Raúl Héctor Castro died in his sleep today at the age of 98. Castro served as the state's governor from January 6, 1975 – October 20, 1977. He is the only Latino to date to hold the position 

Gov. Doug Ducey issued this statement when announcing the news:

Arizonans will never forget Governor Castro. He was an honorable public servant, a history-maker, a beloved family man and a strong friend and fighter for Arizona. Whether as a county attorney, a superior court judge, a United States ambassador or - as we will best remember him - our 14th governor, his life and legacy of service is forever ingrained in our history. The thoughts and prayers of all Arizonans are with Governor Castro's family and loved ones during this difficult time.

A sad day for Arizona, indeed. 

Okay, well, not just Arizona.  But we are behind Florida (FLORIDA) on this one.

Turns out, in some states (including ours) women who have a child as the result of rape have a rough time winning full custody of their children. As the Daily Show's Samantha Bee puts it, if you have a child as a result of rape you might have to meet your rapist in a Denny's parking lot every Saturday to hand off your child. To your rapist. That's not okay.

From Jezebel:

You’d think legislation to guarantee women who have been raped full custody of the children born of those rapes would be pretty easy to pass right? Well, as Samantha Bee learned on The Daily Show Wednesday night, not so much.

Bee spoke with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Shauna Prewitt, an advocate for women to have the right to full custody of their children without going through a legal battle for them, an issue some states have prevented but a startlingly large number of others have not. Wasserman Schultz’s Rape Survivor Child Custody Act had bipartisan support, but as Bee frustratingly found out, the original bill didn’t pass because it “actually spends money” — $5 million a year for five years, to be specific.

Where are my emotional support baby chickens?

I'm not sure how I made it until 9 p.m. yesterday without knowing the new Orange is the New Black trailer was out. But, a day late, here it is! Season 3 will be released on Netflix on June 12, so just go ahead and cancel any plans you had for for the rest of that month. 

Jake Sullivan and Kellen Fortier have been loyal employees at Fourth Avenue's Cafe Passe for over three years each. On New Year's Eve, the two decided (possibly under the influence) to open a record store and now their idea is coming to fruition.

On Saturday, April 18 at 10 a.m., Wooden Tooth Records will open its doors to vinylphiles in Tucson to sift through their wares, and, according to them, there's going to be a lot to look through. For their initial inventory, the duo bought up large collections from two different longtime collectors that were looking to offload some vinyl before moving, which amounts to about 7,000 records in total.

About 3,000 of that stash will be priced at $1.99, while the remaining ranges more in the $4 to $16 neighborhood. 

Gov. Doug Ducey wants the Arizona Board of Regents to cut administrative expenses to help keep tuition affordable. 

Presidents of the UA, ASU and NAU are releasing their tuition and fees proposals for the 2015-2016 school year tomorrow, and a final decision from ABOR is expected by May 4. The regents have, already, been reviewing all the university finances.

At least Ducey is addressing a "solution" to the budget he signed, which cut $99 million from university funding. It kind of touches on something many UA students have been concerned about: their tuition keeps increasing while there are too many middle-to-upper administrative positions at the colleges with six-digit salaries.

If you haven't gotten yourself access to HBO yet, it's officially time. John Oliver time, that is. In this week's Last Week Tonight, Oliver makes Edward Snowden very sad by making him face the reality that the average American just isn't sure who he is or what he did*. Oliver showed clips of "man on the street" interviews with New Yorkers who either didn't really recognize Snowden's name or thought he was the guy who runs WikiLeaks. It was interesting and sad—but not as sad as Snowden's face. Poor fella.

In this bonus clip from the episode, Snowden reminds us all that our passwords are terrible and it's time to get more creative.

All my new passwords: MargretThatcheris110%SEXY


*And I won't tell you here. If you don't know, it's time to fall into a Wikipedia hole.

Look, I know it was just Arizona Gives Day, but let's all give a little bit more on Sunday, April 12. Barrio Brewing is hosting the Tails and Ales fundraiser that day and everyone loves animals, right? Right.

The brew-centric fundraiser works in two ways. First, you can bring in your pooch and get it washed by the wheeled women of the Tucson Roller Derby. If you're currently dogless (I'm sorry), then you can also buy a locally-brewed beer at Barrio as a part of the fundraiser.

The proceeds of the dog wash station and ten percent of Barrio sales during the event will go to benefit both the Humane Society of Southern Arizona and Tucson Roller Derby. The fundraiser runs from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Sunday at Barrio Brewing Co., located at 800 E. 16th St. 

Tails and Ales will also feature music from Shrimp Chaperone, commemorative pint glasses and gift basket raffles. 

