Marvel's most known unknowns are back with a second trailer. Every character brings something to the table, and we finally hear Vin Diesel bellow 'I am Groot." There isn't enough Zoe Saldana or Karen Gillan. Guardians opens on August 1.

Over the weekend, Republican congressional candidate Gary Kiehne, who is one of three candidates in the GOP primary that will decide who will face incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick this November, repeated a right-wing Internet myth about mass shooters and Democrats.

Becky Pallack of the Arizona Daily Star reported that Kiehne made the comment at a forum with fellow GOP candidate Adam Kwasman:

When it comes to mass shootings, “if you look at all the fiascos that have occurred, 99 percent of them have been by Democrats pulling their guns out and shooting people,” Kiehne said to an audience of about 60 people. “So I don’t think you have a problem with the Republicans.”

The statistic, as AZ Blue Meanie points out at Blog For Arizona, comes from a mass-distributed email that has been debunked.

After the comment got widespread attention over the weekend via Politico, the HuffPost and other online sites, Kiehne apologized for getting his facts wrong. In a statement emailed to reporters today, Kiehne said:

This past weekend, I made a comment about the political affiliation of perpetrators of gun violence in the heat of a debate. I've since learned that the information that I based the comment off of was inaccurate and incorrect.

I've always believed that when you make a mistake, you should own up to it. Too many politicians today offer nothing but spin and excuses when they say something they shouldn't have. I'm not going to do that. Simply put, I shouldn't have made the comment, and I want to offer my apology for making it without any reservations.

Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin, one of the other two candidates in the race, today called on Kiehne to quit the race:

With his pattern of bizarre and deeply offensive remarks, Gary Kiehne has illustrated that he lacks the temperament, character and basic common sense to not only represent Arizona in Congress, but to even get elected. He should exit this race immediately and apologize in full for all of his remarks, not just some of them. To win this district and win against the Democrats in Washington, we need a candidate with a level head — which Mr. Kiehne clearly doesn’t have based on his numerous comments. This is a pattern, and Mr. Kiehne’s own partial apology is acknowledgment of the toxicity of these comments. Suggesting that mass killings are party affiliated is beyond the pale and insulting to the families and victims of these senseless killings. All of this raises the question: What other incendiary remarks has Mr. Kiehne made on tape that Democrats are waiting to release if he’s the nominee?

What would you do if you had access to every major Hollywood actor at this moment? If your answer was to use their stardom to shed light on corruption, climate change and Obama care, then you will be highly disappointed after watching this video. Joe Michalczuk, Sky News Entertainment reporter and critic, asked all your favorite actors to congratulate his wife on their upcoming marriage.

Most of it seemed sincere and heartwarming, but others were obviously annoyed by the idea. I bet it will make for interesting small talk of the wedding, or he'll just come off as a big douche for name dropping with the in-laws.

On Tuesday I wrote that the mayoral election in Newark, New Jersey, was a referendum on "education reform," aka education privatization. The election results that night had "reform" candidate Shavar Jeffries losing to Ras Baraka, a Newark high school principal who wants to improve the very damaged Newark school system, not dismantle and replace it.

I just finished reading an incredibly good article on the Newark education battles in the New Yorker: SCHOOLED: Cory Booker, Chris Christie, and Mark Zuckerberg had a plan to reform Newark’s schools. They got an education. Unlike most education stories, this one doesn't take sides. It lays out the plans by the privatization/charter school advocates, a coalition of ex-Mayor Cory Booker (Democrat), Governor Chris Christie (Republican) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook founder, party unknown), to transform Newark's schools, which have been controlled by the state since 1995, and the problems they encountered along the way. It's very long, but it should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the size and scope of the problems facing inner city schools and the monumental difficulties that confront anyone who wants to change things, no matter what their motives may be. I came away shaking my head. No easy answers to be found anywhere.

Grassroots Growing

7 p.m. Wednesday, May 21

The Loft Cinema, 3222 E. Speedway Blvd.

322-5638; www.loftcinema.com/film/open-sesame-the-story-of-seeds 



Do you know where your seeds came from?

While plenty of people pay attention to what they eat, tracking where the food comes from isn't as common an activity. Even less so is learning the origin of the seeds being used to create certain food items.

The seeds that make a good amount of the food we eat is the subject of a new documentary, Open Sesame: The Story of Seeds, that is holding a special screening at the Loft. The event will also feature a Q&A session involving local seed experts.

Together, the film and discussion group aim to raise awareness of what's going on in the world of seeds, an industry that's become more and more dominated by genetically modified organisms (known as GMOs) and is driving out the original organic seeds.

“This is very much a local issue,” said director Sean Kaminsky, who was inspired by his grandmother's love of seed collecting to make the documentary. “It's something that's been taken away from the local platform, but it needs to be a local issue.”

Kaminsky said the film does side with people who are championing for a return to more organic growing. That direction brought him to Tucson to film people enrolled in the Seed School, a program created by local nonprofit Native Seeds/SEARCH (NS/S).

He said groups like NS/S are part of a small, but growing movement to empower people to take seeds back into their own hands.

