Zona Politics Eps.8 from Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel on Vimeo.

On this week's "Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel": In the spirit of the season, we talk with representatives from various local non-profits: Michael McDonald of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona; Demion Clinco from the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation; Jeff Yanc of the Loft Cinema Foundation; and Lisa Horner of Access Tucson.

The Arizona football team is playing what is arguably their biggest game in school history when they take on Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship game tonight.

Game 13 » No. 8 Arizona (10-2, 7-2 Pac-12) vs. No. 3 Oregon (11-1, 8-1)
Date.......................................... Friday, Dec. 5
Time........................................... 6 p.m. (PST)
Location............................Santa Clara, Calif.
Stadium...................Levi’s Stadium (68,500)
Surface.................................................. Grass
Television.................................................FOX
All-Time Series.....................UO leads, 24-16
at Neutral Site..........................UA leads, 1-0
Last Meeting ....................UA 31, Oregon 24
................................. Oct. 2, 2014 (at Eugene)

Streak ......... UA has won last two meetings

The Pac-12 championship is on the line as the Wildcats and Ducks meet at Levi Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers. If the Ducks win, they are assured a spot in the National Championship Playoffs. If the Wildcats win they are still alive for the playoff, though they would need help.

To pull the upset, the Wildcats need to play a “clean” game, meaning limiting turnovers, penalties and negative plays. They also need to keep the explosive Ducks from breaking off big plays. In their last two wins over the Ducks, the Wildcat defense has not allowed a scoring drive of less than seven plays.

The game is a match-up of two of the nation’s best player, Arizona LB Scooby Wright and Oregon QB Marcus Mariotta. It is also a game featuring the two best freshmen running backs in the Pac-12, Oregon’s Royce Freeman and Arizona’s Nick Wilson. 

News and Notes:
» Arizona has won 10+ games for the third time in program history (1993, 1998).
» The Wildcats captured their first Pac-12 South Division Championship.
» Arizona has never faced an opponent twice in the same season in the program’s modern history.
» The Wildcats have defeated top-5 Oregon teams in each of the last two seasons.
» Arizona is 3-1 against ranked teams this season, including wins in each of the last two weeks.

Sometimes it might seem like chefs can be rigid with their menu, not allowing for substitutions or subtractions that would compromise the integrity of their dish. Regardless of how you feel about that aspect of dining, you at least have options if you’re looking for a little more creativity and you’re willing to leave everything in the hands of the folks cooking your meal.

It all starts on the first Sunday of the month at Heirloom Farmers Market. Chef Kris Vrolijk peruses the vendors for local and seasonal inspiration. Once he has his ingredients picked out, he plans his menu for Proper’s Monday night community dinners.

The $35 prix fixe meal typically comes with three courses, but Vrolijk explained to the nine diners that he was particularly inspired by the farmers market and, instead, made six smaller than usual courses. Here’s what he made:


Course 1: Market Chowder with chicken, turnip, and turkey stock
Course 2: Housemade Fettuccine with sage and Grana Padano
Course 3 Ricotta and Squash Tortellini with butternut squash, hazelnut, and date syrup
Course 4: Brown Butter Basted Heirloom Carrots with cranberry sauce
Course 5: Pierogis Two Ways with housemade sausage pairing
Course 6: Brown Butter Panna Cotta with pecan shortbread, sliced Granny Smith apples, cajeta, and butternut squash puree

While that menu might seem like a lot in more than one way, Vrolijk assures that each community dinner is completely different from the ones before it—some being lighter and more vegetable focused and others showcasing hearty handmade pastas and more. This time he chose to showcase the pasta, as he plans on producing it in higher volume soon for retail sale at the neighboring Proper butcher shop that will be opening soon.

While the fettuccine and tortellini were both expertly executed and al dente, the best dish of the night was definitely the pierogis. Served alongside two different housemade sausages, the butternut squash pierogi and garlic potato pierogi came to the table without sauce. The two Polish style dumplings didn’t really need it though because of the creamy texture and flavor of the filling from the goats milk kefir and the fatty coating from the sausage and crunchy guanciale.

Even the basted carrots were prepared with care. Stepping out to explain the sourcing and idea of each dish, Vrolijk said he enjoys cooking vegetables like they’re the last he’ll ever cook—taking extra time and attention to make sure they’re as good as they possibly can be, while still letting the freshness shine.


Overall, the event is a great way for you to connect with a chef, sourcing, local purveyors, and the process of creating a dish. Plus, out of the prix fixe dinners I've attended in the past, Vrolijk is definitely skilled at putting plates out hot en masse, which is quite a feat when you consider the time to plate ten dishes individually. If that sounds like your kind of event, Proper, located at 300 East Congress Street, hosts community dinner on the first Monday of the month beginning at 7 p.m. The (usually) three-course dinner is $35 plus tax and gratuity with additional suggested drink pairings. You can make a reservation by calling 520-850-9594.

Before you head out to the Sunday Funday Vinyl Swap Meet at La Cocina to drink and thumb through stacks of vinyl, grab a cuppa over at EXO Roast Co. and watch Jess Matsen play a solo acoustic set.

