Last week I interviewed Nancy Montoya, executive producer/reporter for Media Source America, on the show I cohost on Access Tucson, Education: The Rest of the Story. We talked about Arizona's education cuts at the K-12 and college levels and the efforts of a newly created group, Arizona Stands Up, to inform Arizonans about the importance of education and put pressure on the legislature to increase funding for education in future budgets.

This is the second part of the interview. In Part One, Nancy talks about her extensive broadcasting experience, her production company and her work with others to promote education in the state.

Bon is known to sell adorable novelties, clothing, kitchenware and more in Broadway Village, but owner Crystal Flynt is moving on from the complex and over to Five Points.

"The energy was changing there the past couple of years," Flynt says. "It just didn't feel like the right place for us anymore."

So Flynt and her mother/co-owner Bonnie Flynt decided to pack Bon up and move her wares next door to 5 Points Market and Cafe Desta. She says that her new neighbors are one of the reasons she enjoys her new space so much already.

"It's just such a nice, refreshing environment. We're surrounded by nice people," she says.

Bon carries a variety of clothing for men and women, jewelry, baby clothes and toys, blankets, quilts, books, linens, soaps, candles, greeting cards and more. She says her new space, despite actually being a bit smaller, will carry more kitchenware, glassware, cookbooks and linens than the previous location.

"It's more concisely put together here," she says. "It seemed to me like there just wasn't a good place to buy things for your kitchen that wasn't some big chain."

While my wallet already aches at the thought of a bulked-up Bon glassware section, it seems that Flynt is excited to open at her new location at 760 S. Stone Ave. The grand opening will be Saturday at 10 a.m. After that, Bon will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.

You can call Bon at 795-2272 for more information or for a sneak peak into the gorgeous new store off Stone, scroll down and click through the slideshow.

The Sierra Club isn't a fan of Tucson Electric Power's proposal to do away with the state's metering rules for solar energy—something that tells TEP to buy back, at full retail price, any excess energy that a solar customer did not use.

The utility company filed a request with the Arizona Corporation Commission a couple of days ago, arguing the changes would make monthly rates more equal for all residential customers—most solar rooftops are connected to the communal electrical grid, and TEP says the rooftop solar customers are not paying their share for maintaining the grid and other services.

TEP wants to reduce that buy-back rate by about half, according to Tucson Sierra Club organizer Dan Millis.

What TEP said about the proposal on Wednesday:

Users of rooftop solar power systems rely just as heavily on TEP's electrical system as other customers — more heavily, even, since TEP must manage their systems' intermittent output. But they pay far less for TEP service under current rates, due in part to net metering rules that allow them to exchange excess solar energy for free, on-demand utility power.

TEP is proposing instead to purchase excess solar output from new rooftop systems at the same price it pays for energy from large local solar arrays. The resulting bill credits would allow customers to reduce their electric bills by going solar, even as they pay the same price as other customers for the energy they use from TEP. 

However, Millis said the solar industry's approximately $34 million in net benefit to Arizona Public Service electricity customers alone outweighs the difference in rates. Also, he pointed out to a new report by The Solar Foundation that says Arizona created more than 600 new jobs in the solar energy realm. The state is third in the country in total number of solar jobs. A good thing. So, changing the net metering rules means one of the main incentives that push people to go solar would disappear. Millis calls it the backbone of rooftop solar, without the metering, "you don't get credit for the surplus energy you produced." If the proposal to lower that buy-back rate solidifies, getting panels will not be as good a deal in people's minds.

What TEP had to say about that:

The impact of this solar subsidy was minimal in 2008, when the ACC approved current net metering rules. At that time, fewer than 600 TEP residential customers had rooftop solar systems and large subsidies were necessary to help customers justify the purchase of photovoltaic (PV) arrays that cost more than $8 per watt of system capacity.

PV system prices have fallen steadily since then to less than $3 per watt, driving annual increases in the installation of both customer-owned and leased PV systems. About 7,900 of TEP's residential customers now have solar power systems, and more than 600 customers have applied already this year to connect new PV arrays to TEP's grid.

Without changes to TEP's rates or net metering plan, the continuation of such growth would force significant rate increases to offset increasing subsidies to users of rooftop solar systems.

"We're exceeding our renewable energy goals, but that won't mean much if we're forced to compromise the affordability of our community's electric service," David G. Hutchens, TEP's president and chief executive officer, said. "Our proposed net metering plan would promote both sustainable power and a sustainable electric grid."

