Rescue Committee‘s Phoenix office.

Advocates say that, despite its good intentions, the T-visa is burdened by difficult-to-meet requirements, a lack of awareness about the program and a perception by many that those trafficked are criminals and not victims.

And it demands a lot of those who apply: They have to be willing to testify against the traffickers, even though they may live in fear of them, and they are not allowed to work while waiting for the visa, which can take a year or more.

Last night Calexico, Iron & Wine, Kathleen Edwards and Glen Hansard covered The Pogues' Fairytale of New York on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Did you miss the whimsical performance because you were playing drunken Scramble at The District last night? Don't worry because you can watch it right here on The Range at your leisure.

It’s time to feed your inner nerd.

Restaurant. Here in the 21st century we take restaurants for granted. But restaurants didn’t exist in the Western world until the late 1700’s. There were taverns and inns that served food and drink to travelers, and you could take out baked goods from a bakery, but there was nothing like leisure social dining just for the heck of it. There wasn’t even a word for the concept, not until the restaurant was invented. The story of the origin of restaurant that I’m about to tell has been the accepted version for a couple of hundred years, but as is often the case with word origins that go back a ways, parts of it have been disputed in some quarters. Anyway, here we go…..

The historic Armory Park neighborhood is getting a new breakfast, music venue and farmers market in the New Year.

The 5 Point Market is opening up next door to Café Desta on 758 South Stone Ave.

“We love the neighborhood,” co-owner Beth Jones said in a late phone interview today. “We asked ourselves, 'What would we want next door (to Café Desta)? What would be good for the neighborhood?' ”

The building and restaurant is family owned. The primary owners are Jones’ brother-in-law Telahoun Molla and her twin sister Brooke Molla. The trio opened the city’s second Ethiopian eatery three years ago . “We were able to take this very unemployable refugee community, especially the women, and give them jobs. The most amazing thing was watching them grow, and a lot of these gals unfolded amazingly,” Jones said. Some of the original female employees are still working there.

Calexico, 2013 Best of Tucson Best Local Performing Artists, announced on their Facebook page that they will performing The Pogues' Fairytale of New York tonight on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. The band will share the stage with Iron & Wine, Kathleen Edwards Page and Glen Hansard.

The band posted this Instagram photo from the set:

Tonight: Joaquin Phoenix, Candice Bergen plus @IronAndWine, Calexico & special guests cover The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York". #LateNight
— jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) December 11, 2013

The Range has heard from a few sources today that Sen. Linda Lopez is planning on resigning her seat in the Arizona Legislature next month.

Lopez, a Democrat who represents District 2, was first elected to the Legislature in 2000.

A few names that are floating around as possible replacements in the district, which includes Tucson's south side, Green Valley, Sahuarita and Nogales: Legislative District 2 Rep. Andrea Dalessandro, former state lawmaker Tom Prezelski and historic preservation champion Demion Clinco.

I have never seen the Nutcracker, but I really want to. Here's our chance to win four free tickets to see the Nutcracker at Centennial Hall, 1020 E University Blvd.

4 Free tickets to Dec.15 show of Nutcracker at Centennial Hall are up for grabs! Follow & RT for your chance to win! pic.twitter.com/YJ0Qmrylbf
— Ballet Tucson (@BalletTucson) December 11, 2013

As previously reported in Noshing Around, Mama's Hawaiian BBQ had a third location in the works, but the Hawaiian resturant wasn't scheduled to open until sometime around mid-January. They finished ahead of schedule and opened their doors today. Check out the new location on 8300 N. Thornydale Road.

Mahalo, Mai `ai!

The largest pop-culture convention in the southwest announced its first guest for the 2014 Phoenix Comicon. Phoenix Con announced that Bruce Campbell, film and television actor, will be one of many high profile guests expected to attend next year's event.


Campbell is famous for his role in the Sam Raimi's cult classic Evil Dead films, Army of Darkness, Bubba Ho-Tep and the USA television series Burn Notice. 

Leo Grand, lost his job and was forced out of his home, has been homeless on the streets of New York City since 2011. In August of this year a man named Patrick McConlogue, made Leo an offer. He would give the man $100 or teach him how to code. Leo chose the coding lessons. It’s a modern day application of the old proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

After Leo and Patrick met regularly for 16 weeks of coding lessons, Leo began creating an app.