Matsen's delicate, melodic music is perfectly set in an intimate venue where you can see every finger pluck, though the local singer-songwriter recently created quite a buzz at Club Congress during his Tall Tale Told record release Thanksgiving weekend. If you missed that or simply just didn't get enough at that performance, this free coffee shop show is the way to go this Sunday.

You can catch Jess Matsen performing live at EXO Roast Co. located at 403 N. 6th Avenue on Sunday, December 7 at 12 p.m.

You might have made it out to the inaugural Sunday Funday Vinyl Swap Meet at Che's in September, seeing as how 4th Avenue Delicatessen's Austin Counts says the event had a pretty good turn out. However, if you missed out that month, the event is returning on Sunday, Dec. 7— this time at La Cocina at 201 N. Court Avenue— to bring independent vinyl sellers and local record enthusiasts together.

Counts says to expect a resurrection of the now defunct Toxic Ranch Records, along with all of the "punk vinyls and other oddities" that shop was well-loved for. Thirteen other sellers, including Old Paint Records, will set up shop at the event, which runs from 2 to 6 p.m.

The swap meet, which is sponsored by the 4th Avenue Delicatessen, will feature LPs, 45s, cassettes, and possibly some reel-to-reel audio, along with live music from Mik and Scott as well as drink specials and hot dogs if you need to refuel while flipping through records. If you buy two hot dogs, you'll get a copy of Cold CUTZ Volume 2, a food-themed mixtape.

Counts explains that the event is mostly trying to unite the vinyl community in town.

"It's a good thing to do to help the analog format in Tucson," Counts says. "There aren't a lot of record stores in town and we're just trying to help fill that void."

The Sunday Funday Vinyl Swap Meet will continue monthly, Counts says, at different locations with different drink specials and other offerings each time. If you're interested in selling records at a future event, you can contact Counts via e-mail at [email protected]. There's no fee to sell, but you do have to bring your own table and be prepared to haggle with the crowd.

Tucson Local Media is proud to announce that Mari Herreras has been named managing editor of the Tucson Weekly.

Herreras has been with the Weekly since 2007. In her seven years at the paper, the Tucson native has gotten to the heart of Tucson with compelling features and investigative pieces on everything from various controversies at the Tucson Unified School District to issues facing Tucson’s less-advantaged residents.

"When I returned to my hometown to work for our alternative newsweekly it was a dream come true," Herreras said. "This next step allows me to continue to do what I love most: Tucson in all its beautiful, ugly and weird. I'm excited to bring my voice and vision to the Weekly and excited to hear from our most important voice—our readers."

Tucson Local Media Publisher Ryan Kedzierski said, “Mari is the obvious choice for the position. She loves Tucson, is passionate about the direction the Tucson Weekly is going and will do her best to make sure it returns to being a strong, edgy publication our readers and the community can be proud of.”

Besides Herreras being promoted, Tucson Local Media is also excited to announce the addition of staff writer Heather Hoch, who started work on Nov. 24.

Hoch comes to the Tucson Local Media staff with two years of writing experience. Hoch was a writer for the Phoenix New Times.

Fans of Tucson’s toasted sub franchise Cheba Hut got some bad news last night via Facebook. Owners Steve and Colleen Bigelow announced that after over six years of slinging sandwiches, the location at 1820 E. 6th Street will be permanently closing on Friday, Dec. 5 at 10 p.m. due to “uncontrollable circumstances.”

Owner Steve Bigelow says those circumstances amounted to a disagreement between the company and him as the franchise owner, which he describes as still a “mom and pop operation.”

“Me, as the owner and landlord, and corporate could not come to terms to keep Cheba Hut open at this location.”

Though Bigelow says he’s unsure when or where Cheba Hut might open under new ownership, you can stop into Bigelow’s Cheba Hut from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5 to say goodbye and get one last AK-47 pinner (8” French dip sub).

“We want to thank all of our loyal customers for all of the good memories and 4/20 parties,” he says. “If you think about it, Cheba Hut’s customers are happy and hungry and you can’t go wrong with that. We’ve absolutely loved the past six years.”

You can follow Cheba on Facebook for updates on the new location.

The question is, why should Mark J. Perry care what a Blog for Arizona writer has to say? Perry is an econ prof at the University of Michigan’s Flint campus, and he writes on the policy blog of the American Enterprise Institute, one of the longest standing conservative think tanks in the country. (Yeah, it says it's nonpartisan, but with senior fellows like John Bolton, Lynne Cheney, Newt Gingrich and Richard Perle, there's no question it bends way to the right.) Blog for Arizona is a bunch of dedicated, hyper-intelligent writers scattered around Arizona with no big names, and without $45 million a year in revenue, which is what AEI brought in during its 2013 fiscal year.