When the current net metering rates were established by the Corporation Commission in 2008, solar was less common, and the technology was new and needed to be developed. Now that it is more popular and affordable, "we can achieve our renewable energy goals and preserve significant bill savings for solar power users without creating unmanageable cost burdens for our other customers," Hutchens said in a press release.

From a Sierra Club press release:

TEP’s proposal would do away with net metering for new solar customers, pulling the rug out from under the solar industry and stifling local clean energy job growth while the utility maintains a stake in out-of-state coal-fired power plants like the San Juan Generating Station.

And Millis issued this statement:

“We need TEP to put Tucson first. Rooftop solar is creating thousands of local jobs here in Arizona, saving Tucson residents and homeowners money, and providing enormous benefits to ratepayers throughout Tucson and the state. With enormous clean energy potential, we should be doing all we can to protect energy freedom and choice for Arizonans. Instead, utilities like Tucson Electric Power are holding us back by fighting local clean energy and locking our community into dirty, out-of-state coal plants like the San Juan Generating Station. TEP should invest in clean energy here at home, not fight affordable energy solutions and send more of our money out of state to fund its dirty, expensive coal plant. Our community deserves better."

Right now, a residential solar customer saves a little more than $100 a month, if the proposals are approved, that figure would go down to $80, according to TEP.

If the Corporation Commission agrees with the changes, customers who already have solar, or get solar arrays before June 1, would not be affected. 

The two are in another bid right now, involving several business and environmental groups urging TEP to pull support for the San Juan Generating Station in New Mexico. 

An update from the Sierra Club:

Regulators in New Mexico will soon decide on a plan brought forth by Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to extend the utility’s commitment to the San Juan Generating Station and continue burning coal for years to come. TEP owns half of one of the units of the coal-fired power plant outside Farmington, New Mexico - a unit that still requires the installation of pollution controls. TEP remains invested in San Juan, despite unforeseen cost increases and questions around plant reliability that put TEP customers at serious financial risk.

La Frontera Arizona and the Tucson International Mariachi Conference are joining forces once again to bring the Old Pueblo the Tucson Mariachi Festival. Now in its 33rd consecutive year, the fest is the largest and longest running mariachi fest

The event will consist of four days of student workshops and live performances from Wednesday, April 8 through Saturday April 11 for thousands of attendees. On Thursday, April 9, a $10 student showcase concert will give more than 250 elementary through college aged performers from around the country the chance to showcase their musical and folklórico dance skills.

The whole festival will come together on Friday, April 10 for the Espectacular Concert, which will pay tribute to mariachi legend Nati Cano and feature his ensemble Los Camperos de Nati Cano starting at 7 p.m. Tickets for that event, which takes place at Casino del Sol, are available online through the casino's website for $20 to $40, depending on seating. Proceeds from the concert will go to benefit Children’s Services at La Frontera Center.

Then on Saturday, Aprill 11, the Tucson Mariachi Festival will cap it all off with a full day of music and dance called the Fiesta de Garibaldi. Tickets for the poolside mariachi party are just $10.

For more information on all of the events happening in conjunction with the Tucson Mariachi Festival and to purchase tickets to the Fiesta and Student Showcase, visit the Tucson Mariachi Festival website.

Slate's Amanda Marcotte looks at the anti-abortion bill that is awaiting Gov. Doug Ducey's signature. Marcotte zeroes in on the provision that requires doctors to tell patients they can reverse a medication abortion:

Anti-choicers, backed by one particularly vocal doctor named George Delgado, are claiming that you can "reverse" medication abortions. A woman having a medication abortion takes two pill doses, one of mifepristone and then another of misoprostol. Proponents of "abortion reversal" would like you to believe it's common for women to take the first dose and become wracked with guilt, desperate to save her pregnancy. To help these women, Delgado gives the woman progesterone shots, supposedly in an effort to reverse the effects of the mifepristone.

The problem is it's almost certainly quackery. Mifepristone is not enough on its own to terminate a pregnancy some of the time, so you're not "reversing" the abortion so much as interrupting the process before it's complete. The progesterone shots reverse nothing—they are medically unnecessary theater, designed to portray anti-choicers as conquering heroes rescuing pregnant maidens from the clutches of abortionists. There's no evidence of much demand from women to interrupt their abortions, and in the rare circumstances that someone is seized by regret, all she needs to do is contact her regular doctor about stopping the pills.

Forcing doctors to "inform" patients about an intervention that isn't medically useful and isn't really in demand serves no other purpose but to inject anti-choice histrionics into what is already a stressful situation for many patients. You should be able to get through an abortion without having to indulge a right-wing delusion.