The Q&A session will feature several local seed experts, including NS/S founders Bill McDorman and Belle Starr as well as Jeau Allen and George Bradley of the Southwest Seed Exchange.

Tickets to Open Sesame are $9.25 for adults, $7.50 for military, students and teachers, $6.25 for seniors and children and $5.75 for Loft members.

– Written by Brian J. Pedersen

The Humane Society of Southern Arizona presents Agnes, a female 10-year-old Polydactyl
Reference No.: 780576



Who doesn’t love a cat with 26 toes!? Agnes is a sophisticated and stunning polydactyl who wants to be constantly admired. Transferred to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona from another shelter, Agnes’ history is a mystery. What we do know is that Agnes would be delighted to find herself curled up on your couch or sunbathing in a windowsill. Won’t you make her golden years bright? Visit this exquisite tabby today at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona!

Heroes In Picture Form

4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, May 17
Borderlands Brewing Co., 119 E. Toole Ave.

820-4412; www.ziembaphoto.com 

The emotions surrounding an event involving first responders is often hard to describe, as police, firefighters and other emergency personnel race to save lives and protect the public.

But thanks to great access and a keen eye for imagery, Roni Ziemba has turned depicting what goes on inside the yellow tape into an art form. An art form, she says, that fits perfectly with her adrenaline-fueled personality.

“I am definitely a risk taker,” said Ziemba, whose latest collection of photos of Tucson-area first responders, Stronger Than Steel, was recently released. “I'm an adventurer. I've always lived on the edge, so this is a perfect venue for me. And visually, it's just a very cool thing.”

This is Ziemba's third book of images of local firefighters, police and emergency responders, the first of which came out in 2011 after she was asked to hold a “small art show” of her photos that became the biggest fundraising arm of that year's Heroes Day event.

A second book came out in 2012, while this latest 100-page tome features pictures from 20 different agencies taken over the last 18 months.

Ziemba said the key to her work has been developing strong relationships with the first responders, to the point now that she has a fire pager for the Northwest Fire District and is working on a similar arrangement with the Tucson Fire Department.

She has dealt with other agencies, too, including Tucson Police's SWAT, noting that “whenever they're going to blow up something, they call me.”

The launch party for this latest book will also serve as a fundraiser to help with the 2015 volume, as proceeds from book sales—the glossy, hard-bound coffee talk book costs $75—as well as from raffles at the event will go right into photographing scenes in the next year.

Borderlands, the launch party hosts, is also donating 10 percent of beer sales to the American Red Cross. — Written by Brian J. Pedersen

On this week's AZ Illustrated Politics: Republican Gary Kiehne, who is facing House Speaker Andy Tobin and state Rep. Adam Kwasman in the GOP primary that will determine who will face U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick in Congressional District 1, talks about the Affordable Care Act, immigration policy, Tobin's use of the Benghazi investigation as a fundraising tool and more. Then National Republican Committeeman Bruce Ash and attorney Jeff Rogers talk about Attorney General Tom Horne's political troubles, this year's Republican primary for governor, the CD1 race and the RNC's new rules for the 2016 presidential primary debates.

Daniel Neyoy Ruiz, who took sanctuary Tuesday at Southside Presbysterian Church, will remain at the South Tucson church according to his attorney Margo Cowan, until she receives in writing from ICE that her client is "an excellent candidate for the favorable exercise of discretion and is not a priority for removal."

Yesterday, an ICE spokesperson issues the following statement:

“After conducting a thorough review of Mr. Ruiz’s immigration case, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has decided to exercise prosecutorial discretion by not taking immediate action on Mr. Ruiz’s removal order.”

In response to ICE’s announcement, through a press release issued today by No More Deaths:

The statement acknowledges that Mr. Neyoy Ruiz is a low priority for removal, yet stops short of formally stopping his deportation through administrative actions available to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. When asked what this announcement means for him and his family, Mr. Neyoy Ruiz says, “We continue to feel strong and supported by our community and will remain in Sanctuary as long as it takes to know our family will be allowed to remain together here in Tucson.”

From Cowan:

“Although ICE has not notified me in writing, we have seen the statement released by local ICE officials. The agency has reached a legitimate conclusion that Daniel Neyoy Ruiz is an excellent candidate for the favorable exercise of discretion and is not a priority for removal. We continue to call on ICE to formally stop his removal. The family, church community and I applaud the decision to not take immediate action to enforce his order of removal and we call on ICE to issue him a document that any law enforcement agency, including Customs and Border Protection, will not enforce his order of removal, or to grant other means that will ensure that his family can remain together. Only then will Daniel be able to leave Sanctuary and return to daily life with his family and his community.”

Do you think our Governor's race sucks? Wait until you get a load of what the people of Idaho have to choose from. Here are the four potential candidates seeking the Republican nomination for the upcoming election. Let me tell you, they don't like "politically correctness," or Obama (care), or facts.

Get a load of the highlights from the 20 minute comedy fest:


Here are the options so eduquity put by one of the contenders: "A cowboy, a curmudgeon, a biker or a normal guy. Take your pick. Thank you very much. We are leaving it up to you."

Check out the full debate after the break.