There was a small display of political resilience on the house floor today when the Committee of the Whole heard HB 2537.

The bill would allow pawnbrokers to charge five percent higher interest rates and would eliminate interest for military members who are deployed while forcing pawnbrokers to hold goods for 60 days after a military member returns from active duty service.

Two amendments were introduced, one by Rep. Sonny Borelli (R-Lake Havasu) and one by Rep. Debbie McCune Davis (D-Phoenix).

First, McCune Davis spoke out against Borelli’s amendment, which would change language from active duty service to deployed, saying that it would strip away protections from military families. His amendment passed anyways.

Great news from the do-gooders at Cinderella's Closet: They have 700 free prom dresses ready for Tucson-area high school students.

In 2009, Weekly World Central did a TQ&A with sisters Melissa Shaner and Jennifer McCaig on the project they started for local girls whose families were unable to afford the formal dresses and accessories needed for those dressy prom occasions.

From Cinderella's Closet:

Cinderella’s Closet, a community program that collects and distributes prom dresses, will be offering free prom dresses to Tucson-area High School students on two days in March.

On Monday, the House Committee on Education heard a bill that would fund ninth graders who were enrolled in a Joint Technical Education District. Rep. Ethan Orr (R-Tucson) is the primary sponsor; fellow Tucson Rep. Victoria Steele (D-Tucson) signed on with him.

JTEDs were created in 1990 so students could pursue vocational, technical and career-oriented classes that don’t typically require an advanced degree. The program, which is in place in 13 districts, has decreased the dropout rates in those districts. Orr said: “I believe the reason is because it’s a very effective teaching model for some students. You allow kids to do project-based education, to put their hands on the material, which is why they have such a high graduation rate.”

The bill passed through the committee 8-1. “I’d love to see JTEDs be able to go down to the middle schools and the junior highs. I think it’s the best dropout prevention program that we have,” said Rep. Doris Goodale (R-Kingman).

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The Senate Committee of Judiciary considered the repeal of 2305, the omnibus elections bill that was pushed through the Legislature at the end of the session last year. The House version passed through the House Committee of the Judiciary last week and passed through the Committee of the Whole on Thursday. The debate in the Senate committee, similar to that in the House, divided along party line. Many speakers who came to oppose the bill. The bill passed along party lines 6-3.

Sen. Judy Burges (R-Sun City West) proposed a bill that would prohibit female genital mutilation. Twenty states have already passed laws against female genital mutilation and 12 have made it a felony to perform such mutilation on a minor. The bill passed 8-1 through the committee, with Senator Steve Gallardo as the only opponent. Federal law has banned female genital mutilation in the United States since 1996, as a crime punishable by five years in prison.

• Jim Nintzel

The bulls seemed to get the best of the cowboys yesterday afternoon at Tucson's Fiesta de los Vaqueros. The rodeo continues through next Sunday. You can get the scoop on Thursday's parade here and the rest of the rodeo schedule here.

More photos after the jump.

While the rest of the country is paying an arm and a leg for health insurance, folks in their forties are playing substantially less in Tucson.

NPR and Kaiser Family Foundation researchers compiled a list of monthly silver premiums (for a 40-year-old person) and ranked the cities based on federal and state insurance marketplaces and data gathered. Reportedly, while the lowest premiums are are in St. Paul, Minn., but Tucson's monthly premiums average to $167 a month.

Top 10 places with best insurance bargains, ranked by monthly premium:
$154: Minneapolis-St. Paul
$164: Pittsburgh and Northwestern Pennsylvania
$166: Middle Minnesota
$167: Tucson, Ariz.
$171: Northwestern Minnesota
$173: Salt Lake City
$176: Hawaii
$180: Knoxville, Tenn.
$180: Western and North Central Minnesota.
$181: Chattanooga, Tenn.

These competitive markets are quite different than in southwest Georgia, the second most expensive region in the country. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia had no choice but to include in its network the Phoebe Putney Health System, which controls 86 percent of the market. The lowest premium in southwest Georgia is $461, 2 1/2 times the rate in Chattanooga.

• Logo by Henry Barajas
• Retcon is back!

Retcon, the comic book commentary podcast, is coming back to its new home on The Range. Our first guests to are Shannon Denton and Gerry Dugan. I spoke with the creators at the fourth annual Amazing Arizona Comic-Con in Phoenix. Denton is currently an editor and writer at Lion Forge Comics and it was recently announced he is working on Dynamite's Ash and The Army of Darkness annual. I also spoke to Marvel Now! Deadpool and Nova writer: Gerry Dugan. Dugan talks about Deadpool #27 (Deadpool is getting married!) and what Sam Alexander will encounter in future issues. Let's just say it involves Beta Ray Bill.