Read Marcotte's deeper look at the claim that abortions can be reversed on Slate.

As she steps up to the podium, 17-year-old Ana Cobos Lugo has to take a few deep breaths while she tries to control the tears.

She and her mom, Norma, are there to start a campaign on behalf of Ana's father, Felipe. He's been held at Eloy Detention Center, where his progressive skin infection has gotten worse every day.

Felipe was arrested in February 2014. His intention was to report a crime, but law enforcement had him apprehended because he is undocumented, and had a previous deportation in his record. He spent a few months at a Pima County jail, briefly left, and when he was supposed to sign his probation, he was sent to Eloy.

Although the family's economic situation is a big concern (Felipe supported his family working as a landscaper), they are mostly worried about Felipe's health. He is recovering from a surgery that took place about two weeks ago. 

"When the surgery was over, they took him back, he was still semi-unconscious from the anesthesia," Norma says in Spanish, sitting down in Southside Presbyterians Church's worship room. A press conference was supposed to take place a few minutes later. The surgeon wanted Felipe to stay at the hospital for at least four days. 

Norma said he's gotten pain medication on and off, and that, sometimes, it'll be days before someone changes the gauze protecting the wound on his lower back. He's had to remain in his cell, instead of the infirmary.

"Every weekend we visit him, and we see how much this has affected him, psychologically, physically..." Norma says.

Watching Ana plead for her father was painful. The entire time she tried to read her notes, she couldn't stop crying. 

"As of today, it has been one year, one month and eight days since they took my father away, I miss him very much. One of my younger siblings just turned nine and my dad has not been able to be present," she said. "(I miss him) waking me up yelling, 'Cecilia, wake up! Ceci do your homework, Ceci come with me to the store, Ceci how was school?'"

(Cecilia is Ana's middle name.)

She said breakfast time was always a rush—dad trying to get to work and the kids getting ready for school. Dinner was their moment. Tasty, home-made Mexican food and chatting about what went on that day.

"Release him to us, we want our dad," she said. "We don't just want him back, we need him back. It breaks my heart seeing him cry and cry, seeing how this is affecting him, especially mentally."

He tells her he is sorry he can't be there for them, but that he will be home soon. Everything is uncertain. Felipe's lawyer is looking into a petition to have him released, at least while he appeals his case. 

(The family has a petition going around on the Not One More Deportation website: http://www.notonemoredeportation.com/portfolio/felipecobos/)

"I will not give up until they give us back my dad, no matter what, we will not give up," Ana said. "I will keep fighting until the end. I have a voice...I will be loud, I will not be intimidated by (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) or Homeland Security."

Ahead of the UA's game against Xavier in the Sweet 16 at 7:17 p.m. tonight, the UA News Service tells the story of Synergy Sports Technologies, which compiles extraordinarily precise highlight reels so that coaches can get a look at their opponents' strengths and weaknesses:

With Synergy's services, teams are able to go back and watch footage of any game, and they are supplied with a plethora of statistics both basic and advanced. Coaches have the potential to view what their team did in every possible situation.

Here's how specific it can get: If the UA coaching staff wants to examine all of the team’s possessions with less than 4 seconds on the shot clock, or any of T.J. McConnell’s steals, or all of the times the team scored off of an inbound pass, it’s no problem. For most people, that would mean hours of tedious video editing, but Synergy clients can have matching video clips in a matter of seconds.

"Synergy probably has the biggest database of college basketball video anywhere," Mossman said. "The way it works is: We grab the video via satellite or we have the teams upload it if the game isn't televised, and then we take that video and we cut it, edit it, record the stats and then — most importantly — catalog and index it in an organized and efficient way.

"Let's do a basic example. Take your point guard, T.J. McConnell. He's had 71 turnovers over the course of the season. So in our system, you can go in and go to his cumulative stats page. If you click on his turnovers, it will compile a list of every one of those turnovers linked immediately with the live video clips."

Fans of First Aid Kit, The Dirty Projectors and Au Revoir Simone should head to Monterey Court on Friday, March 27 to catch SnowApple. The all female trio layers sweet, delicate and harmonic vocals with synth arrangements that bounce from a quirky Jon Brion style to more overt pop influence.

Their sophomore album "Illusions" was just released last month and features a range of moody, texturally rich and orchestral tracks with more straightforward, stripped down styles. It bounces from operatic at times on songs like the album's title track to playful, carnival-esque songs like "Plato's Prank."

The first single off of SnowApple's second album, "California," is a nice blend of all of it, though the album as a whole really does offer a wide range of motifs both lyrically and aurally. 


