I watched Obama's speech describing his executive order on immigration with a group of people who gathered at St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church where Francisco Perez Cordova has been in sanctuary for the past few months. Obama's executive action means that Francisco will able to live in the U.S. without fear of deportation, though it's not clear exactly when he'll be able to leave the church.

After Obama finished, Pastor Jim Wiltbank talked to the people gathered there with Francisco at his side.

"Sixty days ago," he said, talking to Francisco, "we stood here in this place. We struggled with the question, what do we do now? We didn't know how long it would be. Now we know. We don't know the exact date, but we know the process. President Obama said you get to stay."

When the applause died down, Francisco managed a tearful, "Thank you."

Francisco’s wife and children were there as well. "We are so thankful that their father gets to stay here with his family,” Wiltbank continued, “and together, we get to change the United States."

"A lot of work went into making this day happen," he said, addressing those who helped with the sanctuary process. "Your letters, your calls, your being with Francisco, all of your love has made this happen. Let us continue loving this family and continue loving all those who others don't yet qualify, who are left out of this action. Let's continue to work."

• Image courtesy of shutterstock.com

Everybody knows Arizona is a low tax state. Our legislature has been cutting rates for decades, and as a result, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, we're number 35 in overall state taxes; only 15 states have rates lower than ours. Not so if you're poor, however. If you make $27,000 or less, your tax rate is the fifth highest in the nation for your income level.

Why do the poor pay shoulder so much of the burden? The simple answer: low income tax rates.

[H]aving low personal income taxes comes at a cost. In order to pay for state and local government services, Arizona’s sales and excise taxes are 27 percent above the national average. Measured relative to personal income, Arizona has the 8th highest sales and excise tax collections in the entire country. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), the poorest 20 percent of Arizona households spend 8.3 percent of their income on these taxes, compared to just 1.1 percent of income for the state’s most affluent residents.

Southern Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva has landed the spot of ranking member on the House Natural Resources Committee. The bulletin from Grijalva's office:

Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) was elected Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, which is charged with preserving America’s public lands, nation’s parks, fisheries, wildlife, as well as oversight over Native American affairs and mineral land laws.

Grijalva, a life-long proponent of environmental stewardship, has served on the committee since arriving in Congress in 2003, and has held the distinction as the highest ranking Democrat on the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation since January 2007.

“I am honored to be elected Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Committee in the 114th Congress,” said Rep. Grijalva. “Our environmental protections will be challenged like never before under the Republican-controlled House and Senate, but under my leadership, Natural Resources Democrats will ensure the protections that took generations to build up will not be torn down.”

• "Travel Totem II," by Rand Carlson, will be among the wares on sale at this weekend's Holiday Artisans Market

This weekend, The Tucson Museum of Art will be hosting its annual Holiday Artisans Market, featuring more than 100 local artists selling their wares in the museum's courtyard. For hours and details, click here.

The market will be open Friday through Sunday—and as a special bonus, Saturday is this year's opening of El Nacimiento, the museum's extraordinary nativity display.

Can't imagine any other place I'd want to be tonight when President Obama is expected to announce his immigration reform executive action—Southside Presbyterian Church, 5:45 p.m., and listen to his speech with Rosa Robles Loreto, in sanctuary at the church now for more than 100 days. There will also be a similar gathering tonight at St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church where Francisco Perez Cordova took sanctuary since September.

From Southside's Facebook page:

The fine people of the Honda company are bringing Latin DJ trio 3BallMTY to the Rialto Theatre on Tuesday, November 25 and we have a pair of tickets to give away. Send me an email ([email protected]) and I'll pick a winner on Thursday night. The tickets will get sent to you via the mail and you'll be ready to have the time of your life.

For more info on the show, head to the Rialto's page.

Roll Call looks at how Arizona Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick survived when so many other Democrats lost on Election Day:

Republican operatives called her race “cooked.” One national news organization put her chances at 12 percent. After all, Arizona 1st District voters already fired Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick once before in a toxic climate in 2010.

But as House Democrats fell across the country, Kirkpatrick didn’t just win re-election. She expanded her margin from 2012. She proved the naysayers wrong due to one, simple political maxim: To win, a candidate has to be better than his or her opponent. And she was.

Her rival, Arizona Speaker Andy Tobin was a a top recruit for national Republicans. The party went all in for him, spending millions against her on television.

“People know me,” she said in a phone interview last week. “They’re common sense people, and I think they saw through the partisan games.”