Recently, local artist Nika Kaiser has been more known for her video work, directing music videos for local favorites like Prom Body and Gabriel Sullivan. Her current photo exhibit, "Desert Varnish," in the Hotel Congress bar and lobby area is like her video work in that it looks at spiritualism and metaphysics in the context of the region with, what she refers to as, "characters in a fragmented story."

Ten striking images—two large and eight smaller—seem to tell a part of a story, maybe not the beginning or end, but a definite glimpse into a world that seems almost familiar. Kaiser says this was part of her intention for the show.

"I want to have the viewers process beyond that moment that’s presented to them," Kaiser says.

Beyond that, her work bears strong ties to the desert—"the American west." Seven of the ten photos were taken within a hundred or so miles of Tucson, with just three shot in Utah, Oregon and New Mexico. In that setting, she melds broad landscape shots with portrait-like photos of flora and fauna, as well as those characters that she invents. She says she seeks to blur the line between human and nature in this exhibit.

"I wanted all of the images to be both portraits and landscape at the same time without a division between man—or woman—and nature," she says.

To that point, Kaiser says she's particularly inspired by representations of the female form and its relation to nature. One photo uses the shape of surrounding yucca to play inversely with the shape of a twirling girl's skirt. In that way, Kaiser says the character is playing in nature, not being in opposition to it, and allowing herself to be vulnerable to nature in a positive way.

Though, in terms of palette, Kaiser's photos use a lot of bright, vibrant colors, there is a feeling of darkness to them. She says that darkness comes from her metaphysical and surreal inspirations. 

"It’s that quality of the unknown that is disconcerting," she says. "When things are just outside of reality there’s uneasiness."

The pieces in the show exist in a space where "science and the metaphysical align," according to Kaiser. Even the name "Desert Varnish" alludes to a "dark iridescent coating on rocks in arid regions."

"It's considered both an animal and a geological composite," she says. "It kind of exists in this place that transcends logic and becomes spiritual."

Kaiser clearly draws from the aesthetic and history of the southwest, but she is also inspired by experimental filmmakers Alejandro Jodorowsky and Maya Deren as well as photographer Lola Alvarez Bravo. Kaiser replicated one of Bravo's pieces in the show. 

With the space—Hotel Congress—in mind, she crafted photos expressly for the hotel, though she didn't realize until she was hanging her works for the show that she would love how much they interacted with the mural work on the lobby walls.

"I wanted to show the magic—I know that word is overused—but the magic of the landscape here along with the richness of history here," Kaiser says.

You can view Nika Kaiser's "Desert Varnish" at Hotel Congress now through May 27. The show is free to view.

Presidents of the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University are releasing their tuition and fee recommendations tomorrow. Gov. Doug Ducey took a big, fat bite of about $99 million from their funding (while giving corporations more tax breaks and private prisons more money), so increases are inevitable.

The UA has to absorb nearly $28 million of the cuts. 

For lack of state money, the UA has increased tuition and fees by nearly 188 percent in the past 10 years. The only ones exempt from the burden this time are freshmen who came to the UA last fall. The Arizona Board of  Regents approved a tuition freeze last year for eight consecutive semesters. In exchange, these incoming freshmen had to pay 5.4 percent more than other students. Their tuition is about $10,900 a year.  

Earlier this year, ABOR said they hoped consequences of the massive budget cuts wouldn't end up on the shoulders of students and their families. While the tuition increase is understandable—this state doesn't value the importance of education—there are other issues in the UA, such as where the money is spent and the lack of transparency from the administration, according to leaders of some student organizations such as the Graduate and Professional Student Council and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Organizing Committee.

The Service Employees International Union, a group that wants to help improve the quality of academic jobs, said that only about 25 percent of the UA's budget expenditures go toward instruction. Tuition increase after tuition increase, students want to know exactly where their money is ending up. Undergraduate and graduate students want a say in all of this. After all, their pockets are the ones affected the most, not those of the people with the higher up administrative positions. 

On April 20, ABOR is having an interactive hearing at eight university campuses throughout the state to hear students and the public speak their minds on these tuition proposals. The three universities will present their proposals to the regents in person on April 27.

ABOR is expected to set tuition and fees on May 4.

Stay tuned.

Starting this fall, eight Tucson high schools will get visits from more than 100 AmeriCorps members as part of a two-year project to improve graduation rates, and to make sure these students are aware of their higher-ed or post high school options—college, a job training program or even the military.

“I’m delighted that we were awarded this grant,” said Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild in a statement. “I’ve focused on building a healthy community and this grant, and community schools, will help put students and their families in touch with the services they need to thrive.”

Tucson is the second community in the country to get this Operation AmeriCorps funding, which is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. In total, the investment in Tucson has a value of about $2 million.