Arizona received a double overtime thriller for its 101st birthday Friday night between in-state rivals No. 4 Arizona and ASU ending in controversy and the Wildcats' second loss of the season.

In the last minute of regulation, Arizona's T.J. McConnell drove into the middle of the key and floated up a lay-up that was rejected by Jordan Bachynski. ASU point guard Jahii Carson got the loose ball and dunked it giving ASU a three point lead with 0.5 seconds left in 2OT.

ASU rushed the court like they won their first game all season, while many others were waiting for the referees to call a double technical foul on ASU.

One for Carson hanging on the rim after his dunk and taunting the fans. The other for ASU prematurely rushing the court while their was still time on the clock. Instead the referees didn't even play out the 0.5 seconds and called the game, 69-66.

Now even the refs have admitted that it was a bad call. From ESPN:

A Pac-12 conference official told ESPN.com Sunday night that the officials handed in their standard review of the game and conceded that a call should have made on the play. The conference official said coordinator of officials Bobby Dibler asks for a review of each game and the results of the report came from standard operating procedure.

At least until Wednesday's game against Utah, Wildcat fans are left wondering what if.

Aerial photographer and videographer James Glinski sent the Weekly "Song for Rosemont," a music video that's a paean to the beauty of the Rosemont Valley. The mile-wide Rosemont pit mine would be blasted into this pristine wilderness; its waste tailings would be piled as high as small mountains on public lands, blocking the views.

Glinski is the author/photographer of the classic book Above Tucson, Then & Now, from 1995, which paired his own aerial photos of the Tucson valley with images that A.E. "Gene" Magee took from the 1930s to the 1950s.

"In writing that book, I was visually bombarded in what we had and what we lost," Glinski writes to the Weekly. "Thinking on the Green Valley mines, I remember in 1967, then a teenager, heading to Nogales and being revolted the first time I saw those tailings ....and now I am numb to them. Imagine what our experience would be like if there were no mines there, no mountains of tailings, driving through a green river valley from Tucson to Nogales and beyond. What a great ,scenic, historic corridor to live near and travel through....visually lost...

"The proposed Rosemont mine would sacrifice even more, for less. I believe we need to better understand this project, value what we have there, and in the process begin to reform antiquated mining laws."

"The song came from this sense of loss...still with time to preserve what is there. I hope the song conveys that and, with the video, shows the beauty there and what we stand to lose....and to educate and motivate people to defend our public lands."

Guy Gabriels sings lead vocals, Ruben Ruiz plays the guitar break, and Glinski plays instruments and sings, and did the engineering. Rosemont activist Keith Willmarth wrote commentary on the 1872 Mining Law. Videotaping began on Christmas Day.

On last night's AZ Illustrated Politics: Republican National Committeeman Bruce Ash, Pima County Democratic Party Latino Caucus Chairman Vince Rabago and Inside Tucson Business Editor Mark B. Evans joined me to talk about the latest collapse of immigration reform in the House of Representatives; the latest legislation targeting undocumented immigrants at the Arizona Legislature; a legislative effort to undermine public libraries and other special taxing jurisdictions; Sen. Gail Griffin's decision to abandon a bill that would allow Green Valley and Sahuarita to leave Pima County and become part of Santa Cruz County; Gov. Jan Brewer's big win in court over GOP lawmakers who wanted to overturn her Medicaid expansion; and Attorney General Tom Horne's ongoing legal troubles.

• Image courtesy of shutterstock.com

It may have started here with my post, Victoria Steele’s Very Good Day, I don't know, where I wrote about one of Rep. Steele's bills and about the three-way race shaping up in Legislative District 9 between Steele, fellow Democrat Randy Friese (the newcomer) and Republican Rep. Ethan Orr. I mentioned it might be hard for Orr to maintain "the moderate cred he works so hard to cultivate," given some of his important votes siding with his conservative colleagues.

Star columnist Tim Steller commented about my post on Facebook, leading to a long, contentious comment stream, which he followed with a column, Dems target moderate GOP legislator Orr. The headline takes a stronger stand about Orr's moderation than the column, but Steller clearly leans to that side in his arguments.

Enter Blog for Arizona. Pamela Powers followed Steller's column with a post, AZ Star Perpetuates ‘Ethan Orr Is a Moderate’ Myth, where she writes about Orr's votes for voter suppression, his radically anti-abortion pledge to fight for the rights of unborn fetuses, and his support from the National Rifle Association and the Goldwater Institute.