The Washington Post reports that on Thursday, President Barack Obama will roll out his executive action on immigration reform:

President Obama will announce Thursday that he will use his executive authority to expand temporary protections to millions of undocumented immigrants, according to several individuals who have been briefed on the decision. Obama will travel to Las Vegas on the heels of that announcement to rally support for his initiative on Friday.

But what if the president could play hardball and still be lofty and optimistic? Why not give Republicans a handful of months to come up with their immigration plan and then, if they don’t meet the deadline, go ahead with the executive orders? There’s no real rush (or Obama would have ordered the overhaul before the election), and the election has actually changed the dynamic. (If the election didn’t change things, then why did Obama wait until it passed to act?) An argument can be made for delay on purely political grounds. It would look “reasonable” to the op-ed writers and pundits, and it would put pressure on Republicans to act—to actually wrestle with the details of the issue—and that would be messy as different GOP factions fought it out over specific legislative language. Chaos in Republican ranks benefits the president because GOP leaders would have to work to avoid appearing that they were unable to govern on an important issue of the day. That might make them partners on a larger immigration deal that could benefit more people and offer a big legacy item for the president, whereas if the president moves unilaterally they’ll never cooperate with the White House on immigration. Any deal with Obama after the executive orders would be seen by the conservative grass roots as a grand capitulation.

The president cannot delay, say his aides and allies, because he cannot disappoint his supporters in the Latino community again. There have been too many delays already. Deferring any longer would damage the political unity he’ll hope to draw on in his final two years, and it would hurt Democrats up for re-election in 2016, especially if the president backed down again. That’s why in an interview with Univision, outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made his case for the president “going big” by referring to his own political situation. “I think the parents of people I know in Nevada deserve this.”

Roll Call remembers Gabe Zimmerman, the aide to Gabrielle Giffords who was killed in the massing shooting at Giffords' Congress on Your Corner event on Jan. 11, 2011:

Capitol Hill pays tribute to Zimmerman each time someone books HVC-215, the Capitol Visitor Center meeting room dedicated in his memory on April 16, 2013. It is a space where the people’s business is conducted, a room like countless others in the CVC. But looking over it is the presence of Giffords’ community outreach director, who was killed while performing his duties coordinating and overseeing the ill-fated Congress on Your Corner event nearly four years ago.

Zimmerman’s community back home pays tribute every time someone hikes, rides a bike or walks a dog along this stretch of the Arizona Trail southeast of Tucson. It is the northernmost marker for the Las Cienegas passage, a 13-mile, easy to moderate hike along the 800-plus mile trail that spans the state from Mexico to Utah.

The monument at the trailhead, dedicated in January 2012, bears an inscription explaining whom it remembers.

Gabe (1980-2011) loved Tucson — its desert, its people and its unique spirit. A Tucson native, he hiked and mountain biked throughout the mountains and canyons that you see here. Gabe was a dedicated public servant who died serving the community he loved. He brought people together, encouraged us to respect one another and appreciated the place we call home. Gabe lived a life of exuberance. You should too. Enjoy this special area.

Discussion of what took place on Sunday, Nov. 9, the day of the All Souls Procession out at the finale lot near the Mercado, has at times only recently taken to the Facebook internets only to be taken down in an hour or so.

It's understandable. Moises Orozco, a loved local artist, allegedly jumped from the finale scaffolding and remains hospitalized.

We asked our All Souls Procession contacts if an official statement was forthcoming and we were told there was no statement at this time.

The incident allegedly happened around 2:45 p.m. and witnesses saw the artist, who had been there all week helping with set-up.

At the top of the platform where a large Odaiko Sonora drum stood, Orozco had been playing it, when someone affiliated with the drumming group asked that he stop and also asked him to get down. Then he allegedly jumped 20 feet down.

What happens next isn't exactly clear for the Procession. Some have suggested it could impact the way the procession is insured and possibly make changes to the Procession and finale. But what we do know is that this isn't exactly the first time Orozco has done something similar.

In September of last year, the Range reported when he fell from the Sculptors Resource Center, and his partner Phoebe Jenkins started a fundraiser to help pay for his medical expenses since he was uninsured. Back then, the incident was reported as an accident:

Phoebe Jenkins told us Orozco was in serious condition when he first arrived at UMC, but is expected to do well despite the serious nature of his injuries. Orozco had to have titanium rods placed in his face because when he fell on the sculpture he landed face first and he had to have a second surgery on his leg.

We'll have more information this week as we talk with Tucson Police Department and other sources.

Meantime, let's wish Orozco a full and complete healing.