SnowApple will play at Monterey Court this Friday beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online in advance for $10 or at the door the day of the show for $15.

Fourth Avenue is about to get a cool new spot for beer, wine and late night eats when Ermanos opens between 8th and 9th streets. Now, before you get all up in arms that the name misspells the word brother in Spanish, you should know that it's a play on the brothers Mark and Eric Erman's last name. Feel better? Alright, let's continue.

The Erman brothers have dreamed of opening their bar for about ten years. Sitting in their beautiful restaurant just a few days before opening and the night before they train their staff, it's clear that Eric is getting a little choked up.

"I can't believe we're here," he says, looking around at the back lounge area. It's furnished with comfy black leather chairs and a large homey rug. 

Eric worked as a commercial brewer in Colorado for seven years while his brother was an environmental lawyer, eventually moving to Tucson with his wife to enjoy the climate.

After a few hiccups in figuring out their new space (it technically encompasses two addresses on two different streets—good thing Mark is a lawyer), they began exhaustively renovating the space—exposing the building's brick walls and skylight and repurposing the wood that was removed for dividing walls and tables.

"This wood is from the '20s. You can see the saw marks on the boards," Mark says, touching a new wall made from the building's reclaimed wood. "Our carpenter said that back then they would only fell trees for lumber that were over 100 years old so that means this wood came from a tree that was from the 1800s at least."

A large communal booth, more private nooks, bar seating and a patio offer a range of options for seating. 


With the finishing touches being put into place for the building, Eric discusses his plan for the beer program. You can expect 34 draft handles and a selection of over 150 bottles and cans of beer. He's also excited that Public Brew House will soon be open in the back courtyard area, brewing craft beer just feet from Ermanos' back patio.

"We wanted to build on the great beer community here," Eric says. "The scene has just exploded."

For wine, the team brought in a friend from Michigan named Anya Linda. Her goal is to incorporate a list of wines that are both accessible and drinkable but also feature more esoteric varieties to expose guests to new things. She hopes in the future to hold special tasting events in the lounge area as well, such as local vintner features and a popcorn and champagne night. 

"This place is the epitome of a labor of love," Linda says. "It's special and I think it will be the sort of place that anyone can come to."

Of course, it isn't all about the booze. Although Ermanos doesn't plan to offer full table service, a menu of "upscale garstropub" fare will be served for lunch, happy hour, dinner and late night. Using seasonal, local ingredients, many of the menu items, such as the soup and salad, will change regularly.

However, chef David Valencia Jr. knows the Zip Burger, made with a special sauce of soy sauce, worcestershire, butter, herbs and more, will be a menu staple. His right hand man, Jesus Cayeros, also made a grilled cheese for the menu that combines five cheeses and a sweet, tangy onion jam that the whole crew agreed would be a favorite.

The menu also features small tapas-style sharable plates for dinner, including chicken lollipops with a seasonal BBQ sauce, flatbread with chorizo and Oaxaca cheese and gnocchi with cheese, poblano and herbs, to reinforce the casual atmosphere.


Mark Erman says he wanted his bar to be a bar first with the feel of an indoor beer garden. He plans to have live music weekly once they open.

Ermanos is planning to be officially open on Wednesday, April 1 for full service. The restaurant's hours will be Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 12 a.m. and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. with happy hour and late night menu deals. You can follow Ermanos on Facebook for more information and updates on the space.

It looks like all the bad press for-profit colleges have earned recently has taken a toll on the University of Phoenix. Its enrollment has been cut in half over the past five years, from 460,000 to 213,000. Between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning its stock dropped from 28.04 to 22.17 and is at 19.62 as I write this. 

The reason is the bad reputation for-profit colleges have picked up recently. Problems have been reported on for years by the less-than-mainstream press but was only reported by the MSM, then acted on by the Obama administration, more recently.

Once a cash cow industry, for-profit education companies have struggled to overcome criticism of the quality of its education and the costs. They're the sore spot in the national debate about value of higher education.

For-profit colleges only enroll roughly 12% of the country's students, but accounted for about half of student loan defaults in 2013, according to federal data.

Those types of stats spurred the Obama administration last March to limit federal aid dolled out to for-profit colleges — a challenge for places like the University of Phoenix.

President Obama announced another initiative in January to make community college free. For-profit universities compete for many of the same students that community colleges take in.

What's ahead: The numbers are telling: Apollo Education Group had revenues close to $5 billion in 2010. This year it will be lucky to take in $2.7 billion.