Apparently Perry does care. When Bob Lord, a BfA writer, challenged Perry on one of his recent pieces, he went kinda ballistic. First Perry asked Lord to make a minor correction, which Lord did, then he had someone he referred to as a “colleague” send what he called a “devastating critique” in the form of a rambling, invective-laced comment. The "colleague" is a frequent AEI commenter who uses the handle “famous fox.”

Perry published a piece titled, New CBO study shows that ‘the rich’ don’t just pay their ‘fair share,’ they pay almost everybody’s share. The headline pretty much says it all. According to Perry, the rich pay more than their fair share of taxes, and it’s those lucky people on the bottom 60% of the income ladder who are getting off too easy tax-wise.

Lord answered with a long, detailed post titled, Anatomy of Deceit: American Enterprise Institute Analysis of CBO Study. Lord argues that Perry cooked the numbers to exaggerate the tax gap between the rich and everyone else, though he admitted the rich pay a lot of taxes. Why? Because they’re rich. And if income inequality keeps growing and the rich amass an even greater share of the country’s wealth, they’ll pay even more, because they’ll be even richer.

For the bike and art and beer lovers in town— and there’s definitely a few, BICAS’ annual art auction will fill the Drawing Studio this year with art, raffles, live music, puppet shows, circus acts, and more. The two-day event will feature over 200 one-of-a-kind pieces of art up for bidding in Saturday’s silent auction.

While the opportunity to snag a unique piece of bicycle-themed (either in material or content) art made by BICAS staffers, volunteers, or other community members is a solid one. BICAS volunteer Troy Neiman explains that this year will also feature a special Dragoon brew made for BICAS.

The BICAS Brown will be available at the auction with 100% of the proceeds going to the bike organization. If you don’t get a pint at the event, though, Tap and Bottle, Dragoon, Diablo Burger, and more will be offering the beer with about $1 of each pint going back to BICAS.

Neiman says the event will kick off with a preview party featuring live music from bands like Golden Boots and a raffle with prizes like a $500 wine tasting from Total Wine, tattoo sessions, powder coating, and gear from REI. Raffle tickets are one for $4 or three for $10.

For the past few years, Neiman estimates the event has brought in an annual sum of $20,000 for their organization. He expects this year to raise about the same amount, though he thinks moving the event to downtown might result in higher attendance overall.

“This event helps us cover expenses at the end of every year,” Neiman explains. “It pulls us back into that break even zone.”

Neiman says the group has been fundraising a lot more this year for a few reasons. First of all, it’s BICAS’ 25th year in operation, which means it’s a good time to throw a bunch of parties. But, more importantly, Neiman says the group is trying to raise money to buy a permanent space.

Although the group currently operates out of a government owned building located at 44 West 6th Street, he says the looming threat of that building being torn down as a part of the Downtown Links Project is causing them to start seriously planning on finding a new home. Since BICAS is able to cover normal operating costs for the most part without grants or much fundraising via community support, he says the added fundraising this year has gone almost solely to the new building fund.

You can support BICAS’ push to get a permanent home by heading to their 19th annual art auction at Drawing Studio located at 33 South 6th Avenue. The Preview Night runs from 6 until 10 p.m. on Friday, December 5 and the auction follows and Saturday, December 6 with early bidding from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the silent auction running from 6 until 9 p.m.

If you haven't been to the newest sex toy store in Tucson, Jellywink Boutique, then you are missing out, people. The store, owned by Ally Booker, is off Fourth Avenue at 418 E. 7th St. and is a great community, sex positive, queer friendly resource for everyone. I've been there twice and have yet to see Booker wince or balk at any question or comment thrown her way.

She's community minded, too.

Throughout the month of December, the store will do a charity gift wrap for a $5 donation or more with proceeds going to Youth On Their Own.

From Jellywink:

If folks haven’t yet checked out Tucson’s new woman and GLBTQI-friendly sexuality resource center and shop- Jellywink Boutique- the month of December would be a great time to do so because we are wrapping gifts in exchange for donations that will be going to Youth on Their Own (YOTO)- a non-profit organization dedicated to helping homeless teens graduate high school and continue down a successful path. Also, we have items that would make great gifts! ;)

The charity wrapping is happening at Jellywink Boutique (c) throughout the entire month of December during regular business hours.* Shoppers can get their gifts wrapped in exchange for a suggested donation of $5 (or more for those in the giving spirit who want to help out teens that don’t have a home of their own). Also, on Saturday, December 20th from 12p-6p, with the help of Summer Disney, we will set up outside the shop so that passerby 4th Ave shoppers can get to donate and get their gifts wrapped, too.

About Jellywink
While Jellywink is an 18 and over space and YOTO services teens 21 and under, we share some basic values that include education, empowerment, and respect. Jellywink is a safe and non-judgmental space to learn and explore aspects of sexuality and product use & safety. We have a diverse selection of books, lubes, tasteful toys, supplies for various segments of the GLBTQI community, a clean environment, and Ally Booker- the knowledgeable and friendly shop keeper that is happy to guide you!

*Regular store hours are:
Tues-Thurs 12p-8p/Fri-Sat 12p-10p/Sun 12p-6p/Closed Mondays
Also